GAME THREAD 4/13/2021: Twins vs. Red Sox, 1:10 CDT

[Diesel]

The Minnesota Twins will play today! (I think, anyways....)  Although the weather is ghastly today, the precipitation will come down as snow, and not rain. Will Nelson Cruz slide into second on a homerun today like fellow slugger Miguel Cabrera did on Opening Day? (Edit: Nelson Cruz was a late scratch due to an illness, so he will not)

 

https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1377675605932699648

 

It amazes me that guys like Cruz and Miggy can still go out there almost every day and still be insanely productive at the plate. I'm just over half their age, and seem to get more injuries just living normally, and not having to deal with sprinting, getting hit by a 99 MPH fastball, stretching out at first.... What they do to get ready for baseball season is incredible. However, like all of us, Nelson Cruz will eventually lose that little bit of strength or a millisecond of awareness that is needed to play at the highest level. And that's OK! 

 

On the family farm, I, my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather have all used the same 60 year-old Craftsman tap and die set.

 

For 60 or so years, this old set has cleaned off thousands of bolts and holes of rust and grime, saving us thousands of dollars in parts. Last weekend, my father and I were cleaning bolt holes on a tire hub that must have been buried. We both struggled to get a new half turn of the tap into the hole at a time before spraying more oil and lubricant into the hole. These hubs happened to be in metric, and not standard, so I reluctantly used the brand new metric set we had. After about an hour of work, the tap holder broke into pieces, not from abusing it, but from a lack of quality and pride. Welp, gotta go to the ol' reliable Craftman set. That will work, right? About 3 hours later, it broke too. Not from pushing it too hard, just from so much off and on stress exerted by 4 generations at the same shop. 

 

Just like that Craftsman tap holder, eventually Cruz will lose that extra step..... right? It's incredible that he has been able to be the slugger he has during his career. No tap and die set will ever be made as well as that Craftsman set was 60 years ago, the human element of perfection is simply not there, and greediness of companies has made hand tools of all sorts less effective and enduring than in previous years. The Twins will probably never see a hitter like Cruz ever again. It's been a joy to watch for the past 2+ years, and I hope he can get a title. He shouldn't be remembered for a miscue out in RF over a decade ago, especially since his bat carried them throughout the postseason. 

 

Lineups:

 

Boston Red Sox (6-3)

 

1. Kike Hernandez CF
2. Alex Verdugo LF
3. JD Martinez DH
4. Xander Bogaerts SS
5. Rafael Devers 3B
6. Christian Vázquez C
7. Hunter Renfroe RF
8. Christian Arroyo 2B
9. Bobby Dalbec 1B
SP. Martin Perez

 

Minnesota Twins (5-4)

 

1. Byron Buxton CF
2. Kyle Garlick LF
3. Mitch Garver C
4. Jorge Polanco 2B
5. Miguel Sano DH
6. Luis Arraez 3B
7. Willians Astudillo 1B
8. Andrelton Simmons SS
9. Jake Cave RF

SP: J.A. Happ

 

I think this will be a battle of the bats. Martin Perez and J.A. Happ have had solid enough careers, but I don't think they can hold these lineups down. I predict a Twins Win, but it's going to be ugly.

 

Let's Play Ball!

[wsnydes]

Cruz a late scratch for a "non-covid illness". Sano to DH, Astudillo at 1B, Arraez 3B and Cave in LF. 

 

Quite the lineup.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Fantastic intro, Diesel!

[twinbythebay]

 

Cruz a late scratch for a "non-covid illness". Sano to DH, Astudillo at 1B, Arraez 3B and Cave in LF. 

 

Quite the lineup.

Yuck... I wish they would at least move Garlick over to LF and put Kepler back in RF. Cave should never start vs. LHP.

 

(Here's hoping this provides a reverse-jinx and Cave goes yard today!)

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I am sorry about your tap and die set. Sometimes I think inanimate objects are sentient, and the Craftsman discovered that a cheap metric was its replacement, and so the Craftsman died of a broken heart.

 

And they definitely do not manufacture things the way they used to. After a couple rounds of brand new cookware, bought from low end and high end sellers, I eventually went back and dug out my mother’s old set and couldn’t be happier. Made well, gets used all the time, and still going strong.

[rghrbek]

 

Yuck... I wish they would at least move Garlick over to LF and put Kepler back in RF. Cave should never start vs. LHP.

 

(Here's hoping this provides a reverse-jinx and Cave goes yard today!)

Wish they had one more option, so neither would start against left handed pitching....

[Diesel]

 

I am sorry about your tap and die set. Sometimes I think inanimate objects are sentient, and the Craftsman discovered that a cheap metric was its replacement, and so the Craftsman died of a broken heart.

And they definitely do not manufacture things the way they used to. After a couple rounds of brand new cookware, bought from low end and high end sellers, I eventually went back and dug out my mother’s old set and couldn’t be happier. Made well, gets used all the time, and still going strong.

I think you are right. Luckily, it was just the holder, and not any of the actual taps. Should be able to get a replacement part to fix it (the set has a lifetime replacement warranty), but I will just have to figure out where to take it with Sears going out of business.....

[USAFChief]

So...eventually Cruz will be tapped out?

[wsnydes]

 

Yuck... I wish they would at least move Garlick over to LF and put Kepler back in RF. Cave should never start.

 

(Here's hoping this provides a reverse-jinx and Cave goes yard today!)

FTFY! Hopefully your reverse jinx still takes hold.

 

I'm also guessing that "non-covid illness" for Cruz actually means "old creaky bones and joints". It's not exactly baseball weather here today.

[Diesel]

 

FTFY!  Hopefully your reverse jinx still takes hold.

 

I'm also guessing that "non-covid illness" for Cruz actually means "old creaky bones and joints". It's not exactly baseball weather here today.

Or Buxton's illness is "running" through the clubhouse...

[USAFChief]

"non-covid" illness leaves a rather wide set of possibilities.

[twinbythebay]

 

Wish they had one more option, so neither would start against left handed pitching....

They could stick La Tortuga in LF and have either Garver or Jeffers at 1B, but Rocco seems pretty determined to never use his backup C at any other position... That would be a good way to get Jeffers some more at-bats vs. LHP, which might help his bat get going. Sucks for him that Garver always gets the start vs. LHP.

[wsnydes]

 

Or Buxton's illness is "running" through the clubhouse...

Sounds like it had everyone running to a specific plumbing fixture in the clubhouse...

[twinbythebay]

 

FTFY!  Hopefully your reverse jinx still takes hold.

 

I'm also guessing that "non-covid illness" for Cruz actually means "old creaky bones and joints". It's not exactly baseball weather here today.

To be fair, Cave has been pretty solid vs. RHP in his career (111 wRC+), but he's certainly looked lost so far this season. Too early to give up on him IMO, but starting him against LHP is definitely not putting him in the best position to succeed.

[wsnydes]

 

To be fair, Cave has been pretty solid vs. RHP in his career (111 wRC+), but he's certainly looked lost so far this season. Too early to give up on him IMO, but starting him against LHP is definitely not putting him in the best position to succeed.

Fair enough. His issues date back to last year too though. While I'm not taking much stock in anything that happened last season, good or bad, the trend has continued into this season.

[TouchEmAllGuy]

Go Twins!

[wsnydes]

33° and snow. What a day to play baseball!

[USAFChief]

Maybe drop the cap while running, tortuga.

[bighat]

Holy cow it's really snowing. Awful.

[bighat]

Down here in Florida it's 85 - almost a little too hot to mow the lawn, but I think I'll go out and get 'er done. Need to put on some sunblock and shades.

[MMMordabito]

I can only partly watch gameday on this one.  How watchable is Happ so far? 

[wsnydes]

Good start.

[bighat]

Bux is just so fun to watch right now! Yeah!

[USAFChief]

 

BUXTON!

[Diesel]

That was pretty hard hit for a shattered bat....

[sampleSizeOfOne]

I hope Buxton has another bat...

[USAFChief]

 

I can only partly watch gameday on this one.  How watchable is Happ so far? 

1-2-3 top of the first and to me, it felt painful.

 

Perhaps I'm not totally unbiased here.

[wsnydes]

 

 

BUXTON!

But is he too hot to mow the lawn?

 

Asking for bighat.

[USAFChief]

 

Down here in Florida it's 85 - almost a little too hot to mow the lawn, but I think I'll go out and get 'er done. Need to put on some sunblock and shades.

Sunny and low 80's in Tucson. 

 

Like yesterday.

 

And tomorrow.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Got us right where they want... bases loaded none out.