Twins

[LPS]

I see we only have a one game cushion in first place now.

[dutchboy]

I'll be happy if the Twinks are within 3 games of them.

[KEN W]

Cleveland is 14-5 in month of June.

Twins are 9-11 month of June

Twins had 7.5 game lead beginning of June

Lead is now 1 game

Twins will be in second place end of next week. 

[Gunner55]

Ryan's 1st game back so they probably won't let him overdo it. They have 5 starters back in the rotation for the 1st time since mid-May so that should help the bullpen. Would love to see 'em get game 1. Cleveland's schedule has been pretty easy in June too & they now get the BoSox & NYY on the ends of the 2 series with the Twins.

[Steve-o]

For as nice as it would be to see the Twins run away with the division, I kinda like there is only a 1 game lead.

There is something on the line now and every one of these games means more.

It should be a fun series to watch.  Lets see what they are made of.

[Steve-o]

Standings not withstanding, those two teams looked about as even as they could be last night and played 11 innings.

Twins were within one strike of getting out of the 8th when the Guardi-indians hit the two-run shot to tie the game. 

And the Twins were within ten feet of getting a walk-off homer to win the game from their last batter, Miranda.


That was the first extra inning game I watched where they put a man on 2nd to start each inning.  Purists may say it ain't baseball, but I kinda liked it.

[LPS]

I like the man on second thing.  By then I am ready for the game to get it over with.  Darn Miranda almost did it. 

[LPS]

The wife and I have been getting more into watching games.  I never have been a big baseball fan but am enjoying it.  Of course the team is better than last year so more fun to watch. 

[dutchboy]

I'm a purist. Don't like the extra inning rule. Don't like all the replays. Will absolutely hate the robo-ump. They took a fine game that grew it's revenue into the billions and step by step are trying to destroy it.

[LPS]

I can see that angle bugging a purist. 

[glenn57]

I'm going to regret this but I agree with dutchy. There slowly tearing baseball apart.

These guys get paid a ton on money, man up. I had to work at ton of OT in my day, never got to cheat!

[LPS]

It really bugs me when we see the white box and know exactly what the call should be.  Introduce human error and it is no longer correct.  Once they started with the box on TV it was the beginning of their being robo calls at the plate I think.  Just a matter of time.  Will still have the ump there to manage the game but the calls will be accurate.

[dutchboy]

The box on TV shows something pretty plainly.......these umps by & large are pretty damn good. You are having 250-300 pitches on a typical game. If they miss less then 10% of the pitches that means they are right 90% of the time.

BTW, Glenn can you frame & sign that "I agree with Dutchy" and send it to me?    

[glenn57]

  naw it's going to haunt me for a long time as it is!!

[Steve-o]

Not a good start to the series!!!  The first game could have gone either way - you win some, you lose some.

But last night...? 

Call it what you will... choke job?     The other team just beat you?   

Good teams don't let that happen.   

[KEN W]

They need to put in the electronic home plate umpire.

2 infielders on each side of second base.

No infielders starting an at bat on the outfield grass.

3 outfielders only.

No velcro batting gloves.

Timer on the pitcher

Lots of things to make it more entertaining and last less than 3 hours. With most of those we wouldn't notice the difference except for the electronic umpire. 

And NO MORE SPITTING. That's disgusting

[Steve-o]

They need to put in the electronic home plate umpire.
2 infielders on each side of second base.
No infielders starting an at bat on the outfield grass.
3 outfielders only.
No velcro batting gloves.
Timer on the pitcher
Lots of things to make it more entertaining and last less than 3 hours. With most of those we wouldn't notice the difference except for the electronic umpire. 
And NO MORE SPITTING. That's disgusting

They either need to institute the electronic balls and strike umpire OR make it illegal to show the digital box on broadcasts.  Its infuriating.   

I'm with you on the shift, not so much on infielders starting on outfield grass.  I don't think all parks have the same configuration, do they?  If the infield is playing back...  bunt. 

If you put a clock on the pitcher, you can't let the batter out of the box after every pitch, and YES, get rid of those damn velcro gloves.  If the pitcher pitches the ball while the batter is adjusting those stupid things, call it a strike.   

I'm OK with spitting, but pinching one nostril closed and blowing out the other is a little over the top. 

[KEN W]

Yup.....timer on the batter also.

[dutchboy]

The game isn't broken. The pitch clock and 2 guys on each side of second will fix what needs fixing. The rest of the list we don't need.

[KEN W]

The game isn't broken. The pitch clock and 2 guys on each side of second will fix what needs fixing. The rest of the list we don't need.

Need all of the above. Cleaner game, more offense, shorter game time. Eventually will not notice any of those except the automated strike zone.

Anyway.....finally hung on to win one after the last 2. Will be interesting next week in Cleveland for 5 games. Just hope they get the bullpen straightened out.

[dutchboy]

With the lack of quality pitching in the game I would argue there is more than enough offense already. Lots of football scores.

[Gunner55]

With the lack of quality pitching in the game I would argue there is more than enough offense already. Lots of football scores.

Heard Bremer say during a recent game that there had been 3 complete games in MLB this season at that point in time & 2 of those were shutouts. Thought he said the starter lost the other 1.

[dutchboy]

There are SOME quality pitchers but I don't think there is enough to put even one on every team. The football mentality has taken over where people want action every single second. I enjoy a well pitched game and defense so these games with lots of homeruns and 11-10 final scores don't do a lot for me. They're fine, I just don't enjoy them as much as a well played 4-3 game.

Which Twins starter would you bet $100 on to get the win every single start? None for me. These guys are just average to slightly above average pitchers trying to survive in a day where pitch count over rides common sense. They are not allowed (or encouraged) to go deep into games or to dig themselves out of trouble thus learning how to pitch. Todays motto seems to be there are guys standing on every corner we can get to pitch. Start and go hard as long as you can and then we will open the gates to more guys off the corner who aren't quite as good as you to finish the game.

One thing the Falvey regime has shown me. The Twins will never have a 20 game winner. They will never have a guy throw 3 complete games. They will never have a Cy Young winner. Budget baseball where you spend as little as possible on pitching has arrived in the twin cities.

[Gunner55]

Want to stop a hot team? Just do what Smeltzer did yday, stay ahead in the count. He faced 21 batters & started 16 of 'em off with a strike. Even then it took a Houdini act from Joe Smith to get out of the bases loaded & nobody out in the 7th.

[dutchboy]

Did Smith load em up or did he inherit some from Smeltzer?

[LPS]

He loaded them up.  Then was a base hit to first and he threw home for a force out.  The last out was a pop up to Kepler.  May have struck out the second guy, not sure.  Got out of a big mess.  Fun to watch.

[Gunner55]

Smith started the inning & gave up a 2B, followed by a walk, then a HBP loaded 'em up. A FC to Miranda, then a bobbled FC to Urshella, & finally a soft liner to Kepler got him out of it. 

[Steve-o]

Pegan might be the worst reliever in baseball - let alone closer.  If the Twins loose the division in a close race, it could easily be blamed on these blown saves against the Guardi-Indians. 

And the Twins lost their pitching coach doesn't help.  Not good.

[Steve-o]

Looks like another bullpen meltdown.  (I haven't had a chance to read the game summary.)

Twins up 3-1 going into the 8th.
Game tied going into the 9th.
Your final score...  Twins 3 - GuardiIndians 5. 

[dutchboy]

They walked everybody in the house today. Correa had 2 errors.

Oh well, they are who we thought they would be. Decent offense and good defense with little to no pitching on a consistent basis.