Twins 5, A's 4: Joey Gallo Plays Hero in Sloppy Twins Victory

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

I was unaware that wins against KC and Oakland count for less than other wins in the standings. Interesting. 🤣

Maeda's velocity and movement were fine last night, but he just couldn't locate consistently and finish off hitters. Maybe he's one of those guys who gets rusty when they get extra time off?

Nice work by the bullpen...with the exception of Duran, which has usually gone the other way. I'm not worried about him per se, but it would be nice to get a good stretch of clean innings again.

I'm exhausted with the inconsistent strike zone this year, it just seems to be a constant refrain where you get these games where it sticks out like a sore thumb. Everyone had something to complain about last night so I guess it was "fair", but this is another game where it is objectively reasonable to talking about the strike zone and I'd much rather not be talking about the umpires at all.

They do count the same in the regular season, but you won’t get to face KC and Oak in the playoffs.  So if you’re interested in anything more than yet another first round exit, paying attention to how the Twins fare against everyone who is not a historically bad team is a good idea.

Gallo with another big blast, I hope he rakes in the second half. Few things in baseball are as enjoyable as watching the batting average fundamentalists seethe and tremble with rage as Joey Gallo deposits another baseball 440 feet into the 2nd deck, "He is only hitting .187 he CANNOT BE GOOD!!!!!".   

Nice job by Pagán. Big hit from Gallo. They need to win the series today. 

Had to watch the A’s broadcast last night.  A couple of things of note:

1. The A’s started two players making their MLB debuts in the same game for the sixth time in their history - and the first time ever not in April or September (that tells you a bit about the A’s current situation).

2. The A’s broadcasters hate the new M logo and couldn’t fathom why the Twins moved on from the iconic TC.

Nice win - can’t sweep without winning game one.

52 minutes ago, ashbury said:

No question.  But this one was a good acorn.  Baseball-reference.com posts a daily list of top performers.  Obviously neither Oakland nor Minnesota had a top pitching performance; among batters it turns out that there were plenty of multi-hit and multi-homer games across the majors yesterday.  But the single biggest play anywhere, in their terms of game outcome, was Gallo's. 

Let's hope that our FO keeps perspective and doesn't accept a once-a-month outcome like last night's as reason by itself to keep him.  My preference is to thank Gallo for his contribution last night and then move on.  While watching the game, I interrupted Mrs Ash's needlework to announce, "my least favorite Twin just won the game for us."  (And then our star closer just about gave it right back to the As.)

Very true

How about those Buxton at bats?

Bases loaded, two outs, in a tie game? Did he swing once in that at bat. Call strike three right down Broadway.  That's not a physical issue. That's mental. Take him out of the line up. 

Glad twins won.  A win is a win right?  Idk.  All I know it was the same old boring listless team with very little plate discipline.14 strikeouts against Oakland pitching staff?  That's outrageous and inexcusable.  Byron Buxton just keeps proving he us an over hyped player that is over injured.  He continues to hurt the Twins lineup with his fruitless at bats.  Put him on the il and get him out of there or our fruitless manager will continue putting the automatic out in the lineup.  Batting 3rd no less.  As fof Gallo sure the occasional homerun is nice.  Hes hitting around 170 since may 1st.  11 million for that?  Get serious.  His strike out rate since May 1st is 43.7%.  Ridiculous.  For me I don't care if they release him soon.  He's dead weight

3 hours ago, Swing Batter-Batter said:

 Speaking of strikeouts, has anyone ever seen another batter look as bad at the plate, as Buxton right now?

Larnach before he was sent down?

So Miranda got hurt over the all star break? Only the Twins can get injured when all of baseball (except the best of the best) are on a break.

6 hours ago, big dog said:

Buxton takes a fastball for a called strike three, then swings at a ball that was high and outside for strike three on the next AB. He looks completely lost.

Lost is the right description.  Terrible at bats from Bux.

Glad they are on the West Coast so I can't watch them. The games are past my bedtime. The other good thing is that Cleveland is playing Texas and I see they may have lost Bieber for awhile. Time to is what is going on with the Vikings.

3 hours ago, Shobae said:

Gallo with another big blast, I hope he rakes in the second half. Few things in baseball are as enjoyable as watching the batting average fundamentalists seethe and tremble with rage as Joey Gallo deposits another baseball 440 feet into the 2nd deck, "He is only hitting .187 he CANNOT BE GOOD!!!!!".   

Tell me you don't watch games without telling me you don't watch games....

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

That's not the only reason to dislike his performance this season.  Insurance runs are nice, but they don't turn the tide like his ninth-inning blast last night can do.  And unfortunately he hits more of his homers (9 at present) when his team is already in the lead than when tied (4 now) or behind (3).  Meanwhile the strikeouts in situations where his team needs him mount and mount, while somehow the K rate goes down when the team is ahead.  It's not that he can't win a game for you - he does that occasionally, including last night.  It's a long season, so the question instead is how often he does so.

I mean I don't think that trend means a whole lot given we're looking at a small sample (his PAs this season) of a small sample (his homers) of a small sample (the score when he hits them). Also if you look at the numbers Gallo ranks third in situational wins on the twins (150 PA minimum). Better Buxton, Kirilloff and Jeffers who with the exception of buxton get more praise for their hitting. Though if you don't adjust for LI or game state then Gallo ranks 6th in RE24. But I'm not super concerned about the numbers his style of play and how mad it makes people is far more valuable to me. Obviously if he's bad then yeah people are justified in criticizing his play (not as a person as often happens). But when he gets hot it's all the more satisfying to watch. And that to me is worth the 11 mil they spent on him this off season.