Twins 8, Blue Jays 2: G4 Ignites a Twins Onslaught

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Peter said:

Great series win!!! 9-7 after 16 games and If Cleveland loses our twins will be tied for first place!!! As always let’s go twins!!!

Yeah, I'm watching that score. Last year, the Twins were tied for first place after six games (2-4 record) never to take the lead. It looks like this year, they will be tied after 16 games.

[arby58]

1 hour ago, Werbellik said:

Do you not know the history of Twins baseball? Hrbek and Gaetti and and Kirby and Frank and Gagne etc were were called up from AA ball? Talent is talent. Talent is not algorithms. 

First, I know the group very well - I wrote a post awhile back about the fact they called up a bunch of players in 1982, and that was the foundation for later success. Keep in mind, however,  that team went 60-102. I think the Twins aim for higher this year. Also, both Puckett (who was called up in 1984) and Viola were called up from AAA.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

My guess is will be dfa'd if he can't hit a ball in the time that Buxton is gone.  

That goofy challenge made me chuckle.. yeah James you have a great eye..

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

Yeah so far I think Shelty has done a good job. Nothing really stands out but I like that he is giving the starting pitchers some length, but that just might be to protect a suspect bullpen.

The last 2 years we started 6-10 and 5-11 after 16 games so this year feels a whole lot better. And I like that we have been scoring early in games and pounding some left-handed starters.

Taking a series in Toronto feels especially good as usually we have a hard time with them. Go Twins.

The Guardians are down to Atlanta 9-1 in middle of Sunday night’s game - if they lose, the Guardians and the Twins are tied for first in the Central AND they will be tied for the most wins in the A.L. at this point!!

[Old Twins Hat]

The Twins are not a great team, but pitching, defense and 3-run homers can carry anyone..

Still tinkering with the bullpen, but Morris looks like a keeper.

Sometimes a group of young guys start to believe, in themselves and something more. One or two rookies show up, a couple of veterans step up, make a trade for another pen arm -- pretty soon, you become a surprise team, dangerous and fun to watch.

 

[JD-TWINS]

Blyleven was a stud over his first 6 seasons ……. came up at 19……….threw a ton of innings - tons of complete games …….was traded 25% of the way into his HOF career. Griffith was cheap - bottom line!

Carew was a 7 time Batting Champion & 32 when traded and then went on to have an average OPS+ of 120 or more through age 38. Carew was an All-Star his first 6 seasons with the Angels. Again, Calvin was cheap - bottom line.

Killebrew didn’t “leave” in or after ‘72, as was suggested above. He played for the Twins through ‘74. He was pretty much washed physically and going to be 39. Calvin should have worked something out with Harmon. He had the MOST HR’s as a right handed hitter in the History of the A.L. ……… he was 2nd in the A.L. only to RUTH in all-time HR’s. He deserved better. He had most of one season with the Royals in ‘75.

 

[terrydactyls]

4 hours ago, Werbellik said:

There were 2 plays. The first one was a right handed batter hitting a 4 bouncer about 30 ft to the left of second base and Lee didnt get within 20 ft of it. The second was a blooper behind second base that he took a step in before retreating that he totally misread and should have caught. Very shallow.

The first hit up the middle was more like 5-10 feet left of second.  And moments latter, he managed to catch a very similar hit which held the runners to a single base.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Bullshite.

This response tracks.

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, Werbellik said:

Calvin didn't think that way Tony and Rodney. Notice the capitilization. They were brought up right away. Not defending Calvin. But his regime created two world series champions and the 1965 World Series....

.

 

Who is this Calvin of which you speak?  Are you talking about John Calvin, the 16th century theologian?  Or maybe Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president?  Maybe Calvin Griffith, former owner of he Twin?  In any case, what does this obscure naming even mean?

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, Werbellik said:

Do you not know the history of Twins baseball? Hrbek and Gaetti and and Kirby and Frank and Gagne etc were were called up from AA ball? Talent is talent. Talent is not algorithms. 

Almost 100% of players called up to the majors are from the minor leagues.  Some stay, many go back.  You named mentioned five who stayed.  Not a big list.

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Bullshite.

YOU MUST BE JOKING???

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, Werbellik said:

10th grade Julius Caesar. There's more but I cant remember. Wow 52 years ago hahahaha

“To be, or not to be” is from Hamlet.

[knothole61]

5 hours ago, Werbellik said:

Calvin didn't think that way Tony and Rodney. Notice the capitilization. They were brought up right away. Not defending Calvin. But his regime created two world series champions and the 1965 World Series....

.

 

Calvin's "regime" created two World Series champions? What am I missing? He had sold the team before the 1987 and 1991 titles-yes? Are you assuming that he laid the groundwork for them somehow even though he sold the team in 1984? Otherwise, I think he was a batboy for the Senators when they won it in 1924...but he shouldn't get too much credit for that!

[Squirrel]

Getting a little off topic here. Please stick to tonight’s game recap. 

[UK Twin]

Confession: I'm really enjoying watching this team right now. Thought the number of quality AB's in the first few innings was outstanding. Excellent with RISP. Bats went quiet in the 2nd half of the game but the game was just a formality by that stage anyway. 

Bradley good, if a bit wild at times. But give me 5 innings of 1 run ball any day of the week. Good to see Morris make his debut.

 

[JD-TWINS]

12 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I was one of the few optimistic fan around, & their performance has impressed me. Bradley has been phenomenal, Ryan has been Ryan. Abel is promising. Nice steady performances from Gray, Bell, Jeffers, Caratini, and Martin. Larkin has been good, Lee is showing good life now. Buxton, Lewis & Wallner have had some good games but are still due for a tear. If SWR was managed right, we'd have a 7-game winning streak, which could be extended to 10 now, coming to face a slumping BOS.

Concerns: A young rotation & a shaky BP which needs some high-leverage RPs.  They've been doing OK if you keep the pressure down. Again, they should bring up Prielip & see what he can do, along with having some long relief. Morris is a good start. Also, we need to improve our INF defense. 

“If SWR was managed right” …….. not clear on that one?

By the way, Boston has won 4 of last 5 scoring 16 runs in last two games. Only recent loss was 3-2 on Friday. They seem a touch warm to me……. am concerned, particularly since they are throwing Crochet tonight.

[JD-TWINS]

12 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Kaat, Carew, and Blyleven were moved for the same reason that Calvin sold the team. Also why Judge isn't a Twin. CG made more than his share of mistakes to be sure.

“Also why Judge isn’t a Twin” …… ???

[TJSweens]

14 hours ago, Linus said:

Looks like Taj had some control issues like “old” Taj. So helpful to be able to strike guys out to get out of it. 

It was encouraging to see Taj grind through 5 innings when he was fighting his command on every pitch. All pitchers have days where the ball just refuses to go where they want it to go. Good pitchers manage to make enough pitches to get through and give their team a chance to win. Taj did that.

[tony&rodney]

37 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

“Also why Judge isn’t a Twin” …… ???

$

[JD-TWINS]

14 minutes ago, TJSweens said:

It was encouraging to see Taj grind through 5 innings when he was fighting his command on every pitch. All pitchers have days where the ball just refuses to go where they want it to go. Good pitchers manage to make enough pitches to get through and give their team a chance to win. Taj did that.

Nice problem to have but he did have to sit in between innings a couple times - so that didn’t help with any “groove” a guy may want to get into………can’t miss the zone by 2 feet a half dozen times, seemed to be overthrowing, often. Showed some intestinal fortitude in a couple innings while working through issues. They were 2-14 with RISP - some were his, could have gone sideways.

TEAM tied for most wins in the A.L.!

[laloesch]

15 hours ago, Werbellik said:

True. But if Brookes Lee was even a semi-competent shortstop Morris would have thrown roughly forty pitches. Lee is NOT a shortstop.

Yeah.  I am NOT a fan of Lee at Short.  He's simply not good enough for that position.  

[laloesch]

I must confess I'm very pleasantly surprised at the start this team had.  Sooooo much better than last year.  Perhaps they will surprise a lot of people and keep this going.  

[BrokenCompass]

Gray looks like he should be an every day player...but lately, Lee has stepped up and we've got to find a place for both of those guys.  An every day infield of Gray, Lee, Keachall and Bell should do the trick. Lewis looking more and more like the odd man out. 

Outman should not be on a major league baseball roster. Cut your losses and DFA, if he gets claimed so be it. 

Taj Bradley is the Twins POTY so far and I don't think it's close. Dude's been amazing, hat's off. 

[AceWrigley]

13 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

The Twins are not a great team, but pitching, defense and 3-run homers can carry anyone.

Somewhere, Earl Weaver is smiling.

[Jacksson]

Yesterday:

Another lucky win.  It wasn't that the Twins were that good, it was that Scherzer was that bad; father time is catching up to you, Max

A walk, a HBP, then Scherzer serves up a Gopher Ball when he grooves a pitch to try to get it into the strike zone.

What kind of gutless wonder is Shelton?  Two more HBP to Twins' batters.  No retaliation.  No complaints to the umpire crew. No comments to the opposing manager.  A Twins player is gonna get hurt by a pitched ball AND under current rules, ONLY the Twins suffer due to the loss of a player.  Neither the pitcher or the opposing team are penalized in any way.

Larnach runs like a truck

Bell runs like a BIG dump truck.  Days of weighing "just" 260 are in his rearview mirror.

Wild pitch by Morris moves the runner up and costs a run when he scores on a SF.

Morris takes 67 pitches to get through 3 innings which makes him UNAVAILABLE for the next 3 or so days, removing him from bullpen availability.

Batters #9, #1, #2, #3 were 4 for 18 (2 from Keaschall) WITH 8 STRIKEOUTS.

OUTMAN 0 - 4 After the game seen in the Twins' Gift Shop shopping for a HIT. Also seen was a completed out DFA form on Zoll's desk in the name of OUTMAN, just waiting to be used.

[Craig Arko]

Apparently the team is not allowed to be any good. Oh, well, enjoy the moment anyway. 

[karcherd]

1 hour ago, BrokenCompass said:

Gray looks like he should be an every day player

Oh sure, he has had two good games and now let's anoint him our every day third baseman.  He has done what a bench player should do, he has contributed.  But he is 30 years old with 130 AB's in the majors.  Let's stop with trying to turn every pumpkin into Cinderella.  We are going to win more games with Lewis, he has been playing better since last August and I will take his upside over Gray's.  We need to know if Lewis will be part of the next wave of core players.  We know Gray will not be.

[BrokenCompass]

53 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Oh sure, he has had two good games and now let's anoint him our every day third baseman.  He has done what a bench player should do, he has contributed.  But he is 30 years old with 130 AB's in the majors.  Let's stop with trying to turn every pumpkin into Cinderella.  We are going to win more games with Lewis, he has been playing better since last August and I will take his upside over Gray's.  We need to know if Lewis will be part of the next wave of core players.  We know Gray will not be.

Keep it simple: 

You play good? You play more. 

No need to overanalyze. Occam's Razor says play him, so play him. 

[karcherd]

20 minutes ago, BrokenCompass said:

Keep it simple: 

You play good? You play more. 

No need to overanalyze. Occam's Razor says play him, so play him. 

Again two good games should not earn you the job.  This is 25 Clemens all over, he add a good three week stretch and they are now making him an every day player leading off.  You need to put players in a position to succeed and I don't believe based on history Gray will succeed as an every day player.

[RpR]

25 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Again two good games should not earn you the job.  This is 25 Clemens all over, he add a good three week stretch and they are now making him an every day player leading off.  You need to put players in a position to succeed and I don't believe based on history Gray will succeed as an every day player.

The same could be said for Lewis, Lee, Martin.

If they play well, they stay, if they flounder, they sit, which is why the Twins have defense bench sitters for when the starter becomes a liability in a close game.