Astros 9, Twins 1: Alvarez, Abreu and the Astros Deflate Target Field, Twins Face Elimination Wednesday

[Hashim]

1 hour ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

We gotta pen full of fresh arms if young Joe ain't quite up for the job.  Bring 'em on.

Yeah I’d pull him very early if he doesn’t get the job done. Give me Paddock & Kenta and the whole bullpen tomorrow. 

[Hashim]

3 hours ago, CoastiePilot08 said:

Really disappointed in Sonny. 
 

I know he had a great season and I appreciate the WC win. 
 

But we absolutely needed a stud performance and he completely clunked it. 
 

set the offense up to press and swing away the rest of the game. 
 

massive opportunity missed. 

Yeah he didn’t deliver but the defense (AK) didn’t help him either. The postseason is games of inches. 

[glunn]

Watching the game now. Some coach needs to teach AK to get his body in front of the ball, not just wave at it with his glove hand.  Lot's of blame to go around, but Twins need better fundamentals,

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Maybe rethink the "crowd him inside" plan to Alvarez.

Then start considering driving in some runs on offense.

Season rests on Joe Ryan.

He needs to be CROWDED - can’t let him turn on the pitch. Should be about 4-5 inches off his rib cage.

Gotta hit in situations to score …..1-9 with RISP isn’t going to fly. 4 hits total & with about 10K’s from our rookies, we aren’t going to be very effective scoring.

Chasing fastballs up and flailing at pitches off the plate made us look ill prepared and desperate. I get Javier is a professional and he made som nice pitches and competed hard! We still looked like a team with a bad plan.

Not being able to see with poor start time has some validity but I didn’t see the Astro’s players looking like they were having issues at all - right?

Poor offensive performance as a team - CC isn’t Superman - need to perform as a team.

[Aerodeliria]

2 hours ago, Hashim said:

Don’t get your hopes up. They handled Sonny they can easily handle Ryan. Joe Ryan is a high fast ball pitcher, which Houston has no problems with. Alvarez vs Ober will be the likely result. 

Maybe, but Ober's pitches looked dead--no movement at all. Yes, he could throw a strike, but those pitches were coming in flat with almost no break at all. (At least Maeda was getting some movement on his pitches,) I predict Ryan will have good stuff tomorrow.

[RaoulDuke]

Big letdown after the big win in Houston.  Bats gotta show up with RISP, no way should a starter issue 5 walks and no runs. 

As good of a year as Gray has had he has also walked a tight rope a lot, and it finally bit him.

Swap Correa and Lewis in the order, it was tough to see Lewis kill a couple rallies with Correa waiting right there.  AK has looked real bad, I might start Solano but then again Urquidy is a guy he should be able to hit.

For the love of all things good stop pitching to Alvarez, let him swing at crap if he wants to or walk to first.

 

[singlesoverwalks]

The bats can't take another day off tomorrow. The Twins are going to need to score some runs.

[D.C Twins]

3 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Wallner was one of only four Twins batters to reach base twice today.  Let's give this a rest.

I'm not sure that Wallner has even touched a baseball during this series and if you have watched his ABs,,, he hasn't really even been close.

I wouldn't assume that Houston will make the mistake of walking him tomorrow.

Do you think he is the best option to get a hit?

[VivaBomboRivera!]

29 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Do you think he is the best option to get a hit?

Ya dance with them that brung ya.

1. Getting on base is getting on base, and drawing walks is an art
2. He's been successful in a platoon role this season.  Let's see if they platoon him tomorrow, and if so, let's see how well he does

[Doctor Wu]

I didn't watch the game, but that seemed like a good old fashioned smackdown. After that first inning, that was a huge hill to climb, and even though the Twins seemed to have enough runners on base, once again they couldn't get enough of them to cross the plate. Just have to pump up the volume, hope for better pitching, and get more runs tomorrow. An easy equation, right? But it's the playoffs and anything, or nothing, may happen. Just got to hope our Twins rise to the occasion and force a game five. 

[Karbo]

8 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

He needs to be CROWDED - can’t let him turn on the pitch. Should be about 4-5 inches off his rib cage.

Gotta hit in situations to score …..1-9 with RISP isn’t going to fly. 4 hits total & with about 10K’s from our rookies, we aren’t going to be very effective scoring.

Chasing fastballs up and flailing at pitches off the plate made us look ill prepared and desperate. I get Javier is a professional and he made som nice pitches and competed hard! We still looked like a team with a bad plan.

Not being able to see with poor start time has some validity but I didn’t see the Astro’s players looking like they were having issues at all - right?

Poor offensive performance as a team - CC isn’t Superman - need to perform as a team.

I wouldn't pitch to him unless you absolutely have too

[Karbo]

8 hours ago, singlesoverwalks said:

The bats can't take another day off tomorrow. The Twins are going to need to score some runs.

And Ryan better have some sort of off speed pitches or Houston is just going to sit on the fastball.

[rv78]

11 hours ago, CoastiePilot08 said:

You must be a blast to be around. 
 

why do you follow the team if they make you so miserable?

THE SERIES IS NOT EVEN OVER YET 

I hate Rocco. Terrible Manager. He's a bum. Want them to lose so he gets fired. Unfortunately just getting them to the playoffs and winning the first round will probably make his job secure for another season where he can fumble his way through another season. FO isn't much better. Signing guys like Gallo and wasting money on the likes of an always injured Buxton and an over-rated Correa hurts the team more than any of you Kool-Aid drinking fans will ever see. 

[David Maro]

Sorry but it is time for them to set up their tee times. And maybe change the name of the team to the MN. Whiffers. I saw the same old Twins in the 1st inning. They had a chance to score and couldn't put the ball in play. Please let the Hitting Coach go this off season. And have Ryan and Ober stop with 90 mph meatballs at the top of the zone. It's time they learn to pitch,not just throw.

[chinmusic]

10 hours ago, Hashim said:

What hopes do we have when Sonny couldn’t get done. I don’t expect anything from Joe Ryan. 

If Gray had pitched well, would you then be expecting something from Ryan?

Don't get the reasoning....

[wabene]

Tough crowd. Hey @rv78, you may be preparing for another season, next year, of calling for the heads of the front office and Rocco. I'll let you in on a little secret, you will just be wasting your breath. After the wildcard round this group is firmly entrenched. They also look to be poised for recurring post-season trips for the foreseeable future. 

Target Field is a fun and rowdy place, even yesterday. 

[HokieRif]

10 hours ago, RaoulDuke said:

Big letdown after the big win in Houston.  Bats gotta show up with RISP, no way should a starter issue 5 walks and no runs. 

As good of a year as Gray has had he has also walked a tight rope a lot, and it finally bit him.

Swap Correa and Lewis in the order, it was tough to see Lewis kill a couple rallies with Correa waiting right there.  AK has looked real bad, I might start Solano but then again Urquidy is a guy he should be able to hit.

For the love of all things good stop pitching to Alvarez, let him swing at crap if he wants to or walk to first.

 

Can’t agree more. Our vets need to get the starts tonight across the board with maybe the exception of Farmer for Julien. But Solano at first, Farmer at third, and Castro in LF makes sense. The vets need to show the rooks how it’s done. 

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, Aerodeliria said:

Maybe, but Ober's pitches looked dead--no movement at all.

Ober came in on short rest to eat innings so Rocco didn't have to use any short relievers. He's literally taking one for the team there. I fully expect Rocco to empty his bullpen today to keep the game close. Expect a long game with a lot of pitching changes tonight.

[jmlease1]

It was a disappointing loss to be sure. Pitching wasn't there, defense wasn't there, and offense wasn't there. It's tough when nothing's really working, and the Astros had it going. Alvarez is absolutely a machine.

Fortunately, the Twins still have another bite at it. It would be great to send this back to Houston.

Twins did a good job working walks, but they need to pair it up with some hits. Hopefully some guys will be able to re-set themselves, not expand the zone and find contact again. This team still has a lot of power up and down the lineup and that can turn things around in a hurry.

Glad to hear the fans in the stands didn't quit on the team yesterday and kept trying to cheer them on, even during a rough game. Hope everyone comes out again tonight ready to yell!

[GeorgiaBaller]

 

OK--it's a given--Sonny had a terrible day and looked like he had a very tired arm.  If the Twins can re-sign him, he may have to get "hurt" for a while in June and Early August.  Joe Ryan looked tired down the stretch, too.  Should they be conditioned better?  I don't know, but both looked pretty worn out and missing snap and spin the last 3-4 weeks of the season.

I don't know if anyone else had the sound on during Ober's 2nd inning.  It was like he was throwing BP.  The sound of the bat cracks on each hit (not just Abreau and Alvarez, but someone hit a screamer to center as well) were the loudest I have heard this season.

I worry a little that Ober might be a little bit brittle when things start a little south (think Aaron Rogers in the playoffs).  That's not saying he can't pitch--but they may need to address the mental toughness with him if he is going to be a topflight starter.

[Hashim]

15 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

I posted this on another thread but I was worried about Gray coming in. He wasn’t sharp against Toronto. Yes he gave us 5 scoreless, but he had only one 1-2-3 inning. And had at least 2 baserunners in 3 of his 5 innings. Toronto just failed to take advantage and it only took Houston one inning to take full advantage of Sonny 

You’re right. Toronto couldn’t capitalize. He also doesn’t get much run Support. 

[Hashim]

2 hours ago, chinmusic said:

If Gray had pitched well, would you then be expecting something from Ryan?

Don't get the reasoning....

No I didn’t. I expected more from gray and all hands on deck game to close to out the series in MN. Maybe a bullpen game and a couple innings from Pablo. 

[Hashim]

13 hours ago, Aerodeliria said:

Maybe, but Ober's pitches looked dead--no movement at all. Yes, he could throw a strike, but those pitches were coming in flat with almost no break at all. (At least Maeda was getting some movement on his pitches,) I predict Ryan will have good stuff tomorrow.

I hope so. Ryan is the most effective when his pitches have movement and he uses his off speed well & often.