GAME THREAD: 6/8/21, Minnesota Twins vs New York Yankees, 7:10 CDT

[Mill1634]

Since my last game thread intro, nothing about the state of the Minnesota Twins has changed. They are still playing poor baseball despite having a talented roster on paper, they are playing sloppy, and a player gets hurt nearly every game. This seems to be how things will be remembered for this 2021 Minnesota team, which is sad, but expected as a Minnesota sports fan. With that said, the Yankees come to town for the first time this season, and we know the Twins do not like facing the Yankees. They turn into a shell of themselves and play horrible. With the way this year has gone, I fully expect a sweep because it simply would not make a difference, and of course we would play well against them in a lost year.

 

The Pitchers

RHP Michael Pineda (3-3, 3.40 ERA, 48 K's, 47.2 IP) vs LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-1, 3.92 ERA, 59 K's, 59.2 IP)

 

Michael Pineda gets the ball once again after returning from a brief injury stint ,and will go up against his former team. Pineda has thrown the ball like we've come to expect in Minnesota under his tenure, which will give you 5 or 6 innings of 2 or 3 run baseball, while not giving up a big inning or allowing much by the base on balls. Pineda doesn't have electric stuff, nor will he get a ton of swings and misses, but he is a pitcher, not a thrower. On the other side, Jordan Montgomery gets the ball, who similar to Pineda, won't give up a ton of free passes, and isn't going to rack up a ton of strikeouts. He's going to go out for the Yankees, throw the ball in the strikezone, and likely limit the big inning. The southpaw relies on a curveball which has a whiff rate of over 40%, and pairs it with three fastballs, a sinker, cutter, and traditional four seam. None of the pitches are great swing and miss pitches, but he has to show them in order to be effective. He also throws a changeup to right handed batters which has a whiff rate of 35 percent, and is the putaway pitch over a fifth of the time. 

 

Lineups:

Twins

Not available

Yankees

Not available

 

This day in History - 2005: Going yard twice in his 4-for-4 day, Alex Rodriguez becomes the 40th and youngest big leaguer to hit 400 career home runs. On the 316th day of the 29th year of his life, the Yankee superstar third baseman, who surpasses Ken Griffey Jr. for the honor, connects for a solo shot off Brewers' southpaw Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth inning for the milestone marker.

 

Pick to Click: Kyle Garlick bomb

 

Prediction: Twins 4, Yankees 6

 

Go Twins!!!

[wsnydes]

Maybe the double negatives of a poor Twins team against a Yankees team cancel each other out and become a positive with a Twins sweep!

 

Who am I kidding?  That sounded a lot less sarcastic in my head.

[Otto von Ballpark]

27 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Maybe the double negatives of a poor Twins team against a Yankees team cancel each other out and become a positive with a Twins sweep!

I think 2016 may have tested this theory already -- Yankees still went 5-2 against us that June.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Although 2021 has the new storyline, Refsnyder out for revenge!

[stringer bell]

As per usual, the Twins seem to always be the last team to post lineups. I suppose it has to do with all the injuries and roster movements, but still I wanted to post the lineups for the game thread, but still not available as of 5:13.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Twins:

1. Kyle Garlick (R) RF

2. Josh Donaldson (R) DH

3. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B

4. Miguel Sano (R) 1B

5. Ryan Jeffers (R) C

6. Trevor Larnach (L) LF

7. Rob Refsnyder (R) CF

8. Willians Astudillo (R) 3B

9. Andrelton Simmons (R) SS

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Them other fellas:

1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 1B

2. Aaron Judge (R) RF

3. Gleyber Torres (R) SS

4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH

5. Gio Urshela (R) 3B

6. Gary Sanchez (R) C

7. Rougned Odor (L) 2B

8. Miguel Andujar (R) LF

9. Brett Gardner (L) CF

[twinssporto]

I'm going to the game tonight. Figured it would be a great weight loss plan. 99 degrees and lots of sweat.

The 14 beers won't help though...

[wsnydes]

29 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

 

The 14 beers won't help though...

It's important to hydrate!

[USAFChief]

29 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

I'm going to the game tonight. Figured it would be a great weight loss plan. 99 degrees and lots of sweat.

The 14 beers won't help though...

Do not concur. 

The 14 beers absolutely will help...with the sweating.

[wsnydes]

39 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

I'm going to the game tonight. Figured it would be a great weight loss plan. 99 degrees and lots of sweat.

The 14 beers won't help though...

 

9 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Do not concur. 

The 14 beers absolutely will help...with the sweating.

Probably cause less nausea than the product on the field, too.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Listening to the Yankees radio broadcast (as I am wont to do when the Twins play the Yankees; I think John Sterling is great).  They had Cory Provus on to do an interview with Suzyn Waldman, and Provus pulled no punches.  He essentially said, without explicitly saying it, that the Twins are done, and proceeded to take shots at Colome and Robles.  Fascinating to hear one of the voices of the Twins write them off so matter-of-factly.

[Longdistancetwins]

Just heard Yankee broadcaster Suzyn Waldman briefly interview Cory Provus.  I was impressed with him.  I should find ways to listen to the Twins radio broadcasts here in NYC.  

[Longdistancetwins]

2 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Listening to the Yankees radio broadcast (as I am wont to do when the Twins play the Yankees; I think John Sterling is great).  They had Cory Provus on to do an interview with Suzyn Waldman, and Provus pulled no punches.  He essentially said, without explicitly saying it, that the Twins are done, and proceeded to take shots at Colome and Robles.  Fascinating to hear one of the voices of the Twins write them off so matter-of-factly.

Ooops.  I guess great minds think alike.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, Longdistancetwins said:

Ooops.  I guess great minds think alike.

Ha!  Ninja'd ya!

[wsnydes]

3 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Listening to the Yankees radio broadcast (as I am wont to do when the Twins play the Yankees; I think John Sterling is great).  They had Cory Provus on to do an interview with Suzyn Waldman, and Provus pulled no punches.  He essentially said, without explicitly saying it, that the Twins are done, and proceeded to take shots at Colome and Robles.  Fascinating to hear one of the voices of the Twins write them off so matter-of-factly.

I certainly understand why they don't, but I also wish that it was more common.  These guys know what they're watching.  They understand the context more than we do as fans.  The brutal honesty can be very refreshing sometimes.

[Longdistancetwins]

There goes the….

Never mind.

 

[Nine of twelve]

Beautiful night at a beautiful ballpark. 

[wsnydes]

Solid start...

[wsnydes]

1 minute ago, Nine of twelve said:

Beautiful night at a beautiful ballpark. 

You must have had the same beer that Chief had a few weeks ago?

[LaBombo]

If there's anyone on the game thread tonight who predicted an early June starting outfield of Larnach/Refsnyder/Garlick way back in April, I've got a couple hundred to put into the market that I'd like to turn into enough to put my oldest through an Ivy League school with in a couple of years... so PM those tips!

[wsnydes]

Nice escape there.

[ashbury]

11 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

You must have had the same beer that Chief had a few weeks ago?

A man can not step into the same river twice, nor drink the same beer as Chief.  The underlying logic is different but similar.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, twinssporto said:

I'm going to the game tonight. Figured it would be a great weight loss plan. 99 degrees and lots of sweat.

The 14 beers won't help though...

It’s been consistently warmer in MN than Austin, TX for the last week. Thanks for taking one for the team lately! It’s creeping up to the mid 90s now then it will be hell on earth until November 

[wsnydes]

Just now, ashbury said:

A man can not step into the same river twice, nor drink the same beer as Chief.  The underlying logic is different but similar.

Teach me more, oh one who is wise.  I must know more!

[wsnydes]

2 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

It’s been consistently warmer in MN than Austin, TX for the last week. Thanks for taking one for the team lately! It’s creeping up to the mid 90s now then it will be hell on earth until November 

You can have it back.  I've had enough for one summer and summer just started!

[ashbury]

9 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Teach me more, oh one who is wise.  I must know more!

Actual motto engraved at the University of Cincinnati.  I suggest enrolling there.

[Nine of twelve]

Noise. After every pitch. After every. Single. Bleeping. Pitch. 

[wsnydes]

2 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Actual motto engraved at the University of Cincinnati.

Astute engraving is astute.

[h2oface]

Sano flips it to right. Sano scores from first. And Diaz made the right call. Things are looking different, today.