Twins 6, Astros 2: Pablo Lopez Provides Ace-Level Performance, October Correa Leads Offense and Defense

I wondered if Pablo López gave Rocco Baldelli the scowl à la Jack Morris to let him pitch the 7th.

I then realized my error. He scowled at Derek Falvey instead.

Another game to confirm what we ALL on TD have UNIVERSALLY espoused right from the beginning... The Lopez trade and Correa signing were genius! (no need to go review the archives....I said NO NEED!)

Pablo cruised. The Lopez/Gray 1-2 is looking so strong right now.

Great postgame comment by Rocco - Lewis is running better. That explains why we tried the Jeffers bunt. Wonder if the Twins play Lewis at 3B on Tuesday..........

This is great. I wanted Farmer in Game 2 regardless of who was on the mound because Kirilloff was looking a bit overwhelmed yesterday. 

I said to myself (and probably half of Twins Nation) that losing two in a row in Houston would result in a very quick exit, but now, the Twins are in this fight.

I couldn't watch either of the games here in Japan, but I'll be cheering on Wednesday (Tuesday evening in US) albeit delayed (I have to work).

I couldn't see Julien's hit on any highlight reel...

22 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Another game to confirm what we ALL on TD have UNIVERSALLY espoused right from the beginning... The Lopez trade and Correa signing were genius! (no need to go review the archives....I said NO NEED!)

I fear you may not like what you find.

4 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Great postgame comment by Rocco - Lewis is running better. That explains why we tried the Jeffers bunt. Wonder if the Twins play Lewis at 3B on Tuesday..........

The real question is why no obstruction on the catcher when he didn't have the ball and Lewis had to run around him to get past him?

8 minutes ago, Aerodeliria said:

I couldn't see Julien's hit on any highlight reel...

Line drive single to right field. The outfielder made a good play and the throw was on the money to nail correa at the plate. Tucker is a gold glove outfielder, but it was a good send too. Nice swing by Julien. i hope he brings his A game on Tuesday.

11 minutes ago, Aerodeliria said:

This is great. I wanted Farmer in Game 2 regardless of who was on the mound because Kirilloff was looking a bit overwhelmed yesterday. 

I said to myself (and probably half of Twins Nation) that losing two in a row in Houston would result in a very quick exit, but now, the Twins are in this fight.

I couldn't watch either of the games here in Japan, but I'll be cheering on Wednesday (Tuesday evening in US) albeit delayed (I have to work).

I couldn't see Julien's hit on any highlight reel...

Me too.  I couldn't watch the games either because I'm also in Japan.  Where are you, Aerodeliria?  I live just outside of Nagoya.

5 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

The real question is why no obstruction on the catcher when he didn't have the ball and Lewis had to run around him to get past him?

Lewis actually has to make contact with Maldonado to get that call. i think Royce was a bit flustered or he should have intentionally run into him bringing on the interference call. Without contact there cannot be a ruling of interference.

I wondered why Baldelli did not use one of his two challenges to see if New York would rule that Correa did not have a sliding lane. He could not reach the plate without making contact with the catcher, which resulted in Carlos sliding wide and never touching the plate.

2 minutes ago, Fat Calvin said:

Me too.  I couldn't watch the games either because I'm also in Japan.  Where are you, Aerodeliria?  I live just outside of Nagoya.

 

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. I am about 100 km from Tokyo in Gunma--very near to Takasaki-shi.

Farmer had the biggest hit. That home run was huge. 

On a different note, why was Farmer playing all the way at the back skin of the infield with Altuve at the plate to start the game? That was confusing and Altuve DID notice. 

6 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Line drive single to right field. The outfielder made a good play and the throw was on the money to nail correa at the plate. Tucker is a gold glove outfielder, but it was a good send too. Nice swing by Julien. i hope he brings his A game on Tuesday.

Thanks! I'm not too worried about Julien. I think with Julien, what you see is what you get more-or-less...Wallner and Kirilloff are the ones who have to really step up their games IMHO.

3 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I wondered why Baldelli did not use one of his two challenges to see if New York would rule that Correa did not have a sliding lane. He could not reach the plate without making contact with the catcher, which resulted in Carlos sliding wide and never touching the plate.

I thought that originally as well. But on replay, I think the catcher closed off the lane after he caught the ball so I think it was a correct ruling.

The Twins win was big. According to the strike zone provided by MLB.com, the home plate umpire was squeezing Lopez, but not Valdez and we still were able to produce some big time hits.

Just now, FlyingFinn said:

I thought that originally as well. But on replay, I think the catcher closed off the lane after he caught the ball so I think it was a correct ruling.

I saw the same, but the new rules state that the catcher must give the runner an ability to reach the plate (a sliding lane so to speak). Either way, I thought he was out. Some of the rulings in the past two years have been bogus and I would not have been satisfied with a ruling in this case in favor of the Twins. The out call was correct. i just wondered why late in the game .... maybe Rocco asks for those guys in New York to earn their keep. There was one particularly egregious ruling last season with Gary Sanchez that cost a game.

27 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Correa was great, and Lopez was dominant. 🙂

My not so small nitpick was that squeeze play and forcing Lewis to make a play running on that bad hammy, and he was actually forced into a rundown. Ouch. On the other hand, Rocco let Lopez go 7, which was wonderful.

We’ve got a series! 

The game I could watch this morning was Rangers and Orioles (that Bochy is one clever coach). It was interesting because Schmoltz who was the color commentator said that Bochy completely ignored the righty lefty matchup thing simply because Cody Bradford was pitching so well in relief. I guess, everyone assumed that Bradford would pitch one inning and come out, but because he looked impressive, Bochy just left him and was rewarded with 3 2/3 innings of stellar relief. He waited until Bradford tired and then replaced him. Analytics are fine and important, but what is more important is to sense the atmosphere of the game. Three cheers to Baldelli for leaving Lopez in the game.

Great game by Lopez, C4, Farmer and Polanco too. I’m very happy with our team I’m just worried about the lefties and who are overmatched in this series. I hope Lopez can comeback and close out the series. I don’t know if he can pitch only on 2 days rest but we need him definitely. 

12 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Technically it would be obstruction but either way there is no rule that requires contact. Umpire discretion rules on these calls.  Many youth sanctioning bodies will require an attempt to avoid contact for the kids safety but there is nothing in any rule book that requires contact to get a call. 

 

You are correct. I should have stated that in MLB an umpire will nearly always require some contact.

Also, the rules for high school and youth baseball are different.

Good call on your part. I was too hasty and inexact with my language.

36 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

The real question is why no obstruction on the catcher when he didn't have the ball and Lewis had to run around him to get past him?

Just re-watched this play on mlb.com game recap. Lewis had to swing way out to his right to avoid Maldonado standing in the baseline. I think if the game was closer Baldelli may have used a challenge there. 

So fun to watch tonight. Pablo was fantastic. This is the most complete team we have had since the 87 and 91 teams. Two front line starters and a really good closer. And more than that, but you get my point. I hope Sunny is ready to pitch and gem and then Joe Ryan will prove why he should of started game 1. Let's go Twins.