Twins 8, Guardians 3: Vazquez and Twins Deliver Early and Late to Defeat Guardians

I don’t know which is more pleasing…

Twins taking a big step closer to a spot in the postseason…

or Francona’s Monday night strategy (travesty) failing.

Our favorite club doubled my fun tonight.

Smells like a division title is imminent 

Unfortunately had to miss the game due a meeting.  Was beyond elated with the comeback victory that once again was spurred by some clutch hitting, a good start by Gray and three shutout IP from Jax, Thielbar and Pagan.

I need to give deserved props/apology to Christian Vazquez.  After calling him out/asking for a minor league replacement for next season (which I was rebuked for by numerous parties) after his 0-5 performance Sunday, Vazquez shut me up by poking a game tying HR in the 6th.  His hitting line also included a single and two walks.  Nice job Christian!

After producing the biggest hit of the game can our front office just go ahead NOW and sign Solano to a new contract with a nice raise?  Where would this team be without his contributions all season?  Hitting a team leading .294 ( Not counting Lewis due to limited ABs) with a .376 OBP, Solano has more than earned his $2m salary.

Having won the first two games of this series, I sure hope Rocco goes for the jugular tomorrow with our "A" lineup.  

Joe Ryan should be amped (hopefully not too much) for his start.  Main bullpen arms should be available tomorrow with possible exception of Jax as Thielbar (10) and Pagan (12) both had efficient one inning stints tonight.

Cliche time:  1 game at a time boys.  23 to go.  

As a former legendary high school basketball coach I used to work for would say:

"Focus on the task at hand."  

Isn't this more fun than quitting?

Once again the runs come too late for Sonny to get the win.

I have lost count the number of games he pitched well enough ro win but didn't due to lack of early enough runs, or relief pitching losing the lead.

A superb pitcher who doesn't have it fairly reflected in his games won stats.

11 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Isn't this more fun than quitting?

If your calling Francona a quitter, I strongly disagree.

51 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

I am starting to wonder if perhaps - perhaps - I overestimated the threat of Cleveland this season.

OR, if I had underestimated our Twins.

Either way, I'm good with my mistakes. But keep going, boys. Let's close out the Central early!

The Twins finished the first half one game under .500 -- but did so against a schedule that included the Braves, Dodgers, Astros and 29 of their 32 games against the AL East. And they were at or near the top of the majors in ERA, strikeouts pitched, and quality starts. They had come through a difficult stretch ably. So underestimation is I think accurate.

Then for a month after the break they became the Box of Chocolates, swept by Kansas City but taking two of three in Philadelphia, for example. I wrote before last week's Cleveland series that I hoped for Chocolate Truffle and not Crunchy Frog.  But their confidence and determination were just coming into bloom, and the last week revealed it after the heart-wrenching loss in the final Cleveland match at Target Field..

So much so, that these Twins no longer resemble Russell Stover. You know you're getting their best effort every night now.

As for moderating that early schedule imbalance, the Twins have 16 games remaining against the Mets, White Sox, Angels, A's and Rockies. And these Twins will fight hard no matter the ineptitude they face.

Don't look now, but the Twins are only 5 games back in loss column to be the second seed in AL.  Keep playing to their potential and they may make up those games.  The Twins only have to tie Hou & Tx

Long season and the Twins are pulling it together too. The at bats have been consistently better for some time now and opposing  pitchers just get worn down trying to throw so many good pitches.

Cleveland played hard, using pretty much all of their main guys except for the closer. Tomorrow the Twins could put the AL Central to bed with a win,  which would effectively mean a nine game lead. 

Is it greedy to feel the Twins could catch the AL West winner for the second bye?

2 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

I am starting to wonder if perhaps - perhaps - I overestimated the threat of Cleveland this season.

OR, if I had underestimated our Twins.

Either way, I'm good with my mistakes. But keep going, boys. Let's close out the Central early!

Perhaps.  Maybe, maybe not 😁162 game season, gotta let it play out.  That's what we love about baseball.  Could turn on a dime still but it's been a fun ride!

Given the Astros have two series v KC and one v Oakland still to play, I suspect the no.2 seed will be out of our reach. But even so, plenty of incentives for finishing the regular season strongly. Always good to go into the play offs in good form.

Again Sonny Gray  pitches well enough for the win ...

Twins score first but Cleveland  comes back to tie it  and then  take a 1 run lead ...

Twin tie it  and score 6 unanswered runs to win it  , good job bullpen  ...

Today's game was a good example how a game is played ...

Solano  has been playing steady all season , defense  started out shaky but that has improved , Twins would be wise to extend  him a contract  before he is eligible for free agency  ...

30 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

Given the Astros have two series v KC and one v Oakland still to play, I suspect the no.2 seed will be out of our reach.

While true, both teams have known to surprise, and the Astros also still have series against the Diamondbacks, Orioles and Mariners on their docket, which may well determine who wins that division.

1 hour ago, JoshDungan1 said:

While true, both teams have known to surprise, and the Astros also still have series against the Diamondbacks, Orioles and Mariners on their docket, which may well determine who wins that division.

True, but we need to make up 5.5 games on them. We'd probably need to go 17-6 to give ourselves a chance. Not out of the question but too much of an ask IMO.

A really good win, and an important one. Ensuring that Cleveland can't gain ground in a head-to-head matchup is pretty huge and ramps up the pressure on them down the stretch if they want to try and steal this. With the Twins starting to get healthy and showing impressive depth...it seems more and more unlikely.

Vazquez had a really good game, not just on offense. That strike 'em out-throw 'em out sequence to support Gray was huge and he was calling a nice game behind the plate. He's had some rough stretches this season at the plate, but the team has never lost confidence in him as a catcher.

Correa had a nice game as well; hopefully we can find him some rest down the stretch so he's closer to full strength come playoff time.

Gray was struggling with his command, but battled through it. nice to have a good performance from the bullpen to back him up too.

Thought the Twins took really good ABs last night; they hit a lot of balls hard that didn't get anywhere early, but kept working and it finally paid out. 7 walks? That sure helps create opportunities.

8 hours ago, IaBeanCounter said:

Don't look now, but the Twins are only 5 games back in loss column to be the second seed in AL.  Keep playing to their potential and they may make up those games.  The Twins only have to tie Hou & Tx

The Twins will have to do it without their best guys in the end. Correa and anyone kind of injured will get plenty of rest. We will see a lot of Keuchel and the back end of the Twins bullpen once we have clinched, probably even rotating guys to and from St. Paul to eat up innings.

3 hours ago, UK Twin said:

True, but we need to make up 5.5 games on them. We'd probably need to go 17-6 to give ourselves a chance. Not out of the question but too much of an ask IMO.

For a fan, it's never too much to ask.  Will it happen, probably not.  That is what makes baseball so interesting.  On August 31, the Twins were 8 games behind in the loss column, 5 games later they are 5 back.  Today and the next homestand will decide whether or not it is possible to be the 2 seed.