mikelink45

I would agree with one of the greatest innings, but 8 - 1 would not make the whole game rank here. Thanks for the memory and the video.

I would not trade both Lewis and Kiriloff, but I would trade one for a real stud like Snydergaard and it would probably be Lewis. I like Stroman better and would go for him paired with Giles and move a Lewis, Graterol or similar combo - maybe a multiple Littell, Stewart, Poppen, Eades, and Lewis to give them more to work with. I think volume would mean a lot to the Jays. NY prizes are too high. And for now I would like to see the Twins pair their starters with AAA arms like Littell, Smeltzer, Poppen, Stewart - no more of watching a long starter melt down like we had with Odorizzi or Gibson. Instead the starter goes any number of innings and the second man - the paired pitcher - is ready to go like it is his start.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/sports/baseball/minnesota-twins-home-runs-record.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_190726?campaign_id=2&instance_id=11095&segment_id=15570&user_id=df677009e65a80ff046d9aedfdc120f5&regi_id=275511920726 An article in the NYT about the Bomba squad

No - don't go backwards. Some players do not prosper in certain surroundings. Do not do this - imagine if he comes back and immediately has two bad days!

Ted wrote "Arguably the most exciting game the Minnesota Twins have played in nearly a decade, the home team dropped a 14-12 affair last night (err this morning) at Target Field." In his recent post - Yankees blog. So I got to thinking - what are the best games the Twins have played - win or lose? Do the two extra innings affairs with the Oakland A's count? Certainly the game seven Jack Morris game is number one. I was there and will never forget it. (Don't tell me Jack isn't a hall of famer.) And I would put game six with Puckett's HR in the twelfth right behind it ( I was there too - so bias is showing). How about game seven of the 1987 World Series, the 500th world series game played, with the Vikings having to postpone their game for a day, where miscue after miscue by umps, teams, runners ended up with the Twins winning on Roy Smalley's 35th birthday and in his last game. He would appear four times in the WS and get on base four times. But this was more about Hrbek and first base and hitting a grand slam. Or maybe game one in 1987 which was not a great game except we won behind Viola, it was the first WS game ever played in a dome, and Dan Gladden hit a grand slam? In the 1965 World Series Jim Kaat out pitched Sandy Koufax to win game two and then lost in the best game - number 7 by a score of 2 - 0 with Koufax taking the series title for the Dodgers. In 1962 Jack Kralick won a no-hitter 1 - 0. How is that for nail biting? May 11, 2011 Francisco Liriano won a no-hitter 1 - 0 to tie Jack Kralick's margin of victory. Dean Chance also had a one run margin for a no-hitter 2 -1. When I looked up the Twins longest games I came up with the Tampa Bay Rays beating us in extra innings in 5 hours and 42 minutes this year, and then the Twins winning in 17 on a Kepler hit June 19. I would keep that on the list. Then June 27 we lost in 18 innings! I have to have the 2009, 163rd game on my list - 6 -5, 12 innings, loser goes home final to the season! Bob Kneppel won for us - I cannot even remember him and Fernando Rodney lost for the Tigers! And we came back from a 3 - 0 deficit. Carlos Gomez scores on a Luis Castillo hit! Then there are the Johan games -8/15/2006 - 8 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 10 Ks (when Ks were harder to get) and we won 3 - 2 against Cleveland. 9/17/2005 seven innings against KC. No runs,1h, 1BB. 8in, 4H, 2BB, 13 K against White Sox on June 28, 2002. Poor Texas played against Johan in 2007 in what is arguably his best game with 83 of his 112 pitches for strikes, 8 innings no runs 2H 0 BB 17 K Twins won 1-0. My ranking: Game 7 1991 Game 6 1991 Game 163 2009 Johan Santana 2 hitter versus Texas 2007. 1962 Kralick No-hitter 2011 Liriano No-hitter Johan Santana wins Game 1 - 1987 WS Game 7 - 1965 WS (the only loss I can put on the list) Game 7 - 1987 WS Game 2 - Yankee Series this week for tension and drama June 19th - Kepler wins for us in 17 Fill it up with your favorites.

From now on - bring up the AAA pitcher and let them start and put our current rotation as the second pitcher instead of the first, but not as openers - only when the starter wears down. The Thorpe and Smeltzer have looked better that what we are putting on the mound regularly right now. Is there more we can call up like this? By the way the idea goes away if we bring in something of quality.

How do the pitchers feel about this up and down pattern? Are we ready for to start the AA pitchers on this conveyor? I am ready for the rookies to start and the starters to be the relievers if it fails.

I read your forum, I cannot disagree with the premise that the FO has not stepped up and it should have been a long time ago. I cannot agree on Gibson twice he has pitched after long BP eating extra innings game and both times he could not add an innings to help the BP. He is a replacement level pitcher, but also the best we have for his spot in the rotation. I am already wondering how the FO will handle this off season when we have almost the entire rotation going to FA and the BP potentially without any answers unless something is done at trade deadline.

Sorry, but hearing about umpires does nothing for me - Gibson pitching a poor game (I am being generous) and then our BP throwing batting practice was the problem. It was not even just the BP because Gibson has not stepped up when we have needed him all season. He lost what he had last year and it is really hurting the team in multiple ways.

He is in many ways, but I really wonder how many games he has missed and how many he has played since coming up. Each one damages him, his age progression means speed regression. So what do we do to plan for the future? Who is the next Buxton? It is so sad to see his career punctuated by so many IL events.

Perez disappointed, but the team was great!

I am excited about Stashak our new rookie reliever. He could be the answer. I hope he has not been overused in the minors. But at least the team looked past Cody Allen and took the truly hot arm. Now if only it can translate to MLB. He could be better than any of the trade options. He has pitched 52 innings in 31 appearances and his stats look great. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=664054#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL Yesterday's game was an amazing call to the minor league pen!

Excellent work - but I want to emphasize how important a batter like Arraez is and now Ehire is following him as a contact and spray hitter. Getting on base is so important. 1.1 WAR in 108 ABs, .370 .444 .491 .934 Now Ehire is at 0.9 WAR 127 ABs .276 .369 .402 .771 - great utility man. It was such a fun game it is too bad that we have to single out Trevor May, but he was really bad and he had fallen so far from what we all expected. He should be right behind Rogers in the BP, but instead he is right behind Hildenberg.

Makes me wonder why he is so high on the prospect list.

I am always scared by pitcher FAs, especially relievers. When we buy relievers who have just had a great season we might also be buying someone who has already used up his arm. Look at who we have had as FA and trade reliever signings who have appeared in the big leagues last year and this: Blake Parker this year - nothing special, just an arm and an inflated anticipated value. Zack Duke Austin Adams Oliver Drake Alan Busenitz John Curtiss Addison Reed Tyler Kinley Matt Belisle And starters - Lance Lynn Michael Pineda Jake Odorizzi Martin Perez I vote for starters over relievers based on past success

Nice to see Lewis going so well. He is still two years away, but I want him to get hot and push for a promotion. I was curious about the slash lines for some of our prospects so I chose only those that had a game yesterday: Keoni Cavaco - .239 .256 .495 Ryan Jeffers - .255 .331 .405 Misael Urbina - .286 .391 .446 Matt Wallner - .311 .421 .453 Royce Lewis - .242 .297 .369 Luis Arraez - .370 .444 .491

I am not a fan of WPA but do not mind it being listed here. However I would like to have errors added to the list of call outs. Thank goodness Cleveland had its streak end. I remember there 20 game winning streak and when they start a streak I worry it will not end. Francona must do magic because his lineup does not seem good enough to win as often as they do. The Twins should be worried. One more with As and then the Yankees. Only three game lead! How do they rest Rogers when the race is this tight? But they have to because we need him to be fresh for the stretch run.

Small ball plays well especially when you are not going crazy with the Home Runs. I was curious to look at our HR rate since July 1 and thanks to Garver's 4 HRs we hit 1.6 per game - down from the 1.9 per game up to July 1. I do not know if that is very significant. For the month the following BA do have a big impact: Buxton only 8 games but 161 Cron 7 games 172 Cruz 12 - 205 Kepler 13 - 203 Polanco 12 - 218

I had to share this quote from Sid Hartman's column since I too have a concern about Buxton and his ability to be on the field. We really miss him right now and I would love to see him play 150 games a year for us, but injuries take a toll. I have no solution for him, I love his all out style, but other than a bubble wrap uniform I cannot see him as a long term player. I have had a life of outdoor adventure and the cumulative injuries I have had are all calling on my in my old age. In five years he has only played more than 100 games once. This year he is at 75 as I right this at the 95 game mark so he could do it yet, but after each injury there is a restart process. Hopefully someone can tally the injury total for me. From the Hartman column: "The big concern for the Twins and their front office is that injuries are becoming a trend for Buxton. Yes one of the great statements about sports was made by former Vikings coach Bud Grant. He always said, “Durability trumps ability.” Meaning that Grant would always want a player who was on the field over a talented player who missed a lot of games."

I am disappointed to see Javier with 3Ks and no hits. I was hoping he was going to break out. I know it is just one game, but it is a continuation of his season woes. Cody Allen 3 walks but escapes without giving up a run is another bad line as far as I am concerned. Please do not call him up.

You are right - I have the correct count in the top and somehow made a egregious error, but I can no longer edit it. Thanks for catching it.

One of the most fun games of the year. But the other commentators have already emphasized the other side of the coin - errors - physical and mental. Why is this continuing. It seems like it is increasing instead of being fixed. What can be done? Is Schoop now a bench player? When are Buxton and Wade coming off the IL?

No question about - I said that in my third paragraph. But the point is that the As who are third in the league in HRs have also concentrated on other points of hitting that has given them the ability to challenge in the West. http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/league/al/sort/homeRuns/order/true

So what is the confidence level of the fans? I suspect Twin Tension is rampant. When do we get the turtle back? We need him as a good luck charm. Are the A's once again about to teach baseball a lesson. After everyone read Moneyball the advantage was completely over. The other teams all knew what they were doing and now the teams have as many on their statistical team as they do on the field, but are there new lessons to learn to offset those advantages - is there an advantage when everyone is doing the same thing? The A's are 5th in the league in runs, but only 22 behind the Twins, which equals two of our blow out games. They are third in home runs - the Twins are first. The difference is 16. In OPS Minnesota leads the league with 828 and Oakland is 6th with 774 - a big difference. The As are putting the ball in play with the 13th most Ks by batters, but the Twins are 12th so the difference is only 22. Thanks to Arraez and Astudillo for putting the ball in play. However, the drive to not strike out is really an interesting new part of the As strategy and I think that might be the new trend. How many times do we praise an Arraez AB and anguish over a Sano K? Oakland is 8th in walks 324 and Minnesota is 11th with 285 that is a whopping 39 difference. Strike out less, walk more sounds like a good strategy. Oakland has 1093 ground balls hit by their batters and are 7th in the league. Minnesota is 13th with 979. So how are we swinging the bats - for HRs of course. We lead the league in fly balls hit - 1626. Oakland is 3rd - 1527. So what does that say about the Oakland offense? We have 99 more HRs but with their commitment to not strikeout and to walk they are still third just 22 HRs less than us. Hits of any kind put pressure on the opposing pitcher, on base by walk is almost as good as a hit. Despite their no name pitching rotation (outside of MN how many could name our rotation?) their era is just 0.03 behind us. They have figured out the BP like KC did during their championship seasons. I will not analyze other pitching stats or fielding except to end on this point - when I look at the difference between runs allowed and ER - Oakland has a 24 run difference, Minnesota has 48. I consider that as good an indicator of fielding influence as anything and our fielding has really gotten sloppy. So pull it together Twins - we need this series.

I actually like the way this team looks!