Archived Game Threads

I figured that since things rarely go quite how you plan, i would just try to write a boring game thread intro. You probably aren't excited to read the creative processes that go into something like that. So i guess, um well then, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Oh, since numbers are always borring... The number of the thoughts shall be 5. 1. Kansas. (as in Kansas City Royals) An ordinary plain state. But, well, it so happens we're not in Kansas any more. My head's just spinning trying to figure out if we were ever there to start with. 2. Problems. The Twins have some. It's a normal growing process. It's not like some sort of wizard is going to give…

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 60. Mariners: SP, Elias Jones CF Saunders RF Cano 2B Hart DH Seager 3B Smoak 1B Ackley LF Zunino C Miller SS Twins: SP, Deduno Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Plouffe 3B Suzuki DH Pinto C Colabello RF Nunez LF Hicks CF Escobar SS --------------------------- More to come ... stay tuned ... ---------------------------------------------------- Ok... Things to Think About: 1. Roenis Elias -- He's lefthanded... 25 years old and he defected from Cuba on a boat to Mexico. He's also been OK for the DL riddled Seattle rotation. There isn't a lot of statistical information on him…

Forecast: 84 degrees and mostly cloudy Lineups: Texas Rangers: 1. Delino DeShields Jr., CF 2. Shin-Soo Choo, RF 3. Prince Fielder, DH 4. Adrian Beltre, 3B 5. Mitch Moreland, 1B 6. Elvis Andrus, SS 7. Rougned Odor, 2B 8. Chris Gimenez, C 9. Ryan Stausborger, LF vs. Ervin Santana (RH) Minnesota Twins: 1. Aaron Hicks, CF 2. Brian Dozier, 2B 3. Joe Mauer, DH 4. Miguel Sano, 3B 5. Trevor Plouffe, 1B 6. Eddie Rosario, RF 7. Eduardo Escobar, SS 8. Chris Herrmann, C 9. Shane Robinson, LF vs. Chi Chi Gonzalez (RH) Things to think about: 1. Back for one more try? Are the Twins going to really try to make the playoffs still. Wait, let me rephrase that: we know th…

Due to too much fun at the Saints game last night, today's game thread will be like a Chris Archer start...short and not overly sweet. After another frustrating loss in a game they should've won last night the Twins woke up today still 1.5 games out of first in the central and 1 game out of the final wild card spot. Plenty of season to go for the hometown boys to get things turned around and heading in the right direction, and that hopefully starts today! Chris Archer vs Tucker Davidson on the mound Arraez 1B Correa SS Buxton DH Miranda 3B Polanco 2B Celestino CF Gordon LF Leon C Cave RF Fletcher 2B Ohtani DH Rengifo 3B Ward RF …

"G'Quan wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain." Them: 0. Triston McKenzie (R) P 1. Steven Kwan (L) DH 2. Amed Rosario (R) SS 3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B 4. Josh …

Jered Weaver (1-0, 1.50) vs. Ricky Nolasco (0-0, 1.29) Lineups: http://www.baseballpress.com/lineups Angels (5-5): TBD Twins (1-9): TBD Eduardo Nunez was 3/3 yesterday batting leadoff. He's hitting .778 in the early going. He also played second base, which is directly in front of right field, where Miguel Sano sits. Er, plays. In the third Nunez threw a low block on Sano that stopped the hearts of every Twins fan. Here it is if you missed it: http://m.mlb.com/video/v591921283/laamin-nunez-shaken-up-mauer-nabs-escobar/?query=sano Thankfully the Kentucky bluegrass in right field was well-watered and gave way to Sano's cleats, saving the young slugger from missin…

White Sox: SP Chris Sale Twins: SP Andrew Albers Things to Think About: 1. Think about Albers... What else are you going to think about. 2. Think about Albers... Two Starts on the Road and not a run given up in 17.1 Innings. 3. Think about Albers... His first home start... Can he Keep it Going. 4. Think about Ummm... How about Albers... He doesn't even have a picture under his name at ESPN. 5. Think about God!!! The existence of God has been questioned by some and the discussion often revolves around Faith. For those who require something specific to fuel belief in a higher power... When you grab a Kleenex from the box... The next one pops up. Who else…

Welcome to the Labor Day edition of the Game Thread, as our Twins head to Gotham to take on the Evil Empire. And given that it's Labor Day, I'm going to take a quick look at the career of Curt Flood. I grew up with St. Louis as my favorite NL team, thanks to an older brother who was a fan of the Redbirds. I remember Lou Brock and Bob Gibson, but I'm not quite old enough to remember Flood as a member of the team. Flood's Wikipedia page lists him as a "baseball player and activist." Folks may know him for the latter, but here's a few tidbits on the former. After all, it wouldn't have been as big a deal to threaten the reserve clause if he wasn't a good player. …

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 50. Twins: SP, Deduno Dozier 2B Fuld CF Plouffe DH Colabello 1B Kubel LF Suzuki C Escobar 3B Herrmann RF Santana SS Indians: SP, Tomlin Morgan CF Swisher 1B Brantley LF Santana 3B Murphy RF Cabrera SS Chisenhall DH Gomes C Ramirez 2B -------------------------------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. Sam Deduno -- It's surprising how things work out sometimes. After watching many many Twins games last year. I was of the solid opinion that Sam Deduno was our top starting pitcher last year. I actually believe there was little doubt about …

Lineups: Twins: Aaron Hicks CF Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit DH Trevor Plouffe 3B Wilkin Ramirez RF Brian Dozier 2B Pedro Florimon SS (Pedro Hernandez P) Orioles: Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Chris Davis 1B Adam Jones CF Steve Pearce DH J.J. Hardy SS Nolan Reimold LF Taylor Teagarden C Alexi Casilla 2B (Jason Hammel P)

Like Ernie Banks once said... Lineups: Twins: Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer DH Oswaldo Arcia LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit C Chris Parmelee RF Eduardo Escobar SS Aaron Hicks CF Jamey Carroll 3B (Mike Pelfrey P) Flounders: Chris Coghlan LF Placido Polanco 3B Giancarlo Stanton RF Greg Dobbs DH Justin Ruggiano CF Rob Brantly C Chris Valaika SS Joe Mahoney 1B Donovan Solano 2B (Ricky Nolasco P)

I got up this morning, wondering what, exactly I was going to write about. Finally, it came to me: We need a break from our regularly scheduled game thread. So, with that, here we go: *Don't judge. I was looking for an excuse to use this particular song! As a Twins fan, I believe I'm a relatively intelligent person, yet, this seems to be what happens when I follow the Twins this year. I mean, I have great expectations that this time it will be different, and, well...: *Sadly, I can relate. But, that's another story for another day. All joking aside, as Carole said so eloquently yesterday, baseball is always fun to watch, because something will always happe…

"The Odyssey 2*" Opening scene: Old man (played by Nelson Cruz) with an oar on his shoulder shuffling down the road. Twins fan catches his forelorn eye, waves and says, "is that a fan on your shoulder, or are you just happy to see me?" and an expressionof great relief crosses the oldman's face... Summary (i am too lazy and the game approaches) Odysseus (Cruz) is on the run from the law due to slaughtering all his wife's suitors, has to take care of hia family in hiding and still make good on his promice to expand poseidon's realm, whne he hears some of his band survived their travels butare caught by crazy dangers. Join us as Cruz teach…

Game-time forecast: Sunny. Winds blowing in from left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 75. TWINS: SP, Correia Dozier 2B Escobar SS Plouffe 3B Morales 1B Willingham LF Arcia RF Colabello DH Fuld CF Fryer C Mariners: SP, Iwakuma Saunders RF Jones CF Cano 2B Hart DH Seager 3B Morrison 1B Zunino C Ackley LF Miller SS -------------------------- Brian is back home and thankfully did not crash while on the road yesterday, so thoughts will be up shortly. -------------------------------------------- While Driving through Wisconsin we did not crash at all. Although I was able to point out to my kids the places where others did. Wisconsin is a popular spot for cr…

Sorry this is so incredibly early. Running in my first 10k and 5k this morning here in Sioux Falls so my game thread starter post will be more brief than my mile time. If this season is a reminder of anything, it’s that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It definitely gives a person perspective. Let’s hope they finish strong. If someone could post the lineups when they came out, that’d be great. Thanks in advance. GO TWINS!

Per Jeff Wilson Ft Worth Star Telegram http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05/27/5851212/yu-darvish-to-miss-tuesday-start.html While the Rangers are reported to be optimistic about Darvish's quick recovery, I suddenly became more optimistic that the Twins now won't be swept by the Rangers. It will be interesting to see what Big Spot Scott has left in the tank.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/3192935/wacky-inflatable-waving-man-o.gif ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Used Car Lot Edition! I am Vanimal, owner and operator of Minnesota Twins Used Car Lot for the next 2 days. Did you notice the inflatable tube person out front? Great! North, aka twinsnorth, spent 500 Toonies on it...Money well spent. The Minnesota Twins are taking on the Chicago White Sox, as well as hosting an end of July BLOW OUT SALE! Where we're slashing prices on ALL of the old models to make room for more old models. Let's talk about lineups and weather first, before we dive in to the great deals available through Monday. It's going to be a b…

The Pitchers RHP Dylan Bundy (3-2, 4.76 ERA, 34 K, 39.2 IP) v RHP Jose Berrios (3-2, 5.62 ERA, 36 K, 49.2 IP) The Twins face off with old friend Jose Berrios, who has not been good thus far. His last time out against the Angels, Berrios made it through just 2.1 innings, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits with two long balls. Berrios has allowed at least 3 earned runs in his last 5 starts, and has allowed 5 or more earned runs in three of those 5. He isn't missing bats like he used to, and the statcast page looks exactly like a guy who has a 5.62 ERA. His expected ERA is 7.21, and his FIP is in the 5's. Nothing is going right for the former Twin. He still throws th…

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…

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to another game thread party! We have a first place team and we beat the Red Sox last night. Great time to be a Twins fan!! Before starting, I need to make another call out to Hong Kong David for his great game thread introduction yesterday. I loved the story! Since his intro was so much fun I thought I would do something similar and relay a funny story told to me by my grandmother about 25 years ago. A few of you may have already read this from me before but since our web audience is so much bigger with the Twins winning I'm going to retell it...Apologies if its' a rerun for a few of you. The Twilight Zone car ride with …

Angels: SP Jered Weaver Twins: SP Pedro Hernandez Things to Think About: 1. Think about Napoleon Dynamite... I do when Pedro pitches. Vote for Pedro!!! If he can throw a baseball like that creepy guy can throw a steak. Some Angels may get knocked off of their Bikes. 2. Think about the Angels... The Twins are facing the over compensation world tour. The Blue Jays roll into town followed by the Angels. 3. Think about Jered Weaver... He throws across his body... Some pitching coach in his development... Either... Couldn't change his delivery... Didn't care to change his delivery or Weaver just wanted his funky style. 4 Think about Josh Hamilton... There was a…

Indians: SP Justin Masterson CF Stubbs SS Cabrera 2B Kipnis DH Swisher C Santana 1B Reynolds LF Brantley RF Raburn 3B Aviles Twins: SP Scott Diamond 2B Dozier C Herrmann DH Mauer 1B Morneau RF Doumit 3B Plouffe LF Thomas CF Hicks SS Florimon Things to think about today: 1. Think about 4 Wins in a Row... If this was the ALCS Championship... We would be able to rest our starters while we wait to see who we face in the World Series. 2. Think about Chris Herrmann... Batting #2 in the lineup... Not Just in the lineup... But... Placed With Priority in the lineup. 3. Think about Doug Bernier... Still waiting for that chance to get some dirt on his new #17 Jerse…

The Twins wrap up a wrap around weekend series with Kansas City tonight, after taking 2 of 3 from the pesky Royals on Saturday and Sunday. The Twins will rely on yet another bullpen game, while the Royals turn to Rookie southpaw Kris Bubic. Odds are this game finishes 4-2, so bet the under if you are one of those people, and thank me later. The Pitchers: LHP Kris Bubic (0-2, 5.40 ERA, 15 K's, 15 IP) vs RHP Matt Wisler (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 11 K's, 10 IP) Bubic is making his fourth career start in the big leagues, and his first against the Minnesota Twins. Despite Bubic's struggles in the majors thus far, he is a guy that has very solid minor league numbers, and is a fairly …

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here." As i entered the ball park, a sort of dread ate into my heart. My guide had explained all the other levels of hell to me, complete with examples, and they made sense, each getting their just desserts (or deserts as the case was) But no here would be torture that not only affect the players, but the innocent fans following them. I looked up in terror only Ebenezer Scrooge could know to see the lineups: Minnesota: 0. Jose Berrios (R ) P 1. Jorge Polanco ( S ) 2B 2. Josh Donaldson (R ) 3B 3. Alex Kirilloff ( L) RF 4. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 5.…

Today our beloved Minnesota Twins come in at 16-11 to face the 10-16 Oakland A’s. The Twins won a nail biter last night to bounce back from a 2-game losing streak. The Twins, 16-11 have been led by their pitching staff. Today they will send their supposed ace, Sonny Gray, to the mound. Gray will look to avenge his rough start to the season. Meanwhile the A’s, who have struggled on all sides of the ball will look to gain some momentum with a win today. They will send James Kaprielian to the bump, who is also looking to avenge a tough start to the season. ATHLETICS LINEUP: 1. 2B Tony Kemp 2. 1B Sheldon Neuse 3. DH Chad Pinder 4. LF Seth Brown 5. 3B …

Forecast--mid to high 60s and partly cloudy skies Lineups: Royals 1. Escobar, SS 2. Moustakas, 3B 3. Cain, CF 4. Hosmer, 1B 5. Morales, DH 6. Perez, C 7. Orlando, LF 8. Colon, 2B 9. Dyson, RF Pitching: Jason Vargas, LHP Twins 1. Santana, SS 2. Hunter, RF 3. Mauer, DH 4. Dozier, 2B 5. Vargas, 1B 6. Plouffe, 3B 7. Escobar, LF 8. Suzuki, C 9. Robinson, CF Pitching: Tommy Milone, LHP Things to think about: 1. Tommy Milone--I don't care if he ends up being bad this year, or even an average 5th starter . . . just give the Twins one more great performance right now, buddy. 3-6 seems way better than 2-7 for some odd reason. .222 is closer to the Timberwolves winni…

Forecast: 70 Degrees and No Rain scheduled. Twins SP: Sam Deduno 1. Santana SS 2. Fuld CF 3. Mauer 1B 4. Willingham LF 5. Morales DH 6. Arcia RF 7. Plouffe 3B 8. Fryer C 9. Escobar 2B Tigers SP: Anibel Sanchez 1. Kinsler 2B 2. Hunter RF 3. Cabrera 1B 4. V. Martinez DH 5. J.D. Martinez LF 6. Jackson CF 7. Castellenos 3B 8. Avila C 9. Suarez SS Things to Think About: 1. 3:08PM -- OK... What's the deal? Who is making up these start times. Whoever it is... They are trying just a little too hard to be creative. 3:05 and 3:10 is a nice even start time... 3:08 is just odd(yeah I know it's technically even). If they ever list a start time as 3:08 and 47 Seconds. I'll…

There’s nothing like a rubber match between two teams fighting for a playoff spot in late July, and that’s what’s on tap today at 3:10pm CT as the Twins take on the Padres. Manager Rocco Baldelli is throwing the kitchen sink at this one, with Buxton, Correa, Arraez and Polanco all getting the starting nod. Some new faces highlight the bottom third of the Twins roster today, including Tim Beckham making his first MLB start since 2019. The 2008 #1 overall draft pick will slot in the DH spot, batting 7th. Caleb Hamilton will catch and bat 9th, and recently recalled Gilberto Clestino gets the call in RF batting 8th. The Twins will be without Max Kepler (IL), Miguel Sano…

Game Thread: Twins @ Astros, 7/16 @ 1:10 CT Probable Starters: Kyle Gibson (5-7, 6.31 ERA) vs Mike Fiers (5-4, 3.84 ERA) -5 Thoughts- 1. An Interesting Flashblack I had a game thread with the Astros in August last year and I wrote this: “As I’ve been casually observing the Astros this season, I must say that they’ve had an odd year. They swept the American League by storm and nearly took the AL West. It seemed this team that had been in a complete rebuild was on the way up. But then they began 2016 tripping up and falling on their faces – though they were outdone by the Twins’ early failures. Similarly to the Twins, they had a torrid June and July, and Houston was b…

The Twins take on the Tigers in Detroit this afternoon starting at 3:10 PM Central Time. I'm sure the starting time has something to do with television or TV rights. Shadows may or may not be a factor in the game with the odd starting time, but I'm confident the Twins will find a way to score some runs against the Tigers. This is the ninth game of a 10-game road trip for the Twins. They have already guaranteed a break-even trip, winning five of the first eight games. The Twins have the best record in baseball once again, having a fraction of a percentage point higher winning percentage than Houston despite being one less game over .500. The news overnight was that La…