insagt1

Yep--Joe is going to have to match zero for zero for Twins to have any chance tonite. The bats are pretty quiet, which is very predictable given who is pitching. I still think (hope) we can take this series, but it is unlikely that tonite will go our way. Of course hope I'm wrong. Correa like Jeffers is mired in a pretty nasty slump. Very poor time for this to be happening. (Maybe Gallo will bail us out!🤪

I don't like having to face a quality pitcher like Scherzer after 2 losses with almost no offense. Joe is going to have to be 'perfect' and go deep to keep us in this one.

I sincerely wish Scherzer was on the mound tonite.....for US!😉The internal fortitude of the Twins last 2 games was not very promising. Did they treat those 3 games like playoff games, or just another series. obladi-oblada. Of course we are in this thing. A 5 game lead in September is a thing of beauty....except if the spectre of another 3 gamer with a team that knows how to beat us when it matters awaits in the weeds and that lead could be 2 games shortly. I hope the Twins take this series more seriously, honestly. We'll see just how badly they want to win this thing and erase the stench of last September. They have the horses for sure. Let's hope they all want to race to win. This isn't 1987 or 1991. Different circumstances, dynamics, manager, pitching staff and hitters. I want to think they may be the healthiest they have been in a long time...that would be a huge plus. Gotta break out of the two game hitting funk tonite, And it will be a challenge against this soon to be HOF pitcher. And a team fighting a 3 way battle for 1st place. So who will want it more?

I completely agree. That just can't happen in such an important spot. Good closers know that and don't try to get that 'cute' with a runner at 3rd.

looking at that list of Twins relievers (at the moment) its hard to believe Pagan has been the most effective. The others have really pitched poorly (forget the stats) when it matters. Jax gives up runs at the worst time. Duran the same. When put in stress spots giving up just one run makes the difference. Floro probably won't be with the team after this season. Has he done OK? Sometimes. Right now, Twins need their pen to start shutting down the opponents, not blowing leads late on a nightly basis. Floro probably isn't the answer to the bullpen's woes. But, this is crunch time so a nice run of games now, when it counts most, could change the narrative.

The recent 2 losses to Cleveland make their last series with them very important, if not only to put to rest that when it counts most Twins can't win the big ones. Don't count on 'an easy schedule' after that. The memory of getting swept by a very poor KC team is still very much alive and well. I didn't expect to sweep the Guardians and I accepted the 4-2 loss; but the 5-2 loss was totally unacceptable and it exposed ALL the flaws. Only 4 hits; 13 k's; and a complete failure in the bullpen. You won't win a playoff game with games like that. The stakes are high. Twins need a solid September and it really starts with sending Cleveland a message in their final series. I'm not confident in the least that they can get it done, but I remain hopeful, because thats what a fan does!

Bullpen has been awful recently. No sugar coating. They haven't done the job collectively. Meanwhile, Twins hitters continue to flail away and strike out in huge numbers. We can argue and debate till all the cows come home about k's vs GIDP's. But there is no hiding the fact that when runners are in scoring position, a k simply kills the opportunity and when Twins have more than 10 of those every game it seems, you get why they dropped 2 games against their closest rival this week. Are they all still swinging for the fences, when a base hit would do? Why isn't the majorly slumping Jeffers trying to lay one down with runners on instead of swinging wildly at pitches way out of the zone? When is Gallo going to take a seat permanently. The only reason his stats look somewhat reasonable is what he did in the spring. Since then he has accomplished nothing (which is why sometimes the 'stats' don't tell the true story) Are Buck and AK the key to our September offense? Buck has struggled all season when healthy (sort of) AK's career so far has been plagued with injuries. Can he recover from this one in time to have an impact? While Kepler and Polo have shown improvement, Correa has not. Can a team that yo-yo's between 2 and 6 over .500 get to the finish line in 1st? Guess we'll be seeing soon enough.

I have lived thru the birth and death of the Expos. They never won anything, yet they had great teams. I would have traded several of those teams for one that finally climbed the mountain. The frustration of coming so close, so often got discouraging. And of course there was 1994. As a fan you have to experience the joy of being champions at least once in life. Round two, Buffalo Bills...4 straight Super Bowl appearances...doubt that will ever happen again. Lost all 4. I can tell you Bills fans would trade 3 of those 4 if they could only have won 'wide right. Many fans tend to forget or even downplay the 4 straight feat...BECAUSE they lost them all. Its hard to win a championship. Very hard. You can always 'come close', compete but never win. For some thats enough. As one gets older (ahem) one really wants to wear the crown at least once (or once more if possible) Give me the ring and let me savor it for a lifetime.

Arraez last multi-hit game was Aug 13th. He has had only 3 this month. Quite a cool off for sure. He has 6 hitless games this month. Contrast July where he had 10 multi-hit games and 6 hitless games. He hit .354 in July and .229 in August. Wow. Goes to show how hard it is to sustain a real high BA in MLB. I doubt anyone will reach Ted Williams' .406 in 1941 again. Just like no one will hit safely in 56 straight games anymore. The number of no-hitters Nolan Ryan pitched is safe. Ripkens ironman streak will never be reached. I doubt that in todays game no starting pitcher will ever win 300 games. That 'stat' has really been downplayed in recent years when starters really only pitch 5 or 6 innings most the time. But at one time 'wins' were a feather in the cap of starters who routinely would either go the distance or 8 innings. 100 stolen bases? Unlikely but possible. Those of us who have watched the game 'develop' over the decades...lets say from the 50's to the present have stories to tell!

no forecast honestly. im concerned about the upcoming 3 game series with Cleveland. At the very worst Twins have to win at least one of those games. then they hang on. They will be getting some injured players back (which should keep Gallo and Luplow, if still around, on the bench) Bullpen has become a liability lately. I really want Twins to win the division and even win a playoff game finally. They have hung around most the season with a pretty mediocre record and I believe a ton of potential just waiting to get uncapped...hopefully. Can Buck play? Can Kirilloff get his stroke back? What about Gordon? I frankly base my hopes on the 'eye test'. At this time of year, who gets hot. Who has that jump we used to see with Cruz for example. Who will step up and take charge. It may surprise us. We'll see.

let me correct....what Jeffers did. Lately Jeffers is Gallo. And thats not helping. Twins lost 2 of 3 to Cleveland and will probably lose the season series now, Yesterday's game was for me, maybe the worst loss of the year. both because of the opponent and also the total failure of the bullpen when they needed it most. All 3 failed..Duran the worst. that 2nd run was hard to watch. In September I measure success and failure in 7 day increments. Nothing done in the past really matters now.

I figured this topic was eventually going to come up again. Here's what I see: Baseball is played on the field, not on paper or computer. Baseball is played by humans who ebb and flow constantly. Its amusing that Arraez is being compared, right now, with Jeffers. Arraez has cooled off considerably and right now Jeffers is a mess at the plate, striking out nearly every AB and looking bad doing it. As the calendar turns to September the games are more important. Playoff positions are at stake and one lousy series could doom a team. So right now, players have to be at their best, even if they werent before, A hot streak in Sept can make the difference. Gallo--since May, he has added just about nothing impactful offensively. He has not helped the team win these important games. And since its a team effort to win games, thats really all that matters. Jeffers has made some real ugly outs over the past 10 days or so. When the Twins blow a game like yesterday, when perhaps a key hit may have made the difference, you can't get that loss back. Theres a reason Rocco went to a pinch hitter for Gallo so early yesterday..and sadly had to use someone who is right now just as bad as Gallo. But he knew they needed contact and Gallo isn't that guy, at all. Honestly has there been a less impactful 20 HR's on the team. You have to keep winning. When a team gets on a roll, emotion plays a huge, uncalculable role. A happy, energized dugout pays dividends. You win games you shouldnt normally win. As the proverbial 'old-timer' like some of you here, I don't care what the papers say; I care about what I see in the 9th inning of a close game and who comes through and who doesn;t. Arraez is helping his team try to snatch a WC. Jeffers, up until recently, has helped the Twins stay on top. But if he continues to add 0-fers and k's, none of what he had done previous will matter to the fans. On every game you get the 27 allotted outs. How you use them, that day, determines if you get the 'W' and it takes the entire team to make it happen. All the stats in the world can't decide what Correa may or may not do, at that critical moment, with one out, runner on 1st. If he grounds into a DP with Twins up by 9 runs, big whoop. But if he does that with the tying run on 1st and 1 out, different story, Same result for him, but not for the team. Was it statistically accurate that Duran would make such a horrible pitch with 1 strike to get and game hanging in the balance? Horrible outcome. Game played on the field, emotion. Cleveland was jacked and Twins deflated for sure. That game still bothers me. ITS WHEN you do WHAT you do that makes the difference, on that day. If it results in a win on a pennant clinching game, do we care who did it or how? Heroes are made daily in baseball. Thats what we (I) watch the games for. OTOH, when I see a guy with a terrible BA, a near 50% k ratio and very little meaningful contribution to my team's success offensively over several months, I'm not terribly impressed that his games in April and early May have skewed his stats perhaps making him seem more valuable than he currently is.

one strike away from a 2-1 win and then your go-to closer throws a pitch like that. Games like this really erode any confidence that this team can succeed in post season (assuming they don't totally melt down this weekend) You just can't lose games like they did. what we learned? That 6 above .500 is the absolute ceiling for this team. And it won't be good enough.

ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly loss on many levels. First blowing that great effort by Gray late in the game. The way Cleveland tied it, Twins running out a raw rookie in the 10th in a very important game. And by losing it, it gives Cleveland life they really shouldn't have. But Twins struggle to beat those guys and they literally gave this one away. Plus their hitters strike out WAY too much. All season, killing rally after rally. Jeffers is in a deep funk right now and while Vazquez isn't much better, Jeffers is lost at the plate. The pen is unreliable. But all that aside, they had to win this one, they had it in their grasp and they blew it. The difference between winning this series and losing it is telling IMO. A truly bad loss in every way. Very disappointed. This is why Twins may never really reach their potential. They can't sustain any momentum.

true enough. Luplow is pretty bad.

I guess that is perspective. Gallo is hardly a productive hitter...especially over the past several weeks. He is the poster child of 'unproductive'. Gallo has 20, mostly irrelevant HRs and an aircraft carrier full of k's, killing rally after rally. To be fair I guess, neither should be on the team once Buck and AK return.

thank goodness for Polanco. Correa's hitting the last 7 games has been Gallo-like. Over the last month he is under .200 with very little production. Clearly, it would seem, he is playing hurt because this isn't the Carlos anyone knows. Why he isn;t lower in the order is surprising.

Heres the thing. Twins have to be able to pivot when they are facing tough pitching. Jeffers has been striking out a ton. There was a runner on 1st in a scoreless game. Why didn't they have Jeffers try and advance the runner with a bunt. Solano could then drive him in. Turns out Jeffers did k and Solano did get a hit. This is fundamental baseball. Can't try to hit HR's every AB. At least Rocco has the sense to hit for Gallo...even tho its Luplow. ANYONE is better than Gallo. And still Luplow k's as well.

wow--2 two-run HR's and Sox tied up the O's 4-4. Yikes. Gibson has won 13 games but his ERA is nearly 5.00. And they hit another to take the lead 5-4. Batting practice...Gibson's got nuthin' Twins need to get the bats going today. They have to shed the k-disease. Need this win

watched that 1st inning. Sox 'd' looked worse than a little league team. They truly are a mess. Just thinking just maybe the best move the Twins didn't make was getting rid of Kepler. Somehow, since the ASG, he has ramped up his game both in the field and AB. Good thing too. We definitely need him in top form. Gallo getting a start is mind boggling. The guy just can't hit. 20 HR's or not, his other AB's are useless.

If Twins can win today they tie the season series and put Cleveland in a huge hole. While this game isn't critical...it is very important to win. Its a home game and its against a team that tormented them last year late. Time to reverse that. the bats were silent yesterday. Correa still hits into annoying DP's. This has not been a stellar year for him, but hopefully the best is yet to come. Jeffers has really cooled off after a real hot streak. Gallo is hopeless. Has there ever been a more unimpressive 20 HR hitter? OTOH, Taylor has 20 dingers. Is Buxton really going to be a huge improvement over that offensively if he takes over in CF? Sure Buck is a platinum defensive outfielder (when he is healthy) but this should be interesting to see what Rocco does next. Somehow through it all Twins have a 6 game lead. Its in their hands this week, if they want it bad enough.

my how baseball has changed thru the years. Used to be when a batter hit one hard, he put his head down, dropped his bat and sprinted to first until the ump signaled HR.Today, he stands at home and watches...then flips the bat or does some other thing before jogging around the bases. Thats not how it used to was boys and girls! The expression 'beaned'--exclusive for getting hit in the head....period. All else is HBP. All HBP are unintentional? Thats nonsense. Remember the expression 'purpose pitch'. Most pitchers know where to put the pitch..when Bob Gibson wanted to hit a batter...he did it and the batter usually knew it was coming too. All the nonsense of 'showing up' the other team is something that has evolved in recent decades. Its foolish, childish. You play to win. Don't get all twisted up if a batter bunts in a one run game while the pitcher is throwing a no-hitter. You play to win. Don't get ticked if a runner steals a base with his team ahead by 4 or 5 runs. You never know which run you need to win. You play hard. You play to win. If the other team doesn't like it, too bad. 'unwritten rules' are so abused and taken way too seriously in most (not all) cases. Im not an advocate of anyone getting intentionally hit by a 100 mph fastball. But that does seem to be something that has been woven into the fabric of the game. Careers can be ended. Seasons ended. For what? Baseball is a great game...as long as the egos don't overtake it. finally I noticed the average time for a game this year is 2hrs 39 minutes. thats down a TON and thats great. IMO. Also we have a guy who has stolen 60 bases already. Glad to see that element return to the game. Some of the rule changes have actually made the game more enjoyable to watch. Who knew??😶 (just my rambling ramblings!)

blind squirrel still finds a nut once in awhile!😛

nice comeback win to nab the important 1st game of this important series. Pen was nasty. Bats were getting it done. 7 game lead. Good stuff

well I did say 10 runs. We got those so now can the pen make them count. Long ways to go. (Might need 12 or 13!🙄