Twins 3, Guardians 4: Griffin Jax Goes from Hero to Goat, Offense Goes Silent After Early Flurry

[David Maro]

Stick a fork in um!!

[jmlease1]

Really tough beat for the Twins offense, getting runners on base and doing little with them after the initial flurry. Have to do better than the 3 runs.

I'm also going to take a moment to bash the tv broadcast duo: Provus decided to try and be funny last night, comparing a Cleveland hitter to Jeffrey Jones, the actor who played Ed Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Nice try, except that Jones is a convicted sex offender. Maybe don't comp a player to a criminal like that, my guy. The ed Rooney comp might have been a little cringe, but specifically calling out the actor by name and comparing a player to a convict is bad form. Maybe less funny from you, more call the game, especially if you're not doing the research.

less gross, but still problematic: Perk confessing that he's never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Oy.

[insagt1]

32 minutes ago, SockNet said:

I understand mathmatically it will be hard for the Twins to miss the playoffs, but I thnk they can do it.

 

after last night the math says it could be quite easy for Twins to miss the playoffs. Especially when you aren't winning and the other guys are. Twins blow two more to Cleveland this series and they could be on the outside by thursday. Thats the reality.

[NYCTK]

8 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Not trying to pick on Royce as I absolutely love him and what I feel he can bring to the table in the future, but he had another lost ball when trying to transfer from glove to throwing hand last night.  He also had one a few games ago.  These slow rollers seem to give him trouble.  Maybe he really should be considered strongly for 2B next season.

To beat up on him, I was really concerned when he was talking about how afraid he was to play 2B in September. That is not the mentality of a true leader.

But, to be fair to him, it sounded like he's more than willing to make that transition in the offseason. So I do think he should be expected to move there or LF. Or at least, learn them and get some level of comfort. 

[twinzcynic]

11 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Y'all are being such irrational homers. The Guardians have been by far the superior team this year and they did it without their second best player for all but one game. 

I couldn't agree more. Cleveland plays good baseball, and has dudes who have over 65 RBIs (bUt It'S a duM StaT) unlike us.

[h2oface]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

I don’t disagree that anyone can “lose the game” in an instance on a particular night.

I watched the replay of the 2-run homer Jax gave up on MLB network twice this morning and it’s essentially a perfect pitch. Location is the extreme high/inside corner of the strike box at 97 mph. The hitter guessed fastball and somehow turned on the pitch with perfect contact. Great piece of hitting! Tough break for Jax and Team to give up the game with this guy’s 3rd HR of the year………tough to call Jax the goat though when Twins score in only one inning.

Meanwhile, earlier, in the 6th, Correa watched a perfect pitch for called strike three for the 2nd out of the inning with runners on first and second, as he got the perfect center center straight fastball as middle middle as can be with no movement, and watched it, betting on a breaking pitch. Very sad. You can't hit the ball, and close pitches that should be really good pitches, it you don't even swing.

[NYCTK]

5 minutes ago, twinzcynic said:

I couldn't agree more. Cleveland plays good baseball, and has dudes who have over 65 RBIs (bUt It'S a duM StaT) unlike us.

Omg, how is that even possible? That's so sad, it's actually funny. 

[Five minute major]

They offense on this team is atrocious right now and I believe it stems from the organizations obsession with analytics.   It is nauseating to watch and must be difficult for the players as it is impossible to get consistent AB's every day.    Fire Rocco yesterday as well. 

[Five minute major]

Rocco is to baseball coaching what Mike Yeo was to hockey coaching.   

 

[chpettit19]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

If the Guardian’s DH can hit an up & in 97mph fastball out for his 3rd HR of the year to win the game, anything can happen with Twins bats as well. Am trying to hang in there.

Calling it his 3rd HR of the year is missing quite a bit of context. He hit 20 this year in 83 AAA games. He slugged .548 in AAA. For reference, Matt Wallner's best AAA slugging percentage was .544 this season. He slugged .524 there last year. 

Kyle Manzardo isn't the typical slap hitting Guardian player. He's caught up to a lot of 97 MPH fastballs in his life. It was a good piece of hitting, but by no means some crazy feet that came out of nowhere. He's a legitimate power hitter.

[chinmusic]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

Omg, how is that even possible?

When you platoon the way the Twins do, it's probable.

[1985Fan]

If you look at stats the Twins are a better offensive team than Cleveland. They are better as a team in hits, runs, RBI, even home runs. Stats are deceiving, even in baseball. I believe the stats are misleading because Twins numbers are padded against poor/lowly teams.

I’ve watched most of the Twins games or listened on the radio. I believe the Twins lack confidence in their abilities, the attitude that you are the better player and team. That is what counts in critical situations vs. hoping you get the job done and escape with a win. 
The attitude and confidence comes from leadership. Rocco does not help confidence with a constantly changing lineup, pinch hitting in the middle innings, playing utility players instead of good defensive players, and pulling pitchers that are going well. He’s all about stats instead of managing and leading people. 

With the bad defense and poor offense, the pitching needs to be almost perfect to get wins. Perfect is not going to happen every game. 

[NYCTK]

39 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Calling it his 3rd HR of the year is missing quite a bit of context. He hit 20 this year in 83 AAA games. He slugged .548 in AAA. For reference, Matt Wallner's best AAA slugging percentage was .544 this season. He slugged .524 there last year. 

Kyle Manzardo isn't the typical slap hitting Guardian player. He's caught up to a lot of 97 MPH fastballs in his life. It was a good piece of hitting, but by no means some crazy feet that came out of nowhere. He's a legitimate power hitter.

Yeah, this denigration isn't fair to him or the Guardians at all. He's a better hitter than Wallner and 3 years his junior. Both are defensive liabilities, so I'd wager there isn't a team in all of baseball (outside his hometown Twins) that would prefer to roster Wallner. 

Wallner AAA -

29% K

13% BB

4.3% HR

Manzardo AAA - 

19% K

15% BB

4.8% HR

[howeda7]

8 hours ago, Peter said:

Totally disagree with you!!!! This would be the worst thing to happen-the big city national media won’t ever let the state of Minnesota live it down!!! Thais can’t happen!!! That’s why it’s so so so important twins get in playoffs!!!

 The national media doesn't give a $%% whether the Twins make the play-offs or not. No one outside of Minnesota and the fans of the teams chasing them care.

[howeda7]

5 hours ago, SockNet said:

I understand mathmatically it will be hard for the Twins to miss the playoffs, but I thnk they can do it.

 

Not really. It's not unreasonable that at least one of Detroit or Seattle will go say 8-4. That would mean all the Twins have to do is go 6-6 or worse.