Game Thread: Cleveland at Minnesota for the Series, 3/31 @ 1:10 CST

[ashbury]

Carnac the Magnificent: "Plenty of doubles."

Ed McMahon: The answer to the question is, plenty of doubles.

Carnac: That's how this works.

Ed: And you do it flawlessly, every time, your Magnificence.

Carnac: The power inside this turban is brain-tingling. Or, maybe that's just the fleas of a thousand camels nesting in the costume room.

Ed: Be that as it may. NO ONE knows the contents of this envelope. And yet you, in your omniscience, have already answered the question.

Carnac: So are you curious to know the question?

Ed: If you would please do the honors...

Carnac: (tears open the end of the envelope, blows into it, removes card, reads) "What will the Cleveland coaching staff be drinking tonight?"

[ashbury]

La Tortuga — so awesome he scores on his own sac fly.

Might be a Major League record.

[PseudoSABR]

 

I know Clevelands got some great pitching but I am certainly not convinced they will win the division.  I think they are WAY over hyped. Their lineup is not intimidating at all...I would take the Twins team over the Cleveland team any day of the week. I know Cleveland's missing Lindor but even then this team doesn't seem all that scary.  

 

I think people will be surprised at the end of September.

The value of their starting pitching cannot be overstated, it puts them in every game.  They'll get Lindor back, and although half the line up is pretty bad, Lindor and Ramirez are MVP candidates.

[Joe A. Preusser]

Having Cruz in this lineup adds a whole other level of depth.  It will be fun to see Sano join him soon.

 

And I would sure be tempted to bat Sano in front of him to give the kid some protection. I like Rosario in the 5 hole better than cleanup anyway.

[ashbury]

La Tortuga doesn't always drink beer. But when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.

[GCTF]

 

Boo pinch hitting.  Pile on the runs!  

If they don't let Austin swing and miss, we'll never know how many times he'll strikeout.

[PseudoSABR]

If the Twins get something from Perez and Pineda, this team will be very good, despite what looks to be a horrible bullpen.

[drivlikejehu]

 

If the Twins get something from Perez and Pineda, this team will be very good, despite what looks to be a horrible bullpen.

 

There's no empirical evidence to support the notion that the Twins have a "horrible" bullpen.

[IndianaTwin]

And whoever has Pineda in your fantasy league is whining to whoever has Perez about not getting this win.

[PseudoSABR]

 

There's no empirical evidence to support the notion that the Twins have a "horrible" bullpen.

That's true. But mostly because we don't let them pitch.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Boo pinch hitting.  Pile on the runs!  

on a related note, I'm really impressed by the lineups. Sticking with the starting nine, all three games, despite the "struggles" the first two games. Traditionally on a Sunday and especially with our previous managers we would see the "getaway" lineup with the bench guys. 

 

And today, the bench guys got in the game just the same.

[PseudoSABR]

 

on a related note, I'm really impressed by the lineups. Sticking with the starting nine, all three games, despite the "struggles" the first two games. Traditionally on a Sunday and especially with our previous managers we would see the "getaway" lineup with the bench guys. 

 

And today, the bench guys got in the game just the same.

They did switch a catcher each game, but same order.

[ashbury]

Pineda >> Perez

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

And whoever has Pineda in your fantasy league is whining to whoever has Perez about not getting this win.

Yup, after what 100 years of it..?..  we can probably expect Rule 10.17 to be changed soon, to allow starters to get a win with less than 5 innings. 

 

 

edit: not that baseball front offices even look at "Win" anymore

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

They did switch a catcher each game, but same order.

True. Also, I knew that, just too lazy to type it out.  

[GCTF]

Things are getting interestinger.

[Danchat]

Here's your reminder that Perez isn't actually that good... 97 mph is nice, but he's proven to be a poor MLB pitcher. That's 5 hits and 3 walks in 3.2 IP against a Cleveland AAA lineup. And yes, I know it's a small sample size, but I've seen enough of his career to know that this is a norm for him.

[SF Twins Fan]

Perez has been really bad today. This is definitely not an encouraging outing from him.

[PseudoSABR]

 

Pineda >> Perez

In any other situation, Perez would not have pitched to Santana.

[PseudoSABR]

 

Perez has been really bad today. This is definitely not an encouraging outing from him.

I disagree.  He was able to pitch around walks and base hits (save the last inning), but he showed good velocity, and the ability to finish off hitters for strikeouts.  

[PseudoSABR]

TOO MUCH ASTUDILLO FOR YOU, HUH CLEVELAND!?!?!?

[ashbury]

Purpose Pitch to Willians just then?

[GCTF]

It ain't easy being green.

[ashbury]

In any other situation, Perez would not have pitched to Santana.

Wouldn't have changed my assessment of the two pitchers' outings.

[ashbury]

Willians accepting the high-fives in the dugout but looking quite upset with himself after the baserunning gaffe.

[PseudoSABR]

 

Willians accepting the high-fives in the dugout but looking quite upset with himself after the baserunning gaffe.

What happened? I flipped over to the Auburn/Kentucky game

[ashbury]

What happened? I flipped over to the Auburn/Kentucky game

Rounded third then held up, getting Buxton hung up rounding second. Willians came in to score during the rundown but it still cost a needless out.

[mikeee]

Maybe the snow will hold off until they get the game in.

[ashbury]

Schoop scoops.

[SF Twins Fan]

 

I disagree.  He was able to pitch around walks and base hits (save the last inning), but he showed good velocity, and the ability to finish off hitters for strikeouts.  

 5 hits and 3 walks in only 3.2 innings is not good. I don't care that he was able to get out of those innings since this is a bad Indians lineup. There are two good hitters in Santana and Rameriz and that's it. He missed his spots on sooooo many pitches.