Brewers 8, Twins 7: Missed Opportunities, Homers Lead to Brewers Sweep

I used to get upset about losing with a single play determining victory or defeat. No longer, even if it meant two Twins losses this weekend.

It speaks everything to the risk of one event determining a win or loss where a team lacks three essential bats, its starting pitcher throws an OOTI (“One of Those Innings,” usually applicable to Lopez) and a tired bullpen from the previous night is used again in the clutch.

I delight that these Twins continue to fight to the end. They need the depth and health to ensure that such efforts lead to better than 50 percent probability of victory in the late innings.
 

We need more clutch-hitting, Single HRs don't do it. 

The Twins are minus their best player, Carlos Correa. His absence has a trickle effect, particularly on the defense.

Right now the Twins are 10 games above .500 and well ahead of preseason projections. They also have a decent schedule in August. The next three games are important as Philly likes to club the ball.

I guess it's nice to try and stay positive but it isn't easy.  Yes the Twins miss Correa in particular.  Lewis is streaky great when he plays but he's missed a ton of games again this year.  The jury is still out on Miranda but it's looking good.  My point is these two games with Brewers showed some pretty poor and at times undisciplined play by our Twins.  The bullpen cost us these past two games not so much missing those hitters.  Saying they were tired is ridiculous.  I do realize they only just had a 5 day break.  Come on get real.  Sending Margot up to pinch hit in the 8th inning with the bases loaded and no outs is a direct reflection on Roccos poor managing.  Yes that same Margot that is now 0 for 23 pinch hitting.  We keep sending him out there.  He keeps failing, like Rocco.  I imagine one of these times it may work.  But he's been bad at it for too long.  Brewers walked 7 Twins but we didn't take advantage.  Our pitchers gave up most of the damage to the number 8 and 9 hitters in their lineup.  The only thing good is Cleveland keeps losing.  Thank you Guardians.  But we could have been only 3 games out this weekend instead of 5.  The Twins are now 22-31 against teams with winning records.

Rocco  completely out coached by first year coach Pat Murphy. Should have taken both games and terrible decisions yet again cost the team both. This team is better than their record… the coach is holding them back.

Rocco Gottago

Brock Stewart 4 games at AAA  

We need him back 

Baldelli pinch-hitting Margot, IMO is him just obeying orders sent down. To put Margot in every time there is a LHP.

How about we go one game without calling for Rocco’s head as if he’s the owner, FO, manager, and best player all in one!

Ownership cut payroll. Hence the lack of depth in the bullpen.

Three best hitters injured. Hence the lack of clutch hits.

Blame Rocco all you want but he didn’t go 1-12 with RISP and he didn’t serve up meatballs all game from the mound.
 

I don’t have the stats to prove it but it sure seems like we get beat by the opponents bottom of the lineup. 

I do enjoy watching them play the Brewers. Both teams are entertaining.

The focus on the manager is bordering on desperate. The players make the plays, whether it is pitching, fielding, or hitting. I might prefer a bunt, a steal, or a hit and run once in a while. Falvey does not. So I'm left with the other results. The Dodgers and other good teams also follow a similar script. This may bother me  some but it isn't out of the ordinary and Baldelli isn't the devil. 

It is true that a healthy Lewis and Miranda may help the team, but if we look at the number of games played one should realize that it makes more sense to count on Miranda. Anything provided by Lewis will be a bonus, greatly appreciated but also unexpected.

The team received huge shots from Buxton and Larnach today along with decent contributions from Santana, Julien, and Vazquez. Castro continues to be the team MVP. Kepler and Jeffers need to get with it and step forward. Wallner, Martin, and Lee looked inexperienced, which they are. Maybe next year but hopefully in August for these three. Any experience they get will certainly help them. They should improve.

The next three games will test our pitching and give direction to any trade deadline moves. 

The series with Milwaukee was exciting despite the disappointment. Also 38,000 fans for two games is a plus. 

Losing is hard. 

It'll be ok

3 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The focus on the manager is bordering on desperate. The players make the plays, whether it is pitching, fielding, or hitting. I might prefer a bunt, a steal, or a hit and run once in a while. Falvey does not. So I'm left with the other results. The Dodgers and other good teams also follow a similar script. This may bother me  some but it isn't out of the ordinary and Baldelli isn't the devil. 

It is true that a healthy Lewis and Miranda may help the team, but if we look at the number of games played one should realize that it makes more sense to count on Miranda. Anything provided by Lewis will be a bonus, greatly appreciated but also unexpected.

The team received huge shots from Buxton and Larnach today along with decent contributions from Santana, Julien, and Vazquez. Castro continues to be the team MVP. Kepler and Jeffers need to get with it and step forward. Wallner, Martin, and Lee looked inexperienced, which they are. Maybe next year but hopefully in August for these three. Any experience they get will certainly help them. They should improve.

The next three games will test our pitching and give direction to any trade deadline moves. 

The series with Milwaukee was exciting despite the disappointment. Also 38,000 fans for two games is a plus. 

I am not sure what game you were watching.  Santana had one good AB, Castro our supposed MVP set the tone by getting thrown out at third in the first inning and missed two plays in the field.  And Wallner had a pinch hit single, I am not sure what he did wrong today.  Hoping for anything from Kepler is wishful thinking, he has had two and a half months of solid play since 2019 and one good mini streak this year when he came off the IL.  The manager's job is to put the players in a position to succeed, so let's keep pinch hitting Margot because he is so successful at it.  Castro is not a SS and should not be played there on a regular basis.  Good teams have a core of 5 to 7 players that play at the same position and bat the same spot in the lineup.  We have a team of role players and that is why we see the mistakes we do and the sloppy play.

4 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Good teams have a core of 5 to 7 players

Who are those 5-7 core players who you would put into the lineup today and where? 

Just now, tony&rodney said:

Who are those 5-7 core players who you would put into the lineup today and where? 

This has nothing to do with the injuries.  They don't have this when fully healthy.  When you have a core, you slide someone in for an injury instead of playing mad scientist every day.

5 minutes ago, karcherd said:

This has nothing to do with the injuries.  They don't have this when fully healthy.  When you have a core, you slide someone in for an injury instead of playing mad scientist every day.

Wait. Didn't the Twins open the season with Buxton-CF, Jeffers-C, Lewis-3B, Correa-SS, Santana-1B, and Kepler-RF as regulars? That seems like 5-7 core players. Castro was already seen as a regular but used wherever needed. 

When players are out with injuries, teams do whatever works which often is difficult. The Dodgers had to move Betts to the infield due to some irregular performances and now with Betts out they have to shuffle players around. This has always been a part of baseball. Platooning has been effective for many successful teams. 

Hopefully, the Twins begin August with Correa, Lewis, and Miranda back in the everyday lineup, healthy and productive. Until then, the team will need to hustle a little bit.

20 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I think most of us only call for his head over his job performance as manager. 

Three first place finishes in the division and an overall record of .533 isn’t good enough for you? With a team this year that is vastly outperforming last years team? Give me a break

And the excuses for the Twins poor play just keep coming.  They are 22-31 against teams with winning records.  That won't get you very far.  They blame injuries, bad umpiring, and just plain bad luck when things don't go their way.  Would it be any better if we had a major league manager?

These 2 losses couldn’t have come at worse time. Especially today!!! It’s crushing devastating loss. With Philadelphia upcoming it’s going to be 0-5 homestand. We need Correa/miranda/lewis back asap!!! This is happening way too much in losing by 3-5 runs only to lose by one run. That needs to stop like right now!!! The 2 home run game from buxton means nothing especially if we continue to lose. What good is late inning comeback only to lose??  As I’ve said before NO MORE one run games. I’m done with it! It’s to nerve wracking and way to stressful!!! With full healthy team we have the best team in all of baseball!!! It would be wasted season if we don’t win division or make playoffs!!!

2 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I like the Twins.  When fully healthy we most definitely do not have the best team in all of baseball!!!

I soooo want them to over take Cleveland win division or worse case make playoffs!!! It would be a shame if twins didn’t do either. Also please please please have the big city national media stay away from the twins!!! They always disrespect our team and hate them. 

38 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

The Twins literally came into the season with what many expected would compete for the best bullpen in baseball. I don't know what ownership increasing the payroll could have legitimately done to make the Twins' bullpen look better. I get it. Rah rah, only $130MM cheap Pohlad's!!!! Stupid owners! At least attempt to make a valid point when you're going off on ownership.

They literally didn’t sign anyone (except Staumont basically for the league minimum who started the year in AAA). That’s my point. Oh wait, they signed Jay Jackson! With all of the money they had sitting around. And they couldn’t sign another lefty so they traded for Okert who has been the definition of mediocre. And they started the year with Duarte who was a waiver claim pickup for nothing. So please tell me how ownership helped the bullpen this season?

Now the FO kept faith in an aging Thielbar, an injury prone Stewart, and in inexperienced back of the pen. They also let Hoffman walk and Megill walk who are both 1/2 bullpen guys on first place teams.