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Everything posted by Tom Froemming
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I'd have made one extra move. For Game 1, I'd have called up Melotakis. I'd have optioned him back to Rochester to add Wilk for Game 2. Then I'd have DFA'd Wilk to add Busenitz for today. This allows you to start Mejia the first game and gets you an extra fresh arm for today at the expense of ... nothing. Melotakis is burning an option year just by being on the 40-man roster, so it's not like that's an issue.
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The Twins held onto first place longer than anyone could have expected, but after getting swept by Cleveland in a doubleheader Saturday, they’re looking up in the division for the first time since May 9.Game 1: Cleveland 9, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE617G1.png Game 2: Cleveland 6, Twins 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE617G2.png Adam Wilk was terrible in the first game, to the surprise of basically no one. What has been surprising is how well the Twins have bounced back from adversity this year. They started the season off by winning their first four games, but quickly fell to 8-10. At the time, it seemed likely we’d never see the Twins above .500 again in 2017, but they turned things around to win 17 of their next 25 games. There have been several times since when it appeared the Twins might have faded. They haven’t. They got absolutely destroyed at home by the Astros right before a big West Coast road swing. Stick a fork in ’em? Not so fast. The Twins responded by taking three of four in Anaheim. In Seattle, they got crushed in Game 1 and lost a heartbreaker in Game 2. Write ‘em off? Nope, the Twins followed that up with a three game-winning streak. They lost their next two games in fairly embarrassing fashion, giving up 27 total runs in the process. Well clearly that led to a tailspin, right? Nope, the Twins scored 20 runs the next night. Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader was another one of those moments that made you feel like you were watching the beginning of the end. Wilk gave up six runs and lasted just 3.1 innings. It appeared clear as day that Cleveland was a team in a class above the Twins. They cruised to a 9-3 victory despite not having one of their main horses on the mound, either. Ryan Merritt made his 2017 debut, and lasted just four innings. Game 2 got off to a much better start for the Twins, but they lost Adalberto Mejia after 4.2 innings due to a rain delay that lasted over an hour. Maybe he should’ve started the first game. The contest resumed with Cleveland up 2-1. Tyler Duffey got the final out of the top of the fifth, Jorge Polanco led off the bottom of the inning with a nine-pitch walk and it appeared the scrappy Twins might just pull off another momentum switch. But the next batter, Jason Castro, grounded into a double play. Then Duffey gave up a three-run homer in the top of the inning. Cleveland sweeps. This is it, isn’t it? This doubleheader sweep is the knockout blow. Here’s where the Twins finally fade away, right? Well, they’ve gotten up off the mat every time they’ve been knocked down so far this season. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Alan Busenitz made his major league debut and struck out the first batter he faced, the red-hot Jose Ramirez. Busenitz gave up a run on a Francisco Lindor solo homer over two innings pitched. He topped out at 97 mph. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days. This has been updated so that instead of having the most recent games on the left side, they're now on the right. Download attachment: Pen617.png Alex Wimmers was the 26th man, so he’ll be headed back to Rochester. The bullpen combined to throw 177 pitches Saturday. The Twins have a much-needed off day coming Monday. Sunday Twins (Kyle Gibson 6.79 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Trevor Bauer, 5.85 ERA), 1:10 pm CT Gibson has a 4.58 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in June, much more palatable numbers than his 2017 season totals. Current Cleveland hitters have teed off on Gibson to the tune of a 1.028 OPS. Bauer’s strikeout rate is at a career high 10.8 K/9, but that’s come with a 5.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He has given Miguel Sano fits, striking him out 10 times over 23 plate appearances. AL Central Standings Cleveland 35-31 Twins 34-32 (-1) Detroit 32-35 (-3.5) Kansas City 32-35 (-3.5) Chicago 31-36 (-4.5) Be sure to check out today’s Minor League Report, which includes some great video of Travis Blankenhorn’s game-winning steal of home. Click here to view the article
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Game 1: Cleveland 9, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Game 2: Cleveland 6, Twins 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Adam Wilk was terrible in the first game, to the surprise of basically no one. What has been surprising is how well the Twins have bounced back from adversity this year. They started the season off by winning their first four games, but quickly fell to 8-10. At the time, it seemed likely we’d never see the Twins above .500 again in 2017, but they turned things around to win 17 of their next 25 games. There have been several times since when it appeared the Twins might have faded. They haven’t. They got absolutely destroyed at home by the Astros right before a big West Coast road swing. Stick a fork in ’em? Not so fast. The Twins responded by taking three of four in Anaheim. In Seattle, they got crushed in Game 1 and lost a heartbreaker in Game 2. Write ‘em off? Nope, the Twins followed that up with a three game-winning streak. They lost their next two games in fairly embarrassing fashion, giving up 27 total runs in the process. Well clearly that led to a tailspin, right? Nope, the Twins scored 20 runs the next night. Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader was another one of those moments that made you feel like you were watching the beginning of the end. Wilk gave up six runs and lasted just 3.1 innings. It appeared clear as day that Cleveland was a team in a class above the Twins. They cruised to a 9-3 victory despite not having one of their main horses on the mound, either. Ryan Merritt made his 2017 debut, and lasted just four innings. Game 2 got off to a much better start for the Twins, but they lost Adalberto Mejia after 4.2 innings due to a rain delay that lasted over an hour. Maybe he should’ve started the first game. The contest resumed with Cleveland up 2-1. Tyler Duffey got the final out of the top of the fifth, Jorge Polanco led off the bottom of the inning with a nine-pitch walk and it appeared the scrappy Twins might just pull off another momentum switch. But the next batter, Jason Castro, grounded into a double play. Then Duffey gave up a three-run homer in the top of the inning. Cleveland sweeps. This is it, isn’t it? This doubleheader sweep is the knockout blow. Here’s where the Twins finally fade away, right? Well, they’ve gotten up off the mat every time they’ve been knocked down so far this season. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Alan Busenitz made his major league debut and struck out the first batter he faced, the red-hot Jose Ramirez. Busenitz gave up a run on a Francisco Lindor solo homer over two innings pitched. He topped out at 97 mph. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days. This has been updated so that instead of having the most recent games on the left side, they're now on the right. Alex Wimmers was the 26th man, so he’ll be headed back to Rochester. The bullpen combined to throw 177 pitches Saturday. The Twins have a much-needed off day coming Monday. Sunday Twins (Kyle Gibson 6.79 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Trevor Bauer, 5.85 ERA), 1:10 pm CT Gibson has a 4.58 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in June, much more palatable numbers than his 2017 season totals. Current Cleveland hitters have teed off on Gibson to the tune of a 1.028 OPS. Bauer’s strikeout rate is at a career high 10.8 K/9, but that’s come with a 5.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He has given Miguel Sano fits, striking him out 10 times over 23 plate appearances. AL Central Standings Cleveland 35-31 Twins 34-32 (-1) Detroit 32-35 (-3.5) Kansas City 32-35 (-3.5) Chicago 31-36 (-4.5) Be sure to check out today’s Minor League Report, which includes some great video of Travis Blankenhorn’s game-winning steal of home.
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The Twins got beat up in what was the first of a huge four-game series with Cleveland, who are hot on their heels in the AL Central. After the game a couple of bullpen moves were announced, though full details have yet to be released.Cleveland 8, Twins 1 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE616.png Nik Turley got rocked, giving up eight runs over 4.2 innings. Cleveland tallied nine hits and drew four walks off the lefty. The big blow was a mammoth three-run homer off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. By taking a quick look at the charts, I wonder if maybe home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had each of these pitchers’ reputations in mind while calling balls and strikes. He certainly seemed to give Carlos Carrasco a more favorable strike zone. Here’s a breakdown of Turley’s pitches, notice all the blue inside the zone: Download attachment: TurleyZone.png And here's Carrasco’s below. Hmmm, no blue inside the zone for him. Download attachment: CarrascoZone.png I’m not trying to suggest the umpire made a seven-run difference in this game, but the information above speaks for itself. By my count, there are five clear strikes from Turley that were called balls, and it’s not like you can find any makeup calls on Carrasco’s chart. Even if Turley had pitched a gem it may not have mattered much, as the offense wasn’t able to muster much against Carrasco. Joe Mauer entered this game with some incredible numbers against Carrasco, but he had his worst day at the plate of the season, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Alan Busenitz, who will be making his major league debut, was acquired in last year’s Hector Santiago trade. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 2.15 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over 29.1 innings for the Red Wings. Wimmers, who had just been sent down Tuesday, is already on the 40-man roster, but Busenitz and Adam Wilk, who is starting tomorrow afternoon, will need to be added. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen616New.png UPDATE: Ryan Pressly has been optioned to Rochester. Saturday Twins (Adam Wilk, 6.75 ERA), vs. Cleveland (Ryan Merritt), 1:10 pm CT Twins (Adlaberto Mejia, 5.75 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Mike Clevinger, 4.09 ERA), 7:10 pm CT AL Central Standings Twins 34-30 Cleveland 33-31 (-1) Detroit 32-34 (-3) Kansas City 31-34 (-3.5) Chicago 30-36 (-5) Be sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which recaps how the Chattanooga Lookouts locked up a playoff spot. Click here to view the article
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Cleveland 8, Twins 1 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Nik Turley got rocked, giving up eight runs over 4.2 innings. Cleveland tallied nine hits and drew four walks off the lefty. The big blow was a mammoth three-run homer off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. By taking a quick look at the charts, I wonder if maybe home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had each of these pitchers’ reputations in mind while calling balls and strikes. He certainly seemed to give Carlos Carrasco a more favorable strike zone. Here’s a breakdown of Turley’s pitches, notice all the blue inside the zone: And here's Carrasco’s below. Hmmm, no blue inside the zone for him. I’m not trying to suggest the umpire made a seven-run difference in this game, but the information above speaks for itself. By my count, there are five clear strikes from Turley that were called balls, and it’s not like you can find any makeup calls on Carrasco’s chart. Even if Turley had pitched a gem it may not have mattered much, as the offense wasn’t able to muster much against Carrasco. Joe Mauer entered this game with some incredible numbers against Carrasco, but he had his worst day at the plate of the season, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/875907561786159104 On the bright side, the Twins are still one of only three teams to not have been shutout this season. The team’s only run came on a Eddie Rosario homer, which was one of only four hits on the night. https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/875898020256256001 Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good for Rosario. With the Twins trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the third, Rosario drew a leadoff walk. He tried to tag up and advance to second on a Brian Dozier fly out to left field. It was a high risk, low reward move that did not pay off for the ever-aggressive Rosario, as he was thrown out (as pictured above). The bullpen was solid, as Craig Breslow and Ryan Pressly combined for 5.1 innings of one-hit ball, striking out five batters in the process. Reinforcements are on the way. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/875918642503983105 Alan Busenitz, who will be making his major league debut, was acquired in last year’s Hector Santiago trade. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 2.15 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over 29.1 innings for the Red Wings. Wimmers, who had just been sent down Tuesday, is already on the 40-man roster, but Busenitz and Adam Wilk, who is starting tomorrow afternoon, will need to be added. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: UPDATE: Ryan Pressly has been optioned to Rochester. Saturday Twins (Adam Wilk, 6.75 ERA), vs. Cleveland (Ryan Merritt), 1:10 pm CT Twins (Adlaberto Mejia, 5.75 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Mike Clevinger, 4.09 ERA), 7:10 pm CT AL Central Standings Twins 34-30 Cleveland 33-31 (-1) Detroit 32-34 (-3) Kansas City 31-34 (-3.5) Chicago 30-36 (-5) Be sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which recaps how the Chattanooga Lookouts locked up a playoff spot.
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The Chattanooga Lookouts put together a comeback victory that clinched a first half division title, thus solidifying their spot in the Southern League playoffs. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday. TRANSACTIONS Several moves were made in the system and we'll update them as we hear them. Twins Daily has learned that along with Adam Wilk, the Twins will promote RHPs Alex Wimmers and Alan Busenitz. As Wimmers was only optioned four days ago, he can be the 26th man, or the Twins would have to place a pitcher on the DL.Hearing at least one pitcher is moving up from Chattanooga to Rochester as well. Again, more as we can confirm.RED WINGS REPORTRochester at Pawtucket POSTPONED This was the 10th postponement of Rochester’s season. They’ll be playing a doubleheader tomorrow. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Tennessee 3 Box Score The Lookouts are the first half champions of the Southern League North Divison, clinching a playoff berth, after a crazy comeback in the top of the ninth. Trailing 3-2 entering the final inning, T.J. White led off with a broken-bat single. Levi Michael followed with a walk. Dan Rohlfing dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but the Smokies first baseman decided to try to get the out at third, airmailing the ball into left field instead. White and Michael came around to score, giving the Lookouts the lead. Rohlfing would later come around to score on a passed ball. A broken bat, a walk, an error and a passed ball. The Baseball Gods were certainly on Chattanooga’s side tonight. Luke Bard pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the victory for the Lookouts. Starter Randy LeBlanc gave up two runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. He had four strikeouts and walked one batter. White was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice. Edgar Corcino tallied a pair of hits. Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep the game within a run for the Looks, who are now 40-28 on the season. MIRACLE MATTERS OFF It’s the all-star break for the Florida State League. All-Stars from Fort Myers are Sam Clay, Dereck Rodriguez, Brian Navarreto and Chris Paul. The game is tomorrow. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 5, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning thanks to a Christian Cavaness bases-clearing triple, but Clinton just kept chipping away, scoring single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings to complete the comeback. Over six innings, Eduardo Del Rosario gave up four runs, walked three batters and surrendered seven hits. Ryan Mason was credited with the loss after giving up the game-winning run in the eighth inning. Colton Davis pitched a perfect ninth, lowering his ERA to 1.45. Cedar Rapids recorded just seven hits on the night, three of which came from Cavaness. Ben Rortvedt, who has been heating up of late, was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Tomorrow night there figures to be an excellent crowd in Cedar Rapids, as the Kernels are giving away Mike Trout bobbleheads. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Chattanooga (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – T.J. White, Chattanooga (3-for-4, double, 2 runs) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERSS Rochester at Pawtucket, 3:35 pm CT, Yohan Pino (7.82 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) Rochester at Pawtucket, Game 2, Chris Heston (4.62 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) Chattanooga at Tennessee, 6 pm CT, TBA Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton, 6:35 CT, Tyler Wells (2.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article
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Twins Minor League Report (6/16): Chattanooga Champs
Tom Froemming posted an article in Minor Leagues
RED WINGS REPORT Rochester at Pawtucket POSTPONED This was the 10th postponement of Rochester’s season. They’ll be playing a doubleheader tomorrow. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Tennessee 3 Box Score The Lookouts are the first half champions of the Southern League North Divison, clinching a playoff berth, after a crazy comeback in the top of the ninth. Trailing 3-2 entering the final inning, T.J. White led off with a broken-bat single. Levi Michael followed with a walk. Dan Rohlfing dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but the Smokies first baseman decided to try to get the out at third, airmailing the ball into left field instead. White and Michael came around to score, giving the Lookouts the lead. Rohlfing would later come around to score on a passed ball. A broken bat, a walk, an error and a passed ball. The Baseball Gods were certainly on Chattanooga’s side tonight. Luke Bard pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the victory for the Lookouts. Starter Randy LeBlanc gave up two runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. He had four strikeouts and walked one batter. White was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice. Edgar Corcino tallied a pair of hits. Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep the game within a run for the Looks, who are now 40-28 on the season. https://twitter.com/toddvs35/status/875900332928376832 MIRACLE MATTERS OFF It’s the all-star break for the Florida State League. All-Stars from Fort Myers are Sam Clay, Dereck Rodriguez, Brian Navarreto and Chris Paul. The game is tomorrow. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 5, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning thanks to a Christian Cavaness bases-clearing triple, but Clinton just kept chipping away, scoring single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings to complete the comeback. Over six innings, Eduardo Del Rosario gave up four runs, walked three batters and surrendered seven hits. Ryan Mason was credited with the loss after giving up the game-winning run in the eighth inning. Colton Davis pitched a perfect ninth, lowering his ERA to 1.45. Cedar Rapids recorded just seven hits on the night, three of which came from Cavaness. Ben Rortvedt, who has been heating up of late, was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Tomorrow night there figures to be an excellent crowd in Cedar Rapids, as the Kernels are giving away Mike Trout bobbleheads. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Chattanooga (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – T.J. White, Chattanooga (3-for-4, double, 2 runs) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERSS Rochester at Pawtucket, 3:35 pm CT, Yohan Pino (7.82 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) Rochester at Pawtucket, Game 2, Chris Heston (4.62 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) Chattanooga at Tennessee, 6 pm CT, TBA Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton, 6:35 CT, Tyler Wells (2.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games.- 11 comments
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Well, I was wrong. Escobar is on the bench tonight. Over the past seven days he's hitting .684/.700/.1.158! I guess most of his damage has been done against lefties and he's 0-for-3 lifetime against Carrasco, a RHP. And Polanco has been better against RHP (.684) than LHP (.586). Still surprised, though.
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Regarding the Wilk decision, my guess is he's the guy they feel is mostly likely going to give them five innings. This doubleheader is creating a logistical nightmare for a team that can ill afford to wear down it's bullpen. Turley is such a wild card, and as much as I like Mejia he's averaging less than five innings a start. I'd love to see one of the young guys too, but this maybe isn't the best time to throw somebody out there and see if they float. How crazy is it that the first three starters the Twins roll out there (Turley, Mejia, Wilk) have a combined 13 career starts? And none of them started a single game last season.
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Thank you. These have been fun to put together, I'm happy people are enjoying them. This is gonna sound like I'm just blowing smoke up everybody's backsides, but I'm just honored to have the opportunity to contribute to such a great site and in front of such a great community. I am on cloud nine right now.
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Jose Berrios completed eight innings for the first time in his career, Chris Gimenez hit two home runs for the first time in his career and the Twins coasted to a victory Thursday afternoon.Twins 6, Mariners 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE615.png This one was a bit uneventful after the first inning, not that we’re going to complain. Thanks in large part to Gimenez’s three-run homer, the Twins jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first frame. Berrios settled in and ended up throwing a career-high 108 pitches. Jose eclipsed 95 mph on seven occasions, one of those coming on his 105th pitch of the game. It didn’t seem like Berrios had his best command today, but he made up for that in aggressiveness, which is exactly what you want to see out of your starter when he’s spotted a big lead early. He walked just one batter. Here are all the pitches he threw after falling behind 1-0 in the count: Download attachment: Berrios10.png There was a bit of a scary moment when Byron Buxton flew into the center field wall attempting to catch a ball. He bounced right back up and finished the game. Postgame With Gimenez Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen615.png Friday Twins (Nik Turley, 9.00 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Carlos Carrasco, 3.36 ERA), 7:10 pm CT Turley gets another shot after giving up four runs over four innings in his major league debut. Carrasco has been struggling a bit against lefties this year, giving up a .427 slugging percentage (.309 vs. RHB). Brian Dozier is only 4-for-21 off Carrasco, but three of those hits have been homers. Joe Mauer is an even .500 off him (11-for-22) with a home run and four doubles. Combined, the Twins have a .917 OPS in 101 plate appearances against Carrasco AL Central Standings Twins 34-29 Cleveland 32-31 (-2) Detroit 30-34 (-4.5) Kansas City 30-34 (-4.5) Chicago 29-36 (-6) It was announced that Adam Wilk will start one of the games of Saturday’s doubleheader. He’ll need to be added back onto the 40-man roster. Click here to view the article
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Twins 6, Mariners 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) This one was a bit uneventful after the first inning, not that we’re going to complain. Thanks in large part to Gimenez’s three-run homer, the Twins jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first frame. Berrios settled in and ended up throwing a career-high 108 pitches. Jose eclipsed 95 mph on seven occasions, one of those coming on his 105th pitch of the game. It didn’t seem like Berrios had his best command today, but he made up for that in aggressiveness, which is exactly what you want to see out of your starter when he’s spotted a big lead early. He walked just one batter. Here are all the pitches he threw after falling behind 1-0 in the count: There was a bit of a scary moment when Byron Buxton flew into the center field wall attempting to catch a ball. He bounced right back up and finished the game. https://twitter.com/RealClearSports/status/875436827146104832 Eduardo Escobar racked up another three hits, including a homer. He’s so hot right now there’s just no way Paul Molitor is going to put him back on the bench anytime soon. Escobar is now hitting .295 with an .823 OPS. Seattle left Minnesota thinking Escobar, Gimenez and Eddie Rosario should probably all participate in the Home Run Derby. Here’s a look at Gimenez’s second homer, which he had to talk into staying fair (see postgame interview below): https://twitter.com/DingerTracker/status/875416311135969280 Postgame With Gimenez Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Friday Twins (Nik Turley, 9.00 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Carlos Carrasco, 3.36 ERA), 7:10 pm CT Turley gets another shot after giving up four runs over four innings in his major league debut. Carrasco has been struggling a bit against lefties this year, giving up a .427 slugging percentage (.309 vs. RHB). Brian Dozier is only 4-for-21 off Carrasco, but three of those hits have been homers. Joe Mauer is an even .500 off him (11-for-22) with a home run and four doubles. Combined, the Twins have a .917 OPS in 101 plate appearances against Carrasco AL Central Standings Twins 34-29 Cleveland 32-31 (-2) Detroit 30-34 (-4.5) Kansas City 30-34 (-4.5) Chicago 29-36 (-6) It was announced that Adam Wilk will start one of the games of Saturday’s doubleheader. He’ll need to be added back onto the 40-man roster.
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If I were to tell you Byron Buxton reached safely four times and the bullpen was solid in a game that Ervin Santana started, you’d probably guess that the Twins won. Well, that’s not how it worked out Wednesday night, as Santana got roughed up and the bats couldn’t quite complete a comeback attempt.Mariners 6, Twins 4 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE614.png Santana continued to follow a bit of a disturbing trend, following up a spectacular start with a clunker. He gave up five runs on nine hits over five innings. What was maybe the weirdest thing was he got into an exchange with Mike Zunino after hitting him with a pitch that resulted in both benches being warned. Here are Santana’s game scores by start since the beginning of May: 70, 39, 72, 44, 87, 65, 19, 83, 28 (which was Wednesday night). The takeaway? You may wanna consider buying tickets for Ervin’s next start. Download attachment: SantanaGraph.png The Mariners jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the middle of the third, but Eduardo Escobar and Buxton gave the Twins new life by socking solo homers in the fifth. Miguel Sano slugged a two-run shot the next inning. This was the first time in Buxton’s career he reached base safely four times. He hit a double, the home run, drew a walk and singled in the ninth inning to put two runners on with just one out. He also swiped a pair of bases. Afterward, he said “this one was for Nick Nelson.” OK, that’s not true, but Nick did write an Ode To Byron Buxton that you should read. Postgame With Santana Postgame With Molitor Thursday Twins (Jose Berrios, 2.84 ERA) vs. Seattle (Ariel Miranda, 3.67 ERA), 12:10 pm CT Berrios has been an incredible stabilizing force for the Twins rotation since being called back up in mid-May. He’s gone at least five innings in all six of his starts, and he has yet to allow more than four runs in a start. The Twins are 5-1 in games he takes the hill. Miranda, a lefty, has been dynamite at home (2.14 ERA in six starts) but has struggled away from Safeco, posting a 5.68 ERA over seven starts. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Screenshot 2017-06-14 at 10.10.15 PM.png AL Central Standings Twins 33-29 Cleveland 31-31 (-2) Detroit 30-34 (-4) Kansas City 30-34 (-4) Chicago 28-35 (-5.5) Be sure to check out all the action from down on the farm on Wednesday in the Minor League Report. Click here to view the article
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Mariners 6, Twins 4 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Santana continued to follow a bit of a disturbing trend, following up a spectacular start with a clunker. He gave up five runs on nine hits over five innings. What was maybe the weirdest thing was he got into an exchange with Mike Zunino after hitting him with a pitch that resulted in both benches being warned. Here are Santana’s game scores by start since the beginning of May: 70, 39, 72, 44, 87, 65, 19, 83, 28 (which was Wednesday night). The takeaway? You may wanna consider buying tickets for Ervin’s next start. The Mariners jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the middle of the third, but Eduardo Escobar and Buxton gave the Twins new life by socking solo homers in the fifth. Miguel Sano slugged a two-run shot the next inning. This was the first time in Buxton’s career he reached base safely four times. He hit a double, the home run, drew a walk and singled in the ninth inning to put two runners on with just one out. He also swiped a pair of bases. Afterward, he said “this one was for Nick Nelson.” OK, that’s not true, but Nick did write an Ode To Byron Buxton that you should read. https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/875171285172617217 The pen was solid, as Buddy Boshers gave up an unearned run followed by a scoreless inning from Matt Belisle and a pair of clean innings from Taylor Rogers. Seattle’s Ben Gamel, and his glorious hair, made a miraculous catch in which he violently crashed into the wall. https://twitter.com/MLB/status/875196755196903424 Postgame With Santana Postgame With Molitor Thursday Twins (Jose Berrios, 2.84 ERA) vs. Seattle (Ariel Miranda, 3.67 ERA), 12:10 pm CT Berrios has been an incredible stabilizing force for the Twins rotation since being called back up in mid-May. He’s gone at least five innings in all six of his starts, and he has yet to allow more than four runs in a start. The Twins are 5-1 in games he takes the hill. Miranda, a lefty, has been dynamite at home (2.14 ERA in six starts) but has struggled away from Safeco, posting a 5.68 ERA over seven starts. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: AL Central Standings Twins 33-29 Cleveland 31-31 (-2) Detroit 30-34 (-4) Kansas City 30-34 (-4) Chicago 28-35 (-5.5) Be sure to check out all the action from down on the farm on Wednesday in the Minor League Report.
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It was nice to see the Twins on the happy end of a blowout again, as they absolutely clobbered Seattle, setting a franchise record for hits in the process. Eddie Rosario had three home runs, one off a Mariners catcher. I guess other teams are doing the whole catchers pitching thing now too.Twins 20, Mariners 7 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WX613.png Eduardo Escobar led the team’s march into the record books with a five-hit game. Kennys Vargas, Jason Castro and Rosario each had four hits. The Twins tallied seven runs in both the third and seventh innings. Run differential fixed. And Miguel Sano wasn’t even in the lineup. For Rosario, it was the first multi-homer game of his career. That alone is impressive, but what was especially peculiar about his night is he saw just nine total pitches. That’s not odd for the ultra-aggressive Rosie, but I wonder how many times a guy has hit three homers while seeing less than 10 pitches in game. Download attachment: RosarioPitches.png Kyle Gibson was bad, giving up six runs on 12 hits and a whole lot of loud contact, but in a game like this, the fact that he was able to go six innings was a big plus. Am I trying to polish a turd? Yeah, I guess. But the bullpen really needed that, seeing as the team is going to play six games over the next five days. Postgame With Rosario Postgame With Molitor Wednesday Twins (Ervin Santana, 2.20 ERA) vs. Seattle (San Gaviglio, 2.79 ERA), 7:10 pm CT Santana has really struggled against Robinson Cano over his career, having given up six home runs over 51 plate appearances to his countryman. Altogether, current Mariners have a .918 OPS in 166 plate appearances against Ervin. Gaviglio is a 27-year-old rookie right hander who is making his sixth start of the season. Among 346 pitchers who’ve thrown at least 20 innings this year, Gaviglio ranks 54th with a 52.9 percent groundball rate (top 15 percentile). Bullpen Usage Report Here's a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: bullpen613.png This is a new feature today. I figured since the bullpen has become such a story line this season I’d work something in that may provide insight into who may be available the next night. If you have any ideas for information you’d like to see in these daily recaps, I’d love to hear them. Either leave a comment on here or send me a personal message. I can’t make any promises that they’ll be implemented, time is a factor in putting these together, but I will definitely see what I can do. And, as long as we’re straying from the script, I’d just like to give a big thank you to all who have been reading these. The positive response has been overwhelming. AL Central Standings Twins 33-28 Cleveland 31-30 (-2) Detroit 30-33 (-4) Kansas City 28-34 (-5.5) *game in progress when article published Chicago 28-35 (-6) Make sure to check out the MLB Draft Day 2 review to learn about the eight players the Twins drafted on Tuesday. Click here to view the article
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Twins 20, Mariners 7: Twins Set Franchise Record With 28 Hits
Tom Froemming posted an article in Twins
Twins 20, Mariners 7 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Eduardo Escobar led the team’s march into the record books with a five-hit game. Kennys Vargas, Jason Castro and Rosario each had four hits. The Twins tallied seven runs in both the third and seventh innings. Run differential fixed. And Miguel Sano wasn’t even in the lineup. For Rosario, it was the first multi-homer game of his career. That alone is impressive, but what was especially peculiar about his night is he saw just nine total pitches. That’s not odd for the ultra-aggressive Rosie, but I wonder how many times a guy has hit three homers while seeing less than 10 pitches in game. Kyle Gibson was bad, giving up six runs on 12 hits and a whole lot of loud contact, but in a game like this, the fact that he was able to go six innings was a big plus. Am I trying to polish a turd? Yeah, I guess. But the bullpen really needed that, seeing as the team is going to play six games over the next five days. Postgame With Rosario https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4gAfxhF9E Postgame With Molitor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLwXtS_076Q Wednesday Twins (Ervin Santana, 2.20 ERA) vs. Seattle (San Gaviglio, 2.79 ERA), 7:10 pm CT Santana has really struggled against Robinson Cano over his career, having given up six home runs over 51 plate appearances to his countryman. Altogether, current Mariners have a .918 OPS in 166 plate appearances against Ervin. Gaviglio is a 27-year-old rookie right hander who is making his sixth start of the season. Among 346 pitchers who’ve thrown at least 20 innings this year, Gaviglio ranks 54th with a 52.9 percent groundball rate (top 15 percentile). Bullpen Usage Report Here's a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: This is a new feature today. I figured since the bullpen has become such a story line this season I’d work something in that may provide insight into who may be available the next night. If you have any ideas for information you’d like to see in these daily recaps, I’d love to hear them. Either leave a comment on here or send me a personal message. I can’t make any promises that they’ll be implemented, time is a factor in putting these together, but I will definitely see what I can do. And, as long as we’re straying from the script, I’d just like to give a big thank you to all who have been reading these. The positive response has been overwhelming. AL Central Standings Twins 33-28 Cleveland 31-30 (-2) Detroit 30-33 (-4) Kansas City 28-34 (-5.5) *game in progress when article published Chicago 28-35 (-6) Make sure to check out the MLB Draft Day 2 review to learn about the eight players the Twins drafted on Tuesday. -
Oh, totally, Mejia got lit up. But there weren't many really big red flags to take away. The M's didn't barrel up any balls off him. They did have four hits of 95+ exit velocity, but the Twins managed to do that off Gallardo five times and he managed. Mejia got 12 swinging strikes on 77 pitches (15.6%), which is very good. His own error in the first inning hurt him. Two of Seattle's five hits in the second inning came off the bat at 76.4 (Cano's) and 75.4 mph (Smith's). It was a really bad game for him, but I'm inclined to give him a free pass on this one.
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Right, I think the big difference in how you view things right now comes down to whether you want to focus on who they got or whether you wanna focus on who they didn't. I was strongly on Team Greene, but Lewis has crazy high upside, too. Sounds like a very complete, well-rounded player. I'm excited. If I look at Rooker's numbers too long I have to start fanning myself. Before anybody gets in an uproar about Leach, I'd encourage them to take a look at some of the video. Both his body and his mechanics look really good for a 17-year-old. There's a reason why Texas wanted him. If people didn't like Day 1 of the draft, hey, I get it. But I think it's pretty silly to try and say with certainty today that the Twins have had a bad draft, or that whatever strategy you think they had didn't pay off. For all we know, things may have worked out exactly as they intended.
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Let me borrow you my rose-colored glasses real quick ...
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When the Twins lose, they really lose. Adalberto Mejia got hammered for nine runs, eight of them earned, over 3.2 innings and things didn’t get much better after that. It was the fourth time in the last 13 games the Twins gave up at least a dozen runs. How is this still a first-place team?Mariners 14, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WX612.png This one got out of hand in a hurry, as you can see from the sad, sad win expectancy graph. Mejia just didn’t have it today, and was forced to stay in a while in an effort to help protect the bullpen. From the below map via Baseball Savant, it looks like Adalberto struggled with command. Lots of balls too far off the corners and lots of others right down the pipe. Download attachment: MejiaMap.png The bullpen was bad, again. Chris Gimenez had to pitch, again. Alex Wimmers gave up a run on three hits and two walks over 1.1 innings. He was optioned out after the game. It’s possible Ryan Pressly will be on the way back (0 ER, 7 K in 4 IP at AAA), but no official announcement has been made, so who knows. Breslow gave up a pair of homers. Sigh. UPDATE: Tuesday Twins (Kyle Gibson, 6.52 ERA) vs. Mariners (Christian Bergman, 4.03 ERA) Gibson is coming off his best start of the season against these Mariners. He featured his curveball much more than usual and it’ll be interesting to see if he leans on that pitch again. He actually has a 2.65 ERA over his last three starts. The Twins beat Bergman his last time out. The right-hander has also been pitching well of late, posting a 1.50 ERA over his last three outings. AL Central Standings Twins 32-28 Cleveland 31-29 (-1) Detroit 30-32 (-3) Kansas City 28-34 (-5) Chicago 27-35 (-6) Click here for today’s minor league report. While you’re at it, check out the Twins Daily draft day thread, read up on top pick Royce Lewis and get yourself familiar with other new draftees Brent Rooker and Landon Leach. Click here to view the article
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Mariners 14, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) This one got out of hand in a hurry, as you can see from the sad, sad win expectancy graph. Mejia just didn’t have it today, and was forced to stay in a while in an effort to help protect the bullpen. From the below map via Baseball Savant, it looks like Adalberto struggled with command. Lots of balls too far off the corners and lots of others right down the pipe. The bullpen was bad, again. Chris Gimenez had to pitch, again. Alex Wimmers gave up a run on three hits and two walks over 1.1 innings. He was optioned out after the game. It’s possible Ryan Pressly will be on the way back (0 ER, 7 K in 4 IP at AAA), but no official announcement has been made, so who knows. Breslow gave up a pair of homers. Sigh. UPDATE: https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/874485322117251072 But, Buddy Boshers deserves a special mention as a silver lining. He pitched a pair of scoreless innings and has his ERA down to 1.64. The team could desperately use another relief arm it could depend on, maybe Buddy’s the guy. To be fair, the bats didn’t exactly have a stellar day against Yovanni Gallardo (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5K), either. Brian Dozier went 3-for-4 with a double. Joe Mauer hit a nice two-run double. I suppose another positive is that Jorge Polanco returned from bereavement to pinch hit for Mauer late in the game. He stayed in at shortstop, forcing Ehire Adrianza over to play first base, a position he’s played once in his entire professional career. Of course Gimenez was going to end up pitching in this one. He gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. This was his fifth appearance on the mound this season. He’s only caught 19 games, played first in three others and got an inning in at third once. I think it’s time we call him a two-way player. Who needs Hunter Greene or Brendan McKay? https://twitter.com/theaceofspaeder/status/874470531461808128 Tuesday Twins (Kyle Gibson, 6.52 ERA) vs. Mariners (Christian Bergman, 4.03 ERA) Gibson is coming off his best start of the season against these Mariners. He featured his curveball much more than usual and it’ll be interesting to see if he leans on that pitch again. He actually has a 2.65 ERA over his last three starts. The Twins beat Bergman his last time out. The right-hander has also been pitching well of late, posting a 1.50 ERA over his last three outings. AL Central Standings Twins 32-28 Cleveland 31-29 (-1) Detroit 30-32 (-3) Kansas City 28-34 (-5) Chicago 27-35 (-6) Click here for today’s minor league report. While you’re at it, check out the Twins Daily draft day thread, read up on top pick Royce Lewis and get yourself familiar with other new draftees Brent Rooker and Landon Leach.
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Those numbers are based on the average fielder. The bulk Statcast catch probability data is available over at Baseball Savant. It's based upon the hang time of the ball and the distance the fielder had to cover to get to it. The percentages come from historical data on similar plays from the last two seasons. So basically what they're saying is on similar plays over the past two years the outfielder was only able to make that catch 44% of the time. And, you're right, Buxton made it look pretty routine. Guy is amazing.
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Giants 13, Twins 8 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) It would probably be an appropriate time to write a eulogy for Matt Belise’s pitching career, but nobody would take any joy in that. It’s been a good run, he’s been a big leaguer for 14 years, but after getting rocked for four runs in 0.2 innings, his ERA is all the way up to 8.59. With his reputation, I’m sure he’ll have no trouble staying in the game as some type of a coach if he so chooses. No roster moves have been announced, but you have to figure it’s only a matter of time now. What's gone wrong for Belisle? Well along with an increase in walks (BB percent is up from 3.8 in 2016 to 13.6 this year), he's giving up more hard contact and more fly balls. That's a recipe for disaster. Info below via Fangraphs: Craig Breslow, one-upped Belisle by giving up five runs in the eighth. He had been pitching fairly well prior to tonight’s meltdown, but almost exclusively in low-leverage situations. Both Belisle and Breslow were added over the offseason in large part to add leadership to the bullpen. We'll see just how much the team values that leadership based on how much longer they stick around. The big intrigue leading into this one surrounded Nik Turley making his major league debut. Things got off to a rough start, as the 27-year-old lefty gave up a pair of runs in the first inning. His teammates picked him up by tying the game in the bottom of the first. Turley settled in some after that, but he only pitched four innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. He had four strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Brooks Baseball had Turley maxing out at 95 mph, and he managed to get eight swinging strikes on 73 pitches (10.95 percent whiff rate). It wasn’t a great start by any means, but he probably won’t be taking the next flight to Rochester, either. Lord knows Turley’s traveled enough this season. Here’s a look at all the transactions he’s been involved in so far this season, via MiLB.com: Eduardo Escobar had a big night, going 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Byron Buxton had two hits, one of them a home run, and also made a four-star catch, according to Statcast. https://twitter.com/_dadler/status/874001464561106949 Here’s the catch, via FSN on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/874000159868207104 Today Twins (Adalberto Mejia, 4.18 ERA) vs. Seattle (Yovani Gallardo, 6.26 ERA), 7:10 pm CT This will be a rematch from Wednesday, which the Mariners won on a walk-off homer. Seattle scored three runs off Mejia over his five innings pitched, but only managed a pair of hits (both home runs) off the lefty in that contest. Gallardo went seven innings in that game, giving up five runs. He’s pitched well at Target Field over his career, logging a 3.65 ERA over four starts. AL Central Standings Twins 32-27 Cleveland 31-29 (-1.5) Detroit 30-32 (-3.5) Kansas City 28-34 (-5.5) Chicago 26-35 (-7.0) From Yesterday’s Game Unfortunately, some of the really cool, fun stuff I like to look at isn’t always available right when I write these up. Here’s Kennys Vargas’ monster homer at AT&T Park from Saturday with a Target Field overlay vis ESPN's Home Run Tracker:
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How much does veteran leadership cost? Well, on Sunday afternoon it cost the Twins nine runs. Matt Belisle and Craig Breslow got crushed, blowing a game the Twins were leading 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Despite the ugly loss, it’s a pretty amazing time to be a Twins fan right now. The team is still in first place after going 6-4 on a West Coast road trip and tomorrow they’ll finally be making their choice for the No. 1 pick in the draft. Byron Buxton even had a good game today!Giants 13, Twins 8 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WX611.png It would probably be an appropriate time to write a eulogy for Matt Belise’s pitching career, but nobody would take any joy in that. It’s been a good run, he’s been a big leaguer for 14 years, but after getting rocked for four runs in 0.2 innings, his ERA is all the way up to 8.59. With his reputation, I’m sure he’ll have no trouble staying in the game as some type of a coach if he so chooses. No roster moves have been announced, but you have to figure it’s only a matter of time now. What's gone wrong for Belisle? Well along with an increase in walks (BB percent is up from 3.8 in 2016 to 13.6 this year), he's giving up more hard contact and more fly balls. That's a recipe for disaster. Info below via Fangraphs: Download attachment: Screenshot 2017-06-12 at 6.57.51 AM.png Craig Breslow, one-upped Belisle by giving up five runs in the eighth. He had been pitching fairly well prior to tonight’s meltdown, but almost exclusively in low-leverage situations. Both Belisle and Breslow were added over the offseason in large part to add leadership to the bullpen. We'll see just how much the team values that leadership based on how much longer they stick around. The big intrigue leading into this one surrounded Nik Turley making his major league debut. Things got off to a rough start, as the 27-year-old lefty gave up a pair of runs in the first inning. His teammates picked him up by tying the game in the bottom of the first. Turley settled in some after that, but he only pitched four innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. He had four strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Brooks Baseball had Turley maxing out at 95 mph, and he managed to get eight swinging strikes on 73 pitches (10.95 percent whiff rate). It wasn’t a great start by any means, but he probably won’t be taking the next flight to Rochester, either. Lord knows Turley’s traveled enough this season. Here’s a look at all the transactions he’s been involved in so far this season, via MiLB.com: Download attachment: TurlyTransactions.png Eduardo Escobar had a big night, going 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Byron Buxton had two hits, one of them a home run, and also made a four-star catch, according to Statcast. Today Twins (Adalberto Mejia, 4.18 ERA) vs. Seattle (Yovani Gallardo, 6.26 ERA), 7:10 pm CT This will be a rematch from Wednesday, which the Mariners won on a walk-off homer. Seattle scored three runs off Mejia over his five innings pitched, but only managed a pair of hits (both home runs) off the lefty in that contest. Gallardo went seven innings in that game, giving up five runs. He’s pitched well at Target Field over his career, logging a 3.65 ERA over four starts. AL Central Standings Twins 32-27 Cleveland 31-29 (-1.5) Detroit 30-32 (-3.5) Kansas City 28-34 (-5.5) Chicago 26-35 (-7.0) From Yesterday’s Game Unfortunately, some of the really cool, fun stuff I like to look at isn’t always available right when I write these up. Here’s Kennys Vargas’ monster homer at AT&T Park from Saturday with a Target Field overlay vis ESPN's Home Run Tracker: Download attachment: VargasTF.jpg Click here to view the article
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