Twins 9, Rockies 8: Extra-Innings Walk-Off Redeems Late Blown Lead

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I forgot Fundy but that ship has sailed. He's not a ML arm and I think the Twins know it as evidenced by his being on the St. Paul shuttle a few times this season. He's good in theory as the lefty specialist until you realize he can't get lefties out and can't find the plate in general.

[mark allen]

3 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Before bed dog walk robbed me of watching the end. Battled back. Good to see Lewis deliver in the clutch.

But, the win is overshadowed by how bad Orze has become and inconsistent Banda is. The latter is safe for this season, but Orze needs to go. He's gotten worse over the last few weeks and is pouring kerosene on a fire.

I think Banda has done great, everyone gives up runs sometimes, twins 7,8,9 Banda Morris Gomez have been hard to beat

[karcherd]

I am old enough to remember when people on here thought Orze should be our closer, where are they now.

They really need to define roles, Shelty said the other night, no one has stepped up.  Start with Gomez, Morris and Banda in innings 7 thru 9.  You can switch up later if it doesn't work, but the constant trying to win match ups is only going to work part of the time.  Go with the best of what is available and it is up to the Z man to get better talent if it is not good enough.

[DJL44]

38 minutes ago, karcherd said:

They really need to define roles, Shelty said the other night, no one has stepped up.  Start with Gomez, Morris and Banda in innings 7 thru 9. 

What if they have a shot at winning 3 games in a row?

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

I forgot Fundy but that ship has sailed. He's not a ML arm and I think the Twins know it as evidenced by his being on the St. Paul shuttle a few times this season. He's good in theory as the lefty specialist until you realize he can't get lefties out and can't find the plate in general.

For the season, Funderburk has been a disappointment. He's a case where ERA doesn't tell the whole story. He's been behind on way too many counts and walked way too many guys to have secured an MLB role. That said, his outing yesterday entering with a 7-0 lead was more bad luck than poor pitching. He didn't walk anyone, worked ahead and the two hits he allowed were soft contact. I had to step away and missed what Orze and Banda did, but Banda has been pretty good since April. As far as Orze goes, the lower the leverage, the better he looks. Hard to trust him with any lead in the late innings. 

[Senior Softball Guy]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Unalienable is the feeling of getting your (Butt) beat. Just thrashed. The brutal knowledge that your opponent is simply better; and that any success on your end is a fluke, a mirage occasionally fading into sight, just to turn sour eventually. And it will. Thus is the mandate when the Great matches up against the meager Just Fine. Fortunately, not every team is Great, and sometimes, another Just Fine rolls into town just in time for a beleaguered team to lick their wounds and move on.

REALLY? That's your opening? The Dodgers are the best team in MLB. And while the Twins simply had almost no choice but to give away game 2, they were RIGHT IN both games 1 and 3. There are NO moral victories in the final W-L totals of a season. But playing the Dodgers so damn close in games 1 and 3 where just one more pitch or one more hit might have allowed at least ONE win, it not TWO shouldn't be ignored. At LEAST we were competitive when we had a decent, solid SP to take the mound.

So that's your opener? The Twins WEREN'T BUTT BEAT in games 1 and 3 when they had a legitimate SP on the mound. Nor were they "thrashed" in those 2 games previously mentioned. I'm sorry Matt, I usually enjoy your posts, but that's just poor journalism. 

But let's play the glass is half full game after tonight's win. And let's start with the "half empty" portion.

1] Bradley had an amazing 7 IP which put him at about 90 pitches thrown. I really don't want to bash Shelton for sending Bradley out for the 8th, but I believe he should have let Bradley rest at that point. The bullpen was rested after a day off. And Bradley hasn't been quite as sharp after his IL stint. With a 7-0 lead after 7 IP, I think he should have been sat down. It would be better for his arm with a big lead.

2] I think Funderburk got a bit snake-bit in his appearance. If he came in for a clean inning, things might have been better. 

3] Kinda ditto for Orze. He didn't miss his pitches by much, but he sure wasn't good. Sometimes he looks pretty solid, and sometimes he doesn't.  But that's what happens with mediocre BP arms. 

But let us ALSO recognize the glass half full.

1] Bradley was AGAIN  a STUD through 7 IP.

2] Kreidler keeps looking like a keeper based on his defense. The play home to Caratini was OUTSTANDING. 

3] Morris really did his job yet again as a reliever and as a fielder working with Lewis at 1B. 

4] Lewis has adapted to 1B tremendously well so far. And he delivered the game winning hit tonight.  He just LOOKS like a much more confident hitter. I just continue to belive Lewis's problem is mental. He just believes he's SUPPOSED to be so great his head gets messed up.

If he's FINALLY  realized he doesn't have to be GREAT, but just GOOD he might have turned a corner. 

This was a BS win, but still a win, So MAYBE some posters will understand there is a reason to pull starters once in a while. 

LOVE Lewis came through. 

It just shouldn't have been an extra inning game. 

5] Despite an "interesting" game ONE where the Twins won but damned near blew it, can they rebound for missed opportunity and blow the Rockies out of Minnesota?

 

 

Not to mention Fedko's heads up advancing to third.He has not one hit to his ledger but helped us win a game. You gotta love baseball!

[PDX Twin]

Do you really think that the Twins (and Rockies) are "Just Fine?" The Twins are bad; the Rockies are horrible.

[SD happy]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Unalienable is the feeling of getting your (Butt) beat. Just thrashed. The brutal knowledge that your opponent is simply better; and that any success on your end is a fluke, a mirage occasionally fading into sight, just to turn sour eventually. And it will. Thus is the mandate when the Great matches up against the meager Just Fine. Fortunately, not every team is Great, and sometimes, another Just Fine rolls into town just in time for a beleaguered team to lick their wounds and move on.

REALLY? That's your opening? The Dodgers are the best team in MLB. And while the Twins simply had almost no choice but to give away game 2, they were RIGHT IN both games 1 and 3. There are NO moral victories in the final W-L totals of a season. But playing the Dodgers so damn close in games 1 and 3 where just one more pitch or one more hit might have allowed at least ONE win, it not TWO shouldn't be ignored. At LEAST we were competitive when we had a decent, solid SP to take the mound.

So that's your opener? The Twins WEREN'T BUTT BEAT in games 1 and 3 when they had a legitimate SP on the mound. Nor were they "thrashed" in those 2 games previously mentioned. I'm sorry Matt, I usually enjoy your posts, but that's just poor journalism. 

But let's play the glass is half full game after tonight's win. And let's start with the "half empty" portion.

1] Bradley had an amazing 7 IP which put him at about 90 pitches thrown. I really don't want to bash Shelton for sending Bradley out for the 8th, but I believe he should have let Bradley rest at that point. The bullpen was rested after a day off. And Bradley hasn't been quite as sharp after his IL stint. With a 7-0 lead after 7 IP, I think he should have been sat down. It would be better for his arm with a big lead.

2] I think Funderburk got a bit snake-bit in his appearance. If he came in for a clean inning, things might have been better. 

3] Kinda ditto for Orze. He didn't miss his pitches by much, but he sure wasn't good. Sometimes he looks pretty solid, and sometimes he doesn't.  But that's what happens with mediocre BP arms. 

But let us ALSO recognize the glass half full.

1] Bradley was AGAIN  a STUD through 7 IP.

2] Kreidler keeps looking like a keeper based on his defense. The play home to Caratini was OUTSTANDING. 

3] Morris really did his job yet again as a reliever and as a fielder working with Lewis at 1B. 

4] Lewis has adapted to 1B tremendously well so far. And he delivered the game winning hit tonight.  He just LOOKS like a much more confident hitter. I just continue to belive Lewis's problem is mental. He just believes he's SUPPOSED to be so great his head gets messed up.

If he's FINALLY  realized he doesn't have to be GREAT, but just GOOD he might have turned a corner. 

This was a BS win, but still a win, So MAYBE some posters will understand there is a reason to pull starters once in a while. 

LOVE Lewis came through. 

It just shouldn't have been an extra inning game. 

5] Despite an "interesting" game ONE where the Twins won but damned near blew it, can they rebound for missed opportunity and blow the Rockies out of Minnesota?

 

 

Your points are spot on! Thank you!

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

I forgot Fundy but that ship has sailed. He's not a ML arm and I think the Twins know it as evidenced by his being on the St. Paul shuttle a few times this season. He's good in theory as the lefty specialist until you realize he can't get lefties out and can't find the plate in general.

If you have a lefty reliever who can't or won't just go after lefty hitters ....

[karcherd]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

What if they have a shot at winning 3 games in a row?

That has nothing to do roles and you know it.  How often does that situation come up?

[h2oface]

This team would be comfortably leading the ALC if they had a reliable bullpen. Maybe even if they just had not inexplicably traded Varland. 
 

That play in the 9th after Banda had given up the 3rd deck homer to go behind 8-7, where 4 Twins ended up flailing on the ground for the shallow pop up behind second was a detail of a picture of this season. It didn’t end up costing any further run damage, but what a snapshot

[DJL44]

16 minutes ago, karcherd said:

That has nothing to do roles and you know it.  How often does that situation come up?

It happens to good teams all the time 

[karcherd]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

It happens to good teams all the time 

You can still have designated roles, it doesn't mean that mean all three get used every day.  This is how you end up with an Orze or some other waiver wire pickup trying to close games.  Baseball has had that for a 100 years, it is nothing new.

[Andy MacPhail]

Bradley pitched a great game, it's a shame that the BP blew the win for him. They should never put Banda in with runners on base, but they still do & we suffer for it!? 

I've stated that we need more clutch hitting & I'm rebutted with Twins good BA with runners in scoring position. IMO, clutch hitting is more than that, it's hitting when the game is on the line. It amazes than last night was the 1st walk off hit of the season, with the season almost 1/2 over.