Twins 8, Yankees 1: Minnesota’s Offense Routs the Yankees, Even the Series

[rwilfong86]

9 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

The Twins offense has now given 3 top starting pitchers in the AL their worst outing of the season. Let that sink in for a minute. 

Shout out to Archer. He stepped up big time tonight and has overall been pretty solid for us this season. 

Stanton’s antics in RF tonight was a treat to watch. One misplayed fly ball after another. 

Thank god we’re done playing the elite Tigers and Royals so we can continue beating up these AL East scrubs ?

Watching Stanton play the field is hilarious, it's like little league?

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

He’s hitting .348/.375.692(1.068) in his last 7 games, and .348/.375/.652(1.029) in his last 15. Hard to send him down. This won’t last obviously but you gotta keep playing him. He’s an adventure in the field at first base, but maybe third base would be a better spot . With this team, it’s getting harder to see a spot for Kirilloff or Lewis on the 26 man before the cut to 13 pitchers. An injury will change that analysis and give them opportunities, but right now everyone on the roster is earning their spot.

You are right. Now that Buxton is hitting again... there really isn't an obvious send down to make room candidate at the moment. ?

[2wins87]

7 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

One little negative comment.  Tonight was a perfect example of why I am strongly against the often espoused theory that defense isn't important at first base.  A good defender at first would not have missed the bag on Jax' great play and would definitely not have dropped Polanco's throw from right field.  Fortunately, neither play hurt tonight.  And as Vanimal46 pointed out, they paled in comparison to Stanton's antics in right field.

Miranda played mostly 2B and 3B in the minors. Both those plays were results of getting out of position and being late to the bag.

That is the kind of thing that can be improved with experience. I think he looks good fielding and scooping.

It's also just very hard to field a team where everyone is a defensive wizard. It's still better to have the least defensively proficient guy at 1B rather than another position, as long as the offense is there.

[2wins87]

1 hour ago, bighat said:

How about Rocco pulling Celestino for Larnach - he was looking to pile on to the lead and it worked perfectly when Larnach delivered a PH double to give the Twins some room. Great move by Rocco, as was bringing in Jax and letting him go 2 innings.

It helps also that Larnach has been a solid enough defender that the downgrade from Celestino to Larnach in the field is not so massive. I wanted to comment yesterday after his nice sliding catch but the loss was kind of overshadowing everything.

Now, I'm fully aware that he still doesn't have great range, but looking at baseball savant, he seems to have significantly improved the components of his jump from last year. That's probably something he's worked hard on with the coaches and he seems to have made some significant improvements over the offseason. When he does get to the ball he looks smooth, has good body control, and seems to have good hands, which was true even last year.  We've also seen that his arm is an asset.  Put it all together and you've got a guy who's not going to be the most rangy outfielder but does everything else well enough that he's not going to be a liability in the corners.

I remember scouting reports being pretty dismissive of his defense prior to his debut, so it's a nice revelation that he's actually a solid average fielder.

[mikelink45]

It felt like a holiday - but I went outside and no fireworks.  But we beat the Yankees.  As Aggies7 pointed out it was 2015 - 7 years ago that we won big against the Yankees and then you have to go back to the 90s.  Was this a playoff victory - can we pretend it is and erase that weight from Twins fandom?  Probably not, but boy did this feel good.  

If I were the Yankees I would make Stanton throw away his glove and be the permanent DH.

[Fatbat]

Its baseball. Anything can happen!!! I like archer as a 4/5…. Give us a solid 5-6 innings …. Hopefully Duran gets a save opportunity tonight!!

[roger]

Miranda sure has caught my attention the past few games.  Is hitting like the player we were so excited about all last year.  Does his defense at first and third need work, you betcha.  But that should come with experience over the next few years.  I would wager that come 2025 he will be considered average or better at whatever corner infield spot he is playing.

Larnach just looks like a big time hitter.  To be honest, he is better than I expected and his defense is a huge improvement.  Ad Celestino and you have a trio of players who should be solid members of the Twins for years to come.  Considering that Lewis could/should be the best of the group and you have a very exciting, young Twins team going forward.  Where AK fits into this group, I don't know.  It will start with his eventually getting called back to Target Field and hitting like he has in St. Paul.  Maybe at some point he becomes the second corner outfielder who can back up first base, when needed.   

Saw that Ryan is starting for the Saints tonight and Winder goes Friday.  Both should be back with the Twins next week.  That will make the starting rotation better, much better.  Also wondering, has Jax become the Twins second best reliever?

[Trov]

Overall I liked the hitting approach by the team against Cortes.  They fell behind in the counts early, but still made him work, and was willing to just put the ball in play getting some weak contact hits. Archer was okay and the overall results were good, but he was walking tight rope all night falling behind and walking guys.  The GIDP helped him get out of a lot of possible messes.  Miranda really needs to work on defending first, he looked liked a mess out there last night.  

[Whitey333]

Yes a great ballgame Wednesday.  Twins played almost perfect ball.  Thursday is another day however.  With Bundy pitching against Cole it COULD be a disaster.  Then yesterday's game has less significance.  If Twins win Thursday that would be great.  Take the series.  At this point though I am worried about Baldellis lineup.  On days like these he tends to rest players that don't need it.  Please play your best players today

[Puckett34]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

You are right. Now that Buxton is hitting again... there really isn't an obvious send down to make room candidate at the moment. ?

Hell'uva problem to have ?

[Karbo]

3 hours ago, bighat said:

Well I'll be damned. After Tuesday's game one would think the Twins might have folded, but they really gave the Yanks all they could handle last night.

Great to see Bux showing emotion again, and with Correa back I think the offense may remain confident. With Polanco heating up we might be finally getting that 1-2-3 punch at the top of the order we've been dreaming about since winter.

How about Rocco pulling Celestino for Larnach - he was looking to pile on to the lead and it worked perfectly when Larnach delivered a PH double to give the Twins some room. Great move by Rocco, as was bringing in Jax and letting him go 2 innings.

Props to Chris Archer, he got his first win as a Twin last night. When's he going to be able to throw 90 pitches? It's June 9th after all, even if he missed all of Spring Training he should be ready to do that by now. Or is Archer just at a 70 pitch limit at this point in his career? If so, I never heard about that.

Ask Rocco when he will be permitted to go over 80 pitches.

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

It felt like a holiday - but I went outside and no fireworks.

Every time the Twins beat the Yankees, the skies all over Minnesota should be lit up. Wouldn't cost us much, considering it's not all that common. Not yet, at least.

[jorgenswest]

7 minutes ago, Karbo said:

Ask Rocco when he will be permitted to go over 80 pitches.

Should Baldelli have kept him the sixth inning to face the middle of the Yankee line up a third time through? I was hoping it would be Jax in that spot.

[Aerodeliria]

10 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Aren’t haikus 5-7-5?

Arigatou sensei!

[Karbo]

4 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Should Baldelli have kept him the sixth inning to face the middle of the Yankee line up a third time through? I was hoping it would be Jax in that spot.

That's not what I meant. I was simply saying that Archer does not make the decision when to come out of the games. As far as last night goes, yes I would have left him in until he started to get into the slightest bit of trouble(like one guy on base) I would have had Jax warmed up and ready when he did. Who knows, maybe he could have got another inning, or maybe the next hitter would have gotten on. IMHO its worth taking a chance to try and save this bullpen.

[Steve71]

I know this is an utterly visceral observation, but Larnach just looks so darn calm and confident at the plate now.  I think that carries over to his play in the field, too.

[MABB1959]

Somehow the MN Twins/MLB/Pohlad's need to figure out how to get the games televised. Yesterday's game was televised and I feel like I got to know and love Archer like I do Berrios.  I understand stats and strategy, but I am more of a fan who likes to get to know the players and cheer for the team!  That was really fun to watch.  

[jimbo92107]

I was surprised how Chris Archer dominated the usually potent Yankee lineup. Even more surprised was I to learn that he has won 20 games against them. What is it about Archer's style that gives all those home run hitters such difficulty? 

He definitely attacks the zone, throwing a lot of pitches in what looks like hittable locations, but on the periphery. He also attacks outside the zone, but he manages to deliver his sucker pitches with the same motion as his strikes. Mostly he keeps the ball low, but he'll sprinkle in a high tight pitch now and then. Good job of mixing up pitches.

Even so, his stuff looks "hittable." It doesn't have a lot of late action, just good location, and he does avoid the middle of the zone pretty well. 

Maybe that's the lesson for Twins pitchers facing the Nyorks: Don't try to throw anything freakish, just attack around the periphery, avoid the middle, and mix up your pitches. Sounds simple, but actually it's not.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

It helps also that Larnach has been a solid enough defender that the downgrade from Celestino to Larnach in the field is not so massive. I wanted to comment yesterday after his nice sliding catch but the loss was kind of overshadowing everything.

Now, I'm fully aware that he still doesn't have great range, but looking at baseball savant, he seems to have significantly improved the components of his jump from last year. That's probably something he's worked hard on with the coaches and he seems to have made some significant improvements over the offseason. When he does get to the ball he looks smooth, has good body control, and seems to have good hands, which was true even last year.  We've also seen that his arm is an asset.  Put it all together and you've got a guy who's not going to be the most rangy outfielder but does everything else well enough that he's not going to be a liability in the corners.

I remember scouting reports being pretty dismissive of his defense prior to his debut, so it's a nice revelation that he's actually a solid average fielder.

He's something like 2nd in defensive runs saved. He's been so much better in the field than we were led to believe. 

[Puckettsprintstofirst]

40 minutes ago, Steve71 said:

I know this is an utterly visceral observation, but Larnach just looks so darn calm and confident at the plate now.  I think that carries over to his play in the field, too.

 

His swing is butter.  Not sure why it is always lefties with the prettiest swings, but Larnach owns that distinction for the twins.  

[Doctor Gast]

This the best game I've seen for a long time! Everything worked great (the defense could have been better but we were able dodge those bullets). We had great pitching and the offense stepped up and we didn't even need Duran. 

I was really impressed how Archer reached out to Gordon after he flubbed a double play that would have gotten him out the inning sooner, Archer & Correa add a lot to the chemistry & mentoring the younger players. Archer and Correa will produce greatly for this team but the extra production they draw from the rest of the team will pay dividends for years to come.

Another note Archer will always praise his catchers no matter what, Archer's ERA with Jeffers is less than 2.00 , Sanchez is over 6,00, not sure what his ERA is with Godoy.

We shown what kind team we are! If the Gray,Winder, Ober and Bundy hadn't been over stretched causing injury & dead arms. We would have had them to sweep the Yankees.

[puckstopper1]

2 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

With Bundy pitching against Cole it COULD be a disaster. 

Yup - basically a Twins bullpen game today with Bundy as the ineffective opener.

Twins will need LOTS to go right to pull off a win tonight.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, jimbo92107 said:

I was surprised how Chris Archer dominated the usually potent Yankee lineup. Even more surprised was I to learn that he has won 20 games against them. What is it about Archer's style that gives all those home run hitters such difficulty? 

He definitely attacks the zone, throwing a lot of pitches in what looks like hittable locations, but on the periphery. He also attacks outside the zone, but he manages to deliver his sucker pitches with the same motion as his strikes. Mostly he keeps the ball low, but he'll sprinkle in a high tight pitch now and then. Good job of mixing up pitches.

Even so, his stuff looks "hittable." It doesn't have a lot of late action, just good location, and he does avoid the middle of the zone pretty well. 

Maybe that's the lesson for Twins pitchers facing the Nyorks: Don't try to throw anything freakish, just attack around the periphery, avoid the middle, and mix up your pitches. Sounds simple, but actually it's not.

Although Archer's change-up isn't as good as his 4SFB or slider but IMO when he's in a SO situation if he could mix in his change-up at these times, he could generate more SOs and keeps the batters guessing

[prouster]

Good game for the Twins. It’s nice to see Buxton’s bat warming up. 
 

Wondering why Kaat wasn’t in the booth…

[bean5302]

15 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I don’t think he missed the bag, to be quite honest. The fact the call wasn’t overturned resorted in very loud boos from me 

Something I've noticed which is so very different than all previous seasons I've been attending games. The scoreboard is showing close plays on the replay. That never used to happen. If it was a close play that went against the home team, you'd never see it on replay. Guess they didn't want to incite the crowd or something haha.

[bean5302]

5 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Should Baldelli have kept him the sixth inning to face the middle of the Yankee line up a third time through? I was hoping it would be Jax in that spot.

The day I take Griffin Jax, AAAA talent, over Chris Archer against the middle of the Yankees lineup seems distant indeed.