GAME THREAD: 5/14/21 Minnesota Twins vs Oakland A's, 7:10 PM CDT

[HokieRif]

Did Donaldson just give up as soon as he hit that ball, or is he really that slow?

[LaBombo]

3 minutes ago, Mill1634 said:

Nice to see Rortvedt (finally) hit something hard

Just for a moment as he made the turn at first, I was afraid that the muscle memory in his legs would just walk him back to the dugout like usual.

[LaBombo]

Just now, HokieRif said:

Did Donaldson just give up as soon as he hit that ball, or is he really that slow?

Are we completely certain that both things can't be true?

[Mill1634]

Twins with some very loud outs thus far

[Mill1634]

That balls off the wall in 2019, btw

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, HokieRif said:

Did Donaldson just give up as soon as he hit that ball, or is he really that slow?

He’s really that slow and he’s not supposed to run hard unless absolutely necessary due to his recurring leg issues. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Mill1634 said:

Twins with some very loud outs thus far

Al season long, and they always find gloves. 

[Mill1634]

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

He’s really that slow and he’s not supposed to run hard unless absolutely necessary due to his recurring leg issues. 

I'd put that play under the "necessary" category, personally

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, Mill1634 said:

I'd put that play under the "necessary" category, personally

It’s really not, though.

And there’s no one on that field more intense than Josh Donaldson. If he doesn’t think he can run it out, I’ll take his word for it. 

[LaBombo]

6 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It’s really not, though.

And there’s no one on that field more intense than Josh Donaldson. If he doesn’t think he can run it out, I’ll take his word for it. 

Eh.  At home you can question his run to first with impunity.  In person... hey, if he takes exception, you can probably just outrun him.

[stringer bell]

Leadoff walk. Ugh. Shoemaker doesn't have much margin for error, even with the bottom of the order.

[LaBombo]

Shoemaker's last season with an Expected ERA (xERA) below 5 was 2016

[Mill1634]

Twins have to lead the league in pop-ups during hitters counts

[LaBombo]

36 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Can Astudillo ever do anything normally?

Probably, but...  why would you want him to?

[Vanimal46]

Former Twins Spring Training legend Annibal Sanchez was working out for teams the other day. Maybe he is the SP we needed this whole time?

[Aggies7]

Super annoying game because we aren’t playing terribly (yet) yet still feel hopelessly behind

[stringer bell]

Starting with the end (bullpen), the pieces of this club just don't fit together.

[stringer bell]

4 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Super annoying game because we aren’t playing terribly (yet) yet still feel hopelessly behind

Well, since they haven't been able to overcome even a two-run lead....yeah it feels like it is really uphill to rally.

[IndianaTwin]

I'm trying. I'm really trying. I'm trying so hard not to call Dan Gladden a doofus.

But if I heard him correctly (and someone please, please, please, correct me if I'm wrong), he just said that sometimes a solo home run is "a rally killer." 

I think what he was trying to say is that whole thing where you string together several hits and then someone hits a homer, so the pitcher can now settle down and go back to the windup because there's no on base. There's this perception that maybe a double would have been better, because the next batter gets to come up with a duck on the pond, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

But we've got a problem here, Dano. If there were runners on base, the homer was, by definition, not a solo homer. And if it was indeed a solo homers, there weren't any runners on base, so it's hard to call it a rally. 

Please -- someone tell me I misheard. Any other announcer and I'd assume that was the case, but it's so easy to imagine that he said it. 

[LaBombo]

7 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Super annoying game because we aren’t playing terribly (yet) yet still feel hopelessly behind

Feels similar to the start of a crappy West Coast series, but without the advantage of being able to write off individual games in the middle innings because of the time difference.

[LaBombo]

4 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

I'm trying. I'm really trying. I'm trying so hard not to call Dan Gladden a doofus.

But if I heard him correctly (and someone please, please, please, correct me if I'm wrong), he just said that sometimes a solo home run is "a rally killer." 

[...]

Please -- someone tell me I misheard. Any other announcer and I'd assume that was the case, but it's so easy to imagine that he said it. 

Was about to say that a professional announcer would never say something so off the mark, but then I remembered that Dusty "Clogger" Baker kept managing for years after sharing his flat earth belief that high-OBP/low speed guys were killing his offense.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Is it wrong of me to hope that Shoemaker blows up so we won’t get another start? We feel hopelessly behind down 3-0. I’d hate to see Shoemaker pitch just well enough to get yet another turn in the rotation.

[Aggies7]

FFS shoemaker was going to have a decent start and just couldn’t finish it. Will we ever win again

[Mill1634]

Welp..shoemaker pitched relatively well, but the long ball really bit him in the butt.

[Vanimal46]

Sano on the bench 3 out of 4 games. They probably should have opted for the rehab assignment instead of activating him. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Well, I guess I shouldn’t have asked for that...

[Aggies7]

Remember when our club used to hit home runs in bunches 

[Aggies7]

Just now, Vanimal46 said:

Sano on the bench 3 out of 4 games. They probably should have opted for the rehab assignment instead of activating him. 

His rehab assignment should be with another club. I don’t see a future here once everything gets torn down (if it does)

[LA Vikes Fan]

I disagree. Shoemaker did not pitch well. He gave up five earned runs in six innings. Not good. Put him in the bullpen and bring up Dobnak or Thorpe.

[AceWrigley]

Wow, not sure if I've seen a more dejected pitcher.