Virtual Twins Baseball Megathread

thuuuuney · May 28, 2020

Moving forward this will house every game-thread in the comments below until real baseball hopefully comes back. I should have done this sooner and apologize for flooding the forums with posts daily.

thuuuuney · May 28, 2020

5/28/20: Twins (35-21) @ Yankees (40-16) 7:05pmCT

Get Your Brooms Out..

Catch-up
For the first time since 2014, the Twins have taken a series from the Yankees in the big apple behind a career day from Jose Berrios (14K's Career Best), and the 2nd game in a row with a 3-Run HR by Kepler in the 9th. Now they chase after something that hasn't happened in nearly 53 years, a series sweep in New York

Pre-game
6:50pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 35-21
2. Indians 31-26
3. Royals 28-29
4. White Sox 26-31
5. Tigers 22-34

Starting Pitchers

Minnesota: Randy Dobnak 5-0, 3.89 ERA, 34.2 IP, 22 K's
New York: James Paxton* 7-2, 2.11 ERA, 76.2 IP, 88 K's

*=James Paxton: 4th in AL, ERA (2.11). 3rd in AL, WHIP (0.98).

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .237 BA, 15 HR, 31 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .298 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .330 BA, 19 HR, 41 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .291 BA, 17 HR, 40 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .257 BA, 9 HR, 26 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .260 BA, 12 HR, 34 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .238 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .315 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .228 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: 1st in AL, OPS (1.094)

New York Batting Order

2B D.J. LeMahieu* .313 BA, 7 HR, 35 RBI
RF Brett Gardner .283 BA, 6 HR, 16 RBI
SS Gleyber Torres .279 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI
DH Giancarlo Stanton .277 BA, 15 HR, 26 RBI
C Gary Sanchez .188 BA, 6 HR, 15 RBI
1B Mike Ford .382 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI
LF Clint Frazier .000 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI in 2 At-Bats.
3B Miguel Andujar .242 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI
CF Mike Tauchman .176 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI

*= D.J. LeMahieu: 11th in AL, OBP (.396)

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 95
- 2019 through 56 games: 104

Storylines
1. This is the definition of a revenge game for Randy Dobnak. His last start against NYY in the ALDS he went 2.0IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, and the lose. Tonight Dobnak is coming off back to back 7.0IP shutout performances and has earned his spot in the rotation, now trying to defeat his old foe.
2. The Twins have already done something historic beating the Yankees in New York (hadn't been done since 2014), but now with the sweep today, it would net the Twins the first of its kind since 1968. (Credit u/mightyminnesota for the stats via Baseball Reference).
3. In his career Paxton is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA against Minnesota (Only 0.16 off of his current 2020 ERA) in 6 starts and is averaging 5.2 IP and should most assuredly be a formidable foe for Minnesota tonight.

Richie the Rally Goat · May 29, 2020

Moving forward this will house every game-thread in the comments below until real baseball hopefully comes back. I should have done this sooner and apologize for flooding the forums with posts daily.

far from flooded. It’s always great to read your content and listen to your play by play. Keep up the great work

thuuuuney · May 29, 2020

5/28/20: Twins (35-21) @ Yankees (40-16) 7:05pmCT

Get Your Brooms Out..

Catch-up
For the first time since 2014, the Twins have taken a series from the Yankees in the big apple behind a career day from Jose Berrios (14K's Career Best), and the 2nd game in a row with a 3-Run HR by Kepler in the 9th. Now they chase after something that hasn't happened in nearly 53 years, a series sweep in New York

Pre-game
6:50pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings
1. Twins 35-21
2. Indians 31-26
3. Royals 28-29
4. White Sox 26-31
5. Tigers 22-34

Starting Pitchers
Minnesota: Randy Dobnak 5-0, 3.89 ERA, 34.2 IP, 22 K's
New York: James Paxton* 7-2, 2.11 ERA, 76.2 IP, 88 K's
*=James Paxton: 4th in AL, ERA (2.11). 3rd in AL, WHIP (0.98).

Minnesota Batting Order
RF Max Kepler .237 BA, 15 HR, 31 RBI

SS Jorge Polanco .298 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI

C Mitch Garver* .330 BA, 19 HR, 41 RBI

1B Miguel Sano .291 BA, 17 HR, 40 RBI

LF Eddie Rosario .257 BA, 9 HR, 26 RBI

DH Nelson Cruz .260 BA, 12 HR, 34 RBI

3B Josh Donaldson .238 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBI

2B Luis Arraez .315 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI

CF Byron Buxton .228 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
*=Mitch Garver: 1st in AL, OPS (1.094)

New York Batting Order
2B D.J. LeMahieu* .313 BA, 7 HR, 35 RBI

RF Brett Gardner .283 BA, 6 HR, 16 RBI

SS Gleyber Torres .279 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI

DH Giancarlo Stanton .277 BA, 15 HR, 26 RBI

C Gary Sanchez .188 BA, 6 HR, 15 RBI

1B Mike Ford .382 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI

LF Clint Frazier .000 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI in 2 At-Bats.

3B Miguel Andujar .242 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI

CF Mike Tauchman .176 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI
*= D.J. LeMahieu: 11th in AL, OBP (.396)

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 95
- 2019 through 56 games: 104

Storylines
1. This is the definition of a revenge game for Randy Dobnak. His last start against NYY in the ALDS he went 2.0IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, and the lose. Tonight Dobnak is coming off back to back 7.0IP shutout performances and has earned his spot in the rotation, now trying to defeat his old foe.
2. The Twins have already done something historic beating the Yankees in New York (hadn't been done since 2014), but now with the sweep today, it would net the Twins the first of its kind since 1968. (Credit u/mightyminnesota for the stats via Baseball Reference).
3. In his career Paxton is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA against Minnesota (Only 0.16 off of his current 2020 ERA) in 6 starts and is averaging 5.2 IP and should most assuredly be a formidable foe for Minnesota tonight.

I'll cut up a formal post-game soon but I mean, this is probably my favorite moment of this whole project.

https://clips.twitch.tv/KnottyDreamyHamYee

thuuuuney · May 29, 2020

far from flooded. It’s always great to read your content and listen to your play by play. Keep up the great work

Thank you Sconnie I'm happy you've enjoyed it and you've been very supportive throughout all of this. By the way you should check the highlight underneath today's game..

Richie the Rally Goat · May 29, 2020

Why yes I am!

thuuuuney · May 29, 2020

5/29/20: Minnesota Twins (35-22) @ Chicago White Sox (26-31) 7:10pmCT

Catch-up
Chicago finished off their road trip with a 4 game sweep over Baltimore and now begin a home-stand against the Twins for the third time this season (Twins winning previous two series, 4-2 overall against Chicago this season). With the Twins coming off an emotional lose yesterday, could this be the series Chicago proves they've arrived?

Pre-game
6:50pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 35-22
2. Indians 31-27
3. Royals 29-29
4. White Sox 26-31
5. Tigers 23-34

Starting Pitchers

Chicago: Carlos Rodon 5-5, 3.82 ERA, 61.1 IP, 59 K's
Minnesota: Jake Odorizzi 2-4, 5.24 ERA, 55.0 IP, 56 K's

Minnesota Batting Order

LF Eddie Rosario .258 BA, 9 HR, 26 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .292 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .237 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .255 BA, 12 HR, 34 RBI
RF Marwin Gonzalez .269 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .313 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
1B Ehire Adrianza .286 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
C Willians Astudillo .184 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .236 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI

Chicago Batting Order

SS Tim Anderson .263 BA, 5 HR, 20 RBI
3B Yoan Moncada .269 BA, 6 HR, 27 RBI
1B Jose Abreu .249 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
LF Eloy Jimenez .312 BA, 20 HR, 44 RBI
C Yasmani Grandal .254 BA, 6 HR, 21 RBI
DH Edwin Encarnacion .208 BA, 12 HR, 30 RBI
CF Luis Robert .311 BA, 5 HR, 9 RBI
RF Nomar Mazara .265 BA, 7 HR, 19 RBI
2B Leury Garcia .222 BA, 6 HR, 22 RBI

*=Eloy Jimenez: 1st in MLB, HR (20).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 98
- 2019 through 57 games: 105

Storylines

It's the third series of the year between these two AL Central foes and both clubs are coming in 5-2 in each of their last 7 games. So some good baseball being played for the past week should result in a great series in the windy city.
While Mitch Garver has had a rough stretch the past 4 games, Eloy Jimenez has not, batting .411, 3 HR, 6 RBI and 5 XBH during that stretch and is looking to add more firepower tonight now leading baseball in HR's.
For Rondon, it's been two quiet starts against Minnesota this year, both totaling 5.0 IP, 2 ER, and a No Decision. For Jake Odorizzi it's only been one start where he went 5.0 IP, and 2 ER, but he's lacked consistency for the whole season it feels like. In the month of May Odo has made 5 starts, is 1-1 in 23.1 IP with a 6.62 ERA.

thuuuuney · May 30, 2020

5/30/20: Minnesota Twins (35-23) @ Chicago White Sox (27-31) 1:10pmCT

Catch-up
We had a Grand Slam from Encarnacion, we had a position player pitching for the first time all season in Miguel Sano, and we had a barn burner in game one that went the way of Chicago 15-6. Today's game happens to fall on a Saturday, where the Twins are 8-1 this season and must really prove a point that it's their favorite day of the week. The White Sox on a 5 game winning streak, the Twins looking to even the series, should be a good one.

Pre-game
12:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 35-23
2. Indians 31-28
3. Royals 30-29
4. White Sox 27-31
5. Tigers 23-35

Starting Pitchers

Chicago: Gio Gonzalez* 2-7, 7.18 ERA, 52.2 IP, 42 K's
Minnesota: Homer Bailey** 5-1, 1.90 ERA, 66.1 IP, 44 K's

*=Gio Gonzalez: Last start against Minnesota 4/11/20 (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K's season high, and the W in a 9-2 White Sox victory).

**=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL in ERA & WHIP, (1.90 and 0.95 respectively).

Minnesota Batting Order**

RF Max Kepler .238 BA, 16 HR, 33 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .286 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .326 BA, 19 HR, 41 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .294 BA, 19 HR, 44 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .257 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .259 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .241 BA, 4 HR, 16 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .312 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .237 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: 2nd in AL, OPS (1.082)
**=Twins Offense: 1st in AL as a club in SLG (.483, 114 doubles with Rosario leading club with 15, 6 triples, and 100 Bombas with Garver and Sano tied for team lead with 19 a piece).

Chicago Batting Order

SS Tim Anderson .269 BA, 5 HR, 20 RBI
3B Yoan Moncada .271 BA, 6 HR, 28 RBI
1B Jose Abreu .252 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
LF Eloy Jimenez* .314 BA, 20 HR, 45 RBI
CF Luis Robert** .333 BA, 5 HR, 12 RBI
DH Edwin Encarnacion .214 BA, 13 HR, 35 RBI
C James McCann .273 BA, 18 HR, 60 RBI in 2019 All-Star campaign, 0-5 this season.
RF Nomar Mazara .274 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI
2B Danny Mendick .181 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI

*=Eloy Jimenez: 1st in MLB, HR (20).
**=Luis Robert: AL Rookie of the month and well on his to win award for May leading all qualified rookies in Batting Average with .333 and OPS with .947

Bomba Tracker

- 2020: 100
- 2019 through 58 games: 106

Storylines

Chicago is not only one win away from taking the series over Minnesota for the first time this season, but extending their already season high winning streak of 5 games to 6 today.
Feels like we say this everytime, but the unlikely hero of the season for Minnesota will toot the rubber again in Homer Bailey. We've boasted over his stats earlier in this post but he's out for some revenge here in game two as Bailey had one of his worst starts of the year his last time out against Chicago (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3ER, 2 BB, 4 K's).
My whole goal of this project has been to try and provide entertainment and your daily fix of baseball at a time where we so desperately miss it. With all that is going on in Minneapolis right now, we will try and lift your spirits and provide a fun distraction to your otherwise stressful afternoon.

thuuuuney · May 31, 2020

5/30/20: Minnesota Twins (35-23) @ Chicago White Sox (27-31) 1:10pmCT

Catch-up
We had a Grand Slam from Encarnacion, we had a position player pitching for the first time all season in Miguel Sano, and we had a barn burner in game one that went the way of Chicago 15-6. Today's game happens to fall on a Saturday, where the Twins are 8-1 this season and must really prove a point that it's their favorite day of the week. The White Sox on a 5 game winning streak, the Twins looking to even the series, should be a good one.

Pre-game
12:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings
1. Twins 35-23
2. Indians 31-28
3. Royals 30-29
4. White Sox 27-31
5. Tigers 23-35

Starting Pitchers
Chicago: Gio Gonzalez* 2-7, 7.18 ERA, 52.2 IP, 42 K's
Minnesota: Homer Bailey** 5-1, 1.90 ERA, 66.1 IP, 44 K's
*=Gio Gonzalez: Last start against Minnesota 4/11/20 (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K's season high, and the W in a 9-2 White Sox victory).

**=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL in ERA & WHIP, (1.90 and 0.95 respectively).

Minnesota Batting Order**
RF Max Kepler .238 BA, 16 HR, 33 RBI

SS Jorge Polanco .286 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI

C Mitch Garver* .326 BA, 19 HR, 41 RBI

1B Miguel Sano .294 BA, 19 HR, 44 RBI

DH Nelson Cruz .257 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI

LF Eddie Rosario .259 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI

3B Josh Donaldson .241 BA, 4 HR, 16 RBI

2B Luis Arraez .312 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI

CF Byron Buxton .237 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
*=Mitch Garver: 2nd in AL, OPS (1.082)
**=Twins Offense: 1st in AL as a club in SLG (.483, 114 doubles with Rosario leading club with 15, 6 triples, and 100 Bombas with Garver and Sano tied for team lead with 19 a piece).

Chicago Batting Order
SS Tim Anderson .269 BA, 5 HR, 20 RBI

3B Yoan Moncada .271 BA, 6 HR, 28 RBI

1B Jose Abreu .252 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI

LF Eloy Jimenez* .314 BA, 20 HR, 45 RBI

CF Luis Robert** .333 BA, 5 HR, 12 RBI

DH Edwin Encarnacion .214 BA, 13 HR, 35 RBI

C James McCann .273 BA, 18 HR, 60 RBI in 2019 All-Star campaign, 0-5 this season.

RF Nomar Mazara .274 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI

2B Danny Mendick .181 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI
*=Eloy Jimenez: 1st in MLB, HR (20).
**=Luis Robert: AL Rookie of the month and well on his to win award for May leading all qualified rookies in Batting Average with .333 and OPS with .947

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 100
- 2019 through 58 games: 106

Storylines
Chicago is not only one win away from taking the series over Minnesota for the first time this season, but extending their already season high winning streak of 5 games to 6 today.

Feels like we say this everytime, but the unlikely hero of the season for Minnesota will toot the rubber again in Homer Bailey. We've boasted over his stats earlier in this post but he's out for some revenge here in game two as Bailey had one of his worst starts of the year his last time out against Chicago (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3ER, 2 BB, 4 K's).

My whole goal of this project has been to try and provide entertainment and your daily fix of baseball at a time where we so desperately miss it. With all that is going on in Minneapolis right now, we will try and lift your spirits and provide a fun distraction to your otherwise stressful afternoon.

A crazy game but my favorite moment of the year, the Actual Trevor May raids the stream to check on how the Virtual Twins are doing.

https://clips.twitch.tv/SpinelessSuperTitanSwiftRage

thuuuuney · May 31, 2020

Catch-up
Six lead changes, our 2nd extra innings game in three days, and a raid from the real Trevor May checking in on the Virtual Twins. An unreal day yesterday and what makes today even better, this game will decide the series.

Pre-game

12:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

Team Record PCT GB L10 Division
1. Twins 36-23 .610 - 6-4 15-10
2. Royals 31-29 .517 5.5 5-5 12-11
3. Indians 31-29 .517 5.5 5-5 16-9
4. White Sox 27-32 .466 9.0 6-4 8-13
5. Tigers 24-35 .407 12.0 5-5 10-18

Starting Pitchers

Chicago: Reynaldo Lopez* 4-2, 3.74 ERA, 65.0 IP, 62 K's
Minnesota: Kenta Maeda** 1-2, 3.19 ERA, 48.0 IP, 74 K's

*=Reynaldo Lopez: In two starts against Minnesota (9.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 8 BB, 12 K's 0-1).
**=Kenta Maeda: Last start against Chicago 4/10/20 (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K's W in 4-1 win for Minnesota. Also leads Twins staff in K's with 74).

Minnesota Batting Order

C Mitch Garver* .321 BA, 19 HR, 42 RBI
RF Max Kepler .237 BA, 16 HR, 33 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson** .245 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .260 BA, 13 HR, 38 RBI
LF Marwin Gonzalez .250 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
1B Alex Avila .270 BA, 4 HR, 7 RBI
SS Ehire Adrianza .301 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .320 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Jake Cave .303 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: 2nd in AL, SLG (.663)
**=Josh Donaldson: 4-10 this series with 3 HR.

Chicago Batting Order

SS Tim Anderson .277 BA, 5 HR, 22 RBI
3B Yoan Moncada .263 BA, 6 HR, 28 RBI
1B Jose Abreu .251 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
LF Eloy Jimenez* .308 BA, 20 HR, 45 RBI
CF Luis Robert .328 BA, 6 HR, 13 RBI
DH Edwin Encarnacion** .218 BA, 14 HR, 36 RBI
C Yasmani Grandal .254 BA, 6 HR, 21 RBI
RF Nomar Mazara** .278 BA, 9 HR, 24 RBI
2B Leury Garcia .230 BA, 6 HR, 23 RBI

*=Eloy Jimenez: 1st in MLB, HR (20).
**=Encarnacion and Mazara "The Twin Killers," have each HR'd at least once in these first two games of the series and in 10 games this season against MIN they've combined for 6 HR's.

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 105
- 2019 through 59 games: 108

Storylines

Reynaldo Lopez hasn't necessarily lit up the scoreboard against Minnesota this season, but he has been decent only allowing 2 ER in each start and going 5.0 IP and Chicago will lean on him to take the series for the first time this season over Minnesota today.
The Twins have to ask which Kenta Maeda they are getting today. Averaging 4.2 IP and with the ERA ballooning from 1.78 a couple starts ago to 3.19 now, the Twins need a bounceback game to take the series before heading home to Target Field for a homestand with the Rays and Angels.
Today ends the Twins best month of the year currently 18-9 in the month of May and Chicago having just lost their best winning streak of the year, 5 games, the final game of this series should be a good one!

thuuuuney · June 1, 2020

6/1/20: Tampa Bay Rays (33-28) @ Minnesota Twins (37-23) 7:10pmCT

Moving Forward
My goal of this project was only to go until real baseball began. If this proposal is accepted we will deliver games up until the day before real baseball is brought back including simming to the postseason to show a tease of what the real team could bring. Hoping proposal is passed but regardless just wanted to quick update everyone what the plans are.

Catch-up
The Twins end the month of May riding higher than they have all season, an 19-9 record, multiple players near the tops of the All-Star ballot, and tonights starter in Jose Berrios coming back to form will make for a fun month of June. Also "Big Mike," returns on Wednesday!

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 37-23
2. Indians 32-29
3. Royals 31-29
4. White Sox 27-33
5. Tigers 24-35

Starting Pitchers

Tampa Bay: Blake Snell** 6-2, 2.59 ERA, 73.0 IP, 88 K's
Minnesota: Jose Berrios* 6-2, 3.52 ERA, 69.0 IP, 78 K's

*=Jose Berrios: 2-1, 2.12 ERA, 41 K's, 1.00 WHIP in Month of May (6 starts).
**= Blake Snell: 5th in AL, Quality Starts (10 in 12 starts).

Tampa Bay Batting Order

CF Kevin Kiermaier .229 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI
SS Willy Adames* .301 BA, 16 HR, 46 RBI
RF Austin Meadows .238 BA, 8 HR, 26 RBI
1B Ji-Man Choi .332 BA, 12 HR, 34 RBI
LF Hunter Renfroe .252 BA, 7 HR, 14 RBI
C Mike Zunino .268 BA, 7 HR, 23 RBI
3B Yandy Diaz .251 BA, 11 HR, 33 RBI
2B Brandon Lowe .245 BA, 4 HR, 29 RBI
DH Joey Wendle .232 BA, 5 HR, 15 RBI

*=Willy Adames: 4th in AL, RBI (46).

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .237 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .289 BA, 9 HR, 40 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .320 BA, 19 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .293 BA, 19 HR, 45 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .250 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .265 BA, 14 HR, 41 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .258 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .318 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .242 BA, 7 HR, 20 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: Leading AL vote getter overall for All-Star Game (389K votes at Catcher).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 107
- 2019 through 60 games: 111

Storylines

It's our 4th "Ace Off," of the year as Jose Berrios squares off this time against one of the best in the business, the 2018 Cy Young winner in Blake Snell (21-5, 1.89 ERA, 5.6 H/9, 221 K's in 31 starts).
We're going to find out a lot about these Twins this week. Playing the Rays who as of now are 1.5 out of the Wild Card, and then hosting the Angels who are first in the Wild Card and those Angels took 2 out of 3 in LA in the first week of May.
Again I want to say that this ends immediately when real baseball comes back and one of the things I wanted to do when that date arrived was sim this virtual season to the end to give us a taste of what this team could do come November or December or whenever this proposed season would end.

thuuuuney · June 2, 2020

6/2/20: Tampa Bay Rays (33-29) @ Minnesota Twins (38-23) 7:10pmCT

Watch here: https://www.twitch.tv/thuuuuney

Moving Forward
My goal of this project was only to go until real baseball began. If this proposal is accepted we will deliver games up until the day before real baseball is brought back including simming to the postseason to show a tease of what the real team could bring. Hoping proposal is passed but regardless just wanted to quick update everyone what the plans are.

Catch-up
A great start from Berrios was nearly squandered by Taylor Rodgers in the 9th as Sergio Romo had to come in and get the save as the Twins escaped with a 5-3 victory on Monday. With the Rays bullpen giving the Twins fits, the Twins will make some adjustments to their bullpen, moving May to closer and Rodgers to setup along with Odorizzi to LRP before "Big Mike," returns for his first start of the year tomorrow.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

Hypothetical AL/NL Central Standings through 61-64 games.

1. Twins 38-23
2. Cubs 38-24
3. Reds 37-24
4. Royals 32-29
5. Brewers 32-29
6. Indians 32-30
7. Cardinals 29-33
8. White Sox 27-34
9. Tigers 24-36
10. Pirates 22-38

Starting Pitchers

Tampa Bay: Ryan Yarbrough 4-3, 3.23 ERA, 64.0 IP, 52 K's
Minnesota: Randy Dobnak* 5-0, 3.63 ERA, 39.2 IP, 27 K's
*=Randy Dobnak: In 3 starts this season, (2-0, 0.89 ERA, 18.2 IP, 15 K's, 1.15 WHIP).

Tampa Bay Batting Order

CF Kevin Kiermaier .231 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI
SS Willy Adames* .305 BA, 16 HR, 48 RBI
RF Austin Meadows .233 BA, 8 HR, 27 RBI
1B Ji-Man Choi .325 BA, 12 HR, 34 RBI
LF Hunter Renfroe .244 BA, 7 HR, 14 RBI
C Mike Zunino .269 BA, 7 HR, 23 RBI
3B Yandy Diaz .247 BA, 11 HR, 33 RBI
2B Brandon Lowe .255 BA, 4 HR, 29 RBI
DH Joey Wendle .237 BA, 5 HR, 15 RBI

*=Willy Adames: T-3rd in AL, RBI (48).

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .236 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .293 BA, 9 HR, 41 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .313 BA, 19 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .293 BA, 20 HR, 48 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .245 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .266 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .257 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .317 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .243 BA, 7 HR, 20 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: Last Six Games, 2-22, 1 XBH, 2 RBI, 8 K's.

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 109
- 2019 through 61 games: 114 (Kepler hit 3 HR off Bauer on June 6th in their 61st game).

Storylines

Taylor Rodgers will have to mull over his fate in the Twins bullpen in a setup role for the first time since 2018. The Twins closer leads the American League in Blown Saves with 7 with the next closest being at 4. New closer for Minnesota is Trevor May (29 games, 1-1, 2 SV, 14 Holds, 2.08 ERA in 26.0 IP).
The Rays had men on base all day and waited until the 9th to cash those runners in. Kevin Cash's squad will look to turn the burners on early against a very good starter of late in Randy Dobnak.

thuuuuney · June 3, 2020

6/3/20: Rays (34-29) @ Twins (38-24) 7:10pmCT

Watch here: https://www.twitch.tv/thuuuuney

Ways to Help
Just thought I'd pass this along for anyone looking to help donate your time and or money to businesses in Minneapolis affected the link below has a number of businesses you can donate to.
List of Businesses in Minneapolis

Catch-up
Taylor Rodgers continues to struggle, the usually reliable Tyler Duffey walks three men and then it taken out, yesterday was a comedy of errors by the Twins pitching staff and credit to the Rays bats as well as they took game two 7-4. Tonight's game will decide the series with Michael Pineda making his first start back from suspension.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 38-24
2. Indians 34-29
3. Royals 33-29
4. White Sox 27-35
5. Tigers 25-36

Starting Pitchers

Tampa Bay: Yonny Chirinos 4-3, 3.84 ERA, 75.0 IP, 56 K's
Minnesota: Michael Pineda* 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 IP, 0 K's

*=Michael Pineda: First game back from suspension (2019 stats: 11-5, 146.0 IP, 4.01 ERA, 1.16 WHIP in 26 starts).

Tampa Bay Batting Order

CF Kevin Kiermaier .237 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI
SS Willy Adames* .304 BA, 17 HR, 51 RBI
RF Austin Meadows .229 BA, 8 HR, 27 RBI
1B Ji-Man Choi .333 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI
LF Hunter Renfroe .236 BA, 7 HR, 14 RBI
DH Joey Wendle .238 BA, 5 HR, 15 RBI
3B Yandy Diaz .247 BA, 11 HR, 33 RBI
2B Brandon Lowe .256 BA, 4 HR, 29 RBI
C Michael Perez .164 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBI

*=Willy Adames: 3rd in AL, RBI (51).

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Jake Cave .297 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .295 BA, 10 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .296 BA, 21 HR, 50 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .271 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .257 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI
C Alex Avila .293 BA, 4 HR, 7 RBI
3B Ehire Adrianza .312 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .312 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .243 BA, 7 HR, 20 RBI

*=Miguel Sano: 1st in AL, SLG (.693).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 111
- 2019 through 62 games: 117

Storylines

For the Rays this series can basically be summed up into two parts. Part 1 was the first 8 innings of game one where the Rays had 1 run and 3 hits and looked like Minnesota was going to walk all over them. Then Part 2, the 9th inning of that game and yesterday's game, the Rays have scored 9 runs in 9 innings and have 6 XBH to show for it. With the Rays finding life and looking to take the series today against Michael Pineda making his first start back for Minnesota.
Changes on the Twins staff again this morning as the Twins have for the second time this season optioned Astudillo to AAA (7-42, 1 RBI, .167 SLG in 11 games with Twins), moving Pineda to the starting rotation and with that, bumping Odorizzi out of the rotation for the time being in the 6th man/LRP role.

thuuuuney · June 4, 2020

6/4/20: Los Angeles Angels (36-25) @ Minnesota Twins (38-25) 7:10pmCT

Watch here: http://https://www.twitch.tv/thuuuuney

Twingo
Another "home-stand," for Minnesota means more Twingo courtesy of SotaStick. Pick any of the boards linked below, comment which one you are playing with in the Twitch chat, and see if you can win some awesome Twins merch from SotaStick!

Twingo Cards (Will not be updated until 5:30pm).

Catch-up

The Twins second 2 game losing streak in 7 days, the Indians on their heels for the Central, and a hot Angels club who leads the AL West over Houston should make for some compelling storylines tonight. The Twins turn to their hottest starter in Homer Bailey and for the Angels Andrew Heaney takes the mound after one of his best starts of the year against the Yankees (7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 11 K's).

Pre-game
6:45pmCT (Twingo Cards lock after first pitch at 7:10pmCT).

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 38-25
2. Indians 34-29
3. Royals 33-30
4. White Sox 28-35
5. Tigers 26-36

Starting Pitchers

Los Angeles: Andrew Heaney 5-7, 4.58 ERA, 70.2 IP, 86 K's
Minnesota: Homer Bailey* 5-1, 1.99 ERA, 72.1 IP, 48 K's

*=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (1.99, in 1st is Hyun-Jin Ryu [TOR] with 1.94).

Los Angeles Batting Order*

DH Tommy La Stella .294 BA, 11 HR, 37 RBI
CF Mike Trout .296 BA, 11 HR, 43 RBI
3B Anthony Rendon .308 BA, 19 HR, 49 RBI
2B David Fletcher .288 BA, 3 HR, 18 RBI
1B Albert Pujols .265 BA, 7 HR, 31 RBI
LF Justin Upton .255 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI
RF Brian Goodwin .206 BA, 7 HR, 24 RBI
SS Andrelton Simmons .295 BA, 10 HR, 32 RBI
C Jason Castro .270 BA, 6 HR, 17 RBI

*=Angels in the Outfield: Best Fielding % in Baseball (.993)

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .236 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .294 BA, 10 HR, 42 RBI
C Mitch Garver .317 BA, 19 HR, 43 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .292 BA, 21 HR, 50 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .242 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .271 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI
LF Ehire Adrianza .309 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
2B Marwin Gonzalez .237 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .250 BA, 8 HR, 22 RBI

*=Miguel Sano: 1st in MLB, HR (21).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 112
- 2019 through 63 games: 117

Storylines
1. Once again with their backs to the wall the Twins turn to their most reliable starter to get them off the schnid in Homer Bailey. Not only does he have the 2nd best ERA in the AL but he really has only had one blemish thus far and through 11 starts has 5 Quality Starts.
2. It's crazy to say this, but the Angels have been winning games despite Trout not really playing like himself. Trout is slugging at the worst rate of his career (.544), and only has 1/3 of his XBH total from last year in nearly half the At-Bats. In this unusual spell free agent acquisition in Rendon has been worth every penny, 6th in the AL in Batting WAR (3.1).

thuuuuney · June 5, 2020

6/5/20: Los Angeles Angels (37-25) @ Minnesota Twins (38-26) 7:10pmCT

Twingo
Another "home-stand," for Minnesota means more Twingo courtesy of SotaStick. Pick any of the boards linked below, comment which one you are playing with in the Twitch chat, and see if you can win some awesome Twins merch from SotaStick!

Twingo Cards

Catch-up
The Angels nearly get walked off by Minnesota in the 9th as the go-ahead run in Adrianza came to the plate after a 2 out 2-RBI single by Cruz, but the Halos escape and now move to a 6 game winning streak and 3-1 on the year against Minnesota.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT (Twingo Cards lock after first pitch at 7:10pmCT).

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 38-26
2. Royals 34-30
3. Indians 34-30
4. White Sox 29-35
5. Tigers 26-37

Starting Pitchers

Los Angeles: Griffin Canning* 3-1, 3.76 ERA, 64.2 IP, 66 K's
Minnesota: Kenta Maeda** 2-2, 2.96 ERA, 54.2 IP, 83 K's

*=Griffin Canning: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's in Win over Twins on 5/3/20.
**=Kenta Maeda: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's in Loss against Angels on 5/3/20.

Los Angeles Batting Order*

DH Tommy La Stella .289 BA, 11 HR, 37 RBI
CF Mike Trout .295 BA, 12 HR, 47 RBI
3B Anthony Rendon .304 BA, 18 HR, 49 RBI
2B David Fletcher .286 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
1B Albert Pujols .258 BA, 7 HR, 31 RBI
LF Justin Upton .255 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI
RF Jo Adell* .270 BA, 9 HR, 30 RBI in AAA
SS Andrelton Simmons .295 BA, 10 HR, 32 RBI
C Jason Castro .271 BA, 6 HR, 17 RBI

*=Jo Adell: Makes Big League Debut, ranked 6th highest prospect in MLB by MLB.com.

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .239 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .292 BA, 10 HR, 42 RBI
C Mitch Garver .309 BA, 19 HR, 44 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .270 BA, 15 HR, 44 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .237 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .257 BA, 9 HR, 27 RBI
1B Alex Avila* .267 BA, 4 HR, 7 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .311 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Jake Cave .262 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI

*=Alex Avila: 7 of 12 hits have been XBH off the bench (3 2B, 4 HR).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 112
- 2019 through 64 games: 121

Storylines
1. The last time Kenta Maeda took the rubber there were rumors his days in the starting rotation were coming to an end. He answered the call by delivering his best performance of the year, going 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K's and the win over Chicago. The Twins will lean on him to end the losing streak here today.
2. This is the second time this season both of these starters faced off against each other and the last time, Canning was victorious. With Mike Trout answering the call yesterday with a late Grand Slam and the calling up of the best prospect in the Angels organization in Jo Adell, there are a lot of things to be excited for as an Angels fan even outside of the 6 game winning streak.

thuuuuney · June 6, 2020

6/6/20: Los Angeles Angels (38-25) @ Minnesota Twins (38-27) 6:45pmCT

Watch Here: http://twitch.tv/thuuuuney

Twingo
Another "home-stand," for Minnesota means more Twingo courtesy of SotaStick. Pick any of the boards linked below, comment which one you are playing with in the Twitch chat, and see if you can win some awesome Twins merch from SotaStick!

Twingo Cards (Will not be updated until 1:00pm).

Catch-up
For the second day in a row, the Twins rally in the 9th inning is too little too late. Now on their longest losing streak of 4 games, the Twins turn to their ace in Jose Berrios to try and bounceback while the Angels come into town currently holding the highest winning streak of any club this season at 7 in a row.

Pre-game
6:15pmCT (Twingo Cards lock after first pitch at 6:45pmCT).

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 38-27
2. Royals 35-30
3. Indians 34-31
4. White Sox 30-35
5. Tigers 26-38

Starting Pitchers

Los Angeles: Felix Pena 5-2, 2.84 ERA, 69.2 IP, 52 K's
Minnesota: Jose Berrios* 7-2, 3.41 ERA, 74.0 IP, 83 K's

*=Jose Berrios: In month of May (2-1. 34.0 IP, 22 H, 8 ER, 12 BB, 41 K's).

Los Angeles Batting Order

2B Tommy La Stella .289 BA, 11 HR, 37 RBI
CF Mike Trout .294 BA, 12 HR, 47 RBI
3B Anthony Rendon .308 BA, 19 HR, 52 RBI
SS David Fletcher .286 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
DH Shohei Ohtani* .333 BA, 4 HR, 15 RBI in 72 At-Bats.
LF Justin Upton .255 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI
1B Matt Thaiss .194 BA, 4 HR, 5 RBI
RF Jo Adell 0-3, BB in debut yesterday. .270 BA, 9 HR, 30 RBI in AAA
C Max Stassi .444 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI

*="Sho Time," Ohtani against Minnesota this year:
Pitching|5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's, Win.
Batting|2-3 2B, R

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .236 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Nick Gordon* .338 BA, 8 HR, 18 RBI in 145 AB's in AAA.
1B Miguel Sano .287 BA, 21 HR, 50 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .271 BA, 15 HR, 45 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .237 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .262 BA, 11 HR, 30 RBI
C Alex Avila .271 BA, 5 HR, 8 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .304 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .249 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI

*=Nick Gordon: 1st Round Pick by Minnesota back in 2014 Draft makes his Big League Debut.

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 115
- 2019 through 65 games: 119

Storylines
1. We already had one player make their debut this series in Jo Adell, and now the Twins will answer with one of their own in one of their many touted prospects in Nick Gordon. Gordon slashed .298/.342/.459 in 70 games last year in AAA.
2. Anthony Rendon likely daggered the Twins with his 3-Run HR and that has bee the case all year against Minnesota for Rendon, batting .368 with 2 HR, 5 RBI's, and slugging at .684 in 19 at-bats against the Twins this season.
3. The Angels four games away from tying their franchise record of an 11 game winning streak, the Twins on their longest losing streak of the year with the Royals hot on their toes, a big game for both teams will be on the table tonight.

thuuuuney · June 7, 2020

6/7/20: Los Angeles Angels (38-26) @ Minnesota Twins (39-27) 1:10pmCT

Twingo
Another "home-stand," for Minnesota means more Twingo courtesy of SotaStick. Pick any of the boards linked below, comment which one you are playing with in the Twitch chat, and see if you can win some awesome Twins merch from SotaStick!

Twingo Cards (Will not be updated until 4:00pm).

Catch-up
In his first game in the big leagues, Nick Gordon walks it off for the 5th time of the season for Minnesota in yet another thriller in a 7-6 victory. Today the Angels will look to take the series for the second time this season against Minnesota while the Twins will look to even it up before an "off-day," tomorrow more on that in the last storyline.

Pre-game
12:45pmCT (Twingo Cards lock after first pitch at 1:10pmCT).

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 39-27
2. Royals 36-30
3. Indians 34-32
4. White Sox 31-35
5. Tigers 26-39

Starting Pitchers

Los Angeles: Julio Teheran 6-2, 4.38 ERA, 72.0 IP, 61 K's
Minnesota: Randy Dobnak* 5-0, 3.65 ERA, 44.1 IP, 29 K's

*=Randy Dobnak: In 4 starts this season, (2-0, 1.84 ERA, 23.1 IP, 17 K's, 1.15 WHIP).

Los Angeles Batting Order

2B David Fletcher .284 BA, 3 HR, 19 RBI
CF Mike Trout .298 BA, 12 HR, 47 RBI
3B Anthony Rendon .310 BA, 19 HR, 54 RBI
LF Justin Upton .259 BA, 13 HR, 39 RBI
DH Shohei Ohtani* .316 BA, 4 HR, 15 RBI
1B Albert Pujols .254 BA, 7 HR, 31 RBI
SS Andrelton Simmons .292 BA, 10 HR, 33 RBI
RF Jo Adell 0-7, BB through two games .270 BA, 9 HR, 30 RBI in AAA
C Jason Castro .271 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBI

*="Sho Time," Ohtani against Minnesota this year:
Pitching|5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's, Win.
Batting|2-7 2B, R

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .243 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .288 BA, 10 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .290 BA, 21 HR, 50 RBI
C Mitch Garver .305 BA, 19 HR, 44 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .276 BA, 15 HR, 46 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .266 BA, 11 HR, 33 RBI
3B Luis Arraez .303 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
2B Nick Gordon .338 BA, 8 HR, 18 RBI in 145 AB's in AAA. 0-5, Walk-Off RBI Sac-Fly in debut.
CF Byron Buxton .245 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI

*=Miguel Sano: 1st in AL, SLG (.665).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 115
- 2019 through 66 games: 122

Storylines

The Angels still lead the season series 4-2 over Minnesota, but a crucial win for a Twins club who was on their longest losing streak of the year, now looking to even the series behind "Dobby."
It was Mike Trout with a Grand Slam in game one, Rendon with a 4 RBI day in game two, and a two home run day for Upton despite losing, it seems every game a new Angel is destroying the Twins. My vote, I think Adell after a rough first couple games will prove three times is the charm and have a good day today.
Moving forward, I am getting married on the 13th so I will be streaming next week with this as the schedule: 6/7: 12:45pmCT vs. LAA| 6/8: 11:45pmCT GM1, 4:45pmCT GM2&3 @ BAL | 6/9: 11:45pmCT GM1, 4:45pmCT GM 2&3 @ KC |6/10: 4:45pmCT GM1&2 vs. MIL |6/11: 4:45pmCT GM 1&2 vs. NYY |6/12: 4:45pmCT GM 3&4 vs. NYY.

thuuuuney · June 8, 2020

6/8/20: Minnesota Twins (39-28) @ Baltimore Orioles (18-47) TRIPLEHEADER 11:45pmCT, 4:45pmCT, 6:45pmCT

Outlook
I am getting married this Saturday (woot woot) but that means I will be taking a week off for my honeymoon so we are streaming Virtual Twins Baseball like crazy this week to make up for my week off. Below is this week's schedule:
Schedule for the Week

Catch-up
The Angels defeat the Twins for the second time this season, this time at Target Field, and now move to 5-2 on the year against Minnesota as they take a much needed day off before doing battle with the Baltimore Orioles who the Twins bested in a three game series back in late May.

Pre-game
11:30amCT GM1, 4:30pmCT GM2, tenative 6:30pmCT GM3

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 39-28
2. Royals 36-31
3. Indians 34-33
4. White Sox 32-35
5. Tigers 27-39

Starting Pitchers Twins

Game 1: Michael Pineda 0-1, 8.10 ERA, 3.1 IP, 2 K's
Game 2: Homer Bailey* 5-1, 2.07 ERA, 78.1 IP, 50 K's
Game 3: Jake Odorizzi 2-5, 5.94 ERA, 63.2 IP, 68 K's

*=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (2.07)

Starting Pitchers Orioles

Game 1: John Means 2-9, 5.43 ERA, 66.1 IP, 37 K's
Game 2: Alex Cobb 1-8, 5.28 ERA, 75.0 IP, 52 K's
Game 3: Kohl Stewart* 2-6, 4.70 ERA, 59.1 IP, 41 K's

*=Kohl Stewart: Last start against Minnesota 5/19/20: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's, Loss

Minnesota Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

RF Max Kepler .243 BA, 17 HR, 35 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .286 BA, 10 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .286 BA, 21 HR, 51 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .270 BA, 12 HR, 35 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .242 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBI
C Mitch Garver .302 BA, 19 HR, 44 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .272 BA, 15 HR, 46 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .310 BA, 1 HR, 11 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .250 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI

Bench C, Alex Avila .255 BA, 5 HR, 9 RBI
Bench SS, Ehire Adrianza .314 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
Bench SS, Nick Gordon 0-9, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Bench CF, Jake Cave .275 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI

*=Miguel Sano: 3rd in Hank Aaron Award vote behind Gio Urshela .389/13/38 and Xander Bogaerts .322/15/40

Baltimore Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

2B Andrew Velazquez .258 BA, 4 HR, 11 RBI
LF Anthony Santander .226 BA, 6 HR, 22 RBI
DH Renato Nunez* .254 BA, 9 HR, 32 RBI
CF Austin Hays .234 BA, 7 HR, 12 RBI
3B Rio Ruiz .274 BA, 0 HR, 3 RBI
1B Chris Davis .165 BA, 5 HR, 14 RBI
RF Dwight Smith Jr. .246 BA, 4 HR, 16 RBI
SS Jose Igelsias .232 BA, 1 HR, 14 RBI
C Austin Wynns .219 BA, 5 HR, 14 RBI

Bench 3B, Hanser Alberto .189 BA, 2 HR, 13 RBI
Bench RF, D.J. Stewart .333 BA, 4 HR, 5 RBI
Bench C, Pedro Severino .144 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Bench 2B, Ramon Urias .228 BA, 6 HR, 16 RBI

*=Renato Numez: 5th in AL, Doubles (17).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 116
- 2019 through 67 games: 124

Storylines

1. The last time the Twins played the O's this season they won 2 out of 3 and last year the Twins went 9-0 against Baltimore so the dominance is very prevalent in this series. And especially after a brutal homestand, the Twins will look to avenge some demons on the O's pitching staff.
2. The O's so far this June are playing .500 baseball with a 3-3 record and are looking to put a brutal month of May behind them in which they went 5-23.
3. Will update this thread after each game.

thuuuuney · June 9, 2020

6/12/20: Minnesota Twins (42-28) @ Kansas City Royals (37-32) |TRIPLEHEADER| 11:45pmCT, 4:45pmCT, 6:45pmCT

Outlook
I am getting married this Saturday (woot woot) but that means I will be taking a week off for my honeymoon so we are streaming Virtual Twins Baseball like crazy this week to make up for my week off. Below is this week's schedule:
Schedule for the Week

Catch-up
You know how the Twins went 9-0 against Baltimore last year, well they're now 5-1 against them this year after launching FOURTEEN Bombas in a three game sweep and now head into Kansas City to take on the surprise team of the year, the 2nd place Royals.

Pre-game
11:30amCT GM1, 4:30pmCT GM2, tenative 6:30pmCT GM3

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 42-28
2. Royals 37-32
3. Indians 35-35
4. White Sox 34-36
5. Tigers 28-41

Starting Pitchers Twins

Game 1: Jose Berrios 7-2, 3.65 ERA, 79.0 IP, 88 K's
Game 2: Kenta Maeda* 2-3, 3.15 ERA, 60.0 IP, 87 K's
Game 3: Michael "Big Mike," Pineda 0-1, 4.70 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 K's

*=Kenta Maeda: Leads Twins staff in K/9, (13.05), while Trevor May leads Twins relievers in that category (16.07, 2nd in MLB among relievers).

Starting Pitchers Royals*

Game 1: Brad Keller 9-3, 3.23 ERA, 83.2 IP, 67 K's
Game 2: Heath Fillmyer 3-5, 5.78 ERA, 67.0 IP, 45 K's
Game 3: Danny Duffy 4-5, 4.54 ERA, 77.1 IP, 61 K's

*=Bomba Squad vs. Royals: Twins lead baseball with 130 HR's meanwhile the Royals staff is 4th in the MLB in least amount of HR's allowed (74).

Minnesota Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench*

RF Max Kepler .252 BA, 21 HR, 41 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .282 BA, 10 HR, 43 RBI
C Mitch Garver .307 BA, 20 HR, 46 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .254 BA, 9 HR, 23 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .267 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .272 BA, 16 HR, 48 RBI
1B Alex Avila .278 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .311 BA, 1 HR, 12 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .251 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI

Bench 1B, Miguel Sano .282 BA, 23 HR, 54 RBI
Bench SS, Ehire Adrianza .314 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBI
Bench SS, Nick Gordon 0-9, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Bench CF, Jake Cave .275 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI

*=Twins: 1 of 5 teams to have 6 players with 10 or more HR's.

Kansas City Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

2B Whit Merrifield .268 BA, 9 HR, 38 RBI
SS Adalberto Mondesi .288 BA, 6 HR, 37 RBI
RF Jorge Soler* .326 BA, 18 HR, 50 RBI
3B Hunter Dozier .233 BA, 8 HR, 33 RBI
LF Alex Gordon .307 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
C Salvador Perez .304 BA, 11 HR, 30 RBI
1B Ryan O'Hearn .219 BA, 9 HR, 29 RBI
DH Maikel Franco .264 BA, 12 HR, 29 RBI
CF Brett Phillips .296 BA, 7 HR, 24 RBI

Bench SS, Nicky Lopez .222 BA, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Bench C, Cam Gallagher .211 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Bench CF, Bubba Starling .270 BA, 3 HR, 7 RBI
Bench LF, Anderson Miller .105 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBI

*=Jorge Soler: 1st in All-Star Vote in RF (457K votes) ahead of Twin's RF Max Kepler (442K votes).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 130
- 2019 through 70 games: 129 ***First time 2020 team has outpaced 2019's squad

Storylines

June has been a good month to be a Royals fan as the club is 7-3 and now plays host to the Twins with a chance to jump back into the race and become a legitimate contender for a playoff spot nearing the halfway mark of the season.
Rocco has done a pretty good job of keeping the Twins level headed after large wins, as the Twins are 4-2 following a game where they scored 10 runs or more this season but he'll have his work cut out for him after a lopsided series in Baltimore. With a chance to pave away from the pack and be the clear cut leader in the Central, or a chance to nearly be tied with KC, a lot is riding on this series for both clubs.

thuuuuney · June 10, 2020

6/10/20: Milwaukee Brewers (37-34) @ Minnesota Twins (45-28) 4:45pmCT, 6:45pmCT

Outlook
I am getting married this Saturday (woot woot) but that means I will be taking a week off for my honeymoon so we are streaming Virtual Twins Baseball like crazy this week to make up for my week off. Below is this week's schedule:
Schedule for the Week

Catch-up
The Twins are on their longest winning streak of the year after sweeping the O's and the Royals on the road and now come back home to play host to an interleague rival in the Brewers who have won 5 of their last 8 and are in a battle for a Wild Card spot.

Pre-game
4:30pmCT GM1, tenative 6:30pmCT GM2

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 45-28
2. Royals 39-35
3. Indians 38-36
4. White Sox 35-38
5. Tigers 30-42
*= AL Central: Only division in baseball with all 5 teams above a Winning % of .400

Starting Pitchers Brewers

Game 1: Freddy Peralta 2-2, 2.93ERA, 70.2 IP, 80 K's
Game 2: Adrian Houser 3-3, 4.89 ERA, 70.0 IP, 73 K's

Starting Pitchers Twins

Game 1: Homer Bailey* 5-1, 2.06 ERA, 83.0 IP, 55 K's
Game 2: Devin Smeltzer 3-0, 5.22 ERA, 39.2 IP, 36 K's

*=Homer Bailey: 1st in MLB, ERA (2.06).

Brewers Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

CF Lorenzo Cain .275 BA, 7 HR, 27 RBI
3B Eric Sogard .236 BA, 4 HR, 21 RBI
RF Christian Yelich .234 BA, 14 HR, 45 RBI
2B Keston Hiura .283 BA ,14 HR, 35 RBI
LF Avisail Garcia .305 BA, 13 HR, 33 RBI
1B Justin Smoak .272 BA, 7 HR, 29 RBI
SS Orlando Arcia .278 BA, 3 HR, 20 RBI
DH Ryan Braun .204 BA, 3 HR, 5 RBI
C Omar Narvaez .263 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI

Bench C, Manny Pina .241 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI
Bench 1B, Jedd Gyorko .204 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Bench 2B, Brock Holt .278 BA, 5 HR, 18 RBI
Bench LF, Ben Gamel .200 BA, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Bench CF, Tyron Taylor .244 BA, 2 HR, 13 RBI

Minnesota Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench*

RF Max Kepler* .261 BA, 23 HR, 44 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .308 BA, 1 HR, 12 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .254 BA, 9 HR, 25 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .284 BA, 23 HR, 55 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .304 BA, 22 HR, 52 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .270 BA, 14 HR, 38 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .270 BA, 18 HR, 50 RBI
SS Nick Gordon 1-13, 0 HR, 1 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .252 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI

Bench SS, Jorge Polanco .280 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
Bench SS, Ehire Adrianza .315 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
Bench C, Alex Avila .263 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
Bench CF, Jake Cave .275 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI

*=Bomba Squad: Top 3 HR hitters in all of baseball are Kepler (23), Sano (23), and Garver (22).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 138
- 2019 through 70 games: 132

Storylines
1. The Bomba Squad outpacing the 2019 squad, the largest lead of the year in the AL Central, hopefully real baseball around the corner, there a ton of reasons to be happy if you're a Twins fan. Now coming home to try and keep the winning streak alive against the Brew Crew will be a tall task but should lead to some great baseball tonight.
2. The Brewers come into Target Field for the first time this season and they are in the middle of a race for the Wild Card. Nearing the middle of June the Brewers are 5-3 this month and for game one lean on one of the surprises of the year in Freddy Peralta who leads the staff in ERA (2.93).

thuuuuney · June 11, 2020

6/10/20: New York Yankees (49-25) @ Minnesota Twins (49-28) 4:45pmCT, 6:45pmCT

Outlook
I am getting married this Saturday (woot woot) but that means I will be taking a week off for my honeymoon so we are streaming Virtual Twins Baseball like crazy this week to make up for my week off. Below is this week's schedule:
Schedule for the Week

Catch-up
The Twins are on their longest winning streak of the year after sweeping the O's and the Royals on the road and now come back home to play host to an interleague rival in the Brewers who have won 5 of their last 8 and are in a battle for a Wild Card spot.

Pre-game
4:30pmCT GM1, tenative 6:30pmCT GM2

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 46-29
2. Royals 39-37
3. Indians 39-37
4. White Sox 36-39
5. Tigers 31-43
*= AL Central: Only division in baseball with all 5 teams above a Winning % of .400

Starting Pitchers Yankees

Game 1: Gerrit Cole* 8-2, 2.99 ERA, 105.1 IP, 129 K's
Game 2: Jordan Montgomery 4-8, 4.69 ERA, 78.2 IP, 73 K's

*=Gerrit Cole: 1st in AL Cy Young vote ahead of Shane Bieber.

Starting Pitchers Twins

Game 1: Jose Berrios 8-2, 3.41 ERA, 87.0 IP, 96 K's
Game 2: Rich "Dick Mountain," Hill 4-1, 2.45 ERA, 58.2 IP, 72 K's in 13 starts in 2019.

Yankees Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

2B D.J. LeMahieu .321 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
RF Brett Gardner .285 BA, 7 HR, 20 RBI
SS Gleyber Torres .270 BA, 19 HR, 56 RBI
DH Giancarlo Stanton .283 BA ,21 HR, 39 RBI
3B Gio Urshela* .379 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
1B Luke Voit .237 BA, 13 HR, 32 RBI
C Gary Sanchez .189 BA, 8 HR, 20 RBI
LF Mike Tauchman .230 BA, 4 HR, 6 RBI
CF Aaron Hicks .218 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI

Bench C, Kyle Higashioka .267 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI
Bench 1B, Mike Ford .364 BA, 4 HR, 8 RBI
Bench SS, Thairo Estrada .210 BA, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Bench LF, Clint Frazier .147 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI
Bench 3B, Miguel Andujar .220 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI

*=Gio Urshela: Leads AL in Batting Average (.379)

Minnesota Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench*

RF Max Kepler* .264 BA, 23 HR, 44 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .278 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .250 BA, 9 HR, 25 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .305 BA, 22 HR, 52 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .273 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .280 BA, 24 HR, 58 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .268 BA, 18 HR, 50 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .317 BA, 1 HR, 12 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .249 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI

Bench SS, Nick Gordon 1-17, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Bench SS, Ehire Adrianza .315 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI
Bench C, Alex Avila .263 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
Bench CF, Jake Cave .275 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI

*=Bomba Squad: Top 3 HR hitters in all of baseball are Kepler (23), Sano (24), and Garver (22).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 140
- 2019 through 75 games: 135

Storylines
1. Yankees and Twins baseball almost doesn't need a lead up. Last time this season Max Kepler homered in each 9th inning of the series, the Twins nearly swept but were walked off by Giancarlo Stanton in the 10th, and now for the second time this year it's Gerrit Cole v. Jose Berrios, it really doesn't get better than this.
2. The top two slugging offenses in baseball meet again today and for the Twins to try and combat that, they turn to the final piece they added this offseason who is finally rested enough to perform, Rich "Dick Mountain," Hill.

thuuuuney · June 12, 2020

Outlook
I am getting married this Saturday (woot woot) but that means I will be taking a week off for my honeymoon so we are streaming Virtual Twins Baseball like crazy this week to make up for my week off. Below is this week's schedule:
Schedule for the Week

Catch-up
The Twins have not beaten the Yankees in two series in one season since 2008, they have opportunity at history today. With the Evil Empire seeming to have no answer for the Bomba Squad, this could be the final nail in the coffin for the Twins to down their greatest antagonist arguably in the clubs history.

Pre-game
12:00pmCT GM1, tenative 2:15pmCT GM2

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 48-29
2. Royals 40-38
3. Indians 40-38
4. White Sox 37-40
5. Tigers 31-45
*= AL Central: Only division in baseball with all 5 teams above a Winning % of .400

Starting Pitchers Yankees

Game 1: James Paxton 8-3, 3.65 ERA, 91.1 IP, 105 K's
Game 2: Masahiro Tanaka 7-2, 3.60 ERA, 100.0 IP, 96 K's

Starting Pitchers Twins

Game 1: Kenta Maeda 3-3, 3.02 ERA, 65.2 IP, 96 K's
Game 2: Jake Odorizzi 3-5, 5.68 ERA, 69.2 IP, 76 K's

Yankees Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench

2B D.J. LeMahieu .311 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
RF Brett Gardner .275 BA, 7 HR, 20 RBI
SS Gleyber Torres .266 BA, 20 HR, 57 RBI
DH Giancarlo Stanton .275 BA ,21 HR, 39 RBI
3B Gio Urshela* .375 BA, 14 HR, 41 RBI
1B Luke Voit .244 BA, 14 HR, 34 RBI
C Gary Sanchez .184 BA, 8 HR, 20 RBI
LF Mike Tauchman .222 BA, 4 HR, 6 RBI
CF Aaron Hicks .224 BA, 7 HR, 19 RBI

Bench C, Kyle Higashioka .267 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI
Bench 1B, Mike Ford .364 BA, 4 HR, 8 RBI
Bench SS, Thairo Estrada .206 BA, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Bench LF, Clint Frazier .147 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI
Bench 3B, Miguel Andujar .220 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI

*=Gio Urshela: Leads AL in Batting Average (.375)

Minnesota Batting Order for Game 1 + Bench*

CF Byron Buxton .249 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .273 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .283 BA, 25 HR, 62 RBI
C Mitch Garver .301 BA, 22 HR, 52 RBI
RF Max Kepler .271 BA, 23 HR, 45 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .272 BA, 19 HR, 54 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .316 BA, 2 HR, 14 RBI
SS Ehire Adrianza .315 BA, 2 HR, 10 RBI
3B Willians Astudillo .152 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Bench SS, Jorge Polanco .275 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBi
Bench SS, Marwin Gonzalez .258 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Bench C, Alex Avila .263 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
Bench CF, Jake Cave .275 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI
Bench 3B, Josh Donaldson .250 BA, 10 HR, 28 RBI

*=Miguel Sano: 2nd among AL 1st Baseman in Batting Average (.283), 1st in HR, RBI, SLG% (25/62/.650)

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 144
- 2019 through 77 games: 139

Storylines
1. The Twins have not swept the Yankees at home since 1991 and although that was a three game series and this is a four game set, Twins fans have reasons to be optimistic. Kenta Maeda has been superb his last two starts going 2-1 in 17.2 IP with 5 ER and 22 K's.
2. In the season series this season the Twins are 5-1 against New York and have not had a winning season against New York since 2001 and the Twins look to continue their dominance today.

thuuuuney · June 22, 2020

6/22: Minnesota Twins (49-30) @ Houston Astros (47-29) 7:10pmCT

Catch-up

We're back baby. After a week off from my honeymoon the broadcaster is back to call more Virtual Twins baseball in the hopes real ball is announced in the coming days, but for now, we push on.

In PA like fashion let's go Covenant Catch-Up on the bit, last week the Twins played 12 games in 5 days and they went 10-2 and completed sweeps over the O's and the Royals and split a series with the Brewers before defeating the Yankees in a series for the 2nd time this year 3 games to 1. But now back to tonight the Twins head into Houston to take on the Astros who currently own the #1 WC spot and are 0.5 games back of a tough foe against the Twins this year in the Angels.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT, 7:05pmCT Special Recognition of Nelson Cruz's Humanitarian Award

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 49-30
2. Royals 41-38
3. Indians 40-39
4. White Sox 38-40
5. Tigers 31-46
*Twins own 2nd largest lead over 2nd place in a division in baseball (1st being the Dodgers 10.0 games up over the D'Backs in the NL West).

Starting Pitchers

Houston: Zack Greinke* 5-4, 5.34 ERA, 91.0 IP, 90 K's
Minnesota: Homer Bailey** 5-2, 2.25 ERA, 88.0 IP, 58 K's

*=Zack Greinke: Career against Minnesota in 24 appearances, 20 starts (5-9, 4.64 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 7.2 K/9
**=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (2.25, behind Tanner Roark's 2.24 ERA for the Blue Jays).

Houston Batting Order*

LF Michael Brantley .311 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
3B Alex Bregman .340 BA, 15 HR, 37 RBI
2B Jose Altuve .371 BA, 15 HR, 73 RBI
DH Yordan Alvarez .332 BA, 17 HR, 65 RBI
1B Yuli Gurriel .279 BA, 14 HR, 57 RBI
CF George Springer .257 BA, 17 HR, 47 RBI
SS Carlos Correa .239 BA, 15 HR, 41 RBI
RF Josh Reddick .275 BA, 5 HR, 21 RBI
C Garrett Stubbs .267 BA, 0 HR, 22 RBI

*=As a club, the Astros lead MLB in Batting Average (.291) and Runs (443).

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler* .268 BA, 23 HR, 45 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .277 BA, 10 HR, 45 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .294 BA, 22 HR, 52 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .282 BA, 25 HR, 62 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .276 BA, 19 HR, 56 RBI
LF Marwin Gonzalez .258 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .249 BA, 10 HR, 28 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .321 BA, 2 HR, 15 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .249 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI

*=The Bomba Squad: Leads the MLB in HR (145) and the top three HR hitters in baseball are all in this lineup (Kepler with 23, Garver with 22, and Sano with 25).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 145
- 2019 through 79 games: 141

Storylines

If I was a sportsbook, I'd set the +/- on this game at 13.5. Two of the most high powered offenses collide in the hot summer heat of Houston in yet another test for this Twins team who is 5-6 this month against teams currently occupying a playoff spot (1-2 against TB, 1-3 against LAA, 3-1 against NYY).
The Astros are playing their best ball all summer in the month of June and specifically in their last 11 games, they are 10-1. The Twins are missing Verlander this series but this high powered offense should make up for the faulty pitching employed by Houston this year as they rank 17th as a club in ERA (4.15).
As a side note, again we're still waiting on word of a real season and once we know the definitive dates I will announce how this project will end, but until then, some terrific baseball coming up this week!

Richie the Rally Goat · June 23, 2020

6/22: Minnesota Twins (49-30) @ Houston Astros (47-29) 7:10pmCT

Catch-up

We're back baby. After a week off from my honeymoon the broadcaster is back to call more Virtual Twins baseball in the hopes real ball is announced in the coming days, but for now, we push on.

In PA like fashion let's go Covenant Catch-Up on the bit, last week the Twins played 12 games in 5 days and they went 10-2 and completed sweeps over the O's and the Royals and split a series with the Brewers before defeating the Yankees in a series for the 2nd time this year 3 games to 1. But now back to tonight the Twins head into Houston to take on the Astros who currently own the #1 WC spot and are 0.5 games back of a tough foe against the Twins this year in the Angels.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT, 7:05pmCT Special Recognition of Nelson Cruz's Humanitarian Award

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 49-30
2. Royals 41-38
3. Indians 40-39
4. White Sox 38-40
5. Tigers 31-46
*Twins own 2nd largest lead over 2nd place in a division in baseball (1st being the Dodgers 10.0 games up over the D'Backs in the NL West).

Starting Pitchers
Houston: Zack Greinke* 5-4, 5.34 ERA, 91.0 IP, 90 K's
Minnesota: Homer Bailey** 5-2, 2.25 ERA, 88.0 IP, 58 K's
*=Zack Greinke: Career against Minnesota in 24 appearances, 20 starts (5-9, 4.64 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 7.2 K/9
**=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (2.25, behind Tanner Roark's 2.24 ERA for the Blue Jays).

Houston Batting Order*
LF Michael Brantley .311 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
3B Alex Bregman .340 BA, 15 HR, 37 RBI
2B Jose Altuve .371 BA, 15 HR, 73 RBI
DH Yordan Alvarez .332 BA, 17 HR, 65 RBI
1B Yuli Gurriel .279 BA, 14 HR, 57 RBI
CF George Springer .257 BA, 17 HR, 47 RBI
SS Carlos Correa .239 BA, 15 HR, 41 RBI
RF Josh Reddick .275 BA, 5 HR, 21 RBI
C Garrett Stubbs .267 BA, 0 HR, 22 RBI
*=As a club, the Astros lead MLB in Batting Average (.291) and Runs (443).

Minnesota Batting Order
RF Max Kepler* .268 BA, 23 HR, 45 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .277 BA, 10 HR, 45 RBI
C Mitch Garver* .294 BA, 22 HR, 52 RBI
1B Miguel Sano* .282 BA, 25 HR, 62 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .276 BA, 19 HR, 56 RBI
LF Marwin Gonzalez .258 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .249 BA, 10 HR, 28 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .321 BA, 2 HR, 15 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .249 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI
*=The Bomba Squad: Leads the MLB in HR (145) and the top three HR hitters in baseball are all in this lineup (Kepler with 23, Garver with 22, and Sano with 25).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 145
- 2019 through 79 games: 141

Storylines
If I was a sportsbook, I'd set the +/- on this game at 13.5. Two of the most high powered offenses collide in the hot summer heat of Houston in yet another test for this Twins team who is 5-6 this month against teams currently occupying a playoff spot (1-2 against TB, 1-3 against LAA, 3-1 against NYY).
The Astros are playing their best ball all summer in the month of June and specifically in their last 11 games, they are 10-1. The Twins are missing Verlander this series but this high powered offense should make up for the faulty pitching employed by Houston this year as they rank 17th as a club in ERA (4.15).
As a side note, again we're still waiting on word of a real season and once we know the definitive dates I will announce how this project will end, but until then, some terrific baseball coming up this week!

Congrats on your nuptials!

thuuuuney · June 23, 2020

6/23/20: Minnesota Twins (49-31) @ Houston Astros (48-29) 7:10pmCT

Catch-up
First game back showed some rust for the Twins as they lost the first game of the series in a "close," game 4-3, but for those who were there tuning in it felt like a blowout lose. Homer Bailey allowed a huge three-run HR to Springer, Buxton not only went 0-3 at the plate but he also was 0-3 with at least 2 RISP last night. The Twins will look to bounceback tonight behind their ace in Jose Berrios.

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

Where to watch.

Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 49-31
2. Royals 41-40
3. Indians 40-40
4. White Sox 39-41
5. Tigers 32-47
*Twins own 2nd largest lead over 2nd place in a division in baseball (1st being the Dodgers 10.0 games up over the D'Backs in the NL West).

Starting Pitchers

Houston: Lance McCullers Jr. 3-4, 4.31 ERA, 87.0 IP, 104 K's
Minnesota: Jose Berrios 9-2, 3.26 ERA, 94.0 IP, 102 K's

Houston Batting Order*

LF Michael Brantley .313 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
3B Alex Bregman .337 BA, 15 HR, 37 RBI
2B Jose Altuve .369 BA, 15 HR, 73 RBI
DH Yordan Alvarez .332 BA, 17 HR, 65 RBI
1B Yuli Gurriel .279 BA, 14 HR, 57 RBI
CF George Springer .261 BA, 18 HR, 50 RBI
SS Carlos Correa .240 BA, 16 HR, 42 RBI
RF Kyle Tucker .282 BA, 3 HR, 7 RBI
C Martin Maldanado .245 BA, 7 HR, 14 RBI

*=As a club, the Astros lead MLB in Batting Average (.291) and Runs (443).

Minnesota Batting Order*

RF Max Kepler .268 BA, 23 HR, 46 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .277 BA, 11 HR, 46 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .275 BA, 16 HR, 44 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .272 BA, 19 HR, 56 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .253 BA, 10 HR, 28 RBI
C Alex Avila .263 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
1B Ehire Adrianza .316 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .320 BA, 2 HR, 15 RBI
CF Jake Cave .273 BA, 0 HR, 8 RBI

*=The Bomba Squad: Leads MLB in HR (147) and SLG (.497).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 147
- 2019 through 80 games: 141

Storylines
1. Today's game officially marks the halfway point of the season as the Twins will play their 81st game of the season. Last year in Rocco's first year as manager the Twins were 52-28 at this time so this year's club a couple games back of pace but well on their way to winning the AL Central for the second year in a row.
2. With yesterday's lose the Twins are now on their second losing streak of the month and overall are 11-8 for the month.
3. All-Star Watch: Berrios currently is 7th in SP votes, Trevor May currently is 1st in RP votes, Garver is 1st in C votes, Kepler is 1st in RF votes.

thuuuuney · June 24, 2020

Catch-up
Things were looking bleak for the Twins, backs to the rope, and then Trevor May (the real one) raided the stream again! The Twins would rally late thanks to a game-tying HR by Eddie Rosario and then the eventual dagger by the Boomstick in the 12th. Odo looking good out of the pen, Rodgers bounces back, and now the Twins lean on Rich Hill in his second start to try and take down the Astros.

Pre-game

6:45pmCT

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

Team Record PCT GB L10
1. Twins 50-31 .617 - 7-3
2. Royals 42-40 .512 8.5 5-5
3. Indians 40-41 .494 10.0 6-4
4. White Sox 40-41 .494 10.0 5-5
5. Tigers 32-48 .400 16.5 3-7
*Twins own 2nd largest lead over 2nd place in a division in baseball (1st being the Dodgers 11.0 games up over the D'Backs in the NL West).

Starting Pitchers

Houston Josh James 7-3, 3.47 ERA, 72.2 IP, 89 K's
Minnesota Rich Hill 1-0, 2.84 ERA, 6.1 IP, 8 K's

Houston Batting Order*

LF Michael Brantley .307 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
3B Alex Bregman .333 BA, 15 HR, 37 RBI
2B Jose Altuve .373 BA, 15 HR, 73 RBI
DH Yordan Alvarez .334 BA, 19 HR, 68 RBI
1B Yuli Gurriel .278 BA, 14 HR, 57 RBI
CF George Springer .256 BA, 18 HR, 50 RBI
SS Carlos Correa .242 BA, 16 HR, 43 RBI
RF Kyle Tucker .276 BA, 5 HR, 21 RBI
C Martin Maldanado .236 BA, 7 HR, 14 RBI
*=As a club, the Astros lead MLB in Batting Average (.291) and Runs (443).

Minnesota Batting Order*

RF Max Kepler .269 BA, 24 HR, 47 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .275 BA, 11 HR, 46 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .276 BA, 17 HR, 46 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .275 BA, 20 HR, 57 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .278 BA, 25 HR, 62 RBI
C Mitch Garver .293 BA, 23 HR, 53 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .254 BA, 10 HR, 29 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .319 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI
CF Jake Cave .246 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI
*=The Bomba Squad: Leads MLB in HR (150) and SLG (.499).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 150
- 2019 through 81 games: 141

Storylines
1. Plan moving forward: Assuming Opening Day for real is July 24th, we will be ending the regular season on July 5th, followed by the Postseason from July 6th-July 23rd pending how far the Twins advance. Also as a failsafe, if for some reason the real season is cut short due to COVID-19, we will pick back up where we left off in the regular season the day real baseball is taken away, but let's not think about that.
2. All-Star Watch: Berrios currently is 7th in SP votes, Trevor May currently is 1st in RP votes, Garver is 1st in C votes, Kepler is 1st in RF votes.

thuuuuney · June 26, 2020

Catch-up
It was 1-0 Twins, then 3-1 Astros, then 4-3 Twins, then 5-4 Astros, then 8-4 Twins, and then the Astros would score 6 unanswered and defeat the Twins in a thriller 10-8 on Wednesday night. With a travel day yesterday, the Twins welcome the Rockies for a three game set with a doubleheader tonight because the broadcaster will be gone on Saturday.

Pre-game
4:45pmCT GM1, 6:45pmCT GM2

Where to watch.
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings*

1. Twins 50-32
2. Royals 42-41
3. Indians 41-41
4. White Sox 41-42
5. Tigers 32-50

Starting Pitchers Colorado

German Marquez 7-6, 2.88 ERA, 106.1 IP, 93 K's
Jon Gray 4-5, 3.45 ERA, 99.0 IP, 99 K's

Starting Pitchers Minnesota

Kenta Maeda 4-3, 2.93 ERA, 70.2 IP, 105 K's
Michael Pineda 1-1, 2.29 ERA, 19.2 IP, 13 K's

Rockies Batting Order GM1

CF Raimel Tapia .288 BA, 4 HR, 25 RBI
1B Daniel Murphy .285 BA, 4 HR, 25 RBI
3B Nolan Arenado .297 BA, 20 HR, 50 RBI
RF Charlie Blackmon .277 BA, 6 HR, 46 RBI
LF David Dahl .245 BA, 5 HR, 23 RBI
SS Trevor Story .310 BA, 16 HR, 53 RBI
DH Ryan McMahon .208 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI
2B Garrett Hampson .278 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI
C Dom Nunez .260 BA, 7 HR, 16 RBI

Minnesota Batting Order GM1

RF Max Kepler .265 BA, 24 HR, 47 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .277 BA, 12 HR, 48 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario .275 BA, 18 HR, 47 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .277 BA, 20 HR, 57 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .278 BA, 25 HR, 62 RBI
C Mitch Garver .297 BA, 23 HR, 54 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .254 BA, 11 HR, 30 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .314 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .251 BA, 9 HR, 28 RBI
*=The Bomba Squad: Leads MLB in HR (154) and SLG (.499).

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 154
- 2019 through 82 games: 146

Storylines
1. Twingo returns tonight! Jump into chat at 4:45pmCT for the cards!
2. All-Star Watch: Berrios currently is 7th in SP votes, Trevor May currently is 1st in RP votes, Garver is 1st in C votes, Kepler is 1st in RF votes.

thuuuuney · June 28, 2020

6/28/20: Colorado Rockies (39-43) @ Minnesota Twins (51-33) 6:10pmCT

Catch-up
Both games this series have been decided 5-4 and both have been split by each club. With the game to decide the series today, the Twins will look to win the series and the homestand as this is their shortest one of the year with all three games against Colorado.

Pre-game
5:45pmCT

Where to Watch

Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 51-33
2. Indians 43-41
3. Royals 42-43
4. White Sox 42-43
5. Tigers 32-52

Starting Pitchers

Rockies: Antonio Senzatela 6-3, 3.45ERA, 91.1 IP, 64 K's
Twins: Homer Bailey* 5-3, 2.52 ERA, 93.0 IP, 60 K's

*=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (2.52), & WHIP (1.04).

Colorado Batting Order

CF Raimel Tapia .288 BA, 4 HR, 25 RBI
1B Daniel Murphy .283 BA, 4 HR, 26 RBI
3B Nolan Arenado .300 BA, 21 HR, 52 RBI
RF Charlie Blackmon .280 BA, 7 HR, 48 RBI
LF David Dahl .252 BA, 5 HR, 24 RBI
SS Trevor Story .306 BA, 16 HR, 53 RBI
C Dom Nunez* .267 BA, 8 HR, 18 RBI
2B Garrett Hampson .273 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI
DH Ian Desmond .252 BA, 4 HR, 12 RBI
*=Dom Nunez: 4-8, 2 2B's,HR, 2 RBI this series.

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .261 BA, 25 HR, 48 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .279 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI
DH Mitch Garver .296 BA, 23 HR, 56 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .276 BA, 26 HR, 64 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario* .270 BA, 18 HR, 47 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .264 BA, 12 HR, 32 RBI
C Alex Avila .270 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .316 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .246 BA, 9 HR, 28 RBI
*=Eddie Rosario: In month of June, .296 BA, 9 HR, 20 RBI, SLG% .659

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 158
- 2019 through 84 games: 150

Storylines
1. With only a couple weeks until the Mid-summer Classic, the Twins are well in control of the AL Central and after an off-day on Monday will have a chance to seemingly put the division away with games against the Tigers, Indians, and Royals before finishing up with the Blue Jays before the break.
2. Homer Bailey is coming off of his worst start of the year, going only 4 2/3 IP and allowing 4 ER in his third lose of the season and will look to bounceback tonight to take the series over the Rockies.

Richie the Rally Goat · June 29, 2020

6/28/20: Colorado Rockies (39-43) @ Minnesota Twins (51-33) 6:10pmCT

Catch-up
Both games this series have been decided 5-4 and both have been split by each club. With the game to decide the series today, the Twins will look to win the series and the homestand as this is their shortest one of the year with all three games against Colorado.

Pre-game
5:45pmCT

Where to Watch
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 51-33
2. Indians 43-41
3. Royals 42-43
4. White Sox 42-43
5. Tigers 32-52

Starting Pitchers
Rockies: Antonio Senzatela 6-3, 3.45ERA, 91.1 IP, 64 K's
Twins: Homer Bailey* 5-3, 2.52 ERA, 93.0 IP, 60 K's
*=Homer Bailey: 2nd in AL, ERA (2.52), & WHIP (1.04).

Colorado Batting Order

CF Raimel Tapia .288 BA, 4 HR, 25 RBI
1B Daniel Murphy .283 BA, 4 HR, 26 RBI
3B Nolan Arenado .300 BA, 21 HR, 52 RBI
RF Charlie Blackmon .280 BA, 7 HR, 48 RBI
LF David Dahl .252 BA, 5 HR, 24 RBI
SS Trevor Story .306 BA, 16 HR, 53 RBI
C Dom Nunez* .267 BA, 8 HR, 18 RBI
2B Garrett Hampson .273 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI
DH Ian Desmond .252 BA, 4 HR, 12 RBI
*=Dom Nunez: 4-8, 2 2B's,HR, 2 RBI this series.

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .261 BA, 25 HR, 48 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .279 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI
DH Mitch Garver .296 BA, 23 HR, 56 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .276 BA, 26 HR, 64 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario* .270 BA, 18 HR, 47 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .264 BA, 12 HR, 32 RBI
C Alex Avila .270 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .316 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .246 BA, 9 HR, 28 RBI
*=Eddie Rosario: In month of June, .296 BA, 9 HR, 20 RBI, SLG% .659

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 158
- 2019 through 84 games: 150

Storylines
1. With only a couple weeks until the Mid-summer Classic, the Twins are well in control of the AL Central and after an off-day on Monday will have a chance to seemingly put the division away with games against the Tigers, Indians, and Royals before finishing up with the Blue Jays before the break.
2. Homer Bailey is coming off of his worst start of the year, going only 4 2/3 IP and allowing 4 ER in his third lose of the season and will look to bounceback tonight to take the series over the Rockies.

At least one isn’t a rain out

thuuuuney · June 30, 2020

6/30/20: Minnesota Twins (52-33) @ Detroit Tigers (32-52) 7:10pmCT

Catch-up
The season series at 4-3, 3 of the 7 games have been won by more than one run, Gardy's Tigers and Rocco's Twins have gone head to head this season and now they will faceoff for the third time this season, and second in Detroit (Last time in Detroit Tigers split the series 2-2 thanks to two walkoffs by Goodrum and Maybin).

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

Where to watch
Virtual Twins Network

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 52-33
2. Indians 44-42
3. Royals 43-43
4. White Sox 43-43
5. Tigers 32-52

Starting Pitchers

Twins: Jose Berrios* 9-2, 3.58 ERA, 98.0 IP, 105 K's
Tigers: Jordan Zimmerman 1-5, 6.02 ERA, 83.2 IP, 46 K's

*=Jose Berrios: Against Detroit this year in 2 starts: 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 11 K's

Minnesota Batting Order

RF Max Kepler .262 BA, 25 HR, 48 RBI
SS Jorge Polanco .282 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI
LF Eddie Rosario* .273 BA, 19 HR, 49 RBI
1B Miguel Sano .279 BA, 27 HR, 65 RBI
DH Nelson Cruz .278 BA, 21 HR, 58 RBI
C Mitch Garver .296 BA, 23 HR, 56 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson .264 BA, 13 HR, 34 RBI
2B Luis Arraez .312 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI
CF Byron Buxton .246 BA, 9 HR, 28 RBI

*=Eddie Rosario: In month of June, .301 BA, 10 HR, 22 RBI, SLG% .689

Detroit Batting Order

CF Cameron Maybin* .270 BA, 12 HR, 43 RBI
SS Niko Goodrum* .308 BA, 12 HR, 39 RBI
DH Miguel Cabrera .281 BA, 15 HR, 45 RBI
1B C.J. Cron .258 BA, 12 HR, 32 RBI
2B Jonathan Schoop .224 BA, 7 HR, 27 RBI
3B Harold Castro .272 BA, 6 HR, 27 RBI
RF Victor Reyes .291 BA, 5 HR, 30 RBI
C Austin Romine .288 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI
LF Christian Stewart .194 BA, 4 HR, 16 RBI
*=Cameron Maybin: 4th among AL CF's in All-Star Vote

Bomba Tracker
- 2020: 161
- 2019 through 85 games: 151

Storylines
1. We've had 4 of the 7 games this season series change leads in the 9th inning, and the other three were blowout wins. It has been at times, some of the best baseball all year and at other times, it's been a barn burner. The FINAL series of the Virtual season between Detroit and Minnesota begins tonight.

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