Game Thread: Twins@Royals 9/7@7:15PM

The Twins arrive in Kansas City for a 4-game series starting tonight. After winning only one game out of three in Tampa, it sure looks like the Twins are leaving Florida just in time. An obvious statement for anyone watching the news.

It’s been a rough year for hurricanes. The truth is we won’t get a real handle on how rough a year it's been until October. We’ve all seen the news and we know it is bad, but how bad it can get is yet to be determined. I will pray for those directly involved while I remain safely distanced watching the video from home. I encourage hopefulness but let’s face facts… if Jeff Skinner is your leading scorer and Scott Darling is your goaltender, it'll probably be a rough year for the Hurricanes.

Here are some things to think about:

Twins Video

1. Kansas City – With an estimated population of 481,420, it is the largest city in Missouri with St. Louis coming in 2nd. It isn’t an accident that the two major population centers of Missouri are tucked closely to the eastern and western borders; it is because everybody needs to be able to abandon the state at a moment’s notice. This need to leave is closely tied to the Missouri state motto, “The Show Me State." People from Missouri don’t want to hear a lot of words… they need to be shown, and since they need to be shown… they have seen some things... things that keep the bags packed just in case. For example, they’ve been to Branson and have seen a town created by a horrific collision of a televangelist and ventriloquist with a subsequent permanent melding together. They have seen the hundreds of miles of caves located under the their state... and they have seen the millions of zombie like creatures that live in those caves... and they know they come out at night and run for the state legislature. They have seen multiple tornadoes in their lifetime and have reached a breaking point because they are tired of fetching grandma from underneath the rubble.

2. Our Twins – Things have tightened up in the wild card race after the Rays took two games. The Twins have a half-game lead over the Angels, a one-game lead over the Orioles, a 1.5-game lead over the Rangers, 2.5 over the Royals and a 3-game lead over the Rays. Things are so close, the Twins only have a 5-game lead over the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

3. The Royals – They haven’t been playing amazing baseball as they float around the edges of the wild card race. However, Lorenzo Cain is hot at the moment and so is Melky Cabrera. Players get hot in order to support their immune system’s attempt to gain advantage over infectious agents, such as viruses, bacteria and barbecue sauce.

4. Today’s Joe M Conversation:

Montana: What did you make for us today, Joe?

Maddon: A special request from Mr. Morgan.

Morgan: Yes, sir... Cincinnati chili. I love this stuff!

Mauer: What is this? There are noodles in here. You said it’s chili?

Maddon: That’s what Cincinnati chili is… this is served 5-way so it’s spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions and beans.

McCarthy: Wow… this is pretty good.

Montana: I agree… it's delicious! Oops… damn it... I just spilled chili sauce all over my new shirt.

Morgan: Aww, man... that's a white shirt. That’s going to be tough to get out.

Montana: I know… I look like a pig

Mauer: You do look like a pig… and you spilled chili sauce on your shirt.

5. Marathon – I’ll be running this weekend in a marathon. I didn’t want to do it at first but it is for blind and disabled kids so I think I have a decent chance of winning.

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TWINS

Brian Dozier 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Jorge Polanco SS

Eddie Rosario LF

Byron Buxton CF

Max Kepler RF

Eduardo Escobar 3B

Jason Castro C

Robbie Grossman DH

Kyle Gibson P