joelindell

His strikeout rate went up by 2.3%, but his walk rate went up 4.4%. In other words, if he had played 147 games last season, he would have finished with 57 walks and 68 strikeouts. This year, in 147 games, he had 90 walks and 88 strikeouts. He took more pitches and he got 33 additional walks and struck out 20 more times. This helped raise his OBP to a major league best .416 (from .360 in 2011).

I agree; Gray's innings were very valuable. It was a fun game to watch in person, and I stayed until the end. Today, I wrote a blog post about a similar game I attended in 2004, where the Twins beat the Mets 3-2 in 15 innings at the Metrodome: http://www.twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1317-Looking-back-at-another-15-inning-win

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1284[/ATTACH] I attended yesterday's game where the Twins beat the Brewers 5-4 in 15 innings, and it reminded me of another Interleague game I saw in 2004. On June 10, 2004, the Twins topped the Mets 3-2 in 15 innings at the Metrodome. Mike Ryan knocked in Luis Rivas with the winning run with a 1-out single off losing pitcher Ricky Bottalico. Grant Balfour pitched 1.2 innings in relief to get the win. Starter Kyle Lohse went 7 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, both earned, striking out 3 and walking 1. Cliff Floyd knocked in both Mets runs with a solo home run in the first and an RBI double in the 3rd. The Mets would not score again after that. Offensively, like yesterday, the Twins had all singles and one double (by Jose Offerman) that knocked in Matt LeCroy with the tying run with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning. Earlier, in the 3rd inning, Cristian Guzman singled home Henry Blanco. Twins relievers Aaron Fultz (1 IP), Juan Rincon (2 IP), Joe Nathan (1 IP), Joe Roa (2.1 IP), and Grant Balfour (1.2 IP) combined for 8 innings of shutout relief to seal the victory. Combined with Lohse's scoreless 4th-6th innings, the Mets were held scoreless for 12 straight innings. The Mets finished the year 71-91 in 4th place in the NL East. The Twins went 92-70, winning the AL Central, and losing the best of 5 divisional series to the Yankees 3 games to 1. I thought it would be interesting to look back to see which players, who played in that game, are still playing now. Here's what I found: Number of players who played in that game who have played at least 1 game in 2012: 7 3 Twins pitchers: Balfour--Oak, Nathan--TEX, and Lohse--STL 1 Mets batter, Wiggington--PHL and 3 Twins batters: Hunter--ANA, Blanco--ARI, and Mauer--MIN Joe Beimel and Mike Cameron retired after the 2011 season.