insagt1

O's like the Twins have been going so badly...until these last 2 games with the Yankees (and the 2nd one gave them a scare because they still insist on pitching to a guy that beats them every single game) I don't think they want to let up at all. They are getting their regulars back and they need to play. Maybe they rest the two starters that they will use in the brutal 2 of 3 series..but I think they will still be going all out.

prolonging the agony. gotta say, Gnats certainly haven't bothered to show up this week at all. They haven;t scored a run since who knows when. They gave a struggling KC team life. Maybe the games with the O's will be meaningful. Chisox don't want to lose 121 but Detroit will be a handful. Despite O's insistence to pitch to Judge, and fail, they hung on to beat Yankees again, barely. They don't want NY celebrating at their expense. If Twins could beat Miami today and KC loses, they may still have a shot. Don't even think about catching Tigers.

Tonites game really doesn't matter. KC and Detroit winning easily as they know whats at stake. Twins playing for whats left of their pride now. (Yankees coming back strong. Whew only 8-3 now)

I believe at last glance he was with Ed Sullivan!

Twins fell behind early; they checked the scoreboard; and are now quickly going thru the motions. Honest, I know these guys are all pros but collectively they have really given up. Its embarrassing that they are losing to Miami; but worse how badly they are playing; and how they choked their way out of the post season. Silver lining: even if they win (ha) tonite, it wont matter because both KC and Detroit are on their way to being the last 2 wild cards. Twins have no business being there anymore. (anyone notice O's are beating the Yanks 7-1 after 4! Now there might be a team with some pride. They were sucking on the exhaust but perhaps decided the Yanks weren't going to clinch the AL East on their watch. so far)

whoever, whenever, whatever....as the song goes, 'a change is gonna come'.

Twins should be officially done before fridays series with Baltimore begins. And if Miami actually sweeps the Twins, they shouldn't even show up for the O's series. The ballpark will be empty.

Generally in pro sports, when a team falls apart as badly as the Twins have, a change in leadership always follows (except in very rare occasions) Twins really shouldn't have regressed this badly even with the injuries. Right now they are playing like dead men walking. They need a shake-up and I think it will happen probably the day or two after they are eliminated.

Every team can win a baseball game on any given night. Even 99 loss teams. However losing 99 games is something that very few teams 'achieve' each season. So Miami really isn't a very good team this year. Just a team that can win once in awhile. They shouldn't be beating a team allegedly fighting for a playoff spot. Twins should have been pumped and ready to put them away. Twins didn't capitalize on that last night. Instead THEY looked every bit the 99 loss team. In fact they have looked like that for over a month now. Teams win and lose as a team usually. Yes for short spurts one maybe two players can 'carry' a team with a hot hand, but over 162 games, you need a full team buy-in. Twins clearly don't have that anymore. We are watching a tired, worn out outfit that probably needs to go home. The odds are extremely low that they can make up 2 games this week, when they can't string two wins together, let alone win one. Even their two best starters simply failed in their recent starts. The 'sickness' has spread to the entire roster. For better or worse, this WILL cost the manager his job. There will be champagne popping from some here. Others will simply say managers are hired to be fired and a change of direction might help. Whatever the case, last nights non-effort should make it pretty clear these guys just need to go home now. They are unwatchable. They are broken. It doesn't look like even the players believe they can pull out of this. Thats what we see anyway. Its all we've got.

I doubt there is any way in hell that Twins can catch either KC or Detroit with 5 games left. They are dead as doornails. Did anyone see any energy out there...seriously. Once they got down by 4 early, they packed it in. Getting leadoff men on didn't mean a thing. I thought, wrongly, that Twins WOULD snap out of it tonite. They didn't come close. A TOTAL team shutdown. 10 left on base. Ah, can't keep repeating the same old crap. The choke is just about accomplished and heads should roll.

Twins will now be 2 back of both KC and Detroit with 5 to play. Its over guys. They way they approached this game...simply unbelievable. Using Irvin in the 9th also defies logic. But the hitters are just awful. They haven't made any adjustments. They just aren't very good. Give Miami credit. They are playing this like a playoff contender and the Twins are playing to go home. O's somehow beat the Yankees so the Evil Empire has to put off their celebration for at least another night. And with the win and the inevitable here, O's will be in the dance.

sure--one run each day for 3 days. Easy Peasy

This is absolutely hysterical. They can't even score runs against a team staring 100 losses in the eye. Nothing has changed. The guys are dead. Meanwhile O's are busy blowing their 4-1 lead against Yankees. And Judge has homered. When teams are in a trough, they literally find or make up ways to lose games. This season sort of needs to be over.

We can't read hearts so we don't know how each guy 'feels'. What we do know is what we see. Sometimes an entire team looks deflated and it shows in their plate approach. Sometimes they are so pumped you practically see 3 guys in the on deck circle waiting to hit. Sunday what we saw in game 1 was a team that 'looked' like they were defeated after falling behind 6-0. What we saw after the debacle in game two when 2-0 us quickly became 9-2 them again was a team just not into the game anymore. It was pretty ugly. Do they want to make the playoffs? In my heart of hearts I have to think of course. But how willing are they to do the hard stuff; the extra effort...to make it happen. Detroit is on a serious roll. they play like they can't lose. There was NO WAY they should have beat the O's Saturday, but they did. Yankees are on a serious roll. Those two teams seem to have figured things out...as a team. Twins haven't done that...for a long time they haven't. So here we are...they must sweep the Marlins. Period.

my problem with that is losing one to Miami indicates these guys still don't get it. Its time for business and you MUST beat a team on the brink of 100 losses. You must start to know what winning feels like, as a team. That has been missing. It has also been missing from Baltimore. And they have to face the Yanks in NY now. I would much rather win 3 from Miami and perhaps take a tad of pressure off. But this is all just fans talking. I want to see a different Twins this series. So far they haven't given me any indication they are capable of changing. So the gauntlet has been thrown down. Get out there and bury Miami guys. You NEED to.

Its interesting...the human psyche. In sports we find over the decades that both good managers and bad ones are fired eventually. Often when an entire team is going south, it simply needs a new voice. (not necessarily because the old voice isn't good, or competent or skilled) Its just that a new voice and a new approach often clears the air. Its not scientific. Its more a mentality of the group. Usually when a manager is fired, the players are quick to openly blame themselves for not supporting him better. And then sometimes it just takes a special person to handle a team of individuals. Remember how hard it was to keep a manager in NY, handling all those egos and pressure from every direction. Then Joe Torre came along. Was he a guru? Was he an incredible manager? What he WAS, was someone who knew how to handle the egos and pressure and somehow he lasted a long time in a very difficult job. He was the right man at the right time. The coach of the Edmonton Oilers ( a decent coach) was canned early in the season when the team got off to a miserable start...something like 2-9 or 2-11. Management assessed the situation and found a new coach. The Oilers recovered and nearly won the Stanley Cup. Was it the coach? Its so subjective. I feel that if the Twins continue the free-fall and miss the playoffs, management will have to make a change. If Twins sneak back in and maybe win a series, he may survive to manage another year. Guess we'll have to see.

Gotta love the Animal House stuff. It isn't just one player 'snakebitten' or not hitting...its really all of them. Correa can only do so much and even he has struggled when it counts. But mostly its all the rest. None of them have a clue about situational hitting right now. And that needs to stop tonite. If they let Miami win even one game, I fear they are in big trouble. As for the final series (if it matters by then) I am an Orioles and Twins fan and have been one for over 2 decades. I will cheer for the team that has the best chance to get to the post season and maybe even win 2 games. I'd like to see both clubs make it, but that is now in serious question.

Its pretty darn simple now. Fall back 2 games tonite and it is OVER. 2 back with 5 to play is a real stretch....when you are not winning at all, like the Twins. So--a win tonite is a must win if they are in the least interested in playing on. And then hope either KC or Detroit loses. Oh, and now there is Seattle. Of the 4 teams scrambling, KC and Twins are the sorriest right now. Fix it now, or forget about it.

I guess I'm not really on board with Rocco taking our starter out in the 5th inning with two outs. Afraid to have him face the lineup the 3rd time? Come ON. Little league here? He was a lefty and was replaced by a lefty. Give the guy a shot at completing the inning. Then decide what to do in the 6th. So no, I didn't like that decision at all, especially who he chose to come in. The worst that would have happened is a two run HR to tie the game. But, yeah it really is on the hitters who have all disappeared. Like it was said, even adding Buck and Correa hasn't helped because everyone else has failed. What they did on Sunday, when the playoffs were on the line was mind-boggling. Did anyone have a decent AB? I suppose if the team misses by a game, lets say, we can go back to the Cleveland series. Twins actually could have won all 4 and definitely at least 2. Bottom line....this isn't a very good 'team'. The parts taken in a vacuum seem all right, but put them out there on the field and they don't work. If Twins miss the playoffs, Rocco has to be gone. Twins need new direction; a new voice; some new energy. Managers were fired in season for a lot less this year. 3 wins over Miami or bust. Its really that simple. Don't expect an easy series with Baltimore. Another team thats desperately trying to find its way.

Used to be we complained that all the Twins hitters were simply swinging for the 3 run HR and lost touch with how else to score runs. Now, not only don't they know how to generate runs with 'small ball', their power has totally disappeared. Lewis and Miranda aren't going deep anymore. Santana gets one once in awhile but his offense has also shut down. And down the line we go. Wallner will hit one occasionally. Larnach the same. But over the past few weeks, with Twins losing most the time, the hitting has been weak to non-existent. Lewis has been 'discovered' by opposing pitchers and he is merely a shell of what he was. His AB's are hard to watch. Yeah, he's probably playing hurt...admirable maybe but its not helping the team. Twins won't survive the week playing like this. There is no magic bullet to prevent days like yesterday when everyone simply didn't show up. The door is still open, but if they can't sweep the lowly 99 loss Marlins clearly they do need to pack up and go home. Anything less than 3 wins will be unacceptable and probably will knock them out of the race. Seriously though, just when I think a team can't look any worse.....there are my dear Orioles who have purchased their own dumpster for a nice hot fire. Ah, baseball. Yes, as fans we should be hopeful and positive.....but.....really????

Twins are playing SO poorly these days optimism of any kind is a fairy tale. Watching them yesterday you saw a team I'll prepared to be a contender. They were a mess. They will need a ton more of whatever it takes to make the playoffs. And don't think the Orioles will have nothing to play for this weekend. They have been as hopeless as the Twins and they can't afford to rest anyone. That series featuring two teams that have lost their way should be curiously interesting. They are my 2 favorite teams so I'd kinda like at least one of them to make the cut and start playing well.

I know they were down by 6 but the ABs in the 9th showed a team that went to the plate half-heartedly. Actually this game ended when the 3 run HR reversed the 2-0 lead. There were 2 outs and none on. After that our boys went home. Listless and not engaged. Pretty much the story of both games. And as a result the Twins actually put Boston back into the race. Probably not likely, but they are still mathematically in it. And thats just plain sad.

At least we can say it has been a total team collapse...from the manager on down. These games have been very tough to watch. Who would have imagined only a few weeks ago that on the last week of the season they would be on the outside looking in....helplessly.

Twins wouldn't score 6 runs in all the games next week combined. They have quit today. Totally quit. The pitching is a disgrace and the hitters haven't shown up all day. Hard to like this team.

Twins imploding. Bullpen throwing batting practice. The team is a complete mess. Complete mess.