Twins 9, Cardinals 8: Game of the Year on a Random Friday Night

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, wornsmooth said:

I have never before heard of batting a guy on track for 40 to 50 homeruns batting leadoff.

Mickey Mantle was as fast as Buxton, but the Yankees never wasted his power batting leadoff.

You’ve never heard of Kyle Schwarber? He’s a pretty well known player.

[DJL44]

52 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Gomez got a bad break with infield drawn in - Gray had 3 plays that I saw where he got to balls and couldn’t make a play……his effort is great! However, I have to think that with another step of quickness, Culpepper turns two of the three stops by Gray, into outs.

Makes me wonder about the field conditions. A wet infield can easily cost the fielder a step of quickness.

[terrydactyls]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed. I was entertained. I don't need dry recaps. I can get that from other places. 

Where are these "other places"?  I do not live in the Midwest so I get no coverage of the Twins.  That's why I prefer details over hyperbole.  

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

A good example of the effect of lineup position on RBI totals.

Buxton is 12th in runs scored and he has mostly batted leadoff. That’s what you want from the leadoff 

As of this morning, Buxton has scored 46 runs;  21 of those runs scored were a result of him hitting a homerun.  The 2 thru 6 hitters have only caused him to score 25 times.  Seems more like he is being wasted as the leadoff batter.

[Mike Sixel]

20 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Where are these "other places"?  I do not live in the Midwest so I get no coverage of the Twins.  That's why I prefer details over hyperbole.  

MLB.com

[Western SD Fan]

Inspired by the article recounting the game, I have conceived my own short story on the ending of this game in the form of a Greek epic.  Full disclosure:  I have never taken a creative writing class.

After watching our hero, Joe Ryan, fight with the determination of Achilles through six innings, is finally retired to the bench while our glorious heroes fight on.  The team, inspired by his gritty performance, fight back to take the lead through an infield single, a booming double, and a sacrifice fly.  Shelton spins his Bullpen Wheel of Regrets, and it comes up Rogers.  Rogers gets into trouble and Orze is brought in and quickly gives up the lead.  Now our heroes are down 4-7 with only 9 outs to go.

Shelton sends the Cardinals his version of the Trojan horse, the Bullpen Wheel of Regrets to the Cardinals dugout.  The Cardinals, surprised by the sudden receipt of the gift, spin the wheel, and it came up Stanek out to the mound to face our motley crew of heroes.  The most unlikely of heroes in 2026, Kody Clemens, greets Stanek with a 3-run home run to tie the game!  Shelton goes with his trusty pitcher Gomez to get the eighth.  He wasn't up to the task and gives up the lead.  The Cardinals didn't re-spin the Bullpen Wheel of Regrets and leaves Stanek in the game.  Our heroes send up the forlorn candidates in Lewis and Lee, which both hit booming home runs to reclaim the lead.  Finally, Morris comes in and completes the improbable comeback in a game which will go down in the annals of the 2026 season as one of the greatest games!

Epilogue:  All I wanted out of this is to use my coined term for the Twins bullpen:  Bullpen Wheel of Regrets.  Thank you taking the time to read my saga.  🙂

 

[Matt Braun]

3 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

If the OP had just added to this article:

1.  Heaving busoms

2.  Throbbing male genitalia

3.  A picture of Fabio

he would be well on his way to a romance novel.  I think he must have recently taken a creative writing class.  Just tell us what happened at the game.

To each their own. I'll admit the "good writing," philosophy I adhere to can occasionally run too dramatic even for my own liking. That being said, I still firmly believe in trying to describe a story beyond the plain details because, as others have said, anyone can do that, and the box score alone is an adequate tool. Also, no creative writing classes were taken in the making of these articles. 

[Linus]

22 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

Inspired by the article recounting the game, I have conceived my own short story on the ending of this game in the form of a Greek epic.  Full disclosure:  I have never taken a creative writing class.

After watching our hero, Joe Ryan, fight with the determination of Achilles through six innings, is finally retired to the bench while our glorious heroes fight on.  The team, inspired by his gritty performance, fight back to take the lead through an infield single, a booming double, and a sacrifice fly.  Shelton spins his Bullpen Wheel of Regrets, and it comes up Rogers.  Rogers gets into trouble and Orze is brought in and quickly gives up the lead.  Now our heroes are down 4-7 with only 9 outs to go.

Shelton sends the Cardinals his version of the Trojan horse, the Bullpen Wheel of Regrets to the Cardinals dugout.  The Cardinals, surprised by the sudden receipt of the gift, spin the wheel, and it came up Stanek out to the mound to face our motley crew of heroes.  The most unlikely of heroes in 2026, Kody Clemens, greets Stanek with a 3-run home run to tie the game!  Shelton goes with his trusty pitcher Gomez to get the eighth.  He wasn't up to the task and gives up the lead.  The Cardinals didn't re-spin the Bullpen Wheel of Regrets and leaves Stanek in the game.  Our heroes send up the forlorn candidates in Lewis and Lee, which both hit booming home runs to reclaim the lead.  Finally, Morris comes in and completes the improbable comeback in a game which will go down in the annals of the 2026 season as one of the greatest games!

Epilogue:  All I wanted out of this is to use my coined term for the Twins bullpen:  Bullpen Wheel of Regrets.  Thank you taking the time to read my saga.  🙂

 

I like Wheel of Regret. It’s perfect for our pen. 

[Maybe Next Year]

Here is a unique idea- how about you let the catcher call the pitches from behind the plate instead of the manager from the dugout. The catcher has a much better idea of the pitcher's stuff during the game than the manager. Case in point - last night after Ryan gave up 3 runs in 1 2/3 innings his headpiece quit working. At that point Caratini started calling pitches. Ryan pitched a scoreless 4 1/3  innings after that. I realize it's just a small sample size but with all the problems we are having with our bullpen perhaps it's time to put all the over analysis on pitch selection from the bench on hold and let the catcher call the game. 

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

You’ve never heard of Kyle Schwarber? He’s a pretty well known player.

To be fair, Schwarber’s a high-ish OBP guy as well, who takes way more BB…and the Philly’s have Harper to follow him. Buxton not at all a high OBP/BB guy, has nothing reliable in terms of power behind him.
 

It doesn’t help that the only “good” OBP guys on the team (Larnach and Martin) are currently slumping. Admittedly, there are a dearth of options for Shelton, but even he has given in and moved Buxton to the 2 spot. The % of solo HR’s, and RBI numbers speak for themselves. You gotta try something different. Shouldn’t hurt his runs scored, he’s only scored 25 runs that weren’t driven in by himself.

[jkcarew]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Not saying he (Bell) is a better player than any of those guys, but I still think he has value on this team.

To be precise, negative value of -0.4 bWAR. The only thing that will sink a team faster than regularly playing a guy with zero defensive value/flexibility and an OPS+ of 79…is also regularly putting him in the 3, 4, 5 spots in the batting order.

To be fair to Bell, he’s far from being our only negative WAR regular.

[ashbury]

3 hours ago, wornsmooth said:

I have never before heard of batting a guy on track for 40 to 50 homeruns batting leadoff.

Mickey Mantle was as fast as Buxton, but the Yankees never wasted his power batting leadoff.

ILast year I thought batting Buxton leadoff  was stupid.

I still think it stupid.

If he batted 3rd or 4th he would have 50 percent more ribis and about same number of runs scored

Buxton's OPS with runners in scoring position is .572.

With bases empty it's .970.

You still sure you want to mess with something that's currently working?

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Buxton's OPS with runners in scoring position is .572.

With bases empty it's .970.

You still sure you want to mess with something that's currently working?

I think making sure Buxton minimizes PA with RiSP is something this lineup can accomplish, no matter where he bats in the order.😉

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

As of this morning, Buxton has scored 46 runs;  21 of those runs scored were a result of him hitting a homerun.  The 2 thru 6 hitters have only caused him to score 25 times.  Seems more like he is being wasted as the leadoff batter.

Seems like he’s doing the right thing. The 2-6 batters aren’t nearly as good at driving in Byron Buxton as Byron Buxton is.

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Where are these "other places"?  I do not live in the Midwest so I get no coverage of the Twins.  That's why I prefer details over hyperbole.  

Download the MLB app. It provides recaps of every game.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, Maybe Next Year said:

Here is a unique idea- how about you let the catcher call the pitches from behind the plate instead of the manager from the dugout. The catcher has a much better idea of the pitcher's stuff during the game than the manager. Case in point - last night after Ryan gave up 3 runs in 1 2/3 innings his headpiece quit working. At that point Caratini started calling pitches. Ryan pitched a scoreless 4 1/3  innings after that. I realize it's just a small sample size but with all the problems we are having with our bullpen perhaps it's time to put all the over analysis on pitch selection from the bench on hold and let the catcher call the game. 

The catcher is calling the pitches with a button on his shin guard.

[IndianaTwin]

I'm not quite sure which is the better long-term sight -- the Lewis swing at the beginning of the clip or the Lewis/Buxton hug at the end of it. I hate playing amateur psychologist, but I just have a sense that Lewis is better off with Buxton's positive affirmation leadership style than to Correa's perfectionism.

And I didn't have a problem with Correa, but different people respond differently to different styles. The Lewis reaction in the front end of the dugout looked like happiness, but the Lewis/Buxton moment felt like a deeper-seated joy.

[JBK]

Wow!  After Saturday's outing, Justin Lawerence is fitting in nicely with the rest of the bullpen!

[Maybe Next Year]

8 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The catcher is calling the pitches with a button on his shin guard.

The pitch calls are coming in from the dugout to the catcher.

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, Maybe Next Year said:

The pitch calls are coming in from the dugout to the catcher.

 

2 hours ago, Maybe Next Year said:

The pitch calls are coming in from the dugout to the catcher.

I don’t think so. A couple of teams are tryingvthis, but not the Twins. 

[stringer bell]

Contending in 2026 was always was a long shot. A lot of low percentage events would have to happen and nearly all would have to break the Twins’ way, starting with developing a solid bullpen.

The team has given us hope at times, but both a poor bullpen and shaky defense have been huge problems that haven’t been solved and which doom the team’s prospects to actually contend  

Byron Buxton has been wonderful and it is sad to waste those homers. It looks like Lewis has found his mojo, but honestly not much has gone well. Hope that some guys can develop and move on to next year. On the pitching side, Prielipp, Abel and Zebby have shown something, but sustaining isn’t there. 

[knothole61]

22 hours ago, David HK said:

Wow, this was the Toilet Bowl of bad bullpens! 

Heh... The Twinks sure meth-cooked that mullet-headed Stanek tonight!  

Shave off the hair and I'm pretty sure that I shared a barracks with guy in Ft. Polk long about '72.