Nationals 3, Twins 2: Jorge Polanco's Return Soiled By Blown Lead Late

1 minute ago, USAFChief said:

11th time the team has scored 3 or fewer runs. 

We're only short maybe 3 hitters.

 

...

 

Say...Yordon Alvarez, Freddie Freeman, and Aaron Judge. 

This whole endeavor is pointless while Buxton and Correa are blackholes. So I guess watch em sink like a rock until that changes. Not even May and I'm in "I'll check in again in a week" mode with this team again.

All those double plays hurt a lot...

Pretty standard Twins loss tonight: some cheap hits (Jax is the tough luck kid this year), a complete mind-bending fielding faux pas, and no runs after two on and no outs in the 9th.  So a combination of bad luck, stupid baseball, inability to move runners over, lack of hitting, and possibly (note I said possibly) questionable managerial decisions (maybe the shift and deciding not to move the runners over). Pretty much par for the course.

Having said that, Mahle had a great outing and Gallo hit a rope HR. Those are encouraging events - I hope they keep it up.  (As an aside, I’ve had the under on the performance of those two and they (thankfully) are proving me wrong).

Get ‘em tomorrow.

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th, no outs, runners on first and second?

Yeah, back in the 70’s you’d lay down a sacrifice bunt… seemed to work then!

Trying to throw out a fast base runner at the plate and not keeping the lead run on first. This is not the first time he has done this in his career. He should be next to Rocco tomorrow thinking about what a stupid play that was. 

Doesn't the average MLB team score something like 4.7 rounds a game? Imagine our record with that output

The next six weeks will be important see if the guys counted on to provide some offense can find success. I'm going to find some patience because right now the team is a little frustrating to watch. 

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

11th time the team has scored 3 or fewer runs. 2 of the games we scored 4, took extra innings. This offense is weak, but We're only short maybe 3 hitters.

 

...

 

Say...Yordon Alvarez, Freddie Freeman, and Aaron Judge. 

They just keep running into great pitching. It's wild....

Boring offence and a bad throw lead to an ugly loss,the hitters were trying to one swing score mode,okay....Gallo worked,lets pray for others...

45 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_In_Texas said:

I know it’s just a game, but I get so invested in this team, and get so frustrated/disappointed when they underperform like this….maybe we need to overhaul the coaching staff? 

I dont see this coaching staff take this team further...I mean maybe they can win the division but not a playoff game.

Cold weather is tough for baseball but the mistakes are piling up. One of the things remarkable about major league games is how few mistakes are made, but those times when a player makes a mistake (not a physical error) it is usually problematic. I don't know what happened with Larnach's throws tonight but the brain fart by Kepler last night getting thrown out at third base was crazy.

Smalley has the best baseball mind of any of the Twins voices, despite the problem with his voice. He simply does not have that radio voice which in no way detracts from whatever comment he is making but grates on many people hearing him. I always thought he would be an excellent manager or coach but the grind was likely not too appealing for him or maybe he wasn't favored in the same light as some other guys. 

I think it is safe to say that getting ride of the shift did not solve Kepler's hitting problem....🙄

Look at the BAs. When Gallo is your most consistent hitter, then the Twins are in trouble because they will simply walk him as they have been doing. We must have the worst BA in the league at this point, don't we?

3 hours ago, ashbury said:

Didn't Larnach make bad throws on consecutive plays?

Today he looked like last year. Sloppy and out to lunch

 Like Kepler a few days ago. Brainfarts.

Chickens coming home to roost for Falvey. Arrogantly keeping Pagan and not adding anyone else to the bullpen. Trading the batting champion off an already weak offense.  And Rocco continues to get out-managed on a regular basis. 

6 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

You don’t have to be great but you can’t be BORING. 

^^^^

Yep. This team isn't going anywhere this season - let's see some stolen bases, some big homers, let's see 'em lose a lot of high scoring games and go 62-100. It'd be much better than watching this dried-paint experiment go 75-87. 

Losing 3-2 because this team can't score against the worst pitcher on a 5-13 basement-dweller AT HOME is just super on-brand for whatever this Twins team has become. After going through this exact same thing for most of 2022. it's really hard to feel positive about anything on the '23 team besides maybe Pablo Lopez.

Things are going to get very bleak by the time the summer's over. A lot of stretches of losing 5 in a row, followed by a win, followed by 3 straight losses, etc. And I'm pretty darn sure there's a 10-game losing streak in the mail and it'll get here by June. 

This is a terrible start from a terrible series at BOS. The league has been beating up on these guys & we look pathetic. Have to admit that Mahle was good & was good to have Polanco back but the loss spoiled that.

Ober was left back in AAA again must be very frustrating. I'm all in for giving SWR a break, but Ober has the experience. I believe we can be more competitive with Ober. 

It's early... but things are not looking great at the moment. Cannot hit, poor bullpen performances, basic fundamental mistakes that are costing games and questionable managing decisions will lead to losing 5 out of the last 6.

Why wasn't Lopez in to pitch the 8th? Rocco being Rocco. He is letting the SP go deeper, which is great,,, but overthinks how to use the BP and why I thought a change was warranted at the end of last year.