Archived Game Threads

Twins | 53-61 overall, 20-37 on the road, 5-5 last 10 Ervin Santana, RHP | 6.14 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 2.25 K:BB in 14.2 IP Tigers | 47-68 overall, 29-27 at home, 3-7 last 10 Jordan Zimmermann, RHP | 4.31 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 4.56 K:BB in 77.1 IP Lineups: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1028003956398743552?s=19

Twins | 53-60 overall, 20-36 on the road, 5-5 last 10 Jose Berrios, RHP | 3.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 4.11 K:BB in 146.0 IP Cleveland | 63-50 overall, 36-23 at home, 7-3 last 10 Corey Kluber, RHP | 2.63 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 7.30 K:BB in 154.0 IP Lineups: https://twitter.com/LaVelleNeal/status/1027567379931439104?s=19 Additional notes: The Twins could really use some length out of Berrios today. Both Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers have pitched each of the past two nights. Trevor May also pitched last night, and I’m not sure he’s ready to pitch consecutive games, let alone a day game after a night game. Kluber’s always tough to beat, but he’s especially good during the day (…

Twins | 53-59 overall, 20-35 on the road, 5-5 last 10 Jake Odorizzi, RHP | 4.60 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 2.55 K:BB in 115.1 IP Cleveland | 62-50 overall, 35-23 at home, 6-4 last 10 Mike Clevinger, RHP | 3.48 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 3.09 K:BB in 139.2 IP Lineups: https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1027289194337628161?s=19 Additional notes: Adalberto Mejia left last night’s game early due to a wrist injury, but per La Velle E. Neal III the team does not believe it’s serious. The hope is he’ll make his next scheduled start. In a recent article, Mike Berardino reported that Matt Magill’s role would be changing. Instead of length, Paul Molitor will look to Magill for more high-lev…

Twins | 52-59 overall, 19-35 on the road, 4-6 last 10 Adalberto Mejia, LHP | 2.60 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 1.25 K:BB in 17.1 IP Cleveland | 62-49 overall, 35-22 at home, 7-3 last 10 Carlos Carrasco, RHP | 3.66 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 5.31 K:BB in 123.0 IP Lineups: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1026916567639048192?s=19 Additional notes: This will be Carrasco’s fifth start against the Twins this season. So far, he’s give up 10 earned runs over 19 1/3 innings (4.66 ERA), but also has a 1.19 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 against Minnesota. Cleveland is 18-11 vs. left-handed starting pitchers this year. There should be some transaction news coming out of the Twins’ camp today, as Matt Magi…

Twins | 52-58 overall, 19-34 on the road, 5-5 last 10 Kyle Gibson, RHP | 3.47 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 2.49 K:BB Cleveland | 61-49 overall, 34-22 at home, 7-3 last 10 Trevor Bauer, RHP | 2.34 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 3.68 K:BB Lineups: https://twitter.com/LaVelleNeal/status/1026553926412263425?s=19 Additional notes: The Twins are 7-5 against Cleveland so far this season. Jorge Polanco has three home runs in just 22 plate appearances against Bauer. Gibson has been excellent on the road this year, posting a 2.94 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 11 starts. Over his last 101 plate appearances, Max Kepler has hit .301/.416/.590 with six home runs. Cleveland has had mixed returns from their bullpen ad…

Another day, another game thread. But, is it just another game thread? I think not, because the Twins have a chance to sweep KC and maybe get a little payback for what the team has endured at the hands of the Royals this year: *Classic James Brown. Watching the game yesterday, it was nice to see the Twins get in the swing of things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il8ZC3O64AU *Dire Straights and "The Sultans of Swing." Sort of like the Twins this year and last night. So, I've got the first part, and the second part and, now for the outro in which I head off into the sunset: *Okay, so, my segue didn't really go with the music. Deal. Well, with that, …

Okay, after yesterdays matchup blunder I am now taking the time to look things over and making sure things add up properly: *Early sabermetrics. And, after looking things over carefully and making sure I don't miss anything I decided I could get to work on my latest masterpiece: *Saw these guys open for Little River Band ages ago. They got a standing ovation and called back for an encore. They were a Twins Cities institution for a while. Then, going through everything again, there's still a chance I'm a bit confused: *Ah, the humor of my middle age. With that, it's time to think about some thoughts: *Is it hockey season yet? Some random ob…

I look back at this baseball season and the way things have gone and a sort of melancholy set in: *Let's hear it for one hit wonders! But, never fear, another day of baseball is upon us! Kansas City is in town and I'm sure the Twins will right the ship against the lowly Royals! *It never ceases to amaze me what a search of youtube will turn up. Hard to believe there were cameras all over this, "course" recording the event. *Not sure I get the point of this video, but, then again, I'm not sure there's a point to this post. Random thoughts: *Yes, I recycled the image. Seemed appropriate. Some observations about yesterday's game: 1.2.3.4.5. *That…

Twins | 49-57 overall, 30-23 at home, 5-5 in their last 10 Adalberto Mejia, LHP | 1-0, 3.65 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 1.60 K:BB Cleveland | 58-48 overall, 26-27 on the road, 5-5 in their last 10 Carlos Carrasco, RHP | 12-5, 3.89 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4.92 K:BB Lineups: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1024676491941040128?s=19 Additional notes: As we turn the page from July to August, the Twins will also attempt to turn the page after a crazy week leading up to the trade deadline. I'm sure things didn't work out the way the guys in the clubhouse would have wanted, but at least it's all over now and we know who's here, who's not and the focus can be on moving forward. Let D…

ANND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Reflection Edition! Typically on this day we have a funny-ish bit to sell off the Twins' spare parts. 2 years ago we opened up a Used Car Lot and found someone to take the Nissan Nolasco 4x4 off our hands. Last year we had GMs across the league figure out if their 'Price Was Right' to acquire Brian Dozier. This year is different, in a lot of ways. The Twins did their selling prior to this day, and all we have left to talk about potentially moving are Dozier and Rodney. There are approximately 18 different threads to talk about that. So instead, let's take some time to reflect... I legitimately spent a good 2 hours last ni…

1. Francisco Lindor (S) SS 2. Michael Brantley (L) LF 3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B 4. Edwin Encarnacion ® DH 5. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B 6. Melky Cabrera (S) RF 7. Jason Kipnis (L) 2B 8. Yan Gomes ® C 9. Greg Allen (S) CF Bieber P 1. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 2. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 3. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 4. Brian Dozier ® 2B 5. Max Kepler (L) DH 6. Robbie Grossman (S) RF 7. Miguel Sano ® 3B 8. Jake Cave (L) CF 9. Mitch Garver ® C Santana P

Good morning and welcome to your Twins Game Thread for Sunday. It is the series and season finale, with the Twins currently 3-3 against the Red Sox. They are down 2-1 in the series, hoping to come out of Fenway with a split. Last night's game got away from the Twins after they had gotten a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. Too many balls caromed off the high walls in center and left and Mookie Betts and JD Martinez did what they have been doing regularly. We are now 53 hours away from the trade deadline. Still remaining on the club are Brian Dozier, Lance Lynn, Logan Morrison, Zach Duke, and Fernando Rodney--all guys with some value and all potential free …

Hello again! 24 hours after the last game thread was posted, the Twins have traded two players for prospects, leaving no doubt that they are sellers. Yesterday's events on the field featured aging veterans Fernando Rodney and Matt Belisle giving up the tying and game-winning home runs respectively. Tonight, the Twins face Rick Porcello, whom they handled quite well when he was a Detroit Tiger, but who has been one of the winningest pitchers in baseball since being traded to Boston. The Twins counter with Jake Odorizzi, who often labors, but who usually keeps the team in the game. Odorizzi averages just five innings per start, so the bullpen will be tested. Random though…

I wrote a Game Thread opener that had nothing to do with today’s game and very little to do with this year. Then the Twins won four games in a row and the intrigue about buying and selling heightened, as well as some great performances to talk about—Garver with four hits Wednesday and the gamer last night, Gibson with a great performance against the best team in baseball so far this year—and I’m reeled in to discussing the balance of the series versus the Rose Hose. So, today Chris Sale faces Lance Lynn. Sale has been dominant of late, and Lynn has been a disappointment, if not and out-and-out dud. However, the Twins have played the Red Sox very well and done a respectab…

King of game threads, and game thread to the Kings. (same movie referenced further down, and left as an exercise to the descerning game threader, but it is a half hearted attempt to establish a theme... And my humble apologies for the stepping on toes, but i see it is an open date in Chief's ol' list, and it being day of, and considering the newish freedom, i figure forgiveness the better part of permission... or something) 1. For some reason i remember watching a Boston baseball game on the telly long ago, and they highlighted local celebrity types. And the one that stuck was the somewhat prolific author Stephen King. I think technically he is from Maine, which used to…

Photo by Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images Following the All-Star break, the Twins find themselves in a bear market, poised to sell. Hot going into the break on July 16, the Twins ‘boosted’ their playoff odds to 3%. Any last glimmer of hope is largely gone, losing 2 of 4 games out of the break and seeing their playoff odds diminish to 1%. The Twins are at 7 games under .500, and 7.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central with 63 games remaining. On a positive note, the Twins finally welcome back Ervin Santana from the disabled list for his first start/appearance of 2018! Santana had surgery in early February on his right middle finger. After 7 re…

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6is4YiU9dfQ/UdJbMqOLtwI/AAAAAAAABkU/yce6Or1Mivc/s1600/CanadaPersonified.jpg ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Eh? edition! I am your host and friendly Canadian, Vanimal! The Twins play Toronto again, and they'll just give'r today. Who knows, maybe they'll win again! But most likely it will be a gongshow like normal... Before we talk about a baseball game, I want to chirp at Toronto! Q: How do you get a group of Canadians out of a swimming pool? A: (In a calm, composed voice) "All Canadians out of the pool, please." Q: How many Torontonians does it take to change a light bulb? A: 6.5 million. One to change it, and the res…

Twins | 44-53 overall, 15-31 on the road, 5-5 in their last 10 Adalberto Mejia, LHP | 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 0.33 K:BB Blue Jays | 46-52 overall, 27-25 at home, 5-5 in their last 10 Luis Santos, RHP | 0-0, 7.88 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 2.25 K:BB Lineups: Additional notes: This is just the second start Mejia will be making for the Twins in 2018 after making 21 starts for the big club last season. He's been pitching well down in Rochester, posting a 3.32 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while averaging 8.8 K/9. Unfortunately, Mejia is coming off his worst start of the year with the Red Wings. He gave up seven runs in six innings of work last Tuesday. The Jays were hoping Marco Estra…

For some reason I got a bit nostalgic and started thinking about how my dad used to listen to baseball on the radio as we did some work on the house. Then there were other time we'd be returning home from some function dad had attended that was part of his job, and, again, baseball would be on the radio: *Yes, this was an excuse to put up this video, because, A: I like the baseball references and, B: I think it's hilarious. Coming out of the break, the Twins had given me some hope they were going to right the ship and get things back on track: *Notice the tracks are rather short. But, never fear, it's a new day and another day of baseball! *I tossed…

Yesterday, the game just didn't quite go the way we, as Twins fans, really wanted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haWRUpPw_tI *Teenage girls screaming and fainting at Mr. McCartney. Twins fans groaning and fainting as the Twins lose....okay, maybe a tad overstated. However, today is a new day of fun, frolics and angst! *Had to go with the live performance because the marketing video was a bit, shall we say, risqué? Which brings me to my point, which is, well, I have no real point to make. After all, this is just a game thread and I'm your humble host. *The future of Twins marketing? And now for something completely different: *When in do…

The home town nine went into All Star break on a roll, having gone 9-2 on this home stand. The Twins going 9-2 was enough, that it made this last week a bit hard because, well, no Twins to watch. *Maybe not Ronnie James Dio, but, front man does a good job. What do we have to look forward to, now that the team seems to have hit its stride? Will the All Star break be a momentum killer? *Hard to believe this is the same gal who fronted for 'Til Tuesday and did, "Voices Carry." The long wait is behind us and the Twins get to pick up where they left off and baseball's second half is in front of us. And what will the second half hold in store for us? *T…

Twins | 43-50 overall, 28-22 at home, 8-2 in their last 10 Fernando Romero | 3-3, 4.28 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 2.32 K:BB Rays | 49-46 overall, 23-29 on the road, 6-4 in their last 10 Ryne Stanek | 1-2, 1.93 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 2.73 K:BB Lineups: https://twitter.com/MillerStrib/status/1018517871146782720?s=19 Additional notes: In his three starts since being sent back down to Rochester, Romero only gave up three earned runs over 18 2/3 innings (1.45 ERA). He’s back up in the bigs because Aaron Slegers was placed on the DL. You may be thinking to yourself “Stanek? Didn’t we already see this guy?” We did. He pitched an inning out of Tampa Bay’s bullpen Thursday night at Target …

Twins | 43-49 overall, 28-21 at home, 8-2 in their last 10 Jose Berrios | 9-7, 3.41 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 4.69 K:BB Rays | 48-46 overall, 22-29 on the road, 6-4 in their last 10 Chris Archer | 3-4, 4.41 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 2.82 K:BB Lineups: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1018153219325915137?s=19 Additional notes: Archer missed more than a month, then in his first start back gave up three runs on six hits and a pair of walks over 3 1/3 innings. Berrios, on the other hand, has been excellent over his past 11 starts, posting a 2.75 ERA with rate of a 9.8 K/9. Here’s hoping the home/road splits for these two starting pitchers hold up. Archer has been much better in …

Twins | 42-49 overall, 27-21 at home, 7-3 in their last 10 Jake Odorizzi | 4-6, 4.28 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 2.32 K:BB Rays | 48-45 overall, 22-28 on the road, 6-4 in their last 10 Nathan Eovaldi | 3-3, 3.35 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 7.33 K:BB Lineups: Additional notes: Jake Odorizzi is one of 22 American League pitchers who’ve racked up 100 or more strikeouts this season, joining fellow Twins Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson to have accomplished that feat. Odorizzi is 15th among qualified AL starters with a 9.5 K/9. Tampa Bay dealt Odorizzi to the Twins after he spent five seasons with them, so he’s no doubt going to be out to prove that was a mistake. Eovaldi missed all of 2017…

Twins | 41-49 overall, 26-21 at home, 6-4 in their last 10 Kyle Gibson | 3.59 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 Rays | 48-44 overall, 22-27 on the road, 7-3 in their last 10 Blake Snell | 2.09 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 Lineups: Additional Notes: The Twins have been playing well of late, but the Rays arrive at Target Field red hot. They’re on a five-game winning streak in which they’ve outscored their opponents 31-13. Here’s how weird the American League is in 2018: Despite being six games better than the Twins, the Rays are actually farther away from a playoff spot (9.5 games back in the Wild Card) than Minnesota right now (8.5 games back in the Central…

I got up this morning in somewhat of a funk, because the home town 9 played like they were in a funk, with results to match. *Ah, seventies era stuff. Music was cool, clothes, not so much. What? Yes, I wore that stuff. Don't judge! But, this is a new day and a great day to start another winning streak! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtIeIs-btts *Supposedly, Mr. Trebek got miffed at this guy continuing to win. And now, I bow out, leaving this one final video: *That worked out far better than I thought it would. This is where I put in some sort of picture where the five things to think about should be: *When I lived in MN and the regular …

Just a few short games ago, I was one of those who thought the Twins were pretty much dead, desperately clinging to life. I thought the Twins were done to the point I expected the FO to do the following: *Why is it that a comedy has a better representation of life in the Middle Ages than big budget Hollywood movies? But, it shows you what I know, because lately, the Twins have decided to have the last laugh and show us they're not quite done yet: *Trust me on this, the movie is far better than the book. And, here we are, heading into All Star break and the Twins FO is probably wondering if anything they have to trade has value and if what they have that …

After the success enjoyed by the Twins, and, by extension, SampleSizeof1, who, by the way, has a 4-0 record on this home stand, I'm not feeling sanguine about taking over for SSo1 over the next few days. In fact, I sort of have an idea I might have all the success of my favorite coyote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJkuCB3ArrI *Just sort of goes with the way the season has gone, right? But, that's okay, because, we'll always have 1987 and 1991. Remember 87? The team that wouldn't quit? Yeah, what a fun team and cast of characters. With that, I'll drop this little gem right here: *That was a fun year. This year, though, well, still a work in progress. Twins …

The lazy Mississippi is rolling on down to that there bayou out into the gulf of Mexico. What, with prevailing westerlies, i expect the breezes at todays game will wind up somewhere on the east coast in a few days. That there sun reflecting off home plate may tickle an alien astronomer's telescope in a few years or more. If they don't have to work for this game thread to happen, well neither do i. Some murmering memory wafts by of the Cobb fellow as a possible off season acquisition. Mayhap we'll learn something this game. All that said, i don't think this game will ever happen again. So y'all better pay attention if you don't wanna miss it! Orioles Alex Cobb…

A gamethread named Sue. "To sampleSizeOfOne: We question your integrity as a game thread introducer. Please contribute more prominently during the game proper. -Modern Jiminy Cricket" Sorry. I had me a rehearsal during the game last night, and am about to rush off to a parade today... "I ran out of gas! I got a flat tire! I didn’t have change for cab fare! I lost my tux at the cleaners! I locked my keys in the car! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! IT WASN’T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!" As i won't be around to help it grow strong, i figure i'll pull out the stops on meme like cultur…