GAME THREAD: 4/12/21 (POSTPONED) Minnesota Twins vs Boston Red Sox

[Mill1634]

The Twins come off a disappointing series against Seattle, dropping the last 2 of 3 against one of the worst rosters in the league. The lineup failed to do anything against the Seattle bullpen, and Alex Colome continues to be a roller coaster. The Red Sox roll into town hot, but do not bring any warm weather. The weather will likely be an issue all week, and we could see a delay today due to rain, but I think they should be able to get it in. Josh Donaldson is healthy and eligible to return, but Rocco said they did not activate him to avoid playing in these conditions.

 

The Pitchers: LHP J.A Happ (2-2, 3.47 ERA, 42 K's, 49.1 IP, 2020 Stats) vs LHP Martin Perez (3-5, 4.50 ERA, 46 K's, 62 IP, 2020 Stats)

 

JA Happ is on the bump for the second time this year, going up against old friend Martin Perez. Happ got a delayed start this spring due to covid, and didn't look too sharp his first time out against the Tigers. He threw 89 pitches and only got through 4 innings, but did limit the damage to only one run. The best thing about the outing was that he did throw 89 pitches, which is a good sign. Martin Perez returns to Minnesota after an average 2020. Perez is also making his second start, and went 5 innings against Tampa Bay his first time out. He struck out 5 and allowed 3 runs. Neither starter will blow anyone away, and it could be a long day as both lineups have been hitting well. However, the weather could limit the offense. 

 

The Lineups

 

Twins

 

CF Byron Buxton R
LF Kyle Garlick R
DH Nelson Cruz R
C Mitch Garver R
1B Miguel Sano R
3B W. Astudillo R
SS A. Simmons R
2B Luis Arraez L
RF Jake Cave L

 

Red Sox

 

LF E. Hernandez R

DH C. Vazquez R
RF J. Martinez R
SS X. Bogaerts R
3B R. Devers L
CF H. Renfroe R
2B C. Arroyo R
1B Bobby Dalbec R
C K. Plawecki R

 

Byron Buxton moves up to the one spot against a lefty, and deservedly so. He has been fantastic this year no matter the pitcher on the mound, and will look for a quick start here today. Garlick is back in the 2 spot vs a southpaw, and has looked good thus far. Willians gets the start at 3rd as Jorge Polanco gets his first day off of the season which slides Luis Arraez back to second base. Cave will start over Kepler in right field, although neither hit lefties at all. Nelson Cruz and Andrelton Simmons are the only Twins with a significant amount of AB's vs Perez. Cruz is hitting .260 on 27 ABs, including 3 homers. Simmons also has had success, hitting .304 in 23 AB's, including a homer. The Sox go with a lot of righties against Happ, including Twins ST nemesis Bobby Dalbec. JD Martinez starts in the OF, which is not something we see a lot these days. It is worth noting that the Sox offense has been very good as of late. 

 

This Day In History: 2010 - On an unusually warm spring day, the hometown Twins beat Boston, 5-2, in the first regular-season game at Target Field. Minnesota DH Jason Kubel hits the ballpark's first home run, a seventh-inning shot into the right-field seats.

 

Pick to Click: Kyle Garlick hits a homer 

 

Go Twins!!!

[D.C Twins]

Sano and Garver back to back in the heart of the line up.... woooof!

[Dave The Dastardly]

 

Sano and Garver back to back in the heart of the line up.... woooof!

Is that a "woooof" as the sound of bat missing a fat pitch or a "woooof" as surprised Sano is in the middle of the lineup and not on the bench?

[wabene]

Garver has looked ok against lefties, but Cave? C'mon now. I would've picked a different day to rest Kepler.

 

Edit: oops should've checked he's 2 for 11 each against lefties and righties with 1 homer each. Same same. It is their plan to play him against lefties so I'm sure it will continue.

[stringer bell]

I wonder if the ball will carry in the less-than-optimum weather conditions. Drizzle today and a chance of snow tomorrow and Wednesday.

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Sano and Garver back to back in the heart of the line up.... woooof!

 

Garver has a career .887 OPS against lefties (.786 against righties).  Even last year, when he was terrible, he still had an .819 OPS against lefties, which would be 9th amongst all catchers with 100+ PA's last year.  If Garver isn't playing every day against lefties, and producing middle-ish of the order stats, he shouldn't be on the team.

[wabene]

It always seems that players from warm climates tend to start slow and ramp up when the weather warms. Cruz must have the cheat code. Did he pass it to Buxton?

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Garver has looked ok against lefties, but Cave? C'mon now. I would've picked a different day to rest Kepler.

Edit: oops should've checked he's 2 for 11 each against lefties and righties with 1 homer each. Same same. It is their plan to play him against lefties so I'm sure it will continue.

 

Kepler career OPS against lefties--.653

Cave career OPS against lefties--.658

 

You need to rest Kepler sometime, may as well do it against a lefty.

[wabene]

Kepler career OPS against lefties--.653

Cave career OPS against lefties--.658

 

Ugh that's rough. Maybe Kepler can tap into that 2019 magic.

 

You need to rest Kepler sometime, may as well do it against a lefty.

[Rosterman]

Right now Sano needs to bat 8th or 9th. Having him have one less at bat can benefit the team more than hoping he punches the ball.

 

Arraez works good at lead-off as he can work a pitcher better than most anyone on the team. You want the opposing pitcher to work in that first inning.

 

[TouchEmAllGuy]

No baseball today...

[Danchat]

Here’s hoping we can put up some runs on Perez, they had better be able to hit up a mediocre lefty like him. Prove me right, hitters!

 

Wait, I thought this game was in Boston. Whoops. Probably too rainy to play today.

[TouchEmAllGuy]

Political reasons?

Riot concerns?

[Cap'n Piranha]

It's astonishing to me that MLB isn't set up to communicate when delays are happening, and why.

[Mill1634]

Absolutely brutal decision here. Fans are in the ballpark already and Rocco said this morning that the game was being played. I don't want to get political on here, but if you say that and bring fans into the ballpark, don't change your decision later on. I'd fly both teams to Boston and play the series in Boston.

[hybridbear]

Why delayed?

[MNT1996]

I'm glad I can watch this team through my screen. You couldn't pay me enough to go to a game in Minneapolis now. 

[snotboogie]

 

Why delayed?

Radar makes it look like it's raining downtown. I'm getting a few drops here about 3 miles south.

[Joey P]

Are they delayed or postponed?

 

[Mill1634]

 

Radar makes it look like it's raining downtown. I'm getting a few drops here about 3 miles south.

Not delayed to rain. Delayed due to the shooting last night. Curfew and potential riots

[Mill1634]

 

Are they delayed or postponed?

postponed

[mnfireman]

For what its worth, MLB gameday says delayed, not postponed or cancelled.

[Diesel]

I feel really bad for the Red Sox and Twins players and coaches, along with the fans already there. MLB should have made this decision this morning, not 15 minutes before the game. The leadership there is abysmal: common Instant replay miscues, bad rule changes, lack of suspensions for a huge scandal, etc.

[PopRiveter]

First day in 2 years that I found myself thinking, "Man, I really need a baseball game."

 

mentally, emotionally-a baseball game would've meant something today.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Maybe A-Rod can buy the Twins while he's at it and move the team to a suburb 

Give it a rest. We know your opinion already, stop hammering away at it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I feel really bad for the Red Sox and Twins players and coaches, along with the fans already there. MLB should have made this decision this morning, not 15 minutes before the game.

Yeah, it's not a good look. Either make this call well before fans arrive and players are warmed up or play the game. Frankly, I'm fine with either decision, but make it early and stick to it.

[snotboogie]

 

Not delayed to rain. Delayed due to the shooting last night. Curfew and potential riots

What's the source? I just tuned in 'CCO and I thought I heard Atteberry say that they didn't know why it was delayed.

 

Now saying don't know why it was postponed.

[USAFChief]

 

Are they delayed or postponed?

Yes.

[Mill1634]

Worth noting that this is Boston's only trip to Minneapolis. Going to be difficult to get all 4 games in here unless we flip flop series. Total lack of communication right now, too. Beat and national writers are reporting postponement, while Bally TV is saying delayed and "are not sure why." Appears that fans are still sitting at Target Field, too 

[Joey P]

It makes sense to postpone, given that the courthouse is so close. Its only like 2 LRT stops away from TF. I hope it doesn't spiral into something bad like before. It sounds like it was far far less intentional than the incident in June. Pray for peace!