Twins 2, Tigers 0: Twins Win as Tigers Offense Reverts to Form

Glad we won.  Just win baby.  But it is funny how people think 1 win turns them into contenders.  This is still a very flawed team.  They need a win Sunday just to split the series.  Did we already forget the two very ugly games and losses in the first two games of the series?  Thus coming of a very good two game sweep of the Brewers?  Tigers came to Target Field with one win in June.  They had lost 13 of 15.  Yet they outplayed us and had a pitc h er with an ERA over 7 stymie our offense.  There is just so much missing not the least of which is adequate play from our veterans, barely hitting 200 and striking out a ton.  Still not hitting, Buxton looks totally lost and Correa not much better.  Kepler hasn't been a factor at all.  This team us just a 500 team in a very poor division.  They are in first place mainly by default.  Does that make them a good team?  Hardly. IF the lose today it would be nothing short of disastrous losing 3 of 4 to the Tigers at home.  I do think we will win today.  Go Twins!!

3 minutes ago, David Maro said:

Why is it when they strike out,they walk back to the dugout with the look of o well. As fans maybe we need to get them a strike out vest to wear. Raley for the Ray's strikes out in a key at bat and broke his bat over his leg. I think they are fine with the strike outs and are trying to hit closer to 2000 so they have two records,homeruns and strike outs. Didn't watch this one because watching the last 2 was enough for me. And will not waste Father's Day watching bad baseball.

Did you like when Lopez punched the Gatorade cooler? There is a fine line there too I guess. Baseball isn't like football where getting revved up with emotion can carry you through sometimes. It's more like golf, calm focus. Especially for the batter and pitcher.

Maybe you could try what I do many times. I don't like commercials and don't always set my schedule to the game time, so I watch almost all the games on at least some DVR delay. Many times I don't know the outcome but when they aren't playing well I'll peek to see if it's worth watching. Yesterday I watched the Twins bat in the 5th (the only inning they scored) and watched every inning we pitched. Watching the pitchers is my favorite part even the best batters are failing most of the time. Am I weird? Lol

It took me an hour to watch the game, another factor. 

We just had a sports Sunday special here in Japan. They highlighted the regular routines of the Softbank Hawks. They have been the most successful team in Japan over the past decade (you can look it up). When there is night games, players are supposed to participate in two batting practice sessions--one at 1;00 pm and one at 3:00 pm. The players get about 20 hacks for each session. They throw them lots of junk as well as a couple of fastballs.

The players say that this gets them ready for the games, particularly, they mentioned how it helps their timing.

The Twins could take a lesson.... although it doesn't fit the narrative...

13 hours ago, Fatbat said:

The fact that he is injured by walking out of the dugout (it will happen) leads me to believe that he will undergo offseason surgery for that collision. 

If memory serves, the Sox base running collision was somewhat avoidable and Buck ran into the fielder. With Byron, it does seem like one way or another he's going to get hurt. Hit by pitches, slides (seems like every time he slides he hesitates to get up), dives, walls, legging out a triple, swinging, outfield collisions. It gets to a point where it is certainly more than bad luck. 

11 hours ago, Squirrel said:

One game won’t tell that either way. It’s one game. But it is one we won. You seem disappointed we did.

Not disappointed! But, we need to address the positional inflexibility that Buck causes at DH. SSS but the offense actually seemed to flow better and be able to adjust better with Buck out of DH 

Also, when Buck and Correa are in a protracted slump, they need to be 'hitting' lower in the order. Best/hottest hitters should be batting at the top of the order to get more AB. Lewis/Krill/Julian should be hitting higher in the order until Correa and Buck prove otherwise

16 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I agree with @Matt Braun … let’s celebrate the wins when they come. This team was never projected to win that many. We have always been a .500 to just barely above team. Baldelli isn’t going to have much effect on that, imo. Yeah, I’m in that camp that doesn’t think an average manager really has that much effect on outcome. He’s not Francona, no one is. But then Francona doesn’t have a winning team, either. Hmmm … The difference is going to be the players themselves and/or the FO making decisions and changes to the roster. As for today, the BP came through, and then some. Small miracles do happen. The defense was ON. The offense was enough today, and I’ll take it. Don’t doubt a win when they won’t be plentiful. Hoping the players and the FO do something about tomorrow. Yeah, and that includes those struggling. Find a way.

Of course players matter. If you have a bad team, they will play bad, but do they perform better or worse than their capabilities? I think this team underperforms on a regular basis. If that is all on the players, then the manager has no purpose whatsoever. We might as well let ChatGPT make out the lineup card and determine the starting lineup.

6 hours ago, bighat said:

4, 1, and 2 runs in the three games so far in this series. The only team "reverting to form" is the Twins. At this point we have to believe at least one of these three things; 

1. The Twins hitters are less talented than hitters on other teams, and thus strike out more. 

2. The Twins hitters are on par with hitters on other teams, they've just faced much better pitching and thus strike out more.

3. The Twins hitters are on par with hitters on other teams, but the team has a philosophy that it's better to just close your eyes and swing as hard as you can. It's not working, but the team either is unwilling or unable to change the approach. 

#3 seems most likely to me.

What the Twins have become is exactly what MLB fans dislike about the game today. Rob Manfred stepped in with the pitching clock and the bigger bases to try and remedy this. Many teams have adjusted and offense is up - but not in Minnesota. They're still stuck in 2019 and haven't been able to move on from the juiced ball era. 

At least give us something and get Buxton out in CF? At it's core, baseball is entertainment. And we are not entertained. 

Looking back at 2019 and 2020 playoffs  the hitting was poor in each series  cause they went up against better  pitching  ...

Now the hitters make very little contact with any pitcher these days ...

The twins went out and traded at the deadline last year   ...

alot of us didn't think we were serious contenders for the playoff last year and didn't want to add ...

Alot of us thought they were going to win the Central  , and the FO added players with team control mostly in trading off prospects which was a good trade off and not just for rental player's ...

The players acquired at deadline and our regular player's under performed  and injuries hampered our goal to the division title ...

This year going into this season minus a couple of our better hitters from last season being traded were replaced by Gallo  , farmer  , Solano  and Taylor  , also Miranda was demoted  after a month in April  ...

On paper there was concerns about our lineup that the fans questioned  , and now performances of the players have answered those questions in a bad way  , unwatchable baseball ...

K's keep piling up for the Twins without many walks......Has a team ever averages 11 k while taking a only couple walks??

Good to see Wallner just keep raking in spite of laughably not being called up to take Keplers place.

11 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I’m not sure what point you are making with this game, which we won. You seemed to miss the context of that post and responded with hyperbole and absolutism and created something I never said. I agree that I think this team underperforms, I’ve stated many times I think there is potential, but I also don’t think this team was ever a 90+ win team, but around .500 or slightly better (80-85 wins). So, what in yesterday’s game was off, mismanaged, caused them to what, win? 

Sorry, I thought you were making a general statement--not particularly related to the game. My comment was also not related to the game but to the broader picture. I thought Baldelli managed the game fine and I think that this year, he has managed the games much better than last year. (You never hear me complaining about Pagan or whoever because we are stuck with them, and in my opinion (although I'm sure I'll take bullets for this), they seem to be the best that we have at the moment.) My complaint is player preparation. It's hard for me to fathom why the Twins don't focus more on BP and defensive routines--this, to me, is where the manager plays a huge role. I know players are responsible for good play, but there are good managers such as Bruce Bochy who regularly took a bunch of average players and had them perform at a higher level. Again, I am sorry if I misinterpreted your intent.

On 6/17/2023 at 6:22 PM, ashbury said:

You can be President of the Ryan Jeffers fan club and I'll be Secretary-Treasurer.  Everybody hop on the bandwagon, send your Venmo payment in care of ashbury.definitely.not.a.scam@gmail.scam and we'll mail your secret decoder ring right away.

WSht a rip-off. I want a red baseball cap.