Game Thread: Twins vs Cleveland 7:10 PM EDT (6:10 PM CDT) 9/7/2019

[AlwaysinModeration]

Time for perspective.  Twins lost a heartbreaker yesterday. Would be great to get a win today before facing Clevinger tomorrow. 

 

But more importantly, it's a beautiful day, and I'm about to head out to coach my youngest son's Little League game.   We've had one 1.5 hour practice.  We have new uniforms (provided by the Washington Nationals baseball club), and it's likely that the whole team will have their glove for the first game of the season.  We're ready to roll.  Our team sponsor is a local dental practice, and the team cheer is "Don't forget to floss!" - followed by the kids doing the floss dance, of course.

 

Here is our fearsome line-up of 7 and 8 year olds:

 

1. Ian, 2b (lefty, great contact hitter)

2. Erin, P (new to the team, looks like a gamer...also note, this is machine pitch, so she won't actually be pitching)

3. Kyle, bench (has a mighty swing)

4. Casey, 1B (coach's kid lands in the cleanup spot, go figure)

5. Ryan, SS (got a new buzzcut)

6. Will, C (would catch every inning of every game if he could)

7. Nolan, 3B (newcomer to team but played with another team in the spring; siblings are opting for soccer but he's baseball all the way)

8. Gary, RCF (looking like he will be making major improvements at the plate this fall)

9. Ashley, bench (new to team, great attitude showing up already)

9. Stevie, LF (quiet but steady player)

10. Coby, LCF (lefty, perhaps named after Jacoby Ellsbury?)

11. Hayden bench (a knack for making great plays in the field)

12. Aiden, RF (need to work on smoothing out his swing, but he's everywhere in the field)

 

I'll be back after the game, after the popsicles have been eaten, with some highlights, and some other things to think about.

 

Oh, and go, Twins!

[SwainZag]

 

 

5. Ryan, SS (got a new buzzcut)

 

 

This is the stuff the people need to know.  Kid seems like a real gamer.

[ashbury]

RandBall's Stu might attempt a satiric sabrmetric analysis of these kids and why they'll never make the major leagues, but I'm not so cruel. I'm only cruel enough to throw it out there as an idea, and then promptly disavow it.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Wait... the team only has one glove?

 

How does that work out?

 

Pitcher throws glove to catcher, and winds up... Fast ball donw the pipe.

 

Ball hit toward 3rd base. Catcher throws to 3rd base, who fields it cleanly, then throws the glove to 1st baseman followed immediately by ball (thrown with different hands, so no intermediate windup needed. But the runner beats the throw by a step...

 

Pitcher steps off mound quickly and tosses the glove to 1st base!

 

They caught the runner leaning...

 

And I shall leave the ensuing pickle to the readers' imagination.

 

Always, i cannot but conclude that you are a most amazing coach!

[sampleSizeOfOne]

I know everyone cares about the one glove game, but in case someone here follows MLB...

 

Indians

 

0. Aaron Civale (R ) P

1. F. Lindor ( S ) SS

2. Oscar Mercado (R ) CF

3. Carlos Santana ( S ) 1B

4. Yasiel Puig (R ) RF

5. Jason Kipnis ( L) 2B

6. Franmil Reyes (R ) DH

7. Mike Freeman ( L) 3B

8. Roberto Perez (R ) C

9. Greg Allen ( S ) LF

 

Twins

 

0. Jake Odorizzi (R ) P

1. Max Kepler ( L) CF

2. Mitch Garver (R ) C

3. Jorge Polanco ( S ) SS

4. Eddie Rosario ( L) RF

5. Miguel Sano (R ) DH

6. Luis Arraez ( L) LF

7. C.J. Cron (R ) 1B

8. W. Astudillo (R ) 3B

9. J. Schoop (R ) 2B

[AlwaysinModeration]

OK, back from the neighborhood ballfields and the afternoon Little League game. It was the first game of the fall season, and the rust was definitely showing.The team didn't really put on their best showing, I have to say.The energy levels were low, the strikeouts were high, and the amount of time playing in the dirt probably exceeded the amount of time paying attention to the game. Several kids insisted on wearing their caps backwards, or sideways, or not at all.

 

I promised highlights.Hmmm...digging deep here.There were several putouts in the field, granted all of the "field grounder, step on the nearby bag" variety.Four kids played catcher, and two of them caught some of the pitches, in fact.Several hard-hit balls, including a double to "deep right" / just over second base by our clean-up hitter.One player almost caught a pop-up, sort of.By the end of the game, the bats started to pick it up a bit, timing the machine a bit better...but still a lot of work to do. No one got seriously injured.And every kid managed to bring their glove except for one, so that is a victory right there.For those wondering, there are two team gloves...one lefty catchers mitt and one righty catchers mitt, but, um, each kid has one too.

 

The weather was warm and sunny, and the popsicles were cold and refreshing.

 

Here are five things to think about:

 

1.Michael Pineda, no longer the Twins ace.You have to wonder if he just pitched his last game for the Twins.

 

2.Aaron Civale, the Indians' starting pitcher, is not this good. He has pitched seven games in the majors, 41IP with a 1.94 ERA.He's given up 1 homer.In the minors, over 381IP, he pitched a 3.12 ERA with 32 homers.He's due to give up some homers, and he's going up against the greatest home run hitting team of all time.Twins will go yard on this guy at least twice tonight.

 

3.I question the move to Graterol and the walk of Greg Allen in the game last night.If either had worked, ok.But I'd give a clean inning to start with.And walking Greg Allen? Really?He of course scored.

 

4.Tonight's game is not a must-win game, not even remotely.But coupled with the Pineda suspension and the Clevinger start against ?? tomorrow, I have to imagine people are starting to get a bit squirrelly.I don't think the team is feeling that.I think they will be loose and score a bunch of runs tonight.

 

5. Line-ups:

 

Aaron Civale ®

1. Francisco Lindor (S) SS

2. Oscar Mercado ® CF

3. Carlos Santana (S) 1B

4. Yasiel Puig ® RF

5. Jason Kipnis (L) 2B

6. Franmil Reyes ® DH

7. Mike Freeman (L) 3B

8. Roberto Perez ® C

9. Greg Allen (S) LF

 

Jake Odorizzi ®

1. Max Kepler (L) CF

2. Mitch Garver ® C

3. Jorge Polanco (S) SS

4. Eddie Rosario (L) RF

5. Miguel Sano ® DH

6. Luis Arraez (L) LF

7. C.J. Cron ® 1B

8. Willians Astudillo ® 3B

9. Jonathan Schoop ® 2B

[PDX Twin]

Given the news of the day, it's worth noting that this lineup (and the lineup for the rest of the series) would be exactly the same if Pineda were available. If the Twins can keep winning a reasonable percentage of the games that Pineda wouldn't have pitched, the handful that he would have pitched will be irrelevant, at least until the post-season.

[yarnivek1972]

The lineup is considerably less formidable without Cruz in it.

[AlwaysinModeration]

The lineup is considerably less formidable without Cruz in it.

I don’t know, looks formidable to me.

 

Granted, if you could sub in Kyle, Ashley, and Coby, we’d really be talking about a lineup.

[yarnivek1972]

I would say tonight is about as “must win” as a game can be for a team up 5 1/2 games. If the Twins win tonight, they will likely use their top relievers (Duffey, Rogers). May and Romo are likely unavailable after working two in a row. If both are used tonight, the chances of using either tomorrow afternoon is remote. So, if they use those guys and still lose, that’s a big problem.

 

I still think not bringing up Ryan O’Rourke was a HUGE mistake. Especially now. Falvine obviously knew Pineda’s suspension was looming on August 30. That puts Perez in the postseason rotation (if there still is postseason for this team) for sure. That means no lefty stopper other than Rogers. Neither Thorpe or Smeltzer have splits (MLB or milb) that suggest they can get LHB out exceptionally well. Indeed, Smeltzer has slightly “reverse” splits and Thorpe is only marginally better vs LHB.

[yarnivek1972]

I don’t know, looks formidable to me.

 

Granted, if you could sub in Kyle, Ashley, and Coby, we’d really be talking about a lineup.

Pretty weak after Arraez vs a RHP IMO.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Pretty weak after Arraez vs a RHP IMO.

I don’t know. I get the sense the bats are breaking out tonight. Five run rules in effect, mercy rule, etc.

[Nine of twelve]

I'm not at home tonight. The place where I'm watching the game has all the ambience of a squirrel's nest. And I mean that in a good way. Hope this brings the team good luck. We could use some.

[Nine of twelve]

I don't wish him well tonight, but Francisco Lindor is my favorite non-Twins baseball player.

[yarnivek1972]

I don’t know. I get the sense the bats are breaking out tonight. Five run rules in effect, mercy rule, etc.

Or, Cleveland smells blood in the water and jumps all over Odorizzi.

[Bomba2026]

When will the entire A team be ready to play again?

[Nine of twelve]

 

When will the entire A team be ready to play again?

If you count Pineda, next May.

[ScrapTheNickname]

Why hasn't the game started? Did they hold some kind of memorial service for Lost Integrity?

[yarnivek1972]

Why hasn't the game started? Did they hold some kind of memorial service for Lost Integrity?

???

 

Lindor and Mercado both struck out already.

[Nine of twelve]

Now THAT is pitch-to-non-contact.

[yarnivek1972]

And so did Santana.

 

Odorizzi is on pace to strike out 15.

[PDX Twin]

 

If you count Pineda, next May.

 

Never? Given the players who are unlikely to be Twins next season?

[ScrapTheNickname]

 

???

Lindor and Mercado both struck out already.

Thanks! I was sitting on a stream that said "The game will start momentarily" momentarily momentarily

[Nine of twelve]

If and when we no longer have Cruz Garver should DH when he's not catching if at all possible.

[VATwinsFan]

GARVER MANIA!!!!

[PDX Twin]

 

If and when we no longer have Cruz Garver should DH when he's not catching if at all possible.

 

Yup. He's Garving up the American League this year.

[VATwinsFan]

Did you all see that guy almost jump over the railing to avoid getting hit by Garver's HR while the other guy was waiting to catch it?

 

Embarassing IMHO.

[PDX Twin]

 

Do you all see that guy almost jump over the railing to avoid getting hit by Garver's HR while the other guy was waiting to catch it?

 

Embarassing IMHO.

 

Probably a Cleveland fan.

[Don Walcott]

Odo looks good so far. We’re going to need more Bombas, though.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

More insurance runs!

 

(just figured i'd get an early start)