insagt1

I mentioned that during the final week. There was a lot ot buzz about him getting game one and Berrios game 3. but its all hindsight now. Nothing they have done has worked so all we can do is go forward.

If the Twins pitchers have to get lit up...so be it. But the walks are totally unacceptable. It shows primarily a real lack of confidence....and you must be confident when facing the Yankees in an elimination game.

post of the night so far!!!

it has literally been decades since Twins beat Yanks 3 straight. What does it mean? Only what anyone wants it to mean. To win 3 you have to win 1....so tonites game is everything. It would be a great thing for the fans to cheer these guys off the field after a win wouldn't it! Lets hope it happens.

For me, its ALWAYS better to at least make post season, than not. You can't win it if you're not in it. Its like a strikeout...it accomplishes nothing at all. The worst kind of out. While yeah, a DP is bad, by hitting the ball at least you have a shot at something good happening. With a 'k', you got nothing. (except the VERY rare passed ball) If you can't hit the ball, you won't be winning the game.usually! Our problem is we always draw the Yankees and we can't beat them...no matter what year, who plays, where the games are played and how many. We lose them all. And everyone has opinions on why so we don't have to go back there. As a Bruins fan I well remember 1970 when they finally won a Stanley Cup. Disgruntled Habs fans, and many others said...its not legitimate because they didn't beat Montreal (who missed the playoffs) Until Boston could beat Montreal in post season, it just didn't seem as 'right' to many. And that went on for years. Might be the same with Twins. Until they can figure out how to beat the pinstripes, the dragon will not have been slayed. (post 1991 of course). I still want a win tonite.

Hindsight...Berrios was probably taken out too soon. Dobnak needed to come out after 2 innings. His sinker wasn't sinking. the 'moment' kinda overtook him, which is understandable. He never should have come out for the 3rd. Hindsight. Our hitters have been a terrible disappointment. All those 3-2 strikeouts. All those strikeouts period. Cron and Kepler look very injured and aren't helping the team at all. Sano hit a solo in game one and then he reverted back to that undisciplined hacker in game two. Rosario looks to me like a spoiled kid. There has not been one specific thing that has sunk the Twins, It has been a total team effort. They are non-competitive. All those walks....shows the pitchers have no confidence in their stuff. Yanks have been patient. Twins not at all. Night and Day. I've said this already...there are two types of fans. One tells you to stop complaining because what a great season they had..,.101 wins. The other says, until the team can succeed, even a little in post season, nothing else matters. We will be seeing both types of comments once this carnage is over. And don't forget the Pineda effect. Look at how much he has hurt the teams chances in post season. Unforgivable IMO. So---they just need to go out there and give it their best shot tonite...with nothing at all to lose. Until the Yanks get that 27th out, they haven't won anything. As unlikely as it is that anything will change, the score right now is still 0-0. Go for it!!!!

This got me curious. Interesting to note that the Subway Series between Yanks and Mets only averaged 18M...a relatively small number considering the market. Perhaps it turned off many viewers outside of NY? Compare that with the Bay Area series between SF and Oakland in 1989...that averaged 24M. Also it looks like it was after the disastrous strike of 1994..that the numbers began to drop. That also coincides with the explosion of the internet, followed by cable and streaming and all the other stuff that they never had to deal with up to that time. The Twins series in 87 and 91 came before all of that. In fact I'm thinking most the playoff games were seen on non-pay TV back then too. Anyway...fun stuff.

Doesn't change the fact that the national media drools over the big market teams, as do the advertisers.. A lot has changed since 1991 in the demographics of what and how people watch. A Yanks-Dodgers WS will get ratings..a Tampa-Atl will not. Even if on a relative scale, they will be a lot worse than in days of yore.

last time Twins beat the Yanks 3 straight was back in the 90's (maybe even the late 80's can't remember for sure) according to the guys on FS1. Probably true. Winning 3 straight in the playoffs is a bit harder than doing it in regular season. Yes, it has been done before...but its a very small number compared to all the series that have been played. There are odds, but they are small. Best I can say is that there is no pressure on them now. They should just go out and play the game. Two things though....the pitchers can't walk so many and our hitters, my goodness, have to stop striking out wildly and often. We are seeing them at the very worst right now. And move Rosario down to 8th or 9th in the lineup. Hate his attitude (what he is letting us see)

After watching the Yankees dismantle us in every aspect of the game, twice, I no longer feel bad. If we had lost two heartbreakers that showed that we can compete with them, I'd be feeling REALLY bad. But the pressure is off now. We are playing with house money and have absolutely nothing to lose....because there is no way we take 3 straight from the Yankees. While our guys from the pitchers to everyone else underperformed, worse than they have in many weeks, all of the Yankees did their job very methodically and made us look very bad. They play like they have been there before. I wanted to reach thru my TV and wipe that silly smirk off Rosarios's face in the 9th after he waved stupidly at two pitches over his head. He wasn't even trying. If we had someone else to take his place, he would be on the pines Monday. 14 k's...led by 4 horrible AB's by Sano. Did anyone keep track of how many of our guys struck out on 3-2 pitches both games? I don't think we got one single baserunner with the full count. Kepler clearly can't bat. He barely swings the bat. He really shouldn't be playing. Arraez, to his credit, came off the deck and got two hits in his final AB's. He too is very hurt but gave it a much better effort than Kepler. When it counted, every one of our pitchers failed. Our hitters demonstrated no plate discipline. They are not in the same league with the Yankees, in post season. If they manage to steal one Monday, I will give them credit for not totally throwing in the towel, like they did last night. They have no pressure on them at all, because at this point even non-baseball fans know they are done. Should we as fans be criticized for pretty much giving up? No, because after those two ugly losses, I think the Twins already have. While everyone failed last night (not counting the relievers who basically were in there after the Yankees knew the game was over) Rosario was for me, the biggest disgrace. He and Puig need to be put in a room and read the riot act on how this game has to be played....no matter what the score. Finally, if the Twins ever DID win the next three, I would rate it as one of the biggest upsets in MLB history.

The game was a mess pure and simple. Pock marked with crazy decisions and some very unfortunate lack of plate discipline especially with 3-2 counts. And the bullpen...ugh. Really ugh. The 'd'...not so good. Starting Arraez....nice thought...bad decision. Leaving the Turtle off the roster. Bad decision (many don't agree...but at least he is healthy) Cron...terrible game. Garver...terrible game. And so on down the list. Would be nice to say....put this one aside and get them tomorrow. Except Twins now own the M:LB record for consecutive losses in post season. they can spin this all they want. Its in their heads. Rarely during the season did they play this poorly. When these two teams meet, Yankees are always the better team....no what year, what roster, what field....doesn't matter. They have exactly one game to fix this. Lose tomorrow and it will be a 3 game sweep.

I'm glad they have 13 position players. Disappointed that Turtle wasn't one of them because he has been playing and Adrianza hasn't in a few weeks. but Twins know their personnel and whether they can go or not, so I trust them. But I wouldn't have included Graterol at all. He's way too inexperienced and very hittable. but if it was between him and Perez its a roll of the dice. OK--lets go win game one.

Miller is a luxury the Twins can't afford, given their pitching and injury situation. They need supplementary players who can do more. KC used the pinch runner player to their huge advantage few years ago...he killed the Orioles as I recall. But I think the Twins cannot afford to take up a spot for such a one dimensional player. They also have to evaluate if Arraez and or Adrianza are good enough to play regularly. Do you put someone in who may be only 50-60% over someone completely healthy? Tough decisions for Rocco for sure.

can the Twins win? Of course they can!! But the Yankees will be favored by just about everyone. Until theTwins actually beat them in a series they won't be taken completely seriously. Twins record in post season against NY is abysmal. How does that matter? What everyone wants to downplay as irrelevant is history. Sorry, but history is that intangible, invisible force that hangs over a franchise like Los Angeles smog. It is irrational to be sure...different years, different players, different leadership....but it doesn't seem to matter. Its there like an unwanted guest who just continues to overstay his welcome. Its totally illogical for sure. But its also undeniable. And it isn't just an outlier. All those years the Bruins could not beat the Canadiens in the playoffs...years...heck decades. How about the A's futility in postseason since 2000. Or Atlanta now losing their 9th straight game one of a post season series. All those consecutive divisional pennants (14..if you don't count the 1994 season that the Expos 'won' and had stolen from them) and yet only ONE world series championship. More recently the Caps inability to beat Pittsburgh, no matter how much better they may have been before finally slaying that dragon..and you know it was on the mind of every single player.. Bufalo Bills--losing 4 straight super bowls and then going 17 years without making the playoffs. And intertwined in their futility was the infamous 'Music City Miracle'...there is no logical explanation for that game. How is it that organizations like the Red Sox and Cubs failed every year for decades....even when their teams were exceptional? History hangs over teams and while its inexplicable (and players and managers like to tell you it doesn't matter) its still undeniable. To think otherwise is like sticking your head in the sand, refusing to come up for air. New year, new players.....until someone breaks the spell, it will always be there. So now its 2019. And 'everyone' tells us that the Yankees will prevail....because they always do. There will always be an unexpected error, a HR, a bunch of walks, a wild pitch, some 2 out magic, a blown call by the umpires....something will happen to the team that always loses to continue the horror...many will say. Its our turn. Its WAY past our turn. But if anyone thinks that if Twins fall behind 2-0 that the players aren't being weighed down with the 'here we go again' anvil, think again. Its inescapable, because at the end of the day, they are all human. WHY can't we beat these guys for a change? For me, I believe that on paper the gap between these two teams is as narrow as it has ever been. So how they perform and deal with the pressure of post season is out there. They say the team that wins game one of a 5 game series wins the series just about 3/4 of the time. Thats huge. So Berrios must bring his 'A+' game tonite to give us a chance. Go Twins!!!

The Turtle is an asset. You can take all the metrics you want and chuck them in the dumpster IMO. He brings intangibles that few players have in the game today. They have to find a spot for him....not as a starter probably, but as a very valuable sub, who can play anywhere. The other thing is we have a team of free swingers. Turtle puts bat on ball and whenever that happens, things can happen, that don't happen when you strike out. He is a fan favorite (he was enormously popular in Rochester...emphasis on enormous) and also his teammates like him. I would like to see the Twins carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players. They also will soon have to decide on Arraez and Adrianza. Giving the Turtle that 13th spot gives the team a great deal of flexibility, especially late in games. If he is left off the roster, it would be a major mistake.

Which of our 'aces' is more likely to lose it quickly? We know when Berrios starts to go bad, it goes downhill quickly. Yet, the team I think feels he is THE ace still and will get game one. Dobnak is the wild card here. We don't know how he will perform under the great pressure of post season against the Yankee monster. I see Berrios, Dobnak and Odorizzi in that order. But I also agree fully that they are all on short leashes. I don't have strong feelings on any of this actually. And I'm betting the Yankees are struggling with their rotation in the same way. Lots of question marks.

Everyone spouts the cliche that hitters will be stopped in post season because the pitching is so much better. Don't count on that in this series. I can envision a lot of very high scoring football scores because both staffs are very shaky. Using pitching regular season stats now don't paint accurate pictures because many of the pitchers that formed those stats either aren't playing or have had their problems second half. So they are pretty meaningless. If a player stunk for most the season but then caught fire in the final weeks...he becomes a real threat in post season. Dobnak could be the ace of our staff in post season. Or, he could get lost in the moment and flame out early. Who knows? What I want from these guys, collectively, is for them to throw strikes. Once they start going deep into counts, by nibbling or trying to be too fine, bad things will happen.

I don't think this series will be decided by the starters. I'll be surprised if any of them go beyond 5 innings...6 tops. While I like our pen, Chapman scares me the most. He is a k-pitcher when he's on. His 'weakness' that I've seen is his control. Rogers also has had some real ugly closes, so who knows? The 'hero' in that ugly 14-12 loss was Hicks and he was most unlikely. That HR and that catch were truly outliers...and Hicks isn't playing now. Also Gregorius couldn't be retired, and he has since been very ordinary. Amazing how new heros will crop up in post season. Who will that be? As an aside, I wouldn't put Graterol on the roster for this series. Yankee hitters can time fastballs and right now Graterol doesn't have the location to go with his 100 mph pitches. I don't think he's ready for prime time. Twins have an awesome lineup when all are healthy. Right now about half are really at near 100%. Lets hope that if Kepler and Gonzo are back, they can contribute. Lets hope Cron has finally re-found his stroke despite the thumb. And maybe Arreaz or Adrianza will be good to go...but neither of them will be in top shape. I don't think the Twins have any advantage honestly. But I also don't think the field is tilted badly towards the Yankees either. What will bother me is what many here don't think is important....history. The fact that everyone outside of Minnesota wants the Yanks in the world series. Networks are praying the Twins don't win. All close calls will go to the Yankees...you can take that to the bank..whether anyone will admit it or not., Its like Tom Brady and the Pats...anyone think he doesn't get special treatment? Twins have to overcome this. It will hang over them like a dark cloud until they finally send the Yankees home....which I hope and pray happens this year.

A Twins upset would look good on the resume!! Its unlikely but until the 27th out is recorded, we are still in it! 'Best' team in the hunt? Probably Houston. Dodgers are good too but haven't had to play a meaningful game since the allstar break. that might hurt them.

yes--we definitely enjoy seeing our players do well and then continue the run with the Twins. The Twins have been a very good parent...replacing a team (Orioles) that everyone loved here....until their whole farm system fell apart under very inept leadership. Its irresponsible for our local media to ignore our teams, but they do now. Not much we can do about it.

I think thats correct. Nobody wanted extra innings. So he was probably told to work on the slider...no matter what the outcome. but he isn't ready for a post season spot. Clearly hitters have had no problem hitting his heater. Time will help him

Its easy to sit back and (when you don;t like a player) only focus, malignantly, on their faults and totally forget their strengths and positive contributions. I know, when Sano whiffs on 3 straight unhittable pitches with runners on, I sometimes forgot all the game changing HR's he hit, just as an example. Astudillo and Schoop are hardly perfect and people can drag out all the brand new metrics that make them look like they both belong in little league. What they forget is their impact on both the fans and their teammates in ways those metrics can't begin to match. Both those guys have contributed, and will continue to do so. Turtle in particular has a fire in his belly that he brings to the entire bench. Not every AB was a soft grounder. Schoop made I think14 errors...which may seem like a lot, but how about some of those game saving stabs, and bullet throws to first? He k's a lot (like SAno) but he did contribute several big hits. these guys shouldn't be villified and made to sound like they have no business on this team. 101 wins was a total team effort. I'm glad we have them both and I hope they prove in this series that they are valuable cogs in the wheel. And for as much as I ragged on Castro's limp bat...isn't it something that he hit the HR to put us over the top against the Yankees. Yep...they all contribute. I like 'em all.

If any city shouldn;t have a bias towards the Yankees, its Rochester...home of the Twins AAA farm team for over 15 years now. But I doubt any person in our media could name 5 players on the Twins (let alone the Red Wings...who never get any coverage here) In today's paper all the articles were about the Yankees., I think the Twins got mentioned by name once, as their opponent. The national media of course, especially TV want the Yankees to win, for the best ratings. Twins have little footprint outside of Minnesota. In fact everyone is screaming for a Yankee-Dodger WS. If you look at all the stats, you will find, surprisingly, I think, how similar both teams are. I think what may scare me the most is Chapman to close and Britton to set up. Chapman is a shutdown guy when he's on. Rogers can be too, but Chapman scares me. I think Judge=Sano. Both can hit the ball a mile and both also k a lot. Their starters are as tenuous as ours. Its hard NOT to look at past history. I get that everyone in TwinsLand is downplaying it as irrelevant. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Fact is historically there have been plenty of sports team matchups in all sports that always seemed to be tilted in one direction...for years sometimes.Make of it what you will. Twins CAN win this series. If their 'A' team is ready to go they will have a great chance to win. I guarantee you the Yankees are NOT taking these guys for granted.

I'm pretty new to this site...but I have thoroughly enjoyed the articles and the contributions from everyone.Even though the Twins are the parent of our Rochester Red Wings, they get zero press here. Its all Yankees (and Mets). Our media is totally screwed up. I SO want to beat the Yankees and get them out of our hair. Whether we could also beat Houston is another matter. But for now, I am looking forward to this series.

Based on what we saw from the pitching staff this final week: I think Gib has earned a spot; Perez by default will earn a spot; I don't think Graterol should be on the roster. He needs to be a k-man with that blinding speed, but he's not and the Yanks hitters will eat him up. He's young, he'll learn, but he's not ready. Stewart and Romero...no. Thorpe...barely. Stashak, Smeltzer and Dobnak...yes because all 3 can go more than 1 inning...in fact those 3 could combine easily for an entire game. Rogers, LIttell and Romo for sure. I'd like to see the Twins carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players...mainly because of the tenuous condition of several of our position players. Certainly 12 pitchers should be enough. I think we can play with the Yankees. We just don't want to get into a shooting match with them as far as scoring runs. The 14-12 and 10-7 type games won't go well for us IMO. But I think we can beat them. Heavens knows, we are way overdue!!! Looking over the roster again, if they take 12, I can see both Thorpe and Stewart out. Harper also. Thorpe and Stewart have pretty identical numbers except in the k category where Thorpe has a lot more. Does that give him an advantage? And will Twins elect to keep Perez, despite his awful numbers lately? If they go with 13 (please no), then one of these guys makes the cut.