Make it Official! Twins 6, White Sox 5: Sausage Kings of Chicago

[JD-TWINS]

4 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I would assume Festa is number 6. Who are 7 and 8 if you rule out Varland and Sands? They will be needed.

I wasn’t completely clear. Varland is the 6th starter! My point was, after a BRIEF uptick from Sands, the fans shouldn’t anoint him The Guy to fill the potential void in the rotation. He’s having some success & IMO, he should be left where he is to try and build on that success. If, after another 45 days, he’s still looking good………the Pen will have many options and Sands could be moved to stretch out for a month. Still available for last 10 weeks as a potential starter.

To me, they aren’t getting through the season without 7-8 starts from Festa. Continue to lengthen him out through May. He could spot start as soon as June to provide some rest for the rotation guys.

No hurry for any changes on May 1, IMO.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Kepler in a contract year!

Saw in Athletic this morning……Kepler, since coming back on April 22…… (.417/.490/.625).

He’s had 5 successful AB’s getting an RBI with 2 outs. Big Sac Fly last night after going 1-3. He sure seems motivated……..whatever works between his ears, contract related or not.

[Linus]

Sometimes you win and sometimes the other team loses. The Twins played so sloppily that they were begging to get beat. Alas the ChiSox were just a little worse. Really glad to have Durán back. 
If the sausage bit were to end yesterday it wouldn’t be soon enough. 

[David Maro]

Isn't it amazing how when you play baseball not homerun you can win games.Someone had to have talked to the team about trying something different.You can still get the homerun,but there are so many other ways to score runs.Hopefully they keep this going because it is fun to watch.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

3 hours ago, Verified Member said:

You’re killing me! 😵‍💫

[VivaBomboRivera!]

10 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Kepler in a contract year!

The guy is such a tease! 🥰

[VivaBomboRivera!]

59 minutes ago, MN_ExPat said:

Well then be prepared to...  meat your maker 😉

 

[stringer bell]

A nine -game winning streak changes things. No need to rush Topa back and the pressure on underperforming veterans is eased. SWR only went 3.2 and the bullpen still has Jax and Stewart available with an off day tomorrow. 
 

Still plenty of things to worry about, but the club didn’t get buried in April—tied in the loss column with both KC and Detroit and only a good series behind Cleveland. 
 

 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

8 hours ago, Goofé Dean said:

On the other hand, Buxton might have caught it and then smashed into the wall at full speed

The horror...

[wabene]

Just now, VivaBomboRivera! said:

The horror...

[VivaBomboRivera!]

3 minutes ago, wabene said:

To borrow from Reggie, "I am the clove that seasons your ham."

[wabene]

Public service announcement: It is now safe to look at the standings.

[jmlease1]

10 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

A nine -game winning streak changes things. No need to rush Topa back and the pressure on underperforming veterans is eased. SWR only went 3.2 and the bullpen still has Jax and Stewart available with an off day tomorrow. 
 

Still plenty of things to worry about, but the club didn’t get buried in April—tied in the loss column with both KC and Detroit and only a good series behind Cleveland. 
 

 

If Ober has a good start today (and he's been looking good) they should be able to get through the game with Okert, Jax, and Stewart which would be great going into the off-day.

They need to get some things figured out, but a 9-game winning streak is some fine deodorant. a 3rd straight sweep would be fantastic. they lost a lot of games to injury in April and made it through pretty well. If the bats stay cooking I think May will be a fine month.

[Riverbrian]

A winning record April! Don't care how we got here. We are here. 

If you want a 100 win season... you have to win approximately 6 games every 10. 

Over 30 games.. 18-12 would be a 100 win season pace.

We are currently 16-13 over 29.  

a 9 game winning streak can do wonders. 

[mikelink45]

Our fielding was shaky and it was good that we were playing the White Sox.  But I am celebrating the streak.

 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

SWR with a lot of pitches in very few innings. Reminds me of some of his AAA starts.  He almost made it 4 innings despite all the trouble and he gave up one earned run so he didn't kill the teams chances at a win.  Would be nice to see a few more K's in there to escape innings, but he'll have things to look at and improve on.  Just happy Rocco took him out when he did.

Funderburk gave Mendick a nice down the middle pitch and he didn't miss.  I don't like it when pitchers walk guys as it means the batter didn't need to work their way on and it ups the pitch count, but sometimes when the hitter knows a strike is likely coming they are ready and Mendick was.

Sometimes good pitches get hit.  Sands pitch low and inside was going to take perfect swing to be a HR and Benintendi got all of it.  Sands seemed to melt down after that.  I still think Sands has setup man in him, but you take your lumps in baseball.  Sometimes things just go sideways.  Again it was good for Rocco to make a change.

I thought once we were ahead our bullpen would shut the door, but it was one of those nights. It was nice to have Duran there to finish the 9th.  To be honest I wasn't sure if he would be completely ready for a tight spot like that just coming back, but was glad he got the job done for a much needed win after this teams slow start.

This Mendick guy is actually pretty scary. Not sure if he'll be around the next time we play Chicago but he's been a thorn..

[JD-TWINS]

Nobody mentioning our BEST hitter, maybe don’t want to jinx, Trevor Larnach!! He has been solid and has started good innings and has some clutch hits to keep things rolling in others. .394 BA & 2 Hrs through 10 games…. nothing but solid so far!

Didn’t get the author’s comment on Buxton’s pop out when pinch hitting & saying ……”it’s been his struggles at the plate that have kept him out of the line-up on a daily basis more than anything.” ……..Buxton has been in 27 of 29 games so far and I’d estimate he’s started 24 of those 27. He’s on pace for a 5.0 WAR and his power has been minimal to date. I’m ecstatic with the fact that he’s playing CF more than 50% of the time (I thought lofty goal) and running the bases with speed and his usual aggression!

I’ll take Buxton at .242 BA - 10 XBH per month - starting in CF 70% of the time!! His power will come - 15 HR is just fine ……his value is being in the line-up 80% plus of the time. Huge step up over ‘22 & ‘23 so far in ‘24.

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, JDubs said:

Coming in to this series I joked the Twins should just keep rolling, sweep the Sox, and make it 10 in a row. Guess it was less a joke and more some prognostication.

Feeling anything about Powerball tonight?

[Mike Sixel]

41 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

A winning record April! Don't care how we got here. We are here. 

If you want a 100 win season... you have to win approximately 6 games every 10. 

Over 30 games.. 18-12 would be a 100 win season pace.

We are currently 16-13 over 29.  

a 9 game winning streak can do wonders. 

Without Lewis, Buxton being mediocre, and CC missing more than a few games. And their best RP made one appearance in the month. 

IF Lewis can come back healthy, this team is a ninety win team.....IF. 

Maybe Buxton hasn't been mediocre?

[Jeff K]

3 hours ago, Patzky said:

I just love that it's never the same guy on any given day. Margot and Farmer were integral to manufacturing runs tonight. Julien can have a birthday stinker when six or seven other guys step up. 

 

Yeah as Rocco burned through the arms last night (not his fault honestly) all I could imagine is, man we really could have used Bowman for one more night.

His replacement...Duran...did ok!  So great to have him back.

[Riverbrian]

55 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Without Lewis, Buxton being mediocre, and CC missing more than a few games. And their best RP made one appearance in the month. 

IF Lewis can come back healthy, this team is a ninety win team.....IF. 

Maybe Buxton hasn't been mediocre?

Lots of stuff over 162 games is about to happen.

I just like watching that pace.

6 out of 10 games. 

[MN_ExPat]

3 hours ago, Linus said:

If the sausage bit were to end yesterday it wouldn’t be soon enough. 

[wabene]

1 hour ago, MN_ExPat said:

Yeah! Vegan!

[ashbury]

7 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I would assume Festa is number 6. Who are 7 and 8

They are not a number. They are free men! 

(Also, you are supposed to ask Who Is Number One? Not seven and eight.)

[MN_ExPat]

50 minutes ago, ashbury said:

They are not a number. They are free men! 

(Also, you are supposed to ask Who Is Number One? Not seven and eight.)

What about “Who does #2 work for!?!?”?