h2oface

Lewis is looking more and more like Danny Valencia. One half season splash, and downhill from there. He needs to be sent to St. Paul tomorrow, but Bride to replace him? Miranda? Amazing this team is winning as much as they are. Clemens a real surprise and help. This team has to hit. 3-2 against KC and Cleveland. 3 hits today. And Duran can't put them down without contact. On an 0-2 pitch.

It dropped out of zone. He shouldn't be able to hit that pitch. But he did. Contact against Duran.

So much contact against Duran. It may be fouls, or weak contact, or whatever, but the bats touch his balls. And the pitches are moving. Mysterious to me.

Say what? How about calling obvious balls strikes? As I said....... same location to different handed batters giving strikes to both team's pitchers.

Tie goes to the runner a thing of the past.

I guess it doesn’t matter whether that location is inside to a righty or outside to the lefty. To this ump, 2-4 inches off the plate is a strike there. Consistency is still wrong.

Umpires missing inside middle calls looking straight on at the ball right over the inside shoulder…… the best reason to go to the bots.

Maybe Lewis could try not swinging at all and see if he can walk. Lewis and Bride batting 4 and 5 ……..must be a secret stat calling.

They want Keirsey and Bride and McCusker around to make Lewis feel better. That was a good pitch By Ober. Just out of zone. Good situational hitting.

Seems a waste. Regardless of how he hits or doesn’t hit, I read day off Sunday and they want him to get through back to back games healthy, and then join team.

Not the published plan. Seattle.

Lewis, Bride, and McCusker. .161,(0 for last 15) .195, and .000. A real Sunday lineup for Ober. Lefty/Righty religion, no matter what. McCusker’s best chance to breakthrough, nonetheless.

Remember when they would put the game winning hero on their shoulders to honor them instead of of pouring cold sticky Gatorade all over them or shaving cream in their face? Probably not.

AND CORREA RACES IN TO SCORE!!!!

Could we have more speed on the bases than Correa and Jeffers?

Could have used Keirsey as the runner now. Correa is the slowest.

Scary. That will get your blood pressure up.

Such “great stuff” that loads the bases.

Duran is turning into scary Eddie. A hit, a walk , a HBP, WP …….. something combination of two every inning. Add stolen base

Best part about hitting him is Witt can’t advance. Yet.

So much contact against Duran……

say what? Ha! I totally missed that repeated one. I’m always lazy on the Jr’s. too. Thanks for the help. Usually it is the e and i order. Great first public interaction. It makes me a better person.

Both teams gave up 3 walks in the game. The Twins just did it in a row. Twins got 3 hits, 3 walks, and one HBP. 7 baserunners total. No runs scored with Paddack on the mound again. Even getting pulled with the bases loaded and one out, the relief was hoped to induced a double play. Today (both games), the pen inherited 5 runners total, and 4 scored officially (only 3 actually) with Duran (2 of 2) and Varland (2 of 3) on the mound.

Bader is playing through a groin strain, because Buxton is out, especially. (Bader suffered left groin tightness during the second game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on May 14, Sat out without going on the IL until the 17th.) They are trying to keep him from having to man center, and run more, to keep him healthy enough to stay in the lineup. Keirsay already does have a walk off hit during the streak, and is fast and can pinch run at the end of games. That's something. He is great in the field. McCusker and Castro both need to get some reps with balls hitting the right field wall. They both let balls hit and get past them in the last two games.

Let me give a more detailed description of the top of the 9th inning, and perhaps get some help from someone on the official scoring, and how runs and consequential stats were created. Ryan gave up a double to Ramirez on a middle fastball just outside the zone on a 3-2 count, and then walked Mazardo on 4 pitches, and was pulled for Duran, who inherited runners on second and first with no outs. Santana was the first batter faced, and only swung at one pitch, a 95 mph splitter on the 6th pitch of the at bat on a 3-2 count that dropped well below the zone, and he was credited with a fielder's choice as one of Ryan's responsibilites, Manzardo, was forced out at second. One out with Ramirez on third and Santana, Duran's batter, on first. Then Jones walloped a 1-2 count 98 mph 4 seammer right down the middle adding another 4 mph to the exit velocity for a crisp single to left, and Ramirez trots in (Ryan's last batter who had a lead off double) and Santana is now on second. Duran then continues make the homies bite their nails, and uncorks a first pitch wild pitch to Arias to advance the runners, who are now both batters that Duran faced, to second and third, before striking him out on the next 3 pitches. Then Naylor, on the 7th pitch of 3-2 count crushes another pretty middle middle splitter that Castro totally misplays off the wall and he has to chase it down as it went right past him. Both Duran's batters score and Naylor stops at second. Would Jones have scored from first, if no WP? Probably, after Castro's misplay of the wall. Both the misplay and the WP are not counted as any type of error in the scoring, of course. After 23 pitches, Duran finally gets the a soft grounder to second to end the disasterous inning. Could have been worse, I guess, as the score is now tied, and we are not behind. So why the detail? The scoring. Ryan was charged with 2 earned runs, WP and misplay aside, and the fact that only one of the batters he faced, Ramirez, scored. Manzardo was eliminated at second. Duran was charged with 2 of 2 inherited runners scored, when only one of the inherited runners scored, and despite coming in the game with 2 runners on, and three runs scoring on his watch, he only is scored as having given up one run. So Ryan gets charged with Santana, as if he pitched to him? because Manzardo was out on a Fielder's Choice? Now Ryan is responsible for giving up the contact to Santana, who he never faced? Duran gets a blown save, and robs the win from Ryan. I guess this is what happened. Perhaps someone can confirm for me. Maybe this is just the first time in all these years I noticed this transfer of a batter to another pitcher. A last aside, here. It doesn't do much good to take 6 walks if the team isn't going to get any of them around to score. Best to get HBP, perhaps, as France's resulted in the winning run in the 9th. And the win is the only stat that really matters for a "team". Clemens sure has been a valuable pick-up so far.