Mill1634

Fantastic play by Cron, and a nice houdiani act by Berrios to get out of that

Twins win!!!!! Not exactly how we drew it up, but we will take it. They don't give up no matter what, and that is the important thing. Sano silences some doubters,, the bullpen holds up just enough, and we still haven't lost three games in a row. Oh, we are now 12-3 in games that had the game thread started by mean. See yall tomorrow afternoon.

EDDIEEEE

KEPLER!!!!!!!!! Dude is MY All-Star

SANO SMASH!!!!!! TAKE THAT HATERS!!!!!!!

Ryne Harper has really surprised me. In a good way

We're up by 9 now. Ill take the over

Please call up Wade and send down Cave.

EDDIE!

The Twins are right in the middle of the slump, and that shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. They probably aren't the best hitting team to ever grace the fields of the MLB, and their pitching wasn't going to hold up. Jake Odorizzi isn't, and was never going to be in the conversation for Cy Young for the entire year. Martin Perez was going to get figured out, and the bullpen wasn't built to hold up the entire, and that is okay. We're in June, not October. This roster will look different come August 1st. But for now, lets get back to our winning ways against the Royals. The Pitchers: Martin Perez (7-3, 4.09 ERA, 74 K's) vs Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.33 ERA, 76 K's) Martin Perez has scuffled as of late as opposing hitters have figured out how to fight off his cutter, and began hitting his other pitches. That is how baseball works. Now it is time for Martin Perez to adjust back, and I am confident he will. However, I think he ultimately ends up being a weapon out of the bullpen after the Twins make a trade for another starter. Junis has the ability to miss bats, but he hasn't done much other than that with an ERA above 5, and a FIP that isn't much better. Tonight is a good chance for the bats to get hot again. He is allowing 1.5 homers per nine innings, and I'll take the over on that tonight. He is also walking another full batter per nine innings, at 3.4 per game. The Lineups: Twins CF Max Kepler L SS J. Polanco S DH Nelson Cruz R LF E. Rosario L 1B C.J. Cron R C Jason Castro L 3B Miguel Sano R RF Jake Cave L 2B J. Schoop R Royals RF W. Merrifield R 2B Nicky Lopez L 3B H. Dozier R DH Jorge Soler R 1B C. Cuthbert R SS H. Arteaga R C M. Maldonado R LF T. Gore R CF B. Hamilton S The Twins shift Max Kepler back to center field for the second game in a row, and that is perfect. Jake Cave has not graded out as a plus outfielder at any of the three outfield positions, and putting him in center field makes absolutely no sense. If I were making the lineups I would have it be Cave-Kepler-Rosario. Rosario has a fantastic arm, although he has made a few boneheaded plays that he should've made in the past few weeks. Jonathan Schoop has hit a rough patch, and Miguel Sano's struggles have been very well publicized. Max Kepler is hitting .400 off of Junis with a homer, while Miguel Sano has two. No Royal has hit a home run off of Perez. Mill's Moments 1. Fernando Romero to IR Fernando Romero was placed on the IR at AAA Rochester. I believe that part of the reason we didn't see many bullpen moves from the front office this offseason was because they believed Fernando Romero could develop into a fireman out of that bullpen. However, we have not seen that development at all. Instead, every time we have seen Romero we have seen someone who looks like he isn't close to ready. These warning flags popped up in the spring and have not went away since the season started. A player with his stuff should have better numbers at AAA, and even the MLB. Something makes me wonder if this back issue has been there the entire time. 2. Sano Won't Succeed in Minny This isn't to say that Miguel Sano is a poor player, or that I don't want him on my team, because I do. I think Miguel Sano is a fine player when he is given the right expectations, but that isn't going to happen here in Minnesota. Everyone still sees him as that top five prospect from years ago, not the prototypical slugger with a lot of swing and miss in his swing, which is what he is. Now, this isn't to say that Sano doesn't deserve blame. He does. However, he also has a metal rod in his leg. More prospects flame out than not, and Sano seems to be headed down that path. Fans need to change their expectations to view Sano as someone who is going to hit 25-30 home runs, strike out a lot, and play an average third base. The problem is that is a dime a dozen in todays MLB. In order for Miguel he needs to have fair expectations, and that won't happen in Minnesota. This Day in History: 2009 - Tony La Russa gets his 2,500th victory as a manager when the Cardinals defeat Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, 12-5. Joining Connie Mack and John McGraw, the Redbird skipper, who also piloted the White Sox and A's, becomes only the third major league manager to reach the milestone. Pick to Click: Jason Castro will hit a ball that lands on the other side of the outfield fence Go Twins!!!

Smeltzer, Krol, Moya, Reed, Stewart, Thorpe, Vasquez are all realistic possibilities.

Poppen back down after this game for another arm, or no?

I do not like walking Betts to get to Andrew B. Let's see.

MAD MAX

So which reliever is getting sent out after tonights game?

Keep bashing Duffey, losers

Fantastic job by the defense. Let's go offense.

The Twins have lost back-to-back games!! Oh my gosh, the world must be coming to an end. On a less extreme note, the Twins are still in first place by more than 10 games, and that is with the Indians playing well. They have only picked up half a game since the start of June. Tonight, the Twins have to win to have a shot at winning the series against the Red Sox with Michael Pineda on the mound. The Pitchers: David Price (4-2, 3.52 ERA, 71 K's) vs Michael Pineda (4-3, 5.04 ERA, 57 K's) David Price is having the best year he has since he was named to the All-Star team in 2015. The lefty has a 3.52 ERA, with a FIP of 3.18. He is striking out over a batter an inning, and is keeping the ball in the ballpark for the most part. He also doesn't give free passes, so the Twins offense is going to have to step up after not scoring a run last night. Pineda has pitched better as of late, but is still a back of the rotation starter for a reason. The big righty has struggled to put hitters away, with a K/9 of just under 7.5. He is also being bitten by the home run ball, giving up nearly two every nine innings. I suspect Pineda only has a handful of starts left before he is either cut, traded, or moved to the bullpen. The Lineups: The Twins SS J. Polanco S C Mitch Garver R DH Nelson Cruz R LF E. Rosario L 1B C.J. Cron R RF M. Gonzalez S 3B Miguel Sano R CF Jake Cave L 2B J. Schoop R The Red Sox RF Mookie Betts R LF A. Benintendi L DH J. Martinez R 3B R. Devers L SS X. Bogaerts R 2B Brock Holt L 1B M. Chavis R CF J. Bradley Jr. L C C. Vazquez R C.J Cron has had decent success off of David Price, going .333 in 24 at bats, and has taken him yard once. Max Kepler, who is not in tonights lineup, has gone out of the park against Price, as has Jonathan Schoop. Jake Cave is getting a start in center field, which is interesting as he did not grade out great in the outfield last year. If I was making the lineup card, Marwin would be in left, Eddie in center, and Cave in right. Mitch Garver is hitting 2nd, with Polanco leading off which is a flip flop of the two against lefties so far this year. Mookie Betts has had fantastic success off of Pineda, with two homers and a batting average of .304. Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. are also both hitting near .300 off of the Twins right hander. It will be very interesting to see how this game turns out. Mill's Moments: 1. Byron Buxton Always has Me Scared Byron Buxton is a fantastic baseball player, especially this year. There are only a few players in the entire game that I would choose to watch ahead of Byron Buxton, however, he is only effective when he is healthy, and he always seems to be unhealthy. I understand that Buxton is not able to prevent his latest injury, but every single game I have a fear that Buxton is just one play away from being out for an extended period of time. Let's hope Buxton is able to be activated in a week, when he is eligible to return. 2. Luis Arraez Promoted Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day DL along with Byron Buxton. Ehire was absolutely crushing the ball by his standards, which is too bad for both the Twins, and for Ehire. Jake Cave was recalled for Buxton, while Arraez was recalled for Ehire. Last time was saw Arraez up here he played really well, so it is good to see him get another run with the MLB club. However, I am very surprised that Willians was not the player recalled for Ehire, especially with Marwin already serving in his utility role. The turtle is posting an OPS of over 1.000 at Rochester, and is catching every other day. However, I am not disappointed in this decision at all, just surprised. This Day in History: 2017 - On Father's Day, Nolan Arenado becomes the fifth major leaguer to hit a walk-off homer to complete a cycle when he blasts a three-run homer off Mark Melancon to beat the Giants at Coors Field, 7-5. The game-ending round tripper caps the team's first four-game sweep of San Francisco in the 25-year history the franchise. Pick to Click: Jorge Polanco is hitting a triple tonight Go Twins!!!

I don't understand all the negativity in here. Sure, we're gonna lose. We won the series, and haven't lost a series in a hot minute. Sure, we didn't play real clean this week, but that is how baseball works. It's a long season. Won't be the last time we go through a poor stretch. What we have seen is a bunch of relentless play from the offense. This team has the best record in the MLB people. Stop getting down on them.

This is where Eddie goes yard isn't it?

CRUZ CRUSH

The defense, and offense for that matter, has been pretty bad this series. We're lucky to have taken what looks to be two of three.

Cruz is gonna make em pay in a big way...

MIGUEL MASH

Draft is so hard to judge until a few years down the road. However, I don't have an issue at all avoiding arms early in the draft. TINSTAAPP. Draft bats, draft bats, and then draft more bats. Trade your excess bats for proven pitching. I love this strategy