Mill1634

Alright Twins fans, buckle up for the next 3.5 hours... Twins 6, Astros 4. Pick to click - Kepler

Today is clinch day for one team in the ALC, and the Twins can make that happen multiple different ways today. The two simplest ways to state this is either by (a) Twins win OR ( White Sox loss. So, in conclusion, just win baby! The Pitchers: LHP Rich Hill (2-2, 3.27 ERA, 27 K's) vs RHP Sonny Gray (5-3, 3.73 ERA, 68 K's) Rich Hill makes perhaps his final start of the season, as he is not in line to be one of the starters for the wild card round of the playoffs. It has been an up and down year for Dick Mountain, but we have seen him come into form lately. Hill will play a key role in the playoffs, whether starting or relieving. Gray is making his second start off the injured list, his last being Tuesday against the Brewers. Gray has been fairly good this year, but isn't on the level of Castillo, who the Twins hit around last night. The Lineups: Twins RF Max Kepler L 2B Luis Arraez L DH Nelson Cruz R LF E. Rosario L CF Jake Cave L 1B Miguel Sano R SS J. Polanco S 3B M. Gonzalez S C Alex Avila L Reds LF A. Aquino R RF N. Castellanos R DH Joey Votto L 3B E. Suarez R 1B M. Moustakas L CF Nick Senzel R 2B Kyle Farmer R SS Jose Garcia R C Curt Casali R We see Luis Arraez and Nelson Cruz in the lineup once again, which is a good thing to see. However, the more important thing is what we don't see. Both Buxton and Donaldson left the game on Friday, and will not be seen in the last 2 games of the year, at least in the starting lineup. Hopefully this is just Rocco being cautious, but it does make you question. Avilia finds himself as the backstop, the third different catcher to start this series. The Reds change their lineup up a bit, with Aquino in the leadoff spot, and no Jesse Winker. This Day In History: 1992 - The Twins win their 523rd game with Tom Kelly as their manager when the team beats the Royals at the Metrodome, 4-0. The victory makes the Minnesota native the winningest skipper in team history, surpassing the standard set by Sam Mele from 1961 to 1967. Pick to Click - Rosario homers in his last regular season game starting for the Twins at Target Field Go Twins!!!

Watching this series with my girlfriends family of Cubs fans....please pray for me

TWINS WIN!!! The bullpen was perfect through 5.1 innings, and the bats provided the power we were used to last year. Great to see us bounce back. After winning one must win, we have to double down tomorrow. Go Twins!!!

Old friend:

Stashak and Duffey have accounted for 4.1 innings of work with no base runners and 4 K's. Crucial stretch by those two, and they delivered.

Good spot for Rocco to find out how Duffey performs in back-to-back innings, a role we will see him be used in during the playoffs.

SANO SMASH!!!

BUXTON BOMB!

EDDIE THE STICK!

Watching the White Sox Broadcast..they show WRC+ on their lineup screen....I like that

Not really inspiring to throw Odo in the most important game of the year (until tomorrow, if we win today)

The Twins looked miserable at the plate last night with runners on base, including Nelson Cruz stranding 9 runners, including the bases loaded twice. However, the game was still in reach, until the bottom of the 8th when Taylor Rogers struggled once again, which has been a common theme this year. I think Rocco is going to keep giving him the ball in high leverage situation, but I don't know if it will be the 9th inning from here on out. The Pitchers: RHP Randy Dobnak (6-3, 42.1 IP, 3.61 ERA, 23 SO) vs RHP Dane Dunning (1-0, 20 IP, 2.70 ERA, 21 SO) Tonight is the battle of the goggles, as Dobnak and Dunning will both sport a pair tonight. On the mound, we have seen Dobnak have some negative regression, which everyone saw coming. Last time out we saw him start on short rest and just lose command of the zone against the Cardinals, something that doesn't happen to him very often. Dobnak does have 4 scoreless against the CWS thus far. Opposing Dobnak, is rookie Dane Dunning, who has 4 career starts, and has allowed 0 runs in two of them. However, he hasn't exactly faced a murduer's row, as he has faced KC 2x, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. Those are some of the worst offensives in baseball. Dunning has obviously never faced the Twins, so look for the Twins to either by hyper aggressive early, or take a lot of pitches the first time through. The Lineups: Twins RF Max Kepler L 3B J. Donaldson R SS J. Polanco S DH Nelson Cruz R LF E. Rosario L 1B Miguel Sano R 2B T. Blankenhorn L CF Byron Buxton R C Ryan Jeffers R White Sox SS Tim Anderson R 3B Yoan Moncada S DH Y. Grandal S 1B Jose Abreu R LF Eloy Jimenez R C James McCann R CF Luis Robert R RF Adam Engel R 2B N. Madrigal R Max Kepler is back at the top of the lineup for the third time in three days, and has Josh Donaldson right behind him, which has been good news so far. Sano is back in the lineup, as is Rosario, both who sat out yesterday with soreness. Rookie Travis Blakenhorn will be making his MLB debut at 2nd base, somewhere he played a fair amount in the minor leagues. Blakenhorn is a very large human to be playing 2nd base, and looks like he should be playing linebacker in the NFL. I expect to see him at 2nd 4 or 5 times a week until Arraez is back. The White Sox have a very similar lineup to last night, but Edwin Encarnacion is not in the lineup, and McCan takes over for him, sliding Grandal to DH. Last nights hero Adam Engel will be starting in right field for Nomar Mazara. No White Sox hitter has taken Dobnak deep in their career. This Day In History - 2002: Defeating the Indians after a 67-minute rain delay, 5-0, the Twins clinch the American League Central Division flag. Minnesota, which will be making its first playoff appearance since 1991, was almost eliminated during the offseason due to contraction. Pick to Click - Rosario ambushes the Rookie for a homer tonight Go Twins!!!

The catching defense has not been good

Why exactly is Clippard pitching the 8th of a close game?

I don't think Cave gets to it. According to statcast it had an xBA of .780

Eddie with yet another TOOTBLAN

Credit to Wisler. He gave up a run, but Buxton dropped a ball, got squeezed, and La Tortuga allowed a passed ball

I am SHOCKED that nobody went out and even talked to him. The good news is he is still in this game. I am guessing we don't see him tomorrow (although we probably weren't going to anyway with 2 games in a row)

****. Buxton is probably hurt

Vargas, former Twin, just hit a homer off of Josh Hader for the Cubs

Did not expect Hill to come back out, but props to him for getting through it. Such a gigantic difference between getting 4 vs 5 out of your starter.

BUXTON BOMB!!!!!!!!

And Rooker has to come out of the game after being hit on the right wrist....not great news for a young guy that was performing well.

At the second hand store, of course. (I didn't even have to google this one!)