Twins 2, Blue Jays 0: Pablo López Dominates in Postseason Rematch

Much needed win! Something to build on. LFG Twins!

Roughly 120 pitches in the whole game from the Twins. Good stuff.

Great win. But maybe it's time to pull names out of a hat for a game or two for the lineup. Some of those guys could make diamonds out of coal right now. They might just need to breath and have some fun for a minute.

20 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Royce Lewis doesn’t look healthy. Miranda has struggled as has Willi Castro. The lineup that looked so deep a month ago is less than daunting right now. I’m glad they won tonight, but they need reinforcements soon.

Agreed about Lewis- he didn''t look strong running on that grounder in the bottom of the 8th.

Toronto  out hits us but twins prevail and score 2 runs which is more than we needed ,   Pablo , 7 2/3rd  , captain Jax , 1/3  and Duran , 1 inning all did there jobs ... 

I was hoping captain Jax would pitch the 9th inning , but once again Rocco did his Rocco thing and brought in Duran , a 2 run lead and I was nervous  that the lead was not safe because Duran hasn't  pitched all that great this year but he managed to get 3 outs on 11 pitches , been quite awhile since he threw that few of pitches in an inning  ... 

Toronto did not sting the ball , alot of soft hit hits , wallners throw to second base to nail the runner , was a highlight...

A nice win , but hitting  still not consistent  ...

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

I'm a conundrum as an eternal optiimist generally speaking, and a "Debbie downer" at times when life or general situations smack me in the face at times. BTW, where does the "downer" expression even come from? I digress.

Time and frustration kept me from watching most of the games on this homestand. Frankly, I was disappointed and PO'd! This is NOT my 2024 Twins! No matter some injuries, this is NOT my Twins! 

I watched most of the game tonight between work and after work. THIS was my 2024 Twins. They had an amazing performance from their SP in Lopez. Jax and Duran only threw a couple of pitches. The offense wasn't near explosive, but they did enough. MOST IMPORTANTLY, NOBODY BLEW THE GAME with silly mistakes!

ALL TEAMS are dealing with injuries, including our Twins. But we've overcome time and again to have a great record/season until this homestand, for reasons I can't begin to understand! YES, the pen has been running out of gas recently. But the lineup suddenly produced little.

A blip? Maybe bad match ups? Putting too much pressure on everyone's shoulders? Just a FEW better pen offerings...just a FEW better AB over the past 7-10 days and this team is in 1st place in the ALC!

Lee should be back in a couple days to help. Buxton might be on a rehab in the next few days. Correa might be back in a 2 weeks. The rotation has been surprisingly solid despite throwing 3 rookies. The FO is TRYING to alter the pen with changes...Henriquez, Blewitt, Winder and Varland soon, maybe Funderburk to help. 

EVERY team has good and bad stretches. UNFORTUNATELY, the pen and the lineup went COLD just as Cleveland FINALLY began to regress to norms and have lost the opportunity to already be in 1st place.

One of the best things that can happen is your #1 STUD SP delivers something special. And your top 2 relievers finish the game with little effort. And don't laugh, but your probably best hitter comes out of a slump with a bloop hit. 

Don't misunderstand, it's only ONE WIN. But you not only end a losing streak with a win, but you also BEGIN a winning streak with one win. 

Despite injuries and a recent losing streak, this team is better than laying down and doing nothing. A couple of arms are going to TRY to help, the rotation has been SURPRISINGLY solid, and the lineup is much better than they've shown even without Buxton and Correa. They got COLD at the same time, they can also get HOT at the same time.

These guys are competitive athletes who have not only the playoffs ahead, but a chance to win the division. It's time to focus, and get "pissed off" and "angry" and use this game to finish the season STRONG!

You lost me at the 15th paragraph 

4 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Toronto  out hits us but twins prevail and score 2 runs which is more than we needed ,   Pablo , 7 2/3rd  , captain Jax , 1/3  and Duran , 1 inning all did there jobs ... 

I was hoping captain Jax would pitch the 9th inning , but once again Rocco did his Rocco thing and brought in Duran , a 2 run lead and I was nervous  that the lead was not safe because Duran hasn't  pitched all that great this year but he managed to get 3 outs on 11 pitches , been quite awhile since he threw that few of pitches in an inning  ... 

Toronto did not sting the ball , alot of soft hit hits , wallners throw to second base to nail the runner , was a highlight...

A nice win , but hitting  still not consistent  ...

 

 

Duran should be pitching in save situations, not the 7th inning or up by 5 runs. Rocco may have some responsibility in his erratic performances

Nice win and it's great to break the losing streak, but we have to get the bats going. We're not going to win a whole lot of games with 4 hits and only scoring 2 runs. Very good to see Pablo pitching like he's capable of too. 

Great win Lopez.  Rest of team meh!  We need to start some serious winning in September.  It's playoff push time

10 hours ago, Danchat said:

Lopez picked the right time of the year to get hot! He does seem to struggle in the early months and dominate later in the summer. I'll have to look at his splits as a Marlin to confirm this.

With the Twins, Lopez seems to go through a lot of adjustments early in the season but once he makes those adjustments he seems to be unstoppable. I'm not sure what his pitching patterns were in MIA. The defense was good tonite! The Twins have been a big disappointment these last few series, Hope TOR will give us a well-needed reprieve & we gain some ground on CLE, but CLE is facing PIT. So we need to do well here to stay with CLE.

9 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Lee says "hello". 😀

Lee says hello. What does that mean? I see all this Lee this and Lee that. What did Lee do when he was playing to garner all this hoopla? He wasn't that great defensively.  I remember a walk off error. He wasn't tearing the cover off the ball. Oh that's right. His dad's a coach. I've heard that as many times as I've heard Keplers parents were ballet dancers. 

Good game from Pablo, heck of a streak he's on. It looks like he made a real adjustment. Sacrificing a ton of strikeouts for quicker ground outs so he can go deeper into games. Rocco will take that everyday. I was so mad, yet totally unsurprised to see the 0-29 Margot pinch hit for Larnach. Why does he keep putting him out there, Larnach was a much better option, lefty or no. Plus, Margot is a TERRIBLE late game defensive sub. He's a butcher out there, which is why I'd like to see if Keirsey can outperform him. Wouldn't take much. Lewis and Castro look lost at the plate. That's all we need is for one of them to go down now too. The lineup is looking as burnt out as the bullpen lately. The only part of the team looking good now is the rotation, and how long can that last?

10 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I’m glad they won tonight, but they need reinforcements soon.

They'll get two minor leaguers tomorrow but adding to the bottom isn't what they need.

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Can Zebby be what we hoped Berrios would become (for us)?

Why does every prospect have to become an All-Star to be successful? I would be satisifed if Zebby could be an average innings eater.

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Is there any question who starts Game One of a possible playoff series for the Twins?

Nope. Not unless they're fighting for a playoff spot in the final game of the season. He was great last night. I was unable to watch live, as mlbTV  blacks out all  Jays games for me, so I was listening to radio broadcasts, I had to laugh when Duran came in for the 9th, and  Atteberry said " he'll be facing the heart of the lineup". I'm thinking, what heart?... we're talking Guerrero , period. 

Despite the Jays lineup, it was a dominant outing for Lopez.

10 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Toronto  out hits us but twins prevail and score 2 runs which is more than we needed ,   Pablo , 7 2/3rd  , captain Jax , 1/3  and Duran , 1 inning all did there jobs ... 

I was hoping captain Jax would pitch the 9th inning , but once again Rocco did his Rocco thing and brought in Duran , a 2 run lead and I was nervous  that the lead was not safe because Duran hasn't  pitched all that great this year but he managed to get 3 outs on 11 pitches , been quite awhile since he threw that few of pitches in an inning  ... 

Toronto did not sting the ball , alot of soft hit hits , wallners throw to second base to nail the runner , was a highlight...

A nice win , but hitting  still not consistent  ...

 

 

Yes on Jax finishing the game. I was hoping for that too. 

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

With the Twins, Lopez seems to go through a lot of adjustments early in the season but once he makes those adjustments he seems to be unstoppable. I'm not sure what his pitching patterns were in MIA. The defense was good tonite! The Twins have been a big disappointment these last few series, Hope TOR will give us a well-needed reprieve & we gain some ground on CLE, but CLE is facing PIT. So we need to do well here to stay with CLE.

Fewer strike outs helps keep the defense on its toes. Good for the defense. Good for Pablo to find another way to win.