Article: Game Thread: Twins v Blue Jays, 4/30 @ 7:10pm CT

[Riverbrian]

Tonight the Twins open up a 3-game series with the Blue Jays. The Twins have taken a flurry of punches recently, a lot like Brutus after Popeye downed a can of spinach. I’ve often wondered why Brutus didn’t just eat spinach to neutralize the situation. I’ve also assumed that Wimpy wasn’t paying attention to the spinach thing and stuck with hamburgers out of ignorance. I also assumed that there was something special about Olive Oyl that caused all the fighting... something not immediately apparent.

 

But I digress and now I’ve forgotten my point. Give me a second... (pause)… Oh, yeah.

 

The easy thing to do would be to simply say that 1 win in 10 games is entirely the fault of the Twins, but that ignores the fact that the other teams are trying to win and must be factors in the equation somehow. It was painful to get swept by the Rays and assume that it was all the Twins' fault… however, the Rays rattled off 8 wins in a row. It was painful to get swept by the Yankees and assume it was all the Twins fault… but the Yankees rattled off 8 wins in a row. Who knows what the Reds are going to do going forward, but they could also rattle off 8 wins a row.

 

The point is it’s possible that we have run into a bunch of Popeye’s at the wrong time. Of course… it is also possible that the Twins are the spinach.

 

Here are some things to think about:

 

1. Top Non-Trump News Story (Or Stories):

 

T-Mobile and Sprint have announced a merger that will combine the 3rd and 4th largest cellular companies and make them the 3rd largest. For the customers, each company's coverage map will be combined together which will double the amount of dead zones.

 

2. Our Twins:

 

With injuries to Sano and Buxton, our stockpile of pure right-handed hitters was reduced to Brian Dozier, Mitch Garver and Ryan LaMarre. Currently on the 40-man roster we have Zach Granite and Jake Cave down in Rochester who are both left-handed. According to statistics, 10% of the world population is left-handed. The Twins front office may want to consider looking for talent in the much larger demographic base.

 

3. The Blue Jays:

 

Nobody is struggling as bad as the Twins but the Blue Jays may be the next in line. Just 3-7 in their last 10 games, the Jays have cooled off after a fairly warm start to the season. Their starters have some interesting names but Estrada, Garcia and Stroman haven’t been good at all. There was a time when the Jays would come to town with Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson and Tulo. None of those guys are coming this time. It’ll just be the normal non-threatening Thunder Bay group who sit in the upper deck, drink too much and laugh at everything. They are all named Gordon.

 

4. Today’s Joe M Conversation:

 

McCarthy: Joe… you have really lost weight.

 

Morgan: Thank you for noticing. It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t on a diet and it just kind of happened.

 

Mauer: Maybe you are dying.

 

Montana: That is possible

 

Morgan: Thank you for that… I feel better now.

 

Maddon: I lost a bunch of weight once… found it again at Krispy Kreme.

 

5. Iowa:

 

In the movie 'Field of Dreams', the ghosts would ask “Is this Heaven?" Costner would reply “No… it’s Iowa.” As I drove through Iowa, I thought about that line. If ghosts can’t tell the difference, I may have to manage my expectations for when my time comes.

____________________

 

Lineups:

 

BLUE JAYS

1. Steve Pearce ® LF

2. Teoscar Hernandez ® RF

3. Justin Smoak (S) 1B

4. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B

5. Kevin Pillar ® CF

6. Russell Martin ® C

7. Kendrys Morales (S) DH

8. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ® 2B

9. Aledmys Diaz ® SS

 

Aaron Sanchez® P

 

TWINS

1. Brian Dozier ® 2B

2. Joe Mauer (L) 1B

3. Eddie Rosario (L) LF

4. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B

5. Max Kepler (L) CF

6. Robbie Grossman (S) RF

7. Logan Morrison (L) DH

8. Mitch Garver ® C

9. Ehire Adrianza (S) SS

 

Lance Lynn® P

 

Gametime forecast: The current rain will pass into partly cloudy skies, that will not drip, 77 deg F, winds at 14mph from the S. My what a difference a month makes. Maybe they shouldn't start games so early.

 

Please win Twins. Please.

 

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[Blake]

Another excellent, job, Brian!

[ashbury]

each company's coverage map will be combined together which will double the amount of dead zones.

...

If ghosts can’t tell the difference, I may have to manage my expectations for when my time comes.

If you are plagiarizing from somewhere, you do an excellent job of covering your tracks. These are gold.

 

The point is it's possible that we have run into a bunch of Popeye’s at the wrong time. Of course… it is also possible that the Twins are the spinach.

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. Sometimes you're Popeye, sometimes you're the spinach. Sometimes you're the plagiarist, sometimes you're the plagiaree.

[Squirrel]

 

Another excellent, job, Brian!

Yeah, it makes me almost want to watch.

[wsnydes]

 

Yeah, it makes me almost want to watch.

Could be worse.  You could have tickets for tonight.

 

At least it's supposed to be a nice night for baseball.  Hopefully a legit baseball game breaks out.

[Squirrel]

 

Could be worse.  You could have tickets for tonight.

 

At least it's supposed to be a nice night for baseball.  Hopefully a legit baseball game breaks out.

Well ... I have to have some talks serious talks with myself about games this weekend in Chicago ... do I go or not, and if I do, how often? Maybe they'll sweep the Jays and get on a roll ...

[ashbury]

Could be worse.  You could have tickets for tonight.

Could be worse. Someone could hold a gun to her and compel her to use them.

[Platoon]

Spinach may be the answer....... I don't think it shows up on random testing like some of the other things we tried? Of course if it did, the player would say: 'How was I to know there was a leafy vegetable in the Spinach'? .

[Blackjack]

RB, you're dating yourself when you start talking Popeye, Brutus, and spinach!!! I'll bet the people under 40 don't have a clue what you're talking about!!

 

Good job!!

[Blake]

 

Well ... I have to have some talks serious talks with myself about games this weekend in Chicago ... do I go or not, and if I do, how often? Maybe they'll sweep the Jays and get on a roll ...

What color is the sky in your world? Sweep the Jays? hahahahahaha

 

That's a good one!

[Mill1634]

Iowa>Minnesota

 

At least in terms of college athletics  

[USAFChief]

 

RB, you're dating yourself  

Good job!!

ick

[USAFChief]

 

Iowa>Minnesota

 

At least in terms of college athletics

but, it's still Iowa.

[USAFChief]

 

Yeah, it makes me almost want to watch.

Someone broke into my car, and left 4 Twins tickets on the front seat

 

bah-dum-tschh

[joefish]

Go T'ins.

"That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!" Toot. Toot.

Good morning chuckle. Can Popeye pitch?

[mickeymental]

on the other hand, a simple little five-game winning streak = .500.

[lukeduke1980]

 

 

2. Our Twins:

With injuries to Sano and Buxton, our stockpile of pure right-handed hitters was reduced to Brian Dozier, Mitch Garver and Ryan LaMarre. Currently on the 40-man roster we have Zach Granite and Jake Cave down in Rochester who are both left-handed. According to statistics, 10% of the world population is left-handed. The Twins front office may want to consider looking for talent in the much larger demographic base.
 

Not sure how the Jose Bautista-back-to-3B experiment is going in Atlanta but he'd be a nice platoon partner for Morrison or as a replacement for Grossman in RF here.  

[wsnydes]

I think most people expected this, but Curtiss was called up for today's game.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Someone broke into my car, and left 4 Twins tickets on the front seat

 

bah-dum-tschh

And gas money, i hope?

[USAFChief]

Still looking for game thread vols for May 12, 13, and 23.

 

Do The Right Thing!

 

http://media.breitbart.com/media/2016/01/Spike-Lee.jpg

[LaBombo]

 

Well ... I have to have some talks serious talks with myself 

 

If you have these talks on the L, please make sure that you have first selected the Internal Monologue Only option in your brain's Dialog dropdown menu.

[Squirrel]

 

If you have these talks on the L, please make sure that you have first selected the Internal Monologue Only option in your brain's Dialog dropdown menu.

Yeah, no ... that's no fun. It's a good way to get a seat to yourself with no one scrunched up next to you.

[LaBombo]

 

on the other hand, a simple little five-game winning streak = .500.

 

I'm so optimistic I wish they could play all five of those games right now.

 

[slash129]

Let's see:  Lynn and Hughes scheduled to start games 1 and 3.  Should be a nice chance for the Jays to make up some ground in the East.

[gil4]

 

I'll bet the people under 40 don't have a clue what you're talking about!!

 

Good job!!

There are plenty of times my kids speak in code and I have no idea what they're talking about. Anytime we can get some revenge...

 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

I'm so optimistic I wish they could play all five of those games right now.

 

Would they be able to augment their 25 man roster?

 

Assuming 3 of the games they are pitching at any given moment, they want at least 27 men to be on the field...

 

Simultaneous games would be interesting to manage.

 

Kepler is pulled from game 1 to pinch hit in game 2.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

If you have these talks on the L, please make sure that you have first selected the Internal Monologue Only option in your brain's Dialog dropdown menu.

But... my brain has no drop down menus?

 

What am i to do now?

[wsnydes]

 

But... my brain has no drop down menus?

What am i to do now?

Click the appropriate check box?

[gil4]

 

Go T'ins.
"That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!" Toot. Toot.
Good morning chuckle. Can Popeye pitch?

I doubt it, but he might be that right-handed bat we need

 

 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Click the appropriate check box?

Alas, i have only inappropriate check boxes...