Archived Game Threads

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 i…

You know, that C the Reds use as their logo looks strangely familiar... I confess, amongst the t-shirts i remember wearing as a kid was baseball player with a baseball head. I am pretty sure it was a Reds shirt. I have no idea why i had a shirt like that. Probably for the same reason i also wore a Mr. Bubbles t-shirt. The rest of my Cincinnati lore i attribute to Dr. Demento playing the following song: (Pop quiz: where did they get the video segments to go with that song?) Which would suggest a game thread theme to the astute TwinsDaily poster: The Horror. The Horror. Reds: 0. Luis Castillo (R ) 1. Shogo Akiyama ( L) LF 2. Jesse Winker ( L) RF 3. Joey Votto …

The Twins are in 1st place. The offense is starting to find itself. Edwar Colina is up with the big league squad. Is there anything else to say? Twins SP: Jose Berrios 1. Max Kepler RF 2. Josh Donaldson 3B 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. Byron Buxton CF 6. Miguel Sano 1B 7. Jorge Polanco SS 8. Mitch Garver C 9. Marwin Gonzalez 2B Reds SP: Tyler Mahle 1. Shogo Akiyama LF 2. Nick Castellanos RF 3. Joey Votto 1B 4. Eugenio Suarez 3B 5. Mike Moustakas 2B 6. Jesse Winker DH 7. Nick Senzel CF 8. Freddy Galvis SS 9. Tucker Barnhart C This is obviously going to be a tough series, especially if the Reds don’t clinch a spot tonight. Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, a…

Please pardon me for this highly unusual thread, but we live in highly unusual times... Fire up your MLB.TV machines and join me for this game thread on a Twins off day: a scoreboard watching game thread! The browser version of MLB.TV can play up to 4 games at once, as can the Apple TV version. You can block ads on the browser version too. If you don't have those devices, I think you can sign in to watch on up to 4 different devices at once. Hit me up with any other MLB.TV questions! Directly relevant to the Twins tonight: 5:10 PM CDT (I am loving these early start times!) White Sox (Keuchel) at Cleveland (Plesac) Needs no introduction here -- 1st and 2nd place …

Good evening and welcome back to another great game thread experience! I apologize for posting this so late... This Covid thing has thrown a real wrench into my usual schedule. Seems like everyone is having the same issues. Regardless, the Twins making the playoffs (never any doubt) makes this Covid crud more bearable. Five games left to play and we are only a half game behind the White Sox to win the division. Bet on this: The White Sox will fold and the Twins will take the division. This game means something and I think the Twins players want that divisional title. Let's GO TWINS!!! Playoff bound and ready to fight. Tonight's Lineups: TWINS: 1. Byron Buxton …

A couple(5) of posers* to offer by way of opening this book club discussion... So, is this game Homer's Illiad, or Odyssey? Was Lord Byron a better politician or poet? Would a Rosario by any name smell as sweet? How did Josh hit one over the walls of Jericho? What are orbital routes of certai spheres as projected by Kepler? 0. Tarik Skubal ( L) P 1. Victor Reyes ( S ) CF 2. Willi Castro ( S ) SS 3. Miguel Cabrera (R ) DH 4. J. Candelario ( S ) 1B 5. Brandon Dixon (R ) LF 6. Niko Goodrum ( S ) 2B 7. Austin Romine (R ) C 8. Isaac Paredes (R ) 3B 9. Daz Cameron (R ) RF Twins: 0. Homer Bailey (R ) P 1. Byron Buxton (R ) CF 2. Josh Donaldson (R ) 3B 3. Eddie Ros…

The Twins conclude their week in Chicago with a Sunday night game against the Cubs. The Twins have won two of the first six games against the White Sox and Cubs (leaders of the AL Central and NL Central respectively. However, last night's win clinched a playoff spot for the Twins. They appear to be on a collision course with the Yankees, who finally lost today, giving the Twins a chance to be the home team for the first round of the playoffs. Starting pitchers are Yu Darvish for the Cubs and Jose Berríos for the Twins. Darvish has had a fantastic season with a 7-2 record and less than 2 ERA. Darvish's WHIP is under 1.00. Berríos has found his form after struggling throu…

Formal Game Thread. Attire expected. Please have your invitation ready. You will be announced as you enter. Please wait for the previous person's fanfare to finish before making your entrance. (well, walk up music if you will) For everyone's protection, please keep your masks on. And your helmet or glove, or shin guards... arm guards chest protectors... ciurass, gauntlets, greaves... Say, this is a safe game isn't it? Oh yes. Inter action is limited to balls and bats. Please sit down and allow the bar to lower snuggly onto your lap. Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times, and wait for the ride comes to a complete stop. There will be embarassing…

Good evening, I'm your guest introducer of today's game thread as the Twins play the Cubs at Wrigley Field tonight. The Twins are solidly in the playoffs, but are a longshot to win the Central Division after losing three of four to the White Sox earlier this week. Only eight games remain and the Twins trail by three games and lose a tiebreaker to Chicago. They have a similar lead over Cleveland for second place in the division which will most likely mean either a #4 or #5 seed and most likely a chance to end the jinx against the Yankees. The Cubs comfortably lead the NL Central, as the only team in the division with a winning record, Starting pitchers are slated to be …

Aphorism game thread. In the aphore times, when ya couldn't look up the rules on the internet, and compare the bruteforce statistics of when it made sense to bunt, they had to come up with quick and clever ways of remindin' folk what to do. Here are a bunch of useful ones that will help us win... Well now... It seems some Sox fan got into my game thread intro, and mixed a few dubious ones. Can you help me sift through and figure out what is what? Rosario sure would appreciate it. Hit 'em where they ain't. Red sky at dawn, the bunt must be on. Red sky at night, play back and hold tight. Chose wisely, for swinging at the correct pitch may give you immortality, a f…

I looked at the current playoff standings to see who we would possibly play....that was a terrible idea. However, there are still 2 games left in this series, and the Twins can still narrow back the division lead to a single game! Let's hope that happens so we don't have to play the team that will be left unnamed. Twins Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi 1. RF Max Kepler (L) 2. 3B Josh Donaldson ® 3. DH Nelson Cruz ® 4. LF Eddie Rosario (L) 5. 1B Miguel Sanó ® 6. CF Byron Buxton ® 7. 2B Marwin Gonzalez (S) 8. SS Ehire Adrianza (S) 9. C Alex Avila (L) White Sox Starting Pitcher: Lucas Giolito 1. SS Tim Anderson ® 2. 1B Yasmani Grandal (S) 3. DH José Abreu ® 4. LF …

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 Do…

Let's all load up our baskets and blankets, and enjoy a nice socially distanced picnic while we watch the game: 2 fine teams competing for the shere joy of it. No tricks, no weapons. Just skill against skill. Sportsmanlike. Hmmm, i wonder how old is the value of sportsmanship? Ship... does it originate in maritime practices? Or perhaps it was originally sheep... coming from those good old shepharding days, ever since David bested Goliath... Well, we need only to watch, and find out which is the sheep, and which the goat... Twins 0. Jose Berrios (R ) P 1. Max Kepler ( L) RF 2. Josh Donaldson (R ) 3B 3. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 4. Jorge Polanco ( S ) SS 5. LaMonte Wade…

To all the Twins fans around the world, welcome to another Game Thread extravaganza! This is probably the best area on Twins Daily to experience our members' unique wit and wisdom around baseball and the Minnesota Twins. The banter on Game Threads are quick and always snappy. Settle in for a great game, some bad jokes and a fun time....and please don't be afraid to participate. I know this is obvious but a win today for the Twins means a sweep against the Indians. It's great to see this team starting to get their offense going. It couldn't be happening at a better time...Look out White Sox! We're coming for you...4 games starting tomorrow. My crystal ball sees the Twins…

In the absence of a formal game thread, here is an informal one instead! (Feel free to delete this one if the real game threader appears.) National TV! (FOX over the air, for all of you cord-cutters out there.) CLE Lineup 1. Francisco Lindor (S) SS 2. Cesar Hernandez (S) 2B 3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B 4. Carlos Santana (S) 1B 5. Franmil Reyes (R) DH 6. Jordan Luplow (R) RF 7. Oscar Mercado (R) LF 8. Roberto Perez (R) C 9. Delino DeShields (R) CF SP: Zach Plesac, RHP MIN Lineup 1. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 2. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B 3. Nelson Cruz (R) DH 4. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 5. Miguel Sano (R) 1B 6. Brent Rooker (R) RF 7. Byron Buxton (R) CF 8. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 2B 9. Wil…

The Twins return to action Friday after taking a very much needed 2 day break from baseball because of the doubleheader played Tuesday, which was originally a normal 2 day series. However, things start to heat up in intensity as the Cleveland Indians, who are behind the Twins by half a game in the division, who are a game behind Chicago, come to town. This is as important of a series as you can have in a 60 game season. The Pitchers: RHP Shane Bieber (7-0, 57.2 IP, 1.25 ERA, 94 K's) vs RHP Kenta Maeda (4-1, 48.2 IP, 2.77 ERA, 56 K's) Shane Bieber has easily been the best pitcher in the entire America League, and the entirety of MLB this season. The right hander averag…

The Twins have a one-day road trip today. Due to the Cardinals messed up schedule because of positive COVID-19 tests, the Twins will play two games in St. Louis today and have an off day tomorrow (and also Thursday). Unfortunately, my weather app says that there is a good chance of rain in St. Louis this afternoon. I don't know what MLB will do if weather interferes and I hope I don't find out. The Twins have 17 games remaining, no team has played more games. They are currently in third place in the AL Central, but barring a complete meltdown, they will make the playoffs this year. According to ESPN, they have a 99.5% chance to advance to postseason. They have played we…

I am sick of watching the Tigers this year! Of course, playing the same team 8 times in under 2 weeks doesn't help, but seriously! All I see is sneaky good defense, young pitchers with potential, hit parades, and some great base stealers. It reminds me of those pesky piranhas of Gardenhire's tenure as Twins manager, and I am shocked that this style of baseball can still win in today's game. Twins SP: Michael Pineda 1B Lamonte Wade Jr. 3B Josh Donaldson DH Brent Rooker LF Eddie Rosario 2B Marwin Gonzalez CF Byron Buxton RF Jake Cave SS Ehire Adrianza C Ryan Jeffers Tigers SP: Michael Fulmer CF Victor Reyes 2B Jonathan Schoop DH Miguel Cabrera 1B Jeimer Candela…

Happy Labor Day weekend Twins fans and welcome back to more game thread action! The Twins are on a roll and finally playing with a little more fire in the belly. Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer (technically it's September 22nd but whatever) my point is, there is not a lot of regular season baseball left to play. I would really like to see a 12+ game winning streak heading into the playoffs. Momentum will be the key to making it through the Covid type playoff system MLB designed this year. Also need to do a quick shout out to Byron Buxton, nice work last night!!! When I walked outside this morning to survey last nights hail damage, I turned on the radio to s…

Another fine Mess-age... I had an epiphony* as i pondered this intro. Detroit is actually Moe-town. I leave it as an exercise to the Reader which of the other Stooges corresponds to which Central Division Rival... But of course, that leaves the eternal question of self identity... if we know who we are, do we really need to know who anyone else is? It is undoubtedly open to discussion. Could any pair of comics epitomize our beloved Twins? If we was winnin' on the Road, Bob and Bing might be an obvious choice, but we ain't. Bud and Lou always seems too obvious, what with the oft quoted baseball sketch, but i would like to consider Stan and Ollie myself. Anyway, as far…

Brent Rooker, it is your time to show what you've got. It has always intrigued me how the Twins organization has treated having an overabundance of outfielders in the past. Jason Kubel never seemed to get enough at bats, Michael Cuddyer was thrown around the playing field, Delmon Young and Miguel Sano were allowed to even be out there, and the list goes on. Currently, us fans are extremely lucky to have Rosario, Kepler, Buxton, and Gonzalez being out there most days. However, Rooker, Kirilloff, Larnach, and even Royce Lewis are knocking at the doorstep, and they will need opportunities soon. I was looking back at some old writings of mine a couple weeks ago, and I wro…

The Twins put a stop to their 6 game losing streak last night with a 3-2 win over Chicago. Tonight they look to take the series, playing their final game of 20 in a row before a timely off-day tomorrow. The White Sox sit on top of the ALC standings with under 30 games to play, but the Twins can bring themselves into half a game with a win over the Southsiders tonight. The Pitchers: RHP Reynaldo Lopez (0-1, 8 IP, 9.00 ERA, 8 K's) vs RHP Jose Berrios (2-3, 36 IP, 4.75 ERA, 39 K's) The Twins scored a bunch of runs off of Lopez the first time they saw him, but Berrios got knocked around on opening day. Both pitchers have been up and down this year, with Lopez landing on …

Good evening and welcome back to the Twins Daily Game Thread party! Happy September 1st too. Only 30 days left of the regular season. If I'm gonna level straight with my gentle readers today, I am tired of this losing streak. To be honest, (because what I usually write on here are fabrications and lies) I'm a little angry and frustrated too. The losing streak ends tonight! Trust me! My win percentage when I do game thread introductions has got to be over .750. Everybody just relax, I am going to will us a win tonight. If these players can't get it done tonight I will do it for us. By the way, I also have some help tonight from a big Mr. Pineda and Mr. Buxton. I'm expe…

Before we go nuts about not doing anything at the deadline, let’s remember: 1. Our rotation currently consists (starting tomorrow) of Pineda, Berrios, Dobnak, Maeda, and Hill. All of these guys are good enough to win playoff games. 2. Adrianza and Vargas won’t be splitting playing time forever. When Donaldson comes back, and Arraez is fully healed, watch out. 3. Byron Buxton and Mitch Garver should also be back by the end of the season. 4.The bullpen is pretty much set. There’s 6 guys I trust in high leverage situations, plus Jorge Alcala. 5. The first round this year has 8 teams in a best of 3 format. More luck than usual will be needed to win it all this yea…

"Let's start things rolling with the Tiger Rag" So begins the first side of the second record in the Spike Jones Omnibus i listened to as a kid. Unfortunately largess of youtube has let me down and the track doesn't come up when searching, so i shall have to leave my Spike Jones and his City Slickers comfort zone. Roll seems as good a cue to follow as any: and for those of you like to know the score: And just to reassure anyone worried about yestersay... And without further ado... Twins 0. Kenta Maeda (R ) P 1. Max Kepler ( L) RF 2. Jorge Polanco ( S ) SS 3. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 4. Miguel Sano (R ) 1B 5. Jake Cave ( L) CF 6. Luis Arraez ( L) 2B 7. M.…

The Twins face the Tigers in a doubleheader in Detroit. Detroit and Kansas City are well behind the leaders in the AL Central. The Tigers appear better, but still aren't contenders for postseason. They face Matthew Boyd and Terik Skubal, both left handers. Boyd has struggled so far while Skubal is making his third start. The Twins open the series as co-leaders along with both Chicago and Cleveland. They still are struggling offensively and the bullpen has lost a couple of games in part because the starters aren't giving much length. They will probably go with a bullpen game in Game 2, most likely using 29th man the so-far disappointing Lewis Thorpe and new call-up (and…

Fezzig game thread: Think of something clever? Well, i never... Someone said a rhyming thread would be mostly dead so here's your first head... Of a double header* Minnesota (under the new guard) 0. Randy Dobnak (R ) P 1. Jorge Polanco ( S ) SS 2. Miguel Sano (R ) 1B 3. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 4. M. Gonzalez ( S ) RF 5. I. Vargas ( S ) 2B 6. Eddie Rosario ( L) LF 7. Ehire Adrianza ( S ) 3B 8. Max Kepler ( L) CF 9. Alex Avila ( L) C Detroit (under the old Gard) 0. Matthew Boyd ( L) P 1. Victor Reyes ( S ) RF 2. J. Schoop (R ) 2B 3. Miguel Cabrera (R ) DH 4. J. Candelario ( S ) 1B 5. Niko Goodrum ( S ) SS 6. JaCoby Jones (R ) CF 7. C. Stewart ( L) LF 8. G. Greiner…

Good afternoon and welcome to more Twins Daily Game Thread action! I had a whole different introduction planned for tonight but guess what? My plans changed. They changed for the better...my vendor came in from out of town and invited me to play golf today. Teeing off in 1 hour! Can't say I play golf very well but I like the free drinks that will come with it today! It's 90+ degrees in Minneapolis today so I'll probably drop a few pounds too. Seems like a win, win proposition to me. Now a win, win, win proposition would be the Twins putting (no golf pun intended) a thumping on the Indians tonight. Tonights Lineups: Twins: 1. Max Kepler (RF) 2. Jorge Polanco (SS)…

Throw me a cookie, i'm in a slump. They say nothing is so difficult as hitting a major league fastball, but try swing at the fastballs of fans expectation, and trying to swat all where the fielders aren't, so as we all get safely to first, second, third, and home after the game. So i ain't exactly written many good intros this season. Case in point: i be this here metaphor is forced and gorunds into a double play. I might as well call the infield fly rule right now and put me out of my introductory misory. Of course the wise course would have been to lay off this idea as the way outside ball it is and drive the next idea into the cheap seats... That all said, you …

After today, the Twins will be halfway through the regular season, with a record of 20-10 or 19-11, and on top of an increasingly competitive AL Central. While the White Sox have powered their way into contention, the Indians have pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Looking at the roster, Cesar Hernandez, Jose Ramirez, and Franmil Reyes are the only above-average hitters. However, the Indians' rotation is preposterous to think about. Even without Clevinger and Plesac, the Indians still have a Cy Young contender in Shane Bieber, future All-Star Aaron Civale, vet and cancer survivor Carlos Carrasco, and rising star Triston McKenzie. Lineups Minnesota Twins Startin…