PDX Twin

He's gone full-Sano now that he is a DH.

Let's let Pagan finish the game now. Save the real bullpen.

Both balls are in the dirt, but the Munchkin should have picked them both.

Does Pagan get a BS for this one? (In more ways than one?)

Their battery looks like it came straight from a Sunday Beer League! They make the Twins' hitters look like real athletes!

Kirk looks like another tortuga!

I hope that everyone is celebrating National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. We are enjoying some special ones!

Will Toronto be missing any non-vaccinated players? Or does that just go one way?

And how embarrassing that they all seem to have worn the same dress.

My first game-thread win of the year. I'm hoping for a couple more later in the month.

I think of it as voluntary tax payments...

With different pronunciation, Victor Reyes could be "victorious," but not today?

Interesting "oops" from the world of sports: "football club is to reconsider plans to rename a stand after a sponsor, after fans pointed out it would include the name of a serial killer." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-62405123

Once again, Buxton's speed can't beat out a ball in the air.

Leon seems to hit well at TF. The only game I ever attended there was a massacre by the Red Sox about 4-5 years ago, in which Leon came to the plate with a microscopic BA on the screen and got multiple hits.

Technically, it seems OK to wish a "good afternoon" to someone even before noon. But too late to wish "good morning" to someone after noon. No?

Make the bellies as stout as the hearts?

I did fix it, but not until thinking about how many balls would end up in the dugout with no firstbaseman.

Oops... Miranda is at 1b...

Busy days for the uniform crew! Four new players coming in over the last 24 hours who need names stitched onto their backs. This is a game thread, but I can’t resist adding my two cents to the trade feedback. I was a big-time skeptic. This team was not very good before the trade deadline. (Decent, maybe, but not very good.) At minimum, the club needed to add one quality starter and two quality relievers in order to finish the season strong and have a prayer of playing and maybe even winning a game in October. How much would this cost? Could it be worth what we would have to give up in order to create a slim chance of an October win? Could they manage to do this without taking away from the 2023 and 2024 teams, which would likely have a better chance of success with Maeda, Lewis, Winder, Ober, Alcala, etc. returning? Then yesterday happened. Time will tell, but the front office seems to have threaded the needle pretty well, getting quality without huge sacrifice. The two main pitching pieces added will be here in 2023 (Mahle) or through 2024 (López), so they have not mortgaged the near future. And the prospect cost is, to me, bearable. Spencer Steer is the closest to being a Twin, but as many others have pointed out he is blocked by a bunch of young players who did not get traded: Lewis, Miranda, Martin, and perhaps Palacios. As exciting as Encarnacion-Strand has been this summer, he is at least two seasons away from Target Field and similarly blocked. The young pitchers sent away are also far away from the majors and far from certain ever to make it. Think about what the Twins didn’t give up. They didn’t sell early on Correa. They didn’t give up anyone who has played in the major leagues this year (except Canó, who has been terrible and is too old to be a prospect). They didn’t give up any of their top young pitching prospects. They didn’t give up any of their young major-league stars such as Arraez, Miranda, Larnach, Kirilloff, Lewis, or even Celestino or Gordon. Ex-ante, I was a huge trade skeptic because I couldn’t see them pulling off something like this. Ex-post, they did! Bravo! As for the game, Tyler Alexander (4.10 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) makes his sixth start of the season for the Tigers. Based on his record, he is a pitch-to-contact guy with a strikeout every two innings and a walk every four. The Twins counter with rookie Joe Ryan (3.78 ERA, 1.11 WHIP). Ryan will hope not to repeat the San Diego Slaughter of his last appearance, in which he conceded 10 earned runs (over a quarter of his season’s total) and 5 home runs (over a third) in less than 5 innings. Tigers: Riley Greene, cf Victor Reyes, lf Javier Báez, ss Harold Castro, 1b Eric Haase, c Willi Castro, rf Jonathan Schoop, 2b Kody Clemens, 3b Tucker Barnhart. c Twins: Byron Buxton, dh Carlos Correa, ss Jorge Polanco, 2b Jose Miranda, 3b 1b Gio Urshela, 3b Nick Gordon, cf Jake Cave, lf Sandy León, c Mark Contreras, rf Final note: RIP, Vin Scully (1927-2022), whose voice resonated with the rhythm of baseball.

Shift does us in again. If the second baseman is where he belongs, we're in the dugout leading 3-2.

Never seen that!

And Cave's OPS for the year stays at 2.500.

Nice inning for Pagan.

Acchh! He's rusty!