AlwaysinModeration

Never mind

JR Murphy has a chance to more than double his season hit total...in this game.

When I said ten runs was enough to win this game, I meant, in a general sense, in baseball, that is an accurate statement. Just a point of clarification. It's all good though. Sets up Buxton for the triple to get the cycle (and then score the game winning run, maybe on a steal of home.)

Kintzler: 3 walks in 44 innings before today. Two today.

Ten runs is enough to win this game.

Buxton since recall: 10 for 14 with 3 doubles, three homers and a bunt single.

Off a curveball. Welcome back, kid.

AL 1B Doubles Rebuffed by the Shift is a pretty esoteric stat to quote, but also, fun. (I know that it's Defensive Runs Saved. I think.)

The rotation anchored by Dean, Albers and Santiago doesn't fill you with optimism?

Fair enough. He really had no shot. Something about a ball rolling in the outfield while the go ahead run in the 8th circles the bases and the outfielder stops running after it....still bugs me.

I disagree with the premise of this article, that Kepler vs Buxton has become no contest. Stepping back, here are their numbers: Kepler Minors: 1879PA, 280/363/445/809 Majors: 338PA, 252/332/473/805 Buxton Minors: 1669PA, 284/364/450/815 Majors: 356PA, 199/248/319/567 Yes, Buxton hasn't succeeded in 356 MLB at bats. Yes, Kepler has had a great rookie season, in the running for ROY. But careers are long, and tracks records tend to show up in the long term. Plus Buxton offers elite-level defense at an up-the-middle position. Luckily the Twons don't have to choose between Buxton and Kepler, but it is in my opinion definitely not "no contest" in favor of Kepler. As an SSS aside, Buxton has homered in four straight minor league contests, while Kepler's game-losing Torii Hunter vs Oakland-ish play yesterday afternoon in the 8th (with Rosario's subsequent giving up) should rival Arcia's bicycle-kick play for the metaphor for the Twins' season.

But did you get the car at a Mauer dealership? For what it's worth, Morneau took the knee to the head in 2010 at age 29, and then won a batting title in 2014 and posted another 300+ BA in 2015. Mauer was sidelined with his (worst) concussion in 2013 at age 30. Next year he will be four years removed from the injury. It stands to reason he could have a good last two years on his contract. Hopefully it will be for a competitive Twins team.

You say that as though that were unheard of! How many starts has Escobar gotten in the OF this year and last? For the all-lefty line-up, I would think Polanco at 2B, DSan at SS would be the more standard lineup, right?

I don't know what kind of Internet sorcery that was, but nice work. That last question mark was meant to be an an exclamation. Bonus quiz: how many righties could the Twins trot out in a line-up?

I can't start threads from my phone: Game #118 Royals (56-60) Edinson Volquez ® Twins (47-70) Hector Santiago (L) 1. Paulo Orlando ® CF 2. Cheslor Cuthbert ® 3B 3. Lorenzo Cain ® RF 4. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B 5. Kendrys Morales (S) DH 6. Salvador Perez ® C 7. Alex Gordon (L) LF 8. Alcides Escobar ® SS 9. Christian Colon ® 2B 1. Brian Dozier ® 2B 2. Robbie Grossman (S) LF 3. Joe Mauer (L) DH 4. Kennys Vargas (S) 1B 5. Max Kepler (L) RF 6. Jorge Polanco (S) 3B 7. Eduardo Escobar (S) SS 8. Juan Centeno (L) C 9. Eddie Rosario (L) CF Gametime Forecast: 78°F • Clear Twins have 8 of 9 lefties in the lineup. Quiz: Who could they add to the lineup and get it to 9? Volquez is actually pitching better against lefties than against righted this year. Hector Santiago is going for his first win for the Twins. Should we start a Nolasco vs Santiago watch? Suzuki is not in the line-up, and may be claimed this afternoon and traded in the next 1-2 days. Prediction contest on where he lands, and what the return is? My guess: Cleveland, for a C prospect. Go Twins!

Does Antony want/expect to trade Suzuki? During a recent interview, he said he got offers for him at the deadline, but didn't like them. Does he think he is going to be getting better offers now, when he gets to negotiate with only one team? Maybe that simplification of only having one team to work with will make it easier to accomplish, combined with the realization that something is better than nothing. He just had more leverage back at the deadline. The return, if it happens, isn't going to be too much.

Twins have 47 games left. In their last 47 games, they have gone 26-21. If they replicate that, they will finish 72-90, and they will undoubtedly pass a few teams and maybe get the 6th or 7th pick. I suspect they won't finish that well, but rather more like 22-25, for a 68-94 record. And maybe the 4th or 5th pick, behind the Braves, Reds, and 1-2 other teams (Rays/Angels/DBacks/Padres). In order to post a 50-50 record in their last 100 games of the season, the Twins need to go 23-24 down the stretch. That would mean the team played 24 games under for their first 62 games, and then break even over their last 100.

I just spent a lot of time I can't get back reading a thread about whether higher draft picks wind up better than lower draft picks (spoiler: they are) and how fast Kohl Stewart throws (spoiler: this is factual, not debatable). I suppose there is a debate to be had over whether a few more wins in August and September portends better for the future of the youngsters, than a higher draft pick from a few more losses would.

I prefer MauPler. Mau-Max-Mig. The M&M&M boys?

Nah. Joe's playing the long game. He's been taking the first pitch for years and years and years just to set up an ambush in the 9th inning of Game 7.

I was thinking it was more of the (lesser-known) "jump-stop" slide.

Are you actually Gary Sheffield, vanimal?

Mauer up to 760 OPS. Hopefully he can get on a hot streak after last night's game.

Thanks gocgo for getting the thread up that I was supposed to have up two hours before first pitch. Here is my now unofficial gamethread intro: The Minnesota Baseball Club continues the month of August with the second game of a road-trip to Cleveland, looking to build on the win last night. Let's dive right in to the patented Five Things: 1. The Game I assumed that by taking a game thread on August 2 of the Post-Ryan Era, I would be leading off the thread with the deadline doings. That was before The Game. Last night's match-up against the division-leading Indians is one that will be remembered, I believe, as the real beginning of the new era for the Twins. Maybe the Twins will finish the season with 90 or 100 losses on the season. But on August 1, 2016, when Jose Berrios made his triumphant return to the Twins rotation for good, when Max Kepler joined a Twins pantheon of Harmon, Morneau, Allison, and Oliva in homering thrice in a game, when Joe Mauer proved that he wasn't dead yet, when Jorge Polanco manned third and Trevor May nailed down the 9th inning...that was the 2016 game to mark down in your Surley-stained personal journals. 2. Trade Deadline Review I was frankly a bit surprised to see the almost universal exultations over the fact that the Twins traded away Ricky Nolasco and Alex Meyer for Hector Santiago yesterday. My take on the Rob Antony deadline dealing is somewhat mixed. Sure, it seems like Nolasco is not going to be a productive pitcher for the Twins. However, I can’t help wondering if Alex Meyer could have posted Hector Santiago-like numbers in 2017. For me, I’d rather have seen a DFA of Nolasco to just see if Meyer could stick. The Nunez deal was great, and flipping Abad seems just fine. But I would love to know what the best offer on the table for Suzuki was, and if Reid-Foley was ever offered for Ervin Santana. It was a better deadline day than Ryan ever managed, but it would have been nice to see a few more moves. Did Cleveland not offer anything for Suzuki after failing to get Lucroy? The one thing the deadline cemented, though, was how much of a repudiation of Terry Ryan there has been in the last couple of weeks. Two of his three biggest moves were sending DSpan for Meyer, inking Nolasco to the then biggest ever FA contract. (The third, Santana, was almost moved.) In one quick move, both are gone for little return, paying millions for the privilege to give them away. Ouch. 3. Cleveland, Ohio, 2016 zeitgeist Cleveland has suddenly become the center of the storm in 2016. First, Lebron brought home a championship to Cleveland, at long last. Then, the Republicans held their convention, improbably nominating Donald J. Trump to be the party’s nominee. Now the Indians have gone all in, dumping their farm system for Andrew Miller and Jonathan Lucroy in a matter of hours. The second part didn’t take, but the effort was there. Will Cleveland get to root for a World Series this year? Will the Browns become a viable team this year? Too bad Cleveland isn't hosting the Olympics. 4. Damn Yankees The Yankees deadline dealing was amazing. Trading away Chapman, Miller, and Beltran in order to immediately stock their farm system was remarkable. Remember that all they had to do was spend money on relievers to net elite prospects in return. The Twins could have done this. They had payroll space, from the statements of the front office. I'm just glad that some of the new Yankee prospects came from the Indians' system. 5. Camp I just delivered my two oldest to camp in West Virginia, where they will be roughing it for the next two weeks. Their counselors are mostly British, Irish, and Aussies, here for a summer of work and travel. But can you imagine signing up for that job, psyched to go the U.S. of A for a great summer, and then land in very rural West Virginia, hours from a major city, with no cell phone or internet service, for 11 straight weeks? I'm thinking that the game theme of hangovers may apply to these fine folks. Go Twins, stay undefeated in August!

Twins ALight On Abad Trade