Archived Game Threads

Happy Tuesday Twins Fans! Tigers (47-55) vs Twins (43-58) 7:10 CST 7/27 Twins - 225 / Tigers +185 / O/U 9 (-115) Following Monday night's ELECTRIC win in extra innings, the Twins hope to make it 2 in a row vs division foe, the Detroit Tigers. On the bump for the Twins tonight is last nights game winning, pinch runner, Kenta Maeda. Better known for his pitching abilities, Maeda has been solid in his last 7 starts with a 3.89 ERA and 46 K's in 37 IP. Tyler Alexander will get the start tonight for the Tigers. The left hander has been used primarily as a reliever this season, as this will be just his 5th start of the season in 23 games. Sporting a 4…

I’ve been haunting these boards for quite some time now, and always enjoy the repartee- usually more than the games, these daze... But in over 2000 posts, I’ve shied away from doing an actual game thread—until now. I volunteered, because, hey, from ND, to the Cities, to Chicago, and points beyond, a natural migration for a Midwest boy, with fond memories in all those places. And- I was actually at the first interleague Twins/Cubs match-up in '97! I started to fill this one with reminiscences of Chicago daze, but it turned into something of a tribute to a long-lost great friend. Growing up on those ND plains, I smuggled my transistor under my pillow and into class with …

We interrupt your day with this important announcement: The Twins will be on the West Coast, enjoying the hospitality of the Oakland Athletics. This special announcement was made possible by a generous grant from the following company: *Sponsor note: May also be of use to calm some Twins fans. Now, on to the game itself, but first a word from our sponsor: *Coming soon to a store near you The Twins are coming off a tough outing against the Sox, but, the "June Swoon" this year saw the Twins go 15-12, which I suspect is an acceptable outcome, all things considered. Now, on to Oakland, but first, a brief commercial break: *Man, I wish the IT departm…

Game Thread: Twins v Tigers, 4/22 @ 1:10pm CT Folks, this weekend, I aim to steer our attention away from the tedium of Wins and Losses, WAR, fWAR, bWAR, xWAR, and other such trivialities. Today and tomorrow, we will instead pay our respects and devote our attention to the curators and folklorists of this great pastime: the broadcasters. You may be aware that I've recently relocated to Los Angeles, California. Around these parts, Vin Scully spent 58 years (and 9 years before that in Brooklyn) etching himself into the edifice of baseball immortality. 67 years of greatness without pause have landed the venerable Scully in every eligible Hall of Fame. He is a lifetime …

Call me Ishmael. No seriousl, would it hurt you to pick up the phone every once in a while? We worry... Last night's comments about no tome game thread intros made me want to write the great american game thread intro... To me, there is currently no greater out let for self expression. Unless you count telling jokes. Or playing the tuba. Baseball exhibits a weird fascination. With nothing to do, folk will find them selves wandering down to the sea... i mean a baseball game. But alas, i haven't got time. So just noting the cliffs... 5. Homeruns, or whales. As i am calling them in this intro. What is your favorite Euphemism? Er, sans further ado... (here endeth t…

Game-time forecast: Steady rain is falling at Target Field, but the game should be able to be played on Saturday. Here's hoping ... Astros: SP, Feldman Dexter Fowler CF Jose Altuve 2B George Springer RF Jason Castro C Matt Dominguez 3B Jonathan Singleton 1B Alex Presley LF Jesus Guzman DH Marwin Gonzalez SS Twins: SP, Gibson Daniel Santana DH Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer 1B Josh Willingham LF Trevor Plouffe 3B Chris Parmelee RF Kurt Suzuki C Eduardo Escobar SS Aaron Hicks CF --------------------------------------- It's up to you now, Brian. Go forth, think, write, share. Thank you! ------------------------------------------- No... Thank You Things to thi…

Two things happened that caught me off guard this last Tuesday: Jack Morris choking up when talking about Devin Smeltzer And Dick Bremer mentioning Wednesday was an off day. I didn't believe I'd heard what I'd heard until I checked the schedule and reviewed the clip provided in the game wrap up on the best baseball site on the web, Twins Daily. The off-day thing I put off to Bremer being Bremer but the Morris thing, well..... As for the Twins beating Milwaukee, eh. Sort of expected it. Now, the Twins move on and play the Rays, which should be another excellent test for the Twins. With that, here are some things to think about; 1. Wednesday as an off …

Twins fans awoke this morning to an unfamiliar sound: footsteps. Minnesota’s sat comfortably atop the AL Central standings for the past several weeks, but after getting shutout by the Mariners on Tuesday night, the division lead is down to just 2.5 games over the Cleveland Guardians. This afternoon the Twins (36-28) need a stopper on Getaway Day and will look to Sonny Gray, who returns to the rotation to face the Mariners (28-34) in the series rubber match. After a 2-week stint on the IL with a pectoral injury, Gray (3-1, 2.41) will hope to pick up where he left off. His last outing was May 29, when he notched a 6-inning, 4 strikeout performance in a win against KC. …

Well, this is it. The final showdown. The biggest sporting event in the world! If not the “Thrillah in Manilla”, then “Our Offense May Be Bland, But Watch Out Cleve-land!” The entire season boils down to this one, three game slug(less)fest at the Jake. Sweep, and the ALC is ours! Get swept…Season. Over. Wait. It’s only June. Never mind. Still, a big series if you’re like me…still clinging to the ridiculous notion that this season isn’t over yet. Buxton will come back and dominate, Dozier will SLG .700 from here on out, the bullpen won’t cough up another lead all season, Rosario and Escobar will maintain .900 OPSs respectively, Mauer will pull a ball into the RF corn…

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to some more game thread action! Trade day has finally arrived. Say hello to former Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle and goodbye to 3 former Twins prospects Spencer Steer, Steve Hajjar and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. The Twins certainly need to bolster their pitching staff and hopefully this moves the needle to get us through October. Honestly we will need a whole lot more as well. The Twins take on the lowly Tigers tonight and hopefully pull out another win after last nights 5-3 victory over Detroit. With only a 1 game lead over Cleveland in the standings, the Twins really do need to take advantage when playing these struggling t…

The Twins conclude their series against the Chicago White Sox with a day game today. The forecast is for sunny skies and 61 degrees so they likely won't be saved by a rainout. Scheduled starters are Michael Pineda versus ex-Twin Lance Lynn. In what appears to be a star-crossed season for the Twins, I have a couple of observations. First, they have been pretty luckless--it seems that more bloopers are falling in for the opponents, more wall-scaping homers have been hit against them and more balls falling just out of reach of Twins defenders. The basketball term of winning 50-50 loose balls comes to mind and the Twins aren't winning their share. Secondly, the Twins hav…

1. My precioussss game thread intro. It came to me on my birthday. Normally, what with the trade deadline, and i leave it to other more informed game threaders to introduce the complicated situation. But this year is weird, so it is just the unemployment deadline? Or something. 2. A favorite line from 'A Little Night Music': "Happy Birthday to Me." I don't know why, bjt it is, and it isn't even very important... But i am suppose to be introducing a baseball game, so i will change the topic to "Smiles of a Summer Night" the movie that got Ingmar Bergman internation recognition just before he made "The 7th Seal", which i keep meaning to watch in memory of Max Von Sydow, a…

I'm going to start this game thread on a serious note. Tonight is cancer awareness night at Target Field. I don't think anyone, anywhere hasn't been touched by cancer in some way or another. For myself ... my Mom and sister both had breast cancer, my Dad had prostate cancer, my grandfather died from colon cancer, my aunt had uterine cancer, my uncle died from an an acute form of leukemia, and the latest, a very dear friend of mine diagnosed recently with melanoma. It's everywhere in one form or another, so take care, get check ups, offer help where you can to someone in need, donate, volunteer ... nothing is too small or too great. That said ... onto baseball. Wow! F…

I had a whole game thread primed and ready to go, but breakfast burritos called and am running late. Anyway, here’s the lineups: MIN P: Sonny Grey 1: Arraez DH 2: Correa SS 3: Polanco 2B 4: Kepler RF 5: Kirilloff LF 6: Gordon CF 7: Miranda 1B 8: Urshela 3B 9: Shanchez C Detroit P: Hutchison 1: Greene CF 2: Baez SS 3: Castro 1B 4: Cabrera DH 5: Hasse C 6: Grossman LF 7: Schopp 2B 8: Clemens 3B 9: Castro RF

The Pitchers RHP Joe Ryan (8-4, 3.67 ERA, 89K, 90.2IP, 1.1 bWAR) vs LHP Julio Urias (11-6, 2.57 ERA, 109K, 115IP, 2.3 bWAR) The Twins hand the ball to Joe Ryan in game one of a quick two game set against the best team in baseball at Dodger Stadium. He'll be opposed by one of the most underrated starters in the MLB, Julio Urias. Urias relies on a mid-90's 4 seam fastball that he throws nearly half the time and opponents are hitting under .200 against the pitch. He also features a slow, loopy curve that doesn't get a ton of swings and misses. He will go to the changeup against right handed hitters, which has a whiff rate over 30 percent and has only gone ov…

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…

Game-time forecast: Clear. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 75. TWINS: SP, May Santana CF Dozier 2B Mauer DH Vargas 1B Arcia RF Plouffe 3B Escobar SS Fryer C Schafer LF ORIOLES: SP, Gonzalez Markakis RF Pearce 1B Jones CF Cruz DH Young LF Hardy SS David 3B Joseph C Schoop 2B -------------------------- And now we await Brian ... -------------------------- Yeah... Where is he? (tap tap tap) Oh... That's me Things to Think About: 1. Baltimore -- Baltimore is a city that doesn't matter to anyone because it's in between the legendary cities of Philadelphia and Washington DC. Oh... The City tries... It tries to climb out o…

Well, the Twins didn't manage to finish April with a .500 record... Lineups: Twins: Dozier 2B Carroll 3B Willingham DH Morneau 1B Doumit C Parmelee RF Arcia LF Hicks CF Florimon SS Diamond P Tigers: Jackson CF Hunter RF Cabrera 3B Fielder 1B Martinez DH Tuiasosopo LF Peralta SS Pena C Santiago 2B Sanchez P

The Twins out crushed the Mariners in game one of the series, and I don't expect game two to be any different. The Twins and Mariners are two of the top hitting home run clubs in all of the MLB, and neither pitcher is dominant. The one thing the Twins have going for them is the defense. This Seattle team is atrocious on the defensive side of the ball, and I almost felt bad for them last night. The Pitchers Martin Perez (5-1, 3.11 ERA, 46 K's) vs Marco Gonzales (5-2, 3.18, 42 K's) Both pitchers ERA look very respectable, as do the win-loss records. However, I have a hunch that tonights game will be higher scoring than both pitchers ERA indicate. Martin Perez was okay…

Hi! How are you doing this summer? My name is sampleSizeOfOne, My teach said i had to have a penpal over the summer. It would help me grow and learn and help me understand other places and peoples. I am not sure if that is true, but i think i get credit for trying, so here goes. I like the Twins. I think Buxton is really fast, and this new fellow Colon is funny to watch. But i get grounded if i make fun of his name... And lots of them are playing good too. But it is confusing as so many of them change which side of the plate they hit from. At least it doesn't seem to matter. Homers, triples, they just keep hitting the ball and running bases. All their minor tea…

Weather: 60 degrees and partly cloudy Lineups: Twins: 1. Brian Dozier, 2B 2. Torii Hunter, DH 3. Joe Mauer, 1B 4. Trevor Plouffe, 3B 5. Eddie Rosario, RF 6. Eduardo Escobar, SS 7. Kurt Suzuki, C 8. Shane Robinson, LF 9. Aaron Hicks, CF vs. Steven Wright, RH Red Sox: 1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 2. Hanley Ramirez, LF 3. David Ortiz, DH 4. Mike Napoli,1B 5. Xander Bogaerts, SS 6. Pablo Sandoval, 3B 7. Mookie Betts, CF 8. Blake Swihart, C 9. Rusney Castillo, RF vs. Tommy Milone, LH Things to think about: 1. Guess who's back? Tommy Milone went and dominated AAA hitters, essentially start after start. He probably has enough stuff to be an adequate fifth starter for …

Lineups: Twins: Aaron Hicks CF Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit DH Trevor Plouffe 3B Chris Parmelee RF Brian Dozier 2B Pedro Florimon SS (Vance Worley P) Orioles: Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Ryan Flaherty 2B Nolan Reimold DH (Chris Tillman P)

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 10-15 m.p.h. Temperature around 80. ANGELS: SP, Santiago Calhoun RF Trout CF Pujols DH Hamilton LF Kendrick 2B Aybar SS Freese 3B Navarro 1B Conger C TWINS: SP, Gibson Santana CF Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Vargas DH Plouffe 3B Suzuki C Nunez SS Hicks RF Schafer LF ----------------------- Okay, Brian ... I can feel you thinking all the way down in Florida. I know this will be good! ---------------------- Well... Now I got ask the question... How do I feel? Things to Think About: 1. Pressed for time -- It's probably good news but I have to make this short and sweet because work demands isn't allow…

ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line on a Saturday! Normally there's a theme on this particular day, and I guess you could say the theme is random? Anyway, how NEAT was that game last night? The Twins square off again against the Diamondbacks tonight. Who knows, maybe this game will be good too! Before we get into randomness and debauchery, let's talk weather and lineups..... It's going to be a beautiful day in Minneapolis! Partly sunny and 80 degrees at first pitch. Wind out of the SSW at 7 MPH... GOOD HR WEATHER as they say! Minnesota Twins (61-59) 2nd WC holders: P - Jose Berrios ® - 84 overall on MLB the Show! Arizona Diamondbacks (67-55): P - Zack…

First off, I'd like to thank Vanimal for pointing me in this direction for this thread. (notice how I'm cleverly deflecting any blame if things go wrong while retaining full credit) I look at baseball and was thinking of players and which player I might most closely identify with. In my case, it has to be Bill "Spaceman" Lee. I remember reading in his book about how he handled contract negotiations without benefit of an agent. And, one time, his contract was up so, he decided to wait for the GM without any advance notice that he was going to be in the office. Mr. Lee was asked, upon the arrival of the GM "How did you get in here." To which Mr. Lee responded "Through t…

We welcome you back to your game thread fix with the 8th game from these two storied teams. Both teams enter into it with a 5-2 mark, though the Tigers managed to take game 1 on a 2 run home run that proved to be the only runs they needed. The good guys will be looking for revenge, hoping to continue the surprise run that leaves them 3 games over .500 this early in the season. The winner will get bragging rights for the day, as they will hold a 1 game lead on the AL Central. Things to think about: 1. Entrepreneurial spirits. Michigan was once storied for their ingenuity with the invention of the motorized carriage, which put our own USAChief's horse raising busines…

Game-time forecast: Mostly clear. Winds blowing out to center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 85. TWINS: SP, Milone Santana CF Dozier 2B Suzuki C Vargas DH Arcia RF Plouffe 3B Parmelee 1B Escobar SS Schafer LF ROYALS: SP, Guthrie Aoki RF Escobar SS Gordon LF Butler 1B Perez C Willingham DH Cain CF Moustakas 3B Colon 2B ----------------------------------------------- Roses are Red Royals are Blue The Twins use both colors That's all I got... I'm through Things to Think About: 1. Fate -- Is there any sense in watching this game. I can already tell you what is going to happen based on the last two games. The Twins held the Royals scoreless for 8 Innings…

Game-time forecast: Mostly cloudy. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 65. Royals: SP, Chen Aoki RF Infante 2B Hosmer 1B Butler DH Gordon LF Perez C Moustakas 3B Cain C Escobar SS Twins: SP, Gibson Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Plouffe 3B Colabello RF Kubel LF Pinto DH Suzuki C Hicks CF Florimon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. Starting Pitching -- It's EARLY!!! It really is... I don't blame anyone for gulping... I'm gulping... but... It's early... It really is. 2. Gulping -- I won't be hypocritical... I was for the Signing of Nolasco... I think he has pote…

After a thrilling walk-off win, the Twins face Atlanta in Game 2 of a three game series. I’m traveling today and drove by Cleveland’s home park in the rain. I predict a weather delay for the Cleveland vs. Texas game, although the rain might pass by game time. I am writing and saving this note without internet access, so no lineups. Berríos vs. recently recalled Foltynewicz.

Another emergency start up ... if you don't like my game threads, please sign up and do one. I'm sure whatever any of you come up with will be way, way better than me. Here's proof positive: Let’s see … what shall we discuss in the game thread tonight … hmmm … 1. Metrics, stats and all those fun numbers and how to evaluate/predict players and teams … NOOOOOO!!!!! Let’s not go there tonight as game threads, even in our disagreements, should be amicable and fun. 2. Okay, so, how about Mauer, HOF or not? OMG …. NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Mike now hates me for mentioning this. 3. Well, then, there’s always the FO … ACK! ACK! ACK! ACK!!!!!!!! Too hot to handle! 4. I know … my fa…