I would have thought one or two days rest before Tuesday was ideal, but all of their good relievers appear to be pitching tonight and they are going with three days rest, I guess
I was just thinking Buxton myself for those reasons. The walk off HR was nice, too. But there is no wrong answer here, which is what makes this team what it is!
I felt the Kintzler trade hurt their chances, but didn't kill their chances. It feels like 7-dimensional chess to think F & L knew that trading Kintzler would put the team back in the WC race. I like you did that research, by the way.
Here is a link with a Kaepernick timeline; Sept. 1st was when he decided to kneel out of respect, instead of staying sitting on the bench. https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869726/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-seahawks-brandon-marshall-nfl
Good point. Instead of "fold", I chose to describe those competing teams as "didn't make a run" and I called it surprising that other teams didn't make a run, although I think the Angles did make a good run at it, until their schedule got difficult.
Other posters addressed this up thread. I still think the word "folding" is misleading, but yeah I was surprised no other team made a strong run--although you could argue the Angels did make a strong run, but ran out of gas.
SEA, BAL, MIN, KC, LAA, TEX, TOR, TB These teams didn't fold. They were all struggling to play .500 at the deadline, and are struggling to play .500 at the finish. Only KC really went in the tank. Not the others.
I'm sorry, but this plays right into the Twins hands with their left handed batting lineup... https://twitter.com/AndrewMarchand/status/913233296720519168 ...actually, no, not sorry
Great comparison. Hard to believe the lead was only 1.5 games lead a week ago. With the magic number now at one, the Twins have retired the first two batters and the Angels are down to their last strike. The crowd is on its feet!
My guess is because the Twins should (*should*) be clinching the second spot, and it will be more important to keep our best 2-3 guys on good pitching schedules (eg. every other day until the WC game). Should.