Game Thread: Twins vs Red Sox, 6/18/19, 7:10 PM

[Mill1634]

The Twins have lost back-to-back games!! Oh my gosh, the world must be coming to an end. On a less extreme note, the Twins are still in first place by more than 10 games, and that is with the Indians playing well. They have only picked up half a game since the start of June. Tonight, the Twins have to win to have a shot at winning the series against the Red Sox with Michael Pineda on the mound.

 

 

The Pitchers:

David Price (4-2, 3.52 ERA, 71 K's) vs Michael Pineda (4-3, 5.04 ERA, 57 K's)

 

David Price is having the best year he has since he was named to the All-Star team in 2015. The lefty has a 3.52 ERA, with a FIP of 3.18. He is striking out over a batter an inning, and is keeping the ball in the ballpark for the most part. He also doesn't give free passes, so the Twins offense is going to have to step up after not scoring a run last night. Pineda has pitched better as of late, but is still a back of the rotation starter for a reason. The big righty has struggled to put hitters away, with a K/9 of just under 7.5. He is also being bitten by the home run ball, giving up nearly two every nine innings. I suspect Pineda only has a handful of starts left before he is either cut, traded, or moved to the bullpen.

 

The Lineups:

 

The Twins

 

SS J. Polanco S
C Mitch Garver R
DH Nelson Cruz R
LF E. Rosario L
1B C.J. Cron R
RF M. Gonzalez S
3B Miguel Sano R
CF Jake Cave L
2B J. Schoop R

 

The Red Sox

 

RF Mookie Betts R
LF A. Benintendi L
DH J. Martinez R
3B R. Devers L
SS X. Bogaerts R
2B Brock Holt L
1B M. Chavis R
CF J. Bradley Jr. L
C C. Vazquez R

 

C.J Cron has had decent success off of David Price, going .333 in 24 at bats, and has taken him yard once. Max Kepler, who is not in tonights lineup, has gone out of the park against Price, as has Jonathan Schoop. Jake Cave is getting a start in center field, which is interesting as he did not grade out great in the outfield last year. If I was making the lineup card, Marwin would be in left, Eddie in center, and Cave in right. Mitch Garver is hitting 2nd, with Polanco leading off which is a flip flop of the two against lefties so far this year. Mookie Betts has had fantastic success off of Pineda, with two homers and a batting average of .304. Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. are also both hitting near .300 off of the Twins right hander. It will be very interesting to see how this game turns out. 

 

Mill's Moments:

1. Byron Buxton Always has Me Scared

Byron Buxton is a fantastic baseball player, especially this year. There are only a few players in the entire game that I would choose to watch ahead of Byron Buxton, however, he is only effective when he is healthy, and he always seems to be unhealthy.  I understand that Buxton is not able to prevent his latest injury, but every single game I have a fear that Buxton is just one play away from being out for an extended period of time. Let's hope Buxton is able to be activated in a week, when he is eligible to return.

2. Luis Arraez Promoted

Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day DL along with Byron Buxton. Ehire was absolutely crushing the ball by his standards, which is too bad for both the Twins, and for Ehire. Jake Cave was recalled for Buxton, while Arraez was recalled for Ehire. Last time was saw Arraez up here he played really well, so it is good to see him get another run with the MLB club. However, I am very surprised that Willians was not the player recalled for Ehire, especially with Marwin already serving in his utility role. The turtle is posting an OPS of over 1.000 at Rochester, and is catching every other day. However, I am not disappointed in this decision at all, just surprised. 

 

This Day in History: 2017 - On Father's Day, Nolan Arenado becomes the fifth major leaguer to hit a walk-off homer to complete a cycle when he blasts a three-run homer off Mark Melancon to beat the Giants at Coors Field, 7-5. The game-ending round tripper caps the team's first four-game sweep of San Francisco in the 25-year history the franchise.

 

Pick to Click: Jorge Polanco is hitting a triple tonight

 

Go Twins!!!

[Blake]

Okay, Twins, get 'er done!

[operation mindcrime]

I see that we signed Ian Krol! Now we have KRULL & CROM!!!!!! \m/

[Cap'n Piranha]

Willians hitting is certainly great, and fun to follow, but I'd be much more interested in if his approach is different.  Is he doing a better job at laying off pitches outside the zone?  His ability to make contact is not in question, but his ability to refrain from making contact against slop is.

[scottz]

I hope our baseball team wins tonight.

[howeda7]

Free La Tortuga or this slide will continue!

[Blake]

 

Willians hitting is certainly great, and fun to follow, but I'd be much more interested in if his approach is different.  Is he doing a better job at laying off pitches outside the zone?  His ability to make contact is not in question, but his ability to refrain from making contact against slop is.

Which is better? Someone who puts the ball in play or someone who strikes out? 

[Darius]

I feel a sweep coming on. We can’t seem to put it together lately (pitching and hitting simultaneously).

[Darius]

Which is better? Someone who puts the ball in play or someone who strikes out?

Without context, that question can’t be answered.

 

Why are strikeouts so bad? Defenders are better and more athletic now than ever. We’re seeing teams setting scoring records while setting strikeout records.

 

I don’t get the obsession with preventing strikeouts for sake of squibbing the call in the infield. All of the recent advanced stats trends tells us that’s the opposite of what you want to do.

[Danchat]

I didn't catch the Adrianza DL move... so Arraez is back as well. Let's hope the cavalry from AAA is ready to help this lineup out and things going again.

[blindeke]

Throwing Cave right into the deep end of the pool, I see.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Willians hitting is certainly great, and fun to follow, but I'd be much more interested in if his approach is different.  Is he doing a better job at laying off pitches outside the zone?  His ability to make contact is not in question, but his ability to refrain from making contact against slop is.

A combination of elite contact skills, but not good control of the strike zone. He’s a keeper though. He’s got baseball sense and it looks like he can catch well enough to make a decent MLB career of it.

[PDX Twin]

This has been bugging me all season, but I finally figured out of whom Pineda reminds me. It's not flattering: Sydney Ponson. Big, formerly a star, picked up cheaply. By that standard, Pineda is having a great season!

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Which is better? Someone who puts the ball in play or someone who strikes out? 

 

Someone who puts the ball in play to the shortstop with a runner on first and only one out is in all likelihood twice as bad as someone who strikes out in the same situation.

[ashbury]

Schoop is just such an asset on defense. Goes to his right on that grounder by Devers, and makes it look easy.

 

/ edit - Can't say the same for Cave on that fly ball by Holt. He got the job done, but looked so uncertain. Can't wait for Buxton to be back.

[70charger]

Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, but doesn't Kepler grade out as a better CF than Cave? When Buxton is out, Kepler seems like he should be the guy.

[David HK]

Pinche Price.

 

What's he doing out there, wearing Murray Oliver's old number 10?

 

That's not a pitcher's number.  

 

I hope we eat him alive like a meatball sandwich today.

 

[70charger]

Also - and I'm just putting this out here - I am in better shape than Michael Pineda. Which means that I have a better body than a professional athlete. Which means I'm basically Fabio.

[bighat]

Twins went from the Bomba Boys to Nubbers R' Us in a few short games here.

[drock2190]

Went to my first game in 3 years last night. Really got to see this offense in its final form.

[nicksaviking]

Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, but doesn't Kepler grade out as a better CF than Cave? When Buxton is out, Kepler seems like he should be the guy.

Yeah but when they look to include Cave in a trade for pitching it looks nicer to put a CF in front of his name than RF.

[twinsbaby]

Rocco needs to sit on Sano. He still can't make contact on meatball. Sucks.

[70charger]

 

Yeah but when they look to include Cave in a trade for pitching it looks nicer to put a CF in front of his name than RF.

 

I feel like this is tongue in cheek. Unless Bill Smith is GMing somewhere I don't know about?

[bighat]

Keep it up Pineda, good so far.

[70charger]

Also, now that we've established that I'm basically Fabio, I'm going to have some ice cream.

[Brock Beauchamp]

So this series has been a real slugfest.

[twinsbaby]

What!? This pitch is a strike? Just probably 5 inches outside.

[PDX Twin]

Will the Twins ever score again? Or will 1 or 2 runs beat us every night?

[70charger]

 

Will the Twins ever score again? Or will 1 or 2 runs beat us every night?

 

No.

[70charger]

 

Will the Twins ever score again? Or will 1 or 2 runs beat us every night?

 

Wait, yes.