Twins 8, Dodgers 9 (12 Innings): Back and Forth Battle Ultimately Ends with a Loss

I checked in on mlb.com expecting the game to have already ended and saw the Kirilloff at-bat there. Yikes.

There was a lot to like in spite of the loss:

• The Twins never lay down
• All starters but Gallo reached base at least once; multiple hits for Buck, Polanco and Vasquez
• Better BA (.265 v .244), OBP (.357 v .306) and RISP (4/17 v 2/12) than the Blu Boyz
• Twins hitters rogered the Dodger bullpen
• One steal and two successful pickoffs for the Good Guyz

Take away Muncy's dongs and the Twins win.

Great write-up, a shame it looks like I missed a good ballgame here on the East Coast. 

11 straight losses to LAD, including a heartbreaker where they used up the bullpen in the opener on the road? It would be hard to not think the Twins get swept here. These aren't the Cubs. 

Great to see the offense continuing to put up runs, that's 3 games in a row. Larnach heating up and making hard contact. Would be nice to see Buxton start to heat up again, he's a difference maker when he's hot. 

Giffin Jax in May: 

5.2 IP, 9 hits, 5 BB, and a 6.35 ERA. It might be time to start considering putting him on the St. Paul shuttle. 

Hi,

I've browsed this site for a couple of years now and finally created an account. Given this game started at 3.10am UK time I was able to catch extra innings when I woke up. Encouraging that the Twins fought back from 5 runs behind and should have won, if not for some awful umpiring. Obviously we don't know what Kirilloff would have done had those "strikes" been called balls but he would have had a hitters count, Bickford couldn't throw a strike, AK has been really good at the plate so I would have backed him to at least get the runner in from third. I still cannot believe Bickford got those two strikes. When a pitcher is that wild, normally the umpire wouldn't give you any leeway at all. It must have taken AK all of his self control not to get thrown out (well done him as Rocco had pretty much emptied his bench by that stage). It's hard enough to beat the Dodgers without stuff like this. I can't say I'm very confident about the next game either - the last time we faced Kershaw he was throwing a no hitter (possibly a perfect game) before he was pulled. Oh and please stop hanging those breaking balls Duran! That was a bit of a sickener on an 0-2 count. 

The arm side run on the 1st pitch to Kirilloff has to be really tough for an umpire to determine if the pitch clips the front of the strike zone.  The call on the inside pitch was simply horrible.   Instances like the Kirilloff's AB are why we will have an electronic strike zone in the next couple of years.  I just can't understand how anyone would prefer human error be allowed to impact a close ballgame like this one when it can be eliminated.  Kirilloff took a good approach and the umpire took that AB away from Kirilloff and the Twins in a crucial spot.

wow. when the other announcing team is that explicit in how badly Kirilloff got screwed...that's something. I am indeed ready for the electronic strike zone. It seems like it's every game now that there's a howler.

12 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

Hi,

I've browsed this site for a couple of years now and finally created an account. Given this game started at 3.10am UK time I was able to catch extra innings when I woke up. Encouraging that the Twins fought back from 5 runs behind and should have won, if not for some awful umpiring. Obviously we don't know what Kirilloff would have done had those "strikes" been called balls but he would have had a hitters count, Bickford couldn't throw a strike, AK has been really good at the plate so I would have backed him to at least get the runner in from third. I still cannot believe Bickford got those two strikes. When a pitcher is that wild, normally the umpire wouldn't give you any leeway at all. It must have taken AK all of his self control not to get thrown out (well done him as Rocco had pretty much emptied his bench by that stage). It's hard enough to beat the Dodgers without stuff like this. I can't say I'm very confident about the next game either - the last time we faced Kershaw he was throwing a no hitter (possibly a perfect game) before he was pulled. Oh and please stop hanging those breaking balls Duran! That was a bit of a sickener on an 0-2 count. 

Welcome! 

I didn't see any of this game. When I checked on the outcome this morning I was disappointed in the Twins for scoring only once in the 10th inning after having the bases loaded with no outs. And then I saw the Kirilloff strikeout. Now instead I'm disappointed in Phil Cuzzi. I believe that Cuzzi truly thought those pitches were strikes, which shows two things. One, some umpires are better than others (and Cuzzi is not one of the better ones). Two, the outcome of this game was almost certainly changed by these incorrect calls, and this would not have happened with electronic pitch calling. While Cuzzi is largely to blame for the Kirilloff strikeout, MLB is also culpable for not implementing electronic pitch calling. Everyone who has studied this matter knows that the electronic system is more accurate than the best human umpires. While there are reasons to prefer human pitch calling over electronic pitch calling in the Major Leagues there are no good reasons--absolutely none--to do so. I am disgusted.

27 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

Cuzzi is terrible.   Will never forget his foul ball on Mauer against the Yankees in a critical playoff game.   Ball was three feet fair, and he was the left-field umpire and was only a couple of feet away from where it hit.  Yet calls it foul.

And this is the 14th season since that happened in which he has continued to umpire. It's unconscionable that MLB has not relieved him of duty.

And you wonder why abuse towards officials/umpires happen? This is why. Total crap that twins lost as umpires won game for dodgers-robot umpires/officials need to happen in all sports. 

If MLB aren't going to implement electronic strike zones then the very least they need to do is to introduce the ability to challenge ball and strike calling. It would take 10 seconds to check whether a pitch was a ball or a strike. 

10 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

If MLB aren't going to implement electronic strike zones then the very least they need to do is to introduce the ability to challenge ball and strike calling. It would take 10 seconds to check whether a pitch was a ball or a strike. 

Why have challenges? In a challenge the electronic call supersedes the human call. So just use the electronic call in the first place.

7 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Why have challenges? In a challenge the electronic call supersedes the human call. So just use the electronic call in the first place.

I agree but this is Manfred we're talking about. And I suspect the Umpire's Association will strongly oppose to an electronic strike zone. The ability to challenge calls could be the compromise.

Just now, UK Twin said:

I agree but this is Manfred we're talking about. And I suspect the Umpire's Association will strongly oppose to an electronic strike zone. The ability to challenge calls could be the compromise.

My patience regarding this issue has evaporated. At this point I say **** both Manfred and the union. Just get the right thing done.

At the very least, Jax needs to be moved down the bullpen pecking order. I don't have the answer who moves up, but it has been rough watching Jax in high-leverage situations over the last few weeks.

My understanding of the challenge is that the electronic call can overturn a bad human umpire call, thus the challenge capability exists in the minor leagues at select levels and games to work out the kinks.

While yes umpires had their moments last night of being awful, let's not forget that we were 4-17 with RISP.  If we could have come up clutch prior to the extra inning opportunities we wouldn't have to worry about umps getting in the way.

Tough road ahead, character of the team will be on display tonight

Umpires cannot hide from data.  Time for them to adjust.

Umpscorecards.com

It is really disappointing to lose a game like this when Twins have bases loaded and no outs, but do not score a run. Then Rocco makes another great statement when he said J Lopez pitched a good game, but any pitcher that walks in the winning run did not pitch good.  There is just NO excuse for walking in the winning run plus the batter hasn't had a hit for 2 or 3 weeks. Just throw a fastball down the middle.  Who calls the pitches? 

Wow! Cuzzi needs to be suspended by MLB for that. Time for the robot strike zone. That is ridiculous!

If you need a challenge system it would be for a human umpire to overturn the electronic system, not the other way around. For instance, an electronic strike zone set at the front of the plate does not know if the pitch bounced before it crosses the plate.

If Cuzzi were consistent, Thompson gets called out and they play on.

That's the beef here, Cuzzi fundamentally decided the outcome of the game.

Maybe over the course of the season, that evens out.  In reality, the level of the miss here is so egregious that it will never even out.

The Twins never got evened out on Cuzzi's call in New York in the playoffs in '04.  In my mind, I still see the cameras zooming in on the exact spot where the ball landed:  you could see the imprint on the fair side of the dirt portion of the line -- Mauer's double becoming simply another foul ball;  Gardy in the dugout oblivious to the awfulness of the call.

No one has mentioned the phantom double that should have been foul. 
 

The AK “strike” was in the same location as ball 4 on the walk-off. 
 

this kind of BS makes MLB a turn off for casual fans. Fix the BS. 

I agree with all the negativity directed at the umpires.  Cuzzi is, and always has been one of the worst umpires in MLB.  That being said, all you hear Baldelli talking about is how the umpiring cost them the game. That is the Twins refrain.  If you lose a close game blame it on the umpires.  What about leaving 15 runners on base?  What about a woefil 4-17 with runners in scoring position?  What about bases loaded and no outs in the 10th and only scoring one run? And that was on a walk.  What about the winning run scoring on a bases loaded walk?  He was in an 0-30 slump.  How can you not throw strikes to him?  How about a lineup that features Gallo at leadoff.  Leadoff mind you is not where a lifetime. 199 hitter should be in the batting order.  Go

I missed the Peralta double.  Is there a good video of that?  I have heard it was very questionable.  I was watching the AK at bat live.  That was just flat out terrible.