Twins Topple Royals; Milone, Escobar Deliver

Good article Seth!!!

I never have understood the lack of love for Milone here on TD. All he does is goes out and performs, keeps Twins in games, and gives them a very good chance to win.

Good article Seth!!!

 

I never have understood the lack of love for Milone here on TD. All he does is goes out and performs, keeps Twins in games, and gives them a very good chance to win.

"Throw him in the bullpen!" "Trade him for a barely breathing prospect!"

The guy goes out and wins and pitches well. He needs to stay in the rotation. 

Tommy Milone was back on the mound for the Twins on Monday night in Kansas City and was again terrific. The southpaw gave up just two runs over seven innings for his eighth win of the year. The Twins got a lot of contributions through the game and won 6-2. In doing so, the Twins remain 1.5 games back of the Texas Rangers for the second wild card position.

As Labor Day has passed and those students and teachers who didn't start last week will begin their 2015-16 school years on Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins have a record of 71-66.So, let's go back to early April. You pick the date. Do you prefer to go back to Opening Day, or a week later when the team was 1-6?

Now ask yourself how you think the Twins outlook for the rest of the season would be if you knew that on Labor Day, Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco would both be on the Disabled List. Glen Perkins isn't even on the road trip because of a bad back after missing time with a pain in his neck. The bullpen was full of question marks. Joe Mauer was still hitting just .267. Kurt Suzuki was hitting like Kurt Suzuki of old. Torii Hunter's offense was showing his 40 years. The Twins just lost two out of three in Houston including a really tough, late loss on Sunday.

Then remind yourself that this team is 1.5 games behind Texas in the race for the AL's second wild card berth. They are again five games over .500. As impressive, after that really difficult, late-innings loss on Sunday in Houston, the Twins found the resiliency they've shown on several occasions this year. Just when you think they're out, they lure us back with a winning streak or an improbable, resilient win.

It may sound cliché by now, but this playoff race stuff is fun. Twins fans have waited four years for this. By Labor Day, many of us - even us diehards - would be channel surfing rather than watching each pitch and each inning.

That means being on the edge of our eats as Kevin Jepsen sweated through his Saturday night save. It means lunging from your chair when Byron Buxton came up with the big catch to win that game and end Houston's threat. It means being disappointed when Tyler Duffey was removed from Sunday's game only to see Trevor May cough up the lead on Jed Lowrie's grand slam. It means understanding that those games happen through a baseball season, but moaning about its implications in the standings.

The Twins have given us in 2015 what we've wanted for the last four years. Hopefully they can remain in this thing and continue to give us meaningful games to watch through September, and maybe even into October. They will need to continue getting strong performances from veteran and rookie alike.

• When Tommy Milone came back from AAA, he began with seven straight starts where he gave up two runs or less, something he has now done in 11 of 16 post-return starts.
• Torii Hunter has had five hits in his last two games. He had six hits in his previous 18 games.
• While Miguel Sano gets all the headlines, and deservingly so, Eddie Rosario continues to get some big hits - including that big, two-run triple over the weekend. He also continues to play great defense and last night got another outfield assist.
• It has been a difficult season for Kurt Suzuki, but in his past 20 games, he is hitting .298.
• Joe Mauer isn’t putting up Mauer-like numbers that fans got accustomed to in the first decade of his career, but his numbers remain tremendous in clutch situations. With Runners in Scoring Position, he is hitting. 352/.463/.448. With Runners on 2^nd and 3^rd or bases loaded this year, he is hitting .500/.571/.611.
• Since Danny Santana was sent down to Rochester (and Jorge Polanco to Chattanooga), Eduardo Escobar has hit .333/.368/.544 with 13 doubles and five home runs.

Miguel Sano carried the team for about a month. He’s in a real slump right now. Byron Buxton has struggled offensively. Tyler Duffey has probably been the Twins second-best starting pitcher in the last month.

But now the season is down to about three weeks, and the Twins are just 1.5 games back of Texas and 1.5 games ahead of the Angels. Here’s a quick glimpse at the remaining schedule:

• Two @ Kansas City
• Three @ Chicago (White Sox)
• Three vs Detroit
• Four vs LA Angels
• Three vs Cleveland
• Three @ Detroit
• Four @ Cleveland
• Three vs Kansas City

25 games remaining. 21 of them are within the division. Four games against an Angels team that is just 1.5 games behind them. Seven games against a surging Cleveland team that has a terrific rotation.

How many will the Twins need to win in order to achieve that second wild card position? Would going 15-10 be enough? Would they need to go 19-6? Of course, there is no way to know.

It’s not going to be easy down the stretch, but we are reminded that when a team is in contention and every game matters, nothing comes easy.

But this is what we’ve wanted. Meaningful games in September. We’ve got that!!

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Thanks Seth - good perspective. Let's sit back and enjoy the run and see what happens. 

I agree on why is there Milone negativity.  Everyone wants the young pitchers up because how well they have done in the minors.  Tommy started 5 games in Rochester, pitched 38 innings and gave up THREE runs total.  I think it shows how much different AAA/AA is to the Majors.  Not that Milone will ever be confused for a #1, but definitely has done nothing wrong this year to be demoted to the pen. And not only has he started well, when the Twins needed a guy to finish he got a save in an extra inning game. Milone should be in consideration for our BEST pitcher this year.