Astros 2, Twins 1: No Offense, No Victory for Twins

[Nshore]

Since his promotion to full time, Martin's batting average is shrinking like a tire with a big leak.  Hopefully he finds his "new normal" very soon.

[tony&rodney]

6 minutes ago, Patzky said:

I don't have much faith Larnach would have come up w anything. If Buck had bunted for a hit but the runners had to hold (most likely scenario)

Two outs, the runners are moving up on contact ... the run scores. I've seen that play before. The controversy comes with the concept of your best player bunting to score the tying run as opposed to getting a walk off base hit.

[Patzky]

5 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Two outs, the runners are moving up on contact ... the run scores. I've seen that play before. The controversy comes with the concept of your best player bunting to score the tying run as opposed to getting a walk off base hit.

It's a great highlight if it works..but I get your issue with the Squeeze. Problem is, the Twins always find a way to make it not work. I was worried they were going to intentionally walk Buck to get to Trevor. Something was off with him last night.. he had awful ABs.

[thelanges5]

41 minutes ago, karcherd said:

It will have to be Mendez or Gonzalez, as I doubt they will add anyone to the 40 man roster.  But it won't matter because I doubt either one will get a chance to play.

They’ll probably just run with a 25 man roster 🤣

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, Patzky said:

It's a great highlight if it works..but I get your issue with the Squeeze. Problem is, the Twins always find a way to make it not work. I was worried they were going to intentionally walk Buck to get to Trevor. Something was off with him last night.. he had awful ABs.

I was a little surprised Buck was not put on first base after the wild pitch. My guess is that Abreu felt more comfortable pitching to Buxton than he would to Larnach because he threw the 3-2 pitch right down the middle, a pitch that has a very high BA for every MLB hitter. Buxton had struck out on four pitches, hit a squib double off down the right field on the third pitch in his second PA, flew out to right field on one pitch, hit a sharp ground ball double on the second pitch in his previous trips to the plate. Despite the two hits Buck didn't look too comfortable. I don't believe he even considered bunting but my orginal reply was that if it works it ties the game .... The goal is to score runs.

[jorgenswest]

I am all in for watching baseball game where the winning team wins by 1. Even better if it is low scoring though it means neither team found much offense. There have been a lot of close games recently. That why I watch. Entertainment. Of course I would want Buxton to hit a walk off single. Single or pop up doesn’t change the previous 2+ hours of engagement.

[JD-TWINS]

33 minutes ago, Patzky said:

I don't have much faith Larnach would have come up w anything. If Buck had bunted for a hit but the runners had to hold (most likely scenario)

The whole idea is to squeeze the run home (no way they hold)…… why would the runners hold on a Buxton bunt……..why would he bunt to load the bases when his run would mean nothing?

31 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Propel keep saying that, were a great hitting team. Eyeball test says not so much. We could get eighteen hits and they'd even out to two singles an inning and one run. If we don't pressure with bunts and steals, we get bupkis. Clemens Buck Martin and Keaschall gotta step up, they can set the parts in play for Bell and Larnach to RBI.

Bell drove in 4 of 6 Monday & 1 of 1 Tuesday. Larnach is the 3rd best hitter on the roster v. RH pitching………….Keaschall “stepping up” is a very slim proposition in ‘26.

[Patzky]

4 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I am all in for watching baseball game where the winning team wins by 1. Even better if it is low scoring though it means neither team found much offense. There have been a lot of close games recently. That why I watch. Entertainment. Of course I would want Buxton to hit a walk off single. Single or pop up doesn’t change the previous 2+ hours of engagement.

It actually was a well played game. The defense defended. The pitchers pitched well, especially the starters. There were key moments. A win would have been nice.. amazingly we can still win the series today.

[Patzky]

1 minute ago, JD-TWINS said:

The whole idea is to squeeze the run home (no way they hold)…… why would the runners hold on a Buxton bunt……..why would he bunt to load the bases when his run would mean nothing?

Bell drove in 4 of 6 Monday & 1 of 1 Tuesday. Larnach is the 3rd best hitter on the roster v. RH pitching………….Keaschall “stepping up” is a very slim proposition in ‘26.

"No way they hold.".. I know you're enjoying our baserunning demonstrations in 2026.

[The Great Hambino]

My biggest takeaway from the game is that Jeff Jarrett still needs money

[JD-TWINS]

ERA’s:

Ober - 3.63

Ryan - 3.20

Bradley - 2.87

Prielipp - 2.88

Rojas - 1.59

Matthews - 1.38

Certainly a capable group - obviously, these will change throughout the year - the talent is there.

Lopez & Festa & Abel all hurt ……… pretty decent depth going into the season from Front Office. 3 of these 9 guys would have been available, along with SWR, in the PEN…….leaving one for “starter depth” at AAA. Injuries happen…….starter depth seems to be in place.

OFFENSE is & has been the gaping hole on this Club!! Can’t hope Austin Martin & Luke Keaschall “carry the load” for 162!!

[Road trip]

There have been some rough games for the offense, and with Jeffers hurt it will likely get worse.  The eye test says the Twins offense is bad.  And yet... still 3rd in the AL in runs scored, and a mere run behind 2nd place Tampa.  AL teams are all struggling to score runs.

We've had some good pitching performances to be sure, as JD-Twins noted above.  But there have also been some horrible clunkers.  SWR a real disappointment.  Essentially the entire bullpen is very bad.  Overall, the Twins rank a very distant 12th in the AL in allowing runs.  Every team in the AL Central is better, even the recently horrible White Sox.  Despite some good individual performances Twins pitching (and defense) is NOT a strength relative to the rest of the league.

I don't know that our eyes are deceiving us, but perhaps our perspective is.  A few years ago the Bomba Squad scored runs with ease, but that era of baseball is long gone.  Pitching rules the game currently, and pretty much every team can throw good starters out there, and most of them have vastly superior relievers than the Twins.

[jmlease1]

Twins offense is at it's best this season when they're grinding out walks. When they're putting together 4-5 baserunners via the free pass it's been doing good things for them. When they're up there hacking it's been much less reliable.

Lee & Martin are both struggling right now, despite Brooks getting the triple.

Nice job from Zebby after giving up the dinger; he settled down and got the job done. Nice job by Adams & Banda as well. Tough loss.

Finding offense is going to be more challenging without Jeffers, who has been consistently dangerous all season. Need to see more from Keaschall, Martin, Lee, and Larnach.