Twins Game Recap (9/6): Offense Dominated as Twins Fall in Extras

Very winnable game. The Graterol move was not sensible. Once they didn't get it done in the 9th and

10th it was not encouraging. Wasted a great effort by Pineda.

Do we really want a pull shift on a right hand batter when our guy is throwing 98 mph?  Ok, I know all the stats must support it but it still stings a little to see a weak grounder directtly at the traditional 2nd baseman position go for a hit and be the difference in the game.   Tough game.  Cleveland made some nice plays.

I think the game gave some strong indications about a few post season questions. First, Thorpe is best utilized as a lefty specialist at this point and pushing beyond that is asking for trouble. Second, Graterol is not ready to contribute in high leverage situations (meaning he's not making the playoff roster).

I honestly don't understand the 10th inning. I thought we were going to play the long game. Littel 2.0; then Thorpe for 2.0; then whoever. Cleveland had to play the desperation game but not us...a bit of a head scratcher to me.

People are obsessed with the home run.  Yankees may pass us.  I personally don't care if we are set up for the playoffs.  Nice outing from Pneda.  Need more of that.

trying to compete with just a bunch of kids out of the minors???? FO really is responsible for this kind of loss.  Plus, I sure would have reather seen Mike pitch as deep as he could, he was dealing big time, get him into the 8th, and then let Duffey close it out. screw Romo, 36 and past his time he's lke Morin, McGill, Harper && Mejia, toast

Wade, Baldelli, Johnson deserve F's for last night's game.

1. Wade must understand the game situation up by one run in a low scoring game that he can't take an unnecessary chance (esp. when his dive is short by 4 feet) to turn a bloop double into a triple.

2. Baldelli & Johnson set up Graterol to fail. First batter is a little weak .229 hitter so they order two sliders from a rookie pitcher who throws 99 MPH. Stats must be used correctly. If a weak hitter normally pulls the ball, what does he do against top pitchers or top velocity. Perez is a .225 hitter standing three feet from the plate. The most likely event is a slap hit in the opposite direction against 99 MPH. Let a new rookie who sure is going to amp'd up to pitch to his strengths.  

That loss irks me. The Indians are down and out. Instead of doing everything you can to out them away, you decide the 10th inning with 2 outs and runners on is the time to experiment with the 2nd major inning for a rookie 20 year old.

I get that you have to see what you have in Graterol, but in that game? You should have 4-5 guys sitting down there that could come in and get a bum like Perez without issue.

Another on the long-line of questionable decision making by Baldelli. All he’s doing is giving the Indians life.

When you don't score 8 runs a game, little things get noticed. 1B defense which had been claimed as unimportant becomes important. Diving at fly balls that land 4' away, and wild pitches turned into a base. Three wild pitches went past Castro/Garver. The first two there were men on third and normally would have scored two, and extra inning would not have been necessary. The third one finally caught up to the Twins. The whole catching down on one knee, especially with men on base seems silly. You can't shift, not only side ways, but up and down. Neither Castro or Garver could be consider extremely athletic as it is, and this simply immobilizes them further! Not all wild pitches are created equal, some are so easily blocked the scoring should be allowed as a passed ball.

Very frustrating. Positives are the way I want to wake up this morning. For the playoffs -We have a solid #1 starter. Wade won't be in right field. Rookies won't be put in high-leverage situations. Buxton & Gonzalez will be in the lineup. Back end of our bullpen will be rested and available. Will open up on the road.
I sure hope Rocco plays tonight and tomorrow like playoff games. The only chance the Indians have is to sweep us now. We may have given them last night with some of our decisions. Pressure is on us tonight I think.

Cruz with a sore wrist. Buxton can't swing a bat. Cave hurt. Gonzalez has been out so long he's been forgotten. Sano's back in a strikeout groove.

This team has scored 2 runs the past 3 games, can't push runs across the board and is looking to guys like Schoop and Cron to somehow carry them across the finish line.

Nathan Eovaldi and his 5.77 ERA dominated the Twins, as did Eduardo Rodriguez and his 3.87 ERA. Adam Plutko lugs his very average 4.44 ERA into last night's game, and the same thing happens.

I have no problems with the Gaterol stuff. This game should have been won much earlier and the offense deserves 100% of the blame and needs a shot in the arm. This race isn't over and the Indians could very will win the remaining 5 games against the Twins at this rate.

Getting to be  a trend:  Twins can't score runs at home when they need them.

Lots of extra inning walk-offs did not happen this year.

Whole games worth.

I thought the same thing. 

Tough loss.  Lots of would'a, could'a, should'a to second guess.  Time to move on to tonight, which becomes a huge start for Odorizzi and the bomba bats.

Big Mike DID "pitch as deep as he could."

He was over 100 pitches (for the first time this year I believe) and clearly running out of gas in the 6th. He gutted that inning out, but he was done.

I dont think Duffey was available.

Romo did just fine, he gave up a shallow pop fly that nobody could get to. Probably should have been a double instead of a triple, but either way, just one of those things. Kepler had a similar hit earlier in the game (also should have been a double, if Kepler runs hard out of the box.)

I do agree I hated to see Graterol decide the game.

Still and all, this one's on the offense mostly.

I agree with all but the Graterol part.   Its fine if you think the leverage was too high for a guy that fresh and I wouldn't have been against bringing in Dyson instead but everyone gives up runs.    Thorpe's wild pitch got the runner in scoring position provoking the intentional walk.   Weak ground ball in the right spot and then a sharp Lindor liner that could have been caught.   There were lots of ways that frame could have turned out different but thats baseball and I think it kind of silly to come to any conclusions about Graterol based on that performance.      I also think Kepler not getting  to 2nd on that hit was huge though he obviously never saw it or thought it might be fair.   Not sure I have ever seen anything quite like that.    Anyway  a whole lot of small plays made up that game, some for us and too many against.     The guy that beat us was Lindor with his offense and defense and it wasn't the first time and I am guessing it won''t be the last.    

Absolutely they should put Graterol in high leverage. If not don’t put him on the 40.

They also should have let him battle the first batter instead of putting him on first after 2-0.

Get him back out there in high leverage this week.

When Cruz hurt his wrist, he should have been taken out of the game to treat it immediately. Put Garver in at DH for the rest of the game. In fact, put Garver in at DH until Cruz is healthy. We need both of those guys healthy, and I feel like we're walking a tight rope with Garver's potential concussions behind the plate. And Cruz was worthless in that AB, and the subsequent ABs. So we hurt ourselves during the game by leaving him in. And it's more important to get and keep Cruz healthy than it was for him to have those 2 more ABs during that game.

Busdar threw what should have been an easy ground out to 2b.  I don't get playing the shift against a hitter whose BA is a little above the Mendoza line. 

This one is on the rookie manager.

I know we have had our injuries too, but Tito has the Indians playing so hard, despite a nearly decimated pitching staff and Lindor starting the season hurt. 

Sleep on Tito at your peril. They are right behind us. The gap is one bad week away from closing.

Cron has missed a couple of plays in the last few days that have cost us. More sloppy baseball by the Twins and it’s been like this for two months. I guess it is not changing