Twins Game Recap (8/30): Bats Back Up Gibson, Twins Win 6th Straight

When you put it that way, I'm thinking, no?

Seriously, that is kind of odd.

They're on target beating bad teams while Cleveland loses to Tampa. Be nice to see Rosario, Cruz, and Kepler all get 100 RBIS.

Ladies & Gentlemen, meet Kyle Gibson, the man with an 8.1 million dollar arm and a 50 cent head.

Truly a talented pitcher who is, "all over the place."  Somebody puh-leez call Annie Savoy to send this guy some garters.

Gotta take your victories where you can get 'em, though.  Now 17 wins away from 100 with 28 games left.  Magic number is 24.  Pressure is shifting from chased to chaser.

There’s only three teams in mlb who have a better home record than we have road record. We’re +5 games ahead of the second best road team. We’re closer to having a better road record than any team has a home record than we are to the second best road team.

Crazy.

Well most likely the Twins would start the ALDS with 2 away games, so hopefully their trend of doing well on the road continues into October.

Nice to keep this streak going. It's true that Berrios looked marginally better yesterday, but Gibson must have everyone scratching their heads.The bats and lots of sloppy play from the Tigers notched the win for Gibson. He should buy everyone a steak. That's 20 hits in 10 innings against inarguably the worst hitting team in baseball and he gets two Ws to boot. Maybe something is wrong with his mechanics as well?

With Cleveland’s loss, they have 27 games left and could finish with 106 wins. Twins would need 24 wins to get to 107, so the magic number is 24, with 28 to play.

If Cleveland goes 20-7 down the stretch, they finish with 99 wins. The Twins would need to go 17-11 to finish with 100 wins.

The easier schedule is paying dividends this weekend.

But things change over the next two weeks with Cleveland, Boston and Washington on tap.

Twins need to be challenged, especially the pitching, to be ready for playoffs.

But, like the idea of a cushion, hopefully 6 or 7 games in the loss column. Give Cleveland some pressure.

69 points.

When looking at last night’s boxscore, that’s the difference between the Tigers highest OPS (Ronny Rodriguez; 715) and the Twins’ lowest OPS (Adrianza; 784, Castro; 788).

And I assume Garver and his 941 OPS will be in against the lefty today.

Yesterday was Friday, August 30.  It was the 134th game of the year putting the Twins 83% of the way through the season.  The Twins hit 1 home run upping their record-breaking season total to 262 home runs.  They are now only 6 home runs short of setting a new single-season MLB record.

 

Just a side note.  I'll be leaving the country tomorrow and I have no idea what access I'll have to the internet.  I'll try to keep doing daily updates on the home runs but between the seven hour time difference and the travel, I may miss a day or two over the next two weeks.

Dude I have a sinking feeling the Twins are going to break the record when you're "out-of-office"...crazy timing, eh? Then again, if you're in a country where you're not sure about the Internet access, I'm guessing you're hitting up the Caribbean or Mexico or something. And so we can't feel toooo sorry for you.

The easier schedule is paying dividends this weekend.

 

But things change over the next two weeks with Cleveland, Boston and Washington on tap.

 

Twins need to be challenged, especially the pitching, to be ready for playoffs.

 

But, like the idea of a cushion, hopefully 6 or 7 games in the loss column. Give Cleveland some pressure.

A Rays sweep while the Twins sweep the Tigers (keeping fingers crossed) would be so gigantic. Right now I'd even be happy if the Twins just won their next two games, regardless of what Cleveland does. Would love to see that lead grow to 6-7 as the Twins enter the next 1.5 weeks of the schedule.

Gibson is 9-9 with a 5.37 ERA in his career vs. the Tigers (21 starts). b4 last night-  he is what he is-  NOT GOOD

Is it within realm to call Gibson the same pitcher that Nick Blackburn was, with the exception that Gibson gets more Ks?

Is it within realm to call Gibson the same pitcher that Nick Blackburn was, with the exception that Gibson gets more Ks?

Gibson gets more Ks, gives up fewer hits, fewer walks, fewer home runs, has a lower ERA, a lower WHIP, a lower FIP, has more wins, and has three times as many career WAR.

Other than that, they are the same, I guess.

I know everyone on this site hates Gibson, is ready to be done with him, etc. But I will say, he’s got an ERA+ of 100, and is posting his career best walk and strikeout rates. He’s started every game, and isn’t an ace, but he is a very serviceable. He’s not at the top of his game right now, but he’s average, and he’s had stretches where he has been well above that.

I think that the animosity towards him is overwrought and undeserved. And the incessant “nibble” comments kind of drive me nuts. When pitchers get ahead with two strikes, they try to get the hitters out with pitches out of the zone. That’s what pitchers do. If he were to throw more two-strike pitches down the middle, people would complain about giving players good stuff to hit with two strikes.

Yeah, seven hour time difference pretty much eliminates Mexico and the Caribbean.

LOL, didn't read that. Although, there are places in Latin America that just take you back in time.....metaphorically, anyway.

The increase in strike outs is helpful but Gibson still relies on ground balls. The Twins will likely have below average defenders across the infield next year. He may not be a good fit for their defensive strength in the outfield. There will be too many balls just out of the reach of Polanco, Sano and Arraez and too many bad throws extending innings. Those innings with high pitch counts have worn on him this year and he loses command in the strike zone.

Is it within realm to call Gibson the same pitcher that Nick Blackburn was, with the exception that Gibson gets more Ks?

Blackburn also pitched huge in big games (game 163 in 2008, second to last game in 2009 and then game 2 of ALDS in Yankee stadium). Gibson would wet himself pitching a play-off game in Yankee stadium. 

I know everyone on this site hates Gibson, is ready to be done with him, etc. But I will say, he’s got an ERA+ of 100, and is posting his career best walk and strikeout rates. He’s started every game, and isn’t an ace, but he is a very serviceable. He’s not at the top of his game right now, but he’s average, and he’s had stretches where he has been well above that.

I think that the animosity towards him is overwrought and undeserved. And the incessant “nibble” comments kind of drive me nuts. When pitchers get ahead with two strikes, they try to get the hitters out with pitches out of the zone. That’s what pitchers do. If he were to throw more two-strike pitches down the middle, people would complain about giving players good stuff to hit with two strikes.

I have been a Gibby supporter. He was really pretty good from June 2017 through last season. But this season he's regressed into his old self. It's incredibly frustrating and I don't need to see anymore of it. Even if the person we replace him with in 2020 isn't any better.

If Perez keeps pitching well, I'd pick up his option, try to keep Pineda on a two year deal and go after a big FA. Berrios, FA, Pineda, Perez, Smeltzer/Graderal/Stewart/etc.

I'm a little concerned by the power outage. I'm also concerned that my right shoelace is slightly loose.

I'm fine with Gibson. He has pitched almost 1100 innings for us. I would be cool with a contract extension for him for up to 3 years. He could get his 100th career victory here.