Twins 7, Giants 6: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. Snaps Slump, Twins Sweep and Extend Streak

6 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Surprised Baldelli sent in Jax.  He has now pitched in 4 of past 5 days.  Alcala hasn't pitched at all.  Stewart has pitched on̈ce and sands twice.  He had other options.  I'm glad it worked out.  I just hope they don't burn out Jax.  He's thrown 76 pitches this week.

Keep Jax comfortable and he's very valuable. Give him the 7th and seldom on consecutive days. Again, I'm sure that some of the more analytical among you can throw some stats at me to try to prove that I'm wrong, but I will choose to believe my educated suspicions instead. 

After all, as Mark Twain was fond of saying, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Love that getaway day win! In Gardy's days we'd essentially have forfeited the game with a lineup based on resting the best players, even with an off-day coming up. Man, that drove me crazy.

Remember the team that was swept in Atlanta? Well, I didn't see them on Sunday. Yet it is quite fortunate that the Twins won because, despite their recent woes, the Brewers will play us hard in Milwaukee. Their crazed and hype-loyal fans take this border battle stuff quite seriously, and will be supercharged and numerous in their support for TBC, (Their Beloved Crew). 

6 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Alcala should only pitch 1 inning every other day. I suppose they are saving to pitch Alcala multiple innings on consecutive days.

What good is Alacala if he can pitch one inning every other day?  He’s at the bottom of the pecking order not a critical performer to win games. 

Really happy for Keirsey Jr - just an incredible moment for him. Also great to see others step up when Correa has the day off and Buxton goes hitless - Lee and Larnach having big days. Bader is almost hitting .300 now!

3 really hard fought games against a really good Giants team and to win all 3 is fantastic - the third being the best as we had to come from behind twice.

I just had a feeling Lewis would come through with the bases loaded - I was hoping for a grand slam but will take the sharply hit single!

Finally, Rocco kept Duran back for extra innings - I've never understood why he used him in the 9th inning of a tied game before.

 Alcala missed most of '22 because of a sore elbow, He missed most of '23 because they did a MRI & discovered that he had a stress fracture in his pitching right forearm. '24 during spring training, he got hit on the middle index finger on his pitching hand. After all of this, the Twins were determined to pitch Alcala multiple innings & on consecutive innings. '25, he got hit on his pitching shoulder by another comebacker & they kept him in. Twins haven't yet let up on Alcala, he needs a steady schedule of pitching an inning every other day, not sitting around for a while & then pitching multiple innings & consecutive days. An elite, healthy RP Taylor Rogers had difficulty having quality outings on consecutive days; how much more a recuperating Alcala? Players coming off the IL need to be eased back into a rigorous & sporadic schedule. There is no wonder of Alcala's spotty quality performances, it's how he's being managed. If Alcala returns to the IL, it won't be mysterious, it'd be expected due to bad managing.

Loved the game. Brooks Lee came up big. Two hits for Lewis. Clemens with a  scorching double. Larnach and Bader with multiple hits. Four innings and one earned run by the bullpen and that run came on a double play grounder that deflected off Jax. Keirsey with the big hit. So much to discuss about the players that actually played in the game.

48 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

 Alcala missed most of '22 because of a sore elbow, He missed most of '23 because they did a MRI & discovered that he had a stress fracture in his pitching right forearm. '24 during spring training, he got hit on the middle index finger on his pitching hand. After all of this, the Twins were determined to pitch Alcala multiple innings & on consecutive innings. '25, he got hit on his pitching shoulder by another comebacker & they kept him in. Twins haven't yet let up on Alcala, he needs a steady schedule of pitching an inning every other day, not sitting around for a while & then pitching multiple innings & consecutive days. An elite, healthy RP Taylor Rogers had difficulty having quality outings on consecutive days; how much more a recuperating Alcala? Players coming off the IL need to be eased back into a rigorous & sporadic schedule. There is no wonder of Alcala's spotty quality performances, it's how he's being managed. If Alcala returns to the IL, it won't be mysterious, it'd be expected due to bad managing.

You are skipping by the obvious and most true answer. Alcala is not that good - it has nothing to do with his usage or chemistry or any other factor. He gets hurt - lots of guys get hurt it’s part of baseball and is rarely someone’s direct fault. This fact is you are not going to carve out some special role for a bottom of the bullpen pitcher. He’s closer to dfa than an important bullpen spot. 

It's now time to improve on the road record.

1 hour ago, Linus said:

You are skipping by the obvious and most true answer. Alcala is not that good - it has nothing to do with his usage or chemistry or any other factor. He gets hurt - lots of guys get hurt it’s part of baseball and is rarely someone’s direct fault. This fact is you are not going to carve out some special role for a bottom of the bullpen pitcher. He’s closer to dfa than an important bullpen spot. 

What is obvious & true is Alcala, when healthy & managed properly, is a high-leverage RP. Twins were blaming injuries for their bad luck but lot of it was mismanaging their injured players. They kept playing Buxton & Polanco for many weeks when they could hardly take the field, then they & some loyal Falvey fans, would blame them for not putting up the numbers that were expected of them, it's the same old story. It took a long time to get them back to the semblance of where they should be. The best move they made was getting Paparesta, but it seems they still pick & choose who they want to take care of or not. Players get hurt but what is key is how they manage them.

So nice to see them fight back from a deficit. For the last half season when they fell behind the game was over.

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

What is obvious & true is Alcala, when healthy & managed properly, is a high-leverage RP. Twins were blaming injuries for their bad luck but lot of it was mismanaging their injured players. They kept playing Buxton & Polanco for many weeks when they could hardly take the field, then they & some loyal Falvey fans, would blame them for not putting up the numbers that were expected of them, it's the same old story. It took a long time to get them back to the semblance of where they should be. The best move they made was getting Paparesta, but it seems they still pick & choose who they want to take care of or not. Players get hurt but what is key is how they manage them.

Alcala is not and has never been a high leverage reliever. It has nothing to do with how he has been managed or how his injuries have been taken care of. He doesn’t have command pure and simple. He’s going on 30 and he just isn’t that good. It happens- all the time.