Today's Afternoon Game (@KC, June 22 after a weird win)

[weinshie]

Hi everyone,

Long time firsts time (in awhile, I guess); I'm posting because I genuinely think today's game is pretty important, and here's why.

 

Last night the Twins won; they played poor ball in the middle innings: bad fielding, bad pitching and certainly some putrid at-bats. After the game, I kept hearing about how the Twins kept after it, how they overcame obstacles and found a way to win.

 

And they did.

 

That's what I love about this team. They played a below average game -- arguably a BAD game in terms of fundamentals and focus and quality, yet they "stole" a win. Bad plays, bad at-bats, bad pitching -- that's gonna happen. But HOW they happen is important.

 

Twins gave away a lot in last night's KC game: they gave up outs and unearned runs; they gave up pitches and at-bats, almost predictably: Get a bad call? Pout and whiff on a slider down and away. Give up an error? Hang your head and let the inning metastasize.

 

That didn't happen earlier in the season.

 

Ever since the Twins became frontrunners, there's been a change in HOW they have played. There's less resolve, less intensity, less focus. And, with the possible exception of Kepler and Berrios*, it's been a team-wide problem. Adversity has been met with, "We're good enough to overcome this." But the intensity isn't the same. And I know that's hard to maintain over 162 games, over a long season. But mindset is huge, and if they Twins lay an egg today, Rocco is going to have to talk about something the Twins will have to avoid if they want to be a real contender come October: complacency.

 

*I LOVED how Berrios handled a very rough first inning in his last start: he gave up 3 hits in a row, focused, then retired like 19 batters in a row. I really hope the Twins' bats explode today in a laugher. That's what the team is capable of...

[Doomtints]

Defense matters. Buxton is out.

 

Sano is having some major issues both offensively and defensively.

 

The team record since they sent Astudillo down (yes I know he's back) just has not been good.

 

The Twins haven't won anything yet, Cleveland can still get hot.

[Nine of twelve]

I assume this is the game thread? (It is not designated as such in the title.)

[MNT1996]

 

Defense matters. Buxton is out.

 

Sano is having some major issues both offensively and defensively.

 

The team record since they sent Astudillo down (yes I know he's back) just has not been good.

 

The Twins haven't won anything yet, Cleveland can still get hot.

 

Cleveland has been hot and the Twins have weathered it pretty well. If the Twins can have a 10-12 game division lead by the ASG I think we'll be in good playoff position. 

[james2334]

If the over/under for combined strike outs for Sano and Cave is 6, who takes the under?

[stringer bell]

 

I assume this is the game thread? (It is not designated as such in the title.)

Game Thread posted and pinned. Not this thread.

[Dantes929]

 

Defense matters. Buxton is out.

 

Sano is having some major issues both offensively and defensively.

 

The team record since they sent Astudillo down (yes I know he's back) just has not been good.

 

The Twins haven't won anything yet, Cleveland can still get hot.

its actually the team record since Buxton is out.   The overlap with Astudillo is coincidence.

[yarnivek1972]

Baldelli is making a HUGE mistake here. You can’t sacrifice an entire season to win one game. Rogers threw 20 pitches less than 18 hours ago. If Baldelli continues this kind of usage, he won’t be an all star. His arm will fall off.