Article: NYY 8, MIN 4: It’s Over

[Tom Froemming]

The Twins lost the Wild Card game. The circumstances in which it happened were pretty tough to swallow. This isn’t the kind of thing that’s easy to react to right away. Time is going to heal wounds and the good memories are going to outlast the bad ones, but right now … well, in the wise words of Joe Mauer “This sucks right now.”Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs)

Download attachment: NewSnap.png

Brian Dozier hit a leadoff homer, Eddie Rosario added a two-run shot and the Twins were up 3-0 in the first inning. Hard to realistically imagine a better start for Twins fans. Luis Severino was bounced from the game after he recorded just one out. Just as euphoria began to sweep across Twins Territory, it was blown away just as quickly.

 

Ervin Santana gives up a three-run homer to Didi Gregorius to tie the game in the bottom of the first inning. It’s OK, that’s just like a 0-0 ballgame, right? Santana gives up a homer to Brett Gardner in the bottom of the second to give the Yankees the lead.

 

The Twins answered in the third, tying the game, but they also stranded runners on second and third base for the second straight inning. Jose Berrios took over for Ervin and the Yankees took the lead right back. The next inning, Aaron Judge delivered the finishing blow in the form of a two-run homer. The Yankees scored their final run off the game when Alan Buesnitz walked in a run on four pitches.

 

There were plenty more downers in this one. The Twins were already forced to play without the injured Miguel Sano, but Byron Buxton was forced to leave this game in the bottom of the fourth due to a back injury he suffered while making another ridiculous catch in center field earlier in the game.

To add insult to injury -- literally -- Zack Granite, who replaced Buxton, provided an embarrassing moment in the top of the eighth inning when he stepped clear over first base and was tagged out. Just completely missed it.

 

Did that feel good? Going for a walk down Loser’s Lane? No, didn’t think so, and in the end that’s not what the 2017 Minnesota Twins season was all about.

 

Think about this: The Yankees are celebrating a playoff victory over the Twins right now. I realize that doesn’t sound like an unlikely scenario in the grand scheme of things, but flashback six months ago … hell, two and a half months ago ... and nobody could’ve seen this coming. Also, it took a homer from Judge, a guy who killed everybody this season, a dude who hit 52 homers and may win AL MVP, to really put away the Twins.

 

Tonight will not go down as a memorable one for Twins fans, but the 2017 season sure will. This team completed the biggest turnaround in franchise history and became the first team to go from 100 losses to the postseason. A group of young players gained playoff experience -- elimination game experience -- at Yankee Stadium. The loss is tough to swallow right now, but there’s no question this Twins team will be better for going through it.

 

My favorite story from this season was how after the trade deadline Paul Molitor wrote “No retreat, no surrender” on a whiteboard in the clubhouse. He was inspired by a Bruce Springsteen song he heard on his morning walk, Mike Berardino shared all the details in what is, in my opinion, the best piece of Twins writing from this season.

 

His team seemed to take that message to heart and stormed back for an improbable finish even its own front office didn’t see coming. Today, looking forward, another lyric from The Boss comes to mind.

 

Everything dies baby that’s a fact

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back

 

The 2017 Minnesota Twins season may be dead, but this franchise appears to be in as good a shape as it’s been in quite some time. The future is bright. Here’s hoping someday we look back on 2017 as a springboard season that catapulted the Twins back to a championship run.

 

Postgame With Molitor

Postgame With Mauer

Postgame With Santana

Postgame With Dozier

What, that’s it? No, of course not! There is going to be plenty more analysis of this game and the entire 2017 season here at Twins Daily in the days to come. Tomorrow night I’ll be posting a recap of all the recaps, sort of a final sign-off from me, putting a nice bow on what has been an amazing experience for yours truly.

 

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[glunn]

Your game summaries have been stellar. Thanks for all the hard work. It paid off.

[h2oface]

I have never heard a pitcher blame the time it takes to get a 3 RUN LEAD after the first half of an inning, before they have even thrown a pitch..... I have never heard a pitcher use it as an excuse for not performing. Until Santana.

[Jacksson]

Outcome was determined just as soon as it was established that the Yankees had home field advantage. When the Twins see pinstripes, they fold like napkins. Hitters need to be able to hit in the clutch off "pitchers pitches", rather than just hitting pitchers mistakes.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Jacksson

[h2oface]

I watched the whole season of Brockmire again after the game just to calm down.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Read the Bernadino piece. A funny bit from that was that Mauer didn't even remember the inspirational words that were the basis for the story. The players only meeting, though, seemed to be something that they all remember. Of course, they also lost the game that night after the team meeting?

[wsnydes]

Thanks for the hard work on these write ups, Tom.  I look forward to seeing more next season!

[laloesch]

 

Outcome was determined just as soon as it was established that the Yankees had home field advantage. When the Twins see pinstripes, they fold like napkins. Hitters need to be able to hit in the clutch off "pitchers pitches", rather than just hitting pitchers mistakes.

 

Pretty much.  The Twins sike themselves out whenever they play the Yankees.  Ervin Santana was not prepared for this game.  Once again the starting pitching fails.

[bighat]

Lots of hate for Ervin. I don't like it. Sure, he didn't pitch too great - neither did Berrios or the rest of the pen. Plenty of blame to be spread around...the offense scored 3 in the 1st, but they should have scored more. The offense only put 1 run on the board in the final 8 innings. The Twins struck out 4 times in a row and crucially let the momentum shift to the NYY. 

 

Gardener is a Twins killer. I can't remember the last time I saw the Twins get him out. Judge is a monster. The Yankees have no holes in their lineup offensively. Their bullpen is stacked with shut-down guys. They are the better team and they put a whoopin' on the Twins as most thought they would. 

 

Erv didn't lose this game for the Twins. The Yankees pitching and hitting is astronomically better than Minnesota's, and they showed that tonight. Go easy on Erv, he didn't have a complete meltdown out there...the whole staff got roughed up. 

 

If you were to ask me, Berrios is the one who really blew the game, and he did get the loss.  Twins come back to tie it, Berrios quickly gives up 3 runs including that HR to Judge which really put the nail in the coffin. 

Great season from a fun team - Erv's what got the Twins this far and he did not lose the game last night. 

[Ben B]

Yeah, the Yankees are just better. It's disappointing but pretty much what I expected. Besides the false hope of the first inning, this wasn't some heartbreaker or late blown lead like so many of their Yankees postseason losses. 

 

Can we talk about that right field fence though? I think the Gregorius and Gardner homers (and Rosario's) went about 250 feet each. 

[Vanimal46]

I've posted this before that any playoff experience is good for this team. Now the young players have a taste of what postseason is like. 

 

I understand Molitor not wanting to get into a bullpen game against the Yankees. You're going to lose that battle 10 times out of 10. However, Erv didn't have it from the get-go. It was a bold decision to keep Ervin in the 2nd inning, and the wrong decision to make. I would have sat him down for Berrios after the 1st inning and try to reset the team after that roller coaster 1st inning.  

[Blackjack]

Thanks for the write-ups over the year Tom!!!  Love that 'Atlantic City' line in your write-up, its one of my favorite Bruce songs.

[Vanimal46]

 

Yeah, the Yankees are just better. It's disappointing but pretty much what I expected. Besides the false hope of the first inning, this wasn't some heartbreaker or late blown lead like so many of their Yankees postseason losses. 

 

Can we talk about that right field fence though? I think the Gregorius and Gardner homers (and Rosario's) went about 250 feet each. 

 

And, in fairness, same with Dozier's leadoff HR in the 1st. All were classic Mauer wall-scrapers from the Metrodome days. 

[Dantes929]

 

Outcome was determined just as soon as it was established that the Yankees had home field advantage. When the Twins see pinstripes, they fold like napkins. Hitters need to be able to hit in the clutch off "pitchers pitches", rather than just hitting pitchers mistakes.

I laughed a little at that one.   Not only do the Twins need to hit the 98mph mistakes, in the clutch they need to hit the 98mph fastball on the corner and the really nasty curve balls 2 inches off the plate.    Kershaw better hope you never coach the opposing team. cuz you will tell your players to just hit the pitcher's pitches and they will run him out of there. 

Sorry about the snark.  Yankees are good, had home field advantage and won because Santana and Berrios did not execute pitches, not because they are unable to execute pitches.   Robertson did execute, to his credit.  Twins not winning is not the same as unable to win.   Santana, Berrios and Severino threw as hard as they ever have (all were hitting 97 and above)  which is probably the problem.   Too amped up?  Too rested?   Who knows.    Berrios went back to overthrowing breaking balls and Santana was probably throwing his slider too hard  as well.    Best pitchers last night were the ones with the nasty breaking balls, not the high heat.    Gregorius could have been called out a pitch earlier and instead hits a 3 run homer.   Mauer misses a grand slam by about 5 feet.   That is the margin of the game.    Its baseball.   Could have gone our way.  Didn't.

[Halsey Hall]

Not getting the other 2 runners in, in the first hurt us bad.  A 5-0 lead can't be lost to a 5 run homer.  How bad were we with runners in scoring position?  This game just had the feel that we'd need to score alot of runs to come out on top and it didn't happen.  That's a good team we lost to and they could go all the way. 

 

I sure enjoyed these writeups Tom, Thanks for all the hard work.  It was an enjoyable season for sure.

[Mike Sixel]

Berrios threw the hardest Twins' pitch at 97. The Yankees threw 60 pitches harder than that......

 

Maybe we can stop assessing the pitching, and do something about it other than hope.

[Dantes929]

 

 

Great season from a fun team - Erv's what got the Twins this far and he did not lose the game last night. 

4 runs in two innings didn't help.    Walk to the first guy annoyed me the most.   No hate here.   Erv did help get the Twins this far but he didn't pitch well last night.   So what?   Different night, maybe he throws a shutout.   Just one of those things.   Morris is known around here as a great clutch playoff pitcher but he threw several duds as well.   Thats all this was.  Nothing more, nothing less.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

It is important for all of us Twins fans to read Mike Berardino's article "No Surrender" especially today after our disappointing loss last night. Matt Belisle had it right when he said: "Even if you lose, if you do it right, you're a winner." The 2017 Twins are winners. Period.

[WLFINN]

 

   Santana, Berrios and Severino threw as hard as they ever have (all were hitting 97 and above)  which is probably the problem.   Too amped up?  Too rested?   Who knows.   

....radar gun turned up a few notches to try intimidate opposing hitters??

[Steve Lein]

My opinion was they had to bring Erv back out for the 2nd inning. Needed to see if he could settle down as they weren't going to win a bullpen game.

 

First inning was a roller coaster! I'd seen everything after that before, unfortunately.

 

But this season was a blast! Very proud of those guys and the future is bright!!! 

[Aggies7]

I understand the optimism about our future and hopes that we will return to the postseason. But one needs to look no further than the Vikings and see how fleeting "the window" really is. I think Vikings fans such as myself looked at their 2015 season much like twins fans are looking at this one. "We're set for a good run" I thought. Fast forward two years and it would appear to me that the Vikings, through costly costly injuries, may miss out on the playoffs for a second straight season. Nothing is sports is guaranteed. Injuries, year long slumps, rough schedules, etc.

 

Regardless of how many we lost last season, I have a hard time brushing off last night's loss. It was a winnable game and a few of the guys folded, again.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Aggies7

[DocBauer]

Thanks Tom for everything this season! I hope to read much more from you going forward.

 

No hate for Santana, Berrios or anyone else. If the Twins score those extra 2 runs in the first and Santana pitches even a little better and we win, is Sevarino a bum who should be raked across the coals?

 

On thing I've found out in all of my years as a sports fan is that my favorite teams don't get to win the championship every year...or every other year.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I wonder if Buxton had bunted in the first inning, scoring a fourth run, would the TD crowd have gone berserk?

[Longdistancetwins]

 

Thanks Tom for everything this season! I hope to read much more from you going forward.

No hate for Santana, Berrios or anyone else. If the Twins score those extra 2 runs in the first and Santana pitches even a little better and we win, is Sevarino a bum who should be raked across the coals?

On thing I've found out in all of my years as a sports fan is that my favorite teams don't get to win the championship every year...or every other year.

 I'm a really patient Twins fan, but losing to the same team over and over again is more than tough.  This was also in many ways a repeat of the Wednesday day game at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago, only with the stakes even higher.  I guess, as one who attended both games, it hurt even more...  

Edited October 4, 2017 by Longdistancetwins

[Longdistancetwins]

 

I wonder if Buxton had bunted in the first inning, scoring a fourth run, would the TD crowd have gone berserk?

You better believe I thought about it at the time!

[Vanimal46]

 

I wonder if Buxton had bunted in the first inning, scoring a fourth run, would the TD crowd have gone berserk?

 

I was already going berserk. Pretty sure my neighbors think I'm insane after hearing me roar in approval, followed by utter despair in a matter of 30 minutes. 

[Doubles]

 

I wonder if Buxton had bunted in the first inning, scoring a fourth run, would the TD crowd have gone berserk?

Wondered this myself in the moment last night.    Wasn't even sure how I thought about it.    I'd have been psyched to get that fourth run across, but I'd probably also bemoaned bunting with a runner on second base.  I think a bunt in that particular situation was at least worth debating.    And I hate bunts, but time & place...

[Doubles]

Tom-  though I was late to the party here, thanks for all your time & effort in compiling these game recaps.    Loved reading these & participating in the ensuing dialogue.    As I've said, baseball is made for this type of banter.    Thanks again & hope to see these return next season.    They really enhance the 'fan experience.'

[Respy]

I'd like to point out that the Twins odds of reaching the playoffs as of July 27th was 6%.  The Twins chance of blowing that first inning least was about 20%.

 

I'm disappointed, but it was an entertaining game and by no means an astronomical comeback by the Yankees.  I'm glad they were in a playoff race and even more that they played in the playoffs.  I'll be rooting for Cleveland in the next round.  

 

Hopefully the front office will give us plenty to talk about in the offseason, so we don't need to lament too much.

 

Thanks Tom for the post-games.

[bluechipper]

Who else thought for a split second Mauer hit a 3-run HR? Questionable camera work on that play.