Mill1634

BOOMSTICK!

What a weird time for a first pitch on a Saturday afternoon in June. Not 3:05, or 3:07, or even 3:15. Instead, the White Sox decide to throw first pitch at 3:12. Not that it really matters, but I just found that odd. Maybe it will help the Twins bats wake up today, as they have been fairly cold the last few outings. Michael Pineda faces Ivan Nova in a matchup that I would've found intriguing six or seven years years ago. In 2019, not so much. I expect runs to be scored in bunches today. http://mlb.mlb.com/images/1/3/4/150487134/091915_min_sano_hr_med_yb5990h3.gif The Pitchers: Michael Pineda (4-4, 5.02 ERA, 67 K's) vs Ivan Nova (3-6, 5.91 ERA, 58 K's) Pineda had a stretch of five or six good starts in a row before laying an egg against the pesky Royals last time out in which he failed to make it to six innings, and gave up five earned runs on eight hits. His slider works, but it is also suspect to being hung and crushed over the fence which we have seen a few times already this year. Pineda is giving up nearly two long balls per nine innings, but is limiting his free passes. Ivan Nova is very similar to Pineda in that he gives up the long ball often, and doesn't walk many opposing hitters. However, Nova does not have a swing and miss pitch, and is only posting a K/9 of 5.9. Against a Twins team that doesn't strike out a ton, this could spell trouble for the Sox. The Lineups: Twins RF Max Kepler L SS J. Polanco S DH Nelson Cruz R 1B C.J. Cron R LF M. Gonzalez S 2B J. Schoop R 3B Miguel Sano R C Jason Castro L CF Byron Buxton R White Sox SS Leury Garcia S 3B Yoan Moncada S 1B Jose Abreu R C James McCann R RF Jon Jay L LF Eloy Jimenez R 2B Y. Sanchez S DH Zack Collins L CF Ryan Cordell R The Twins lineup is starting to take shape once again, and is now a threat 1-9. There are no free outs today, and that is the first time we have been able to say that over the past few weeks. We also have three healthy outfielders, so we no longer have to worry about Arraez or Willians Astudillo getting placed in right or left field. Oh yeah, that Byron Buxton dude is back too. Jonathan Schoop has crushed Ivan Nova in years past, and has two homers in thirteen at-bats, and is hitting .385 off of the White Sox righty. The White Sox lineup isn't nearly as strong as the Twins, Eloy Jiminez has been really good the past few weeks, but no White Sox hitter has gotten a hit against Pineda in their MLB career. Mill's Moments Welcome back Byron and Marwin I mentioned that the Twins lineup got a boost with the return of Marwin and Byron, as well as Ehire Adrianza last night. Byron Buxton also gives a healthy supplement to the Twins suspect outfield defense. It is unfortunate that both Marwin and Buxton were sidelined, but it is positive that the Twins have found depth that they can now rely on later in the year, and got LaMonte Wade Jr. his first cup of coffee in the majors league. On the other hand, we may have found out that Jake Cave is nothing more than an AAAA player, while last year he looked to be a legit fourth outfielder on a winning team. Let's hope Buxton and Marwin can pick up right where they left off. Make Luis Arraez the 2nd basemen I know this may sound crazy, and I know there is no way that Luis Arraez is the hitter that he has been so far in his MLB career. In fact, we see this often where a young player comes up to the big leagues, gets off to a torching hot start, and then the league adjusts. This is certain to happen to Arraez, but I don't think it matters right now. This man takes professional at bats no matter what. I am confident in Luis every single time he comes up to the plate because I know he is going to give you a good at bat. The same cannot be said about Jonathan Schoop lately. If you are a frequent visitor to the game threads, every time he comes up in a medium/high leverage situation it always turn out poor, and that is because he is very bad in those situation. If the Twins were to make one offensive upgrade before the deadline, I would want it to be 2nd base. However, I don't expect that to happen, so let's let Arraez start until he cools off, or never does, and we have the future league MVP on our hands. This Day In History: 2010 - In the Twins' 11-4 victory over Detroit at Target Field, Denard Span ties a major league record when he hits three triples in one game. Although the mark is shared by many other major leaguers, Ken Landreaux is the only other Minnesota player to have accomplished the feat, hitting a trio of three-baggers in a 1980 contest. Pick to Click: Jason Castro will go yard today Go Twins!!!

This game shall never end. We hit three balls very hard, and had one hit. Baseball.

Lucky 13th? We shall see

What a catch for Cave!!

I know this may come back to bite me in the butt in the short term, but Littell is going to be a late inning arm within the next 2 years.

Littell for however long this game goes, and if it happens to go 3+ he gets sent out after this game?

WOOOHOO!!!!! Fantastic play by Sano and Cron!!!!!!

Parker is not good...would've been better off letting Rogers go another, or going to May or Harper here.

Rogers is a cheat code. Lets walk this off now!

Fantastic outing from Perez. Let's get some runs now, boys!

NO WAY can we send Arraez down.

Much better inning from Martin. Let's hope he found his groove

And then there depleted outfield costs us. Rosario catches that, and Wade probably catches that. A little surprised we don't see him in the lineup.

Luis Arraez, professional hitter™

Fantastic bunt by Jorge

What are the odds we get 9 innings in?

MITCH MASH!!!

Let's hope Buxton is able to be activated tomorrow, because I would venture to guess Kepler will be out of the lineup even if he does avoid a trip to the DL.

Hunter wood will have a nice career in WWE if the baseball thing doesn't workout

Always knew Blake Snell was who we needed to face to break the bats out

ROSARIO!!!

Pineda....not good.

Cave is like 25 and already has grey in his beard. Yikes.

SANO SLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!