Article: MIN 16, LAA 7: Twins Slug 8 More Home Runs, Sweep Angels

[HrbekRules]

The Twins have more 6+ homer games than Astudillo has strikeouts!

[ashbury]

The Twins have more 6+ homer games than Astudillo has strikeouts!

I could move one to the Fun With Numbers thread, if you like.

[Shaitan]

 

So are lots of 4 seam fastballs. Velocity matters.

His problem was location, not lack of movement.

And Harper pitched a perfect inning averaging about 20 mph less than that per pitch.

[dingerclub]

3rd bullet is wrong

 

 

We're the only team with multiple 6HR games, but 3 others have done it once

[VATwinsFan]

Everyone who said the Twins would be 17 games over .500 with an 8 game lead over Cleveland before Memorial Day raise your hand.

[D.C Twins]

HOT TAKE....

 

Home Runs are FUN!

Winning if FUN!

[Darius]

This is getting kind of ridiculous. I don’t know what to think anymore. I’ve seem this team win 2 Workd Series Titles. Aside from that, this is the most fun I’ve ever had as a Twins fan.

 

Still have concerns about pitching. But, what a time to be a Twins fan.

[DannySD]

Some words we may never say again: Luis Arraez went two days on a major league roster without getting a hit. 

[Aerodeliria]

 

Yawn. Next. Sure he throws 97, but it's flat and straight.

 

Yeah, and even though it's flat and straight, he can't throw it over the plate when leading by two touchdowns...

[Aerodeliria]

This home run thing is mind-boggling; all this without Garver and Cruz in the lineup. I have never seen anything even approaching this display of power by a Twins team--granted, I was too young at the time to remember the Killebrew era well, but I doubt it was anything like this, was it?

 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

“So far this season, no other team in the league has hit six or more home runs in one game, the Twins have done it four times.”

 

That is mind-blowing.

[twinssporto]

I’m currently holed up in a camp site in the Boundary Waters 10 miles from Canada holding my phone towards the NE to get a good signal. I listened to the game today on an old radio in my boat. The Twins would hit a homer and I’d catch a walleye. The Twins would hit another and my son wound catch a walleye...what an amazing team!

 

Wait til Cruz and Garver come back! I’ll be over my walleye limit. I have tears in my eyes...

 

Seriously friends, this is the best offensive Twins team I’ve ever seen and I’ve been a fan for 35 years. The pitching ain’t bad either...

 

Gotta go now, fire needs another log. 40 degrees tonight.

[jimbo92107]

Tempted to ask what the heck happened to Austin Adams today, but don't we all know? It was nerves, of course. Gigantic lead, second appearance, boss tells you to "just throw strikes." Most veterans do just that, but when your roster spot is at risk, the pressure is higher than it appears from our angle. Adams was over-throwing his fastball bigly, and he couldn't back off. 

 

The good news was two innings earlier: Tyler Duffey is learning to command his amped up lower half. He looks to be transitioning from a finesse pitcher to a power pitcher. Two K's with 96mph fastballs? Never seen him do that before. 

 

Maybe Duffey is the reliable 2-inning right hander the Twins needed. 

[h2oface]

 

 

• So far this season, no other team in the league has hit six or more home runs in one game, the Twins have done it four times.

 

The Dodgers hit 8 in the season opener, and I think 2 other teams have done it also but the Twins have more 6+ homer games than the rest of the league combined.

 

 

Beat me to it, as the Dodgers slammed the home opener.........

 

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/d-backs-vs-dodgers/2019/03/28/565799#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=565799

 

Regardless, what the Twins are doing is relentless and amazing.

Edited May 24, 2019 by h2oface

[h2oface]

Did anyone see that ESPN crew/Scott Van Pelt is/are adopting the Twins as their team as of tonight?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Everyone who had Martin Perez over Matt Harvey as the clearcut better free agent signing raise your hand.

[h2oface]

It is interesting that the Twins only have been intentionally walked 2 times this year, but who are you going to walk intentionally when they currently lead MLB in homers (98), OPS (.855), slugging (.516), runs (289), extra base hits (208), RBI (277) and tied for run differential (+90); are second in hits (460) and average (.272), and 3rd in doubles (102)!

 

The fear coming into the season with this roster was where the OBP would come from, yet they are 6th (.340), and that there would be massive Ks, yet they are only 28th (366)! They are also only 22nd in GIDP with 29. 

 

This is truly remarkable at this point.

Edited May 24, 2019 by h2oface

[twinstalker]

If Austin Adams never makes another pitch for the Twins, I will remember him fondly as the player who pushed Addison Reed off the team.

 

The Twins may want to work with that 97 mph fastball a bit longer, but if they do drop Adams, I suspect it will be for Cruz, meaning Arraez can stick around until a reliever is needed. That might be only a day or two, but I can see them wanting Arraez to get a chance to experience Target Field.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I hope you guys are updating the fun with numbers thread with these facts.

[jmlease1]

A friend of mine is still struggling with the idea that this Twins team is good. It's always, "well, the lineup is ok, I guess." or "They should be able to compete for the division title, because the rest of the division is so bad." Or "Let's see how they do against good teams." Last night it was, "they only have like one guy hitting over .260." The great thing is, the more the Twins play, the dumber the excuses sound.

 

This game was a total rout.

 

8 homeruns in the game...again?!?

[woolywoolhouse]

Me on Tuesday, after the Twins hit two more homeruns to push their season total to 90 on May 21st: "Ok, slow down guys. You need to save some of those homeruns for later in the season."

 

Me on Thursday, after they hit eight more: "OK, apparently you've all got plenty of homeruns to spare. Keep hitting them I guess."

 

Miguel Sano has four homeruns in his first six games?!?

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

Four homers in twenty-five at-bats.

 

Welcome to "The Tater Brigade" Mr. Sano.

[mikelink45]

Adams does not have it.  We are going for the pennant, time to have only the best in the pen and he is not among them.  I hope that we will soon replace him and Morin with better quality.  Not sure how, but we have to incrementally improve the pen until we have what we need.  We have moved through Hildenberger, Mejia, Moya, Reed, Vasquez, DeJong, Romero, and now Adams.    Romero might be the one that returns, but otherwise we need better than all of those and we have to think championship.  AAA bullpen does not look good, how is AA?

[rdehring]

Only one word comes to mind after watching yesterday's game....WOW!

[Jerr]

As David HK said: 

 

"All those dingers! Wow, it harkens me back to those mid-60's daze of being a young pre-schooler, when I first was aware of the Twins, in those Killer, Tony O, Bob Allison, Jimmy Hall days, when everybody in the lineup was knocking dongs right and left!"

 

 

I was 8 yrs. old when the Twins came and the Vikings arrived in 1961. Baseball was THEE sport to follow !!!

Those Twins in the 60's, were a HR machine. So many great memories!!! And some how, the Twins of 2019 are making those days return. Dinger after dinger after dinger! 

 

So much fun this year and feeling like an 8 yr. old again!!!

Edited May 24, 2019 by Jerr

[Taildragger8791]

This. Is. Awesome.

 

It would be criminally negligent not to find one more solid bullpen arm to spread the load around, but overall the top 4-5 guys have been pretty solid when they aren't overused. I think a lot of that is credit to the rotation for going 6-7 innings consistently.

 

Adding another #3 or better starter would be a dream scenario. That pushes Pineda to the pen, and come playoff time you get to move a couple starters behind the outfield wall as well. Now things start looking pretty solid on the mound.

[Vanimal46]

I'm at a loss of words with this team. They're built to win home run derbys and exceeding all expectations.

[twinstalker]

 

A friend of mine is still struggling with the idea that this Twins team is good. It's always, "well, the lineup is ok, I guess." or "They should be able to compete for the division title, because the rest of the division is so bad." Or "Let's see how they do against good teams." Last night it was, "they only have like one guy hitting over .260." The great thing is, the more the Twins play, the dumber the excuses sound.

 

 

This friend sounds a bit more grounded than you. I haven't had to warn many, but it's very rare that everything just goes right from start to finish, and I'm shocked at how people are so quick to dismiss Cleveland. Ramirez is batting one-something, and Clevinger is working his way back. Things are going to change, Cleveland for the better, the Twins for the worse. They might change back, maybe very likely, but people are acting like it's over, and it's most definitely not over.

 

Enjoy the ride, but bad things happen to all teams, and we really haven't experienced that yet. It wasn't until the 1991 team went on the 15 game win streak that ended in July with the Twins firmly in control and pretty obviously one of the best  two teams in the AL that I truly was optimistic they'd be in the playoffs. This Twins team is arguably only the 5th or 6th best team in the AL.  There is variation in the intermediary, so it's not shocking that a team can get off to a hotter start than expected, especially with so many teams just not in the truly competing mode (nine teams). Notice the Twins are seemingly crushing but not pulling away from NYY, TB, and Hou.

[Danchat]

It is interesting that the Twins only have been intentionally walked 2 times this year, but who are you going to walk intentionally when they currently lead MLB in homers (98), OPS (.855), slugging (.516), runs (289), extra base hits (208), RBI (277) and tied for run differential (+90); are second in hits (460) and average (.272), and 3rd in doubles (102)!

 

The fear coming into the season with this roster was where the OBP would come from, yet they are 6th (.340), and that there would be massive Ks, yet they are only 28th (366)! They are also only 22nd in GIDP with 29.

 

This is truly remarkable at this point.

It’s crazy, you can’t intentionally walk anybody because this lineup is so good top to bottom.

[terrydactyls]

This may belong in the Fun With Numbers thread (and feel free to move it if you like).  I went to MLB.com and pulled up the Twins' home runs by year.  As of last night, the Twins have already passed the season totals for three teams (not including the strike-shortened 1981 season):  1976 (81), 1978 (82), and 1972 (93).  There are a bunch of teams which will be passed in the next few days:  1980 (99), 1990 (100), 1994  and  2011 (103), 1992 (104), and 1968 and 1999 (105).  Another 16 season totals are between 111 and 128 so I think they will be caught in a few weeks.  And we are only 30% through the 2019 season.  Yikes....

Edited May 24, 2019 by terrydactyls