Twins vs. A's, 08-22-2012, 2:35pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Twins:

Ben Revere CF

Alexi Casilla 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Josh Willingham LF

Ryan Doumit DH

Matt Carson RF

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Drew Butera C

Pedro Florimon SS

(Liam Hendriks P)

 

Billy Beanes:

Coco Crisp CF

Stephen Drew SS

Josh Reddick RF

Yoenis Cespedes LF

Chris Carter 1B

Seth Smith DH

Josh Donaldson 3B

George Kottaras C

Cliff Pennington 2B

(Tommy Milone P)

[snepp]

A .547 OPS "hitting" second, and just .424 since the start of July.

 

 

Play second, bat second!

[old nurse]

I feel sorry for Hendricks. He might have to pitch a shutout to avoid a loss.

[jokin]

Twins:

Ben Revere CF

Alexi Casilla 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Josh Willingham LF

Ryan Doumit DH

Matt Carson RF

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Drew Butera C

Pedro Florimon SS

(Liam Hendriks P)

 

Billy Beanes:

Coco Crisp CF

Stephen Drew SS

Josh Reddick RF

Yoenis Cespedes LF

Chris Carter 1B

Seth Smith DH

Josh Donaldson 3B

George Kottaras C

Cliff Pennington 2B

(Tommy Milone P)

 

Sal Jr got his caddying job back?

[Ultima Ratio]

For those of us unswayed by 'balance' in the lineup arguments, and more concerned with stringing hits together in succession to score runs, the lineup should read:

 

Revere, Mauer, Hammer, Doumit, Plouffe, Carson, Casilla, Florimon, Butera.

[jokin]

For those of us unswayed by 'balance' in the lineup arguments, and more concerned with stringing hits together in succession to score runs, the lineup should read:

 

Revere, Mauer, Hammer, Doumit, Plouffe, Carson, Casilla, Florimon, Butera.

 

I concur, with the exception of my own preference for an on-base guy at the bottom of the order to set up the turnover back to the top and improve the odds of hit-stringing- ie, I'd flip Florimon with Butera.

[IdahoPilgrim]

For those of us unswayed by 'balance' in the lineup arguments, and more concerned with stringing hits together in succession to score runs, the lineup should read:

 

Revere, Mauer, Hammer, Doumit, Plouffe, Carson, Casilla, Florimon, Butera.

 

I agree that Florimon would be better ninth. I also wonder why bat Plouffe as high as he is - he is in a massive slump. Carson or even Casilla might be a better choice until he gets his bat working again.

[Brock Beauchamp]

And Liam walks the first batter.

 

And now a wild pitch.

 

Aw, come on...

[Brock Beauchamp]

What's the over/under on how many innings of this game I'm going to watch? 2?

[Ultima Ratio]

Hendriks' line predictions anyone?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Well, I can live with one run. Hopefully he settles and stops throwing so high in the zone.

[Ultima Ratio]

He's so dang nervous... got to get past that or he'll never be effective. I'm thinking 4 ER on 5 IP 3K 3 BB

[Brock Beauchamp]

Bad luck, Trevor.

[righty8383]

In the 1st inning, Coco Crisp did a fake bunt with a 3-0 count. That reminds me, the little League World Series is on.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It'd be so great to get Liam a win right off the bat. He needs to get over the stigma of being winless, it seems.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Way to field your position, Liam!

[Brock Beauchamp]

Damn. What a play by Florimon.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Good second inning for Stifler. Way to help your pitcher Pedro!

[Ultima Ratio]

Damn. What a play by Florimon.

 

I don't think Dozier makes that play... Carroll either for that matter.

[IdahoPilgrim]

I'm following the game on MLB's Gameday - it looks like the ump today has a small strike zone. Does that correspond to what people watching the game are seeing, or am I getting bad intel?

[minn55441]

It'd be so great to get Liam a win right off the bat. He needs to get over the stigma of being winless, it seems.

 

It's obviously all in his head. He just needs a win to know he can do it and he belongs on a major league roster. Once he relaxes a little, I would think that he can have the same success he had in Rochester.

[Ultima Ratio]

I'm following the game on MLB's Gameday - it looks like the ump today has a small strike zone. Does that correspond to what people watching the game are seeing, or am I getting bad intel?

 

Nah... can't say that with any confidence at this point. Just that low ball which should have been a strike (Liam's pitch for the K).

[minn55441]

Why did we have Dozier up all season with this guy playing in Rochester. I don't care if hits .500 or .200 if he can keep making plays like that every game, we need him at short.

[TwinVike61]

Why did we have Dozier up all season with this guy playing in Rochester. I don't care if hits .500 or .200 if he can keep making plays like that every game, we need him at short.

 

Is that you, Gardy?

[minn55441]

Why did we have Dozier up all season with this guy playing in Rochester. I don't care if hits .500 or .200 if he can keep making plays like that every game, we need him at short.

 

Is that you, Gardy?

 

They just installed Wi-Fi in the Oakland dugout this morning.

[DPJ]

.255 OBP hitting 2nd...top notch Mr Gardenhire.

[TwinsGuy55422]

The ump does seem to be giving some on the outside corner but he definitely does not seem to want to call the strike at the knees.

[IdahoPilgrim]

Why did we have Dozier up all season with this guy playing in Rochester. I don't care if hits .500 or .200 if he can keep making plays like that every game, we need him at short.

 

To be fair, at the start of the season I heard a number of pundits thinking Dozier was ready (it was actually a little bit of a surprise he started in Rochester) and Florimon wasn't even on the radar scope. He's played his way into this over the season.

[TwinsGuy55422]

It'd be so great to get Liam a win right off the bat. He needs to get over the stigma of being winless, it seems.

 

It's obviously all in his head. He just needs a win to know he can do it and he belongs on a major league roster. Once he relaxes a little, I would think that he can have the same success he had in Rochester.

 

I would tend to agree. He clearly has the stuff to pitch up here. He just seems to be pressing. I would imagine that one good outing would really help his confidence and just let him focus on pitching.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Nice hit by Cespedes. Hard to do much about that (except not allow the bases to load in the first place).