Archived Game Threads

Lineups: ATHLETICS Billy Burns (S) CF Jed Lowrie (S) 2B Josh Reddick (L) RF Khris Davis [R) LF Stephen Vogt (L) C Billy Butler [R) DH Yonder Alonso (L) 1B Marcus Semien [R) SS Tyler Ladendorf [R) 3B Sonny Gray [R), 3-7/5.42 P TWINS Eduardo Nunez [R) 3B Robbie Grossman (S) LF Joe Mauer (L) 1B Brian Dozier [R) 2B Miguel Sano [R) DH Max Kepler (L) RF Eddie Rosario (L) CF Juan Centeno (L) C Danny Santana (S) SS Twins: Ervin Santana [R), 2-7/4.50 P Expected weather: Low 80's with a high probability of rain. Greetings, all! I'm using the time-honored five point thread opener. 1. PAY ATTENTION! This is the game thread for Wednesday, July 6. 2. Hanging breaking p…

Okay ... we had tomorrow's thread up already and nothing for tonight. Due to some confusion all around, I hid tomorrow's temporarily ... so ... this is the emergency thread for tonight in case it's needed. No word if the game will be postponed, so far it's only in delay. Okay ... things to think about in the meantime ... 1. Nunez, our sole All-Star representative. If they had to choose just one, I guess he'd be it. Congratulations, Eduardo! 2. Rain ... I love the rain. And I even love thunderstorms and watching the lightning ... it's like nature's fireworks display. So incredible! Unless it strikes a tall tree outside your home. That crack of lightning is LOUD!!! It…

Well, that was quite a game yesterday. Fun, even. Really fun. Seventeen runs worth of fun. And against the best team in the American League. The worst beat the best 17-5. How many of us thought that it would have been more likely a score the other way around? There was another score out there yesterday, too ... the Angels beat the Red Sox 21-2! While it wasn't the worst beating the best, it was still a case of the bad beating the good. It's just plain fun to see. Ever since David beat Goliath, we love to celebrate the 'little guy' taking it to the 'big guy.' And it's even more fun to celebrate when your team is the 'little guy.' But that was yesterday and today is today. …

Welcome to the beginning of the holiday festivities. My family and I got to miss yesterday's loss in exchange for a 7 hour drive up to the middle of nowhere in Northern Michigan. The drive was much like the Twins season: long and painful with the destination being hell on earth. So now I'm spending the weekend with a bunch of Tigers fans who think WAR is something we need to declare on the rest of the world. Did I mention they are all Tigers fans? Enough about my misery. The Twins attempt to end a 3 game losing streak, but at the same time hold a comfortable 2 game lead for the top pick in the 2017 draft. Tyler Duffey takes the mound attempting to improve what has bee…

ANND Welcome back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line – Game Thread Edition. Forget about our opening paragraph yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hAiCukqnWw ANND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line – Game Thread Edition! I wish I knew what kind of spell the Yankees have on our favorite ball club over the last 13-14 years, but it’s continuing this season. Well guess what? The spell is ending TODAY! Let’s get some things out of the way like weather and lineups before the fun begins.... It’s going to be a beautiful day for a baseball game. 81 degrees and mostly sunny for the first pitch. Winds out of the NE at 6 MPH. Getting MORE WINDY as we go along. Real Feel …

ANND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line – Game Thread Edition! I am your host for the next 2 days, Vanimal. I wish I knew what kind of spell the Yankees have on our favorite ball club over the last 13-14 years, but it’s continuing this season. Well guess what? The spell is ending TODAY! Let’s get some things out of the way like weather and lineups before the fun begins.... It's a beautiful day for a baseball game. Sunny skies and 85 degrees for the first pitch. Getting hotter as we go along. Winds coming from the East at 7 MPH. Minnesota Twins (23-50): Molly's still thinking things through. P - Ervin Santana ® - Redemption Game! New York Yankees (36-36): Y…

Forecast: 67 degrees, mostly cloudy Lineups: Philadelphia Phillies: 1. Odubel Herrera, L, CF 2. Andres Blanco, S, 2B 3. Maikel Franco, R, 3B 4. Ryan Howard, L, DH 5. Tommy Joseph, R, 1B 6. Cody Asche, L, LF 7. Carlos Ruiz, R, C 8. Freddy Galvis, S, SS 9. Peter Bourjos, R, RF vs. Ricky Nolasco, R Minnesota Twins: 1. Robbie Grossman, S, LF 2. Eduardo Escobar, S, SS 3. Joe Mauer, L, DH 4. Brian Dozier, R, 2B 5. Trevor Plouffe, R, 3B 6. Max Kepler, L, RF 7. Byung Ho Park, R, 1B 8. Juan Centeno, L, C 9. Byron Buxton, R, CF vs. Jerad Eickhoff, R Things to think about: 1. Rollin' on dubs. The Twins have won three games in a row. Will they win 60 games this …

How not to write a game thread intro... 1. Proof is in the reading: But what proof? > 100 is inflammable, so i am told. A little floats while too much capasizes. As a close approximation, i am a teatotaller, so i wouldn't know. I just like old Jackie Chan movies... But no one will follow if you don't make sense. QED 10. Numbers are important. Especially in comparing things particularly if they are very fine, of course. 11. Context. Millenium hand and shrimp! 100. Take your time. Haste makes waste. It is not like someone is trying to double your game thread up... 101. Bring it home. The baseball is round. And you score if you end where you begin. Chang…

Brian is unavoidably, unavailable, today. I am never going to be an... equivalent, or even close to... to his greatness. So I'm not even going to try. I'd apologize... but hey, it's not my, fault Brian isn't here... today. I'm sure. He'll let you know... about it in his next... game thread. The Phillies are kind of a meh team. The Twins are worse than meh. The Phillies are on a losing streak of 7 games; the Twins just won one, against the Yankees. The Phillies are going to be looking to break their streak, with a starter who has had a few rough outings in a row now. The Twins are looking to build on their winning streak of one game with a starter that started the season…

I've been trying to come up with a reason why the Twins have had such trouble with the Yankees over the years. I've gone through a dozen theories and each one has been discarded for one reason or another. Finally, I think I hit on the real reason: Broadway. I think the Big Apple (as opposed to the Minneapple..yes, I lived in MN during that campaign) and Broadway have combined to seduce our starting 9 into thinking their true future lies with the lights on Broadway. How do I know this? I recently caught this exchange between a couple of players: (names have been concealed, for obvious reasons) Player 1: As he smooths his well-coiffed locks, "I've been approached by Axe…

Game time is in 1 hour and 25 minutes, and seeing no game thread I'll volunteer to do a quick bare bones post. Yankees: 1. Jacoby Ellsbury (L) CF 2. Brett Gardner (L) LF 3. Carlos Beltran (S) RF 4. Alex Rodriguez ® DH 5. Brian McCann (L) C 6. Chase Headley (S) 3B 7. Didi Gregorius (L) SS 8. Rob Refsnyder ® 2B 9. Ike Davis (L) 1B P. Michael Pineda ® Twins: 1. Eduardo Nunez ® 3B 2. Danny Santana (S) LF 3. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 4. Brian Dozier ® 2B 5. Max Kepler (L) RF 6. Byung Ho Park ® DH 7. Eduardo Escobar (S) SS 8. Juan Centeno (L) C 9. Byron Buxton ® CF P. Ricky Nolasco ® Current weather: Temp: 75F Heat Index: 75F Wind: ESE 9 Sky: Partly cloudy Here's hoping ou…

And we're off...yes, a new game thread and a new day of Twins baseball! (insert approximately 2,000 words of positive remarks regarding the Twins. And if you don't know what they are, I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to do all the work. Sheesh. Oh, all right, here's a hint: battled their tails off, got after it) Over a third of the way through the season and what can we say about Twins baseball? I think Thomas Hulce (Mozart) said it best in "Amadeus:" Antonio Salieri(Mozart rival): How... Did my work please you? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: I never knew that music like that was possible! Antonio Salieri: You flatter me Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: No, no! One hears …

Whew ... what a relief! No runs allowed and we still remembered how to lose! I was beginning to worry a little after all that winning ... Something to think about: Pizza - when chicken dinnah goes scarce, pizza steps in. I made pizza the day of the 2015 NFC Championship, but I waited to put the cheese on until after Jermaine Kearse carried the ball into the end zone. I made a Facebook post that night along the line of, "I think my family is glad they got cheese on their pizza tonight," and my friend (who is a HUGE Packers fan) responded innocently, "Is this an unusual thing in your family?" Um ... well, now that you mention it, yeah, I guess they usually take it for g…

We Shall Win in Minnesota June 14th, 2016 From the moment the Twins' defense was broken in the second week of May, only a rapid retreat to AAA or lower could have saved the Minnesota team which got off to an 0-9 record to start the season; but this strategic fact was not immediately realized. Ownership hoped they would be able to close the gap, and management was under their orders. Moreover, a demotion of this kind would have involved almost certainly the destruction of all remaining remnants of local pride and the abandonment of a fan website called Twins Daily. Therefore, when the force and scope of patheticism was realized and when a new pitching coach, Eric Rasmuss…

Good morning, good afternoon and good night, fellow baseball enthusiasts, Twins lovers and masochists. Today I have the honor of kicking things off game thread-wise, and it couldn’t come at a better time in the Minnesota baseball club’s season. Game #62 on the season against the Boston Red Sox, and Game #1 on my watch, as the home club nine seeks their 19th win of the season and looks to avoid a sweep at the hands of the New England squad and salvage a respectable-ish 4-6 homestand. I know there is a no mandated game thread format, or at least not one that I can discern. That said, I think we have a winner in the Riverbrian "five things" pattern, so here goes, five thing…

If life gives you a pear, make pear-ade. Everybody loves a parade... I said i'd play sousaphone in a band marching in just such a parade this morning. But i'd already promised chief to post this thread intro. Well, through the pared down convenience of modern cellular technology, the moment it ends i can cut and paste directly... And it was a short parade. Your homework assignment for this thread: Twins come in pairs, usually. Make a joke or tell a story or post a picture related somehow to pairs (pears, pares, pierres what have you) as you can see in the above, i done mine... I have been local to the Red Socks for much of the past couple decades, so i am mildly sen…

Clear skies and getting a little muggy in the Twin Cities as the Twins try to sweep the Marlins. Miami sends Tom Koehler (3-6, 4.50) to the mound against Ervin Santana (1-5, 4.50). First pitch at 7:10 PM. Please follow Jeremy Nygaard's official coverage of the MLB 2016 amateur draft here and jump into the discussion. I'm not a big draft head, but even I get sucked into Twins Daily's good coverage of it. Here is a link to his final mock draft list. Skin in the game. I love it! Did I link to the TwinsDaily draft coverage yet? Here's the link. The word draft means so many things. All I will say about the draft tonight is this. I hope the Twins take the player who…

Perfect baseball weather for game 2 of the series. Pitchers: Wei-Yin Chen (3-2, 4.25) vs. Ricky Nolasco (2-4, 4.93). Lineups at bottom. Being a Twins fan in 2016 is no doubt some sort of cosmic test, administered by forces we do not understand, and frankly…. it’s a test we are failing. Did you see what direction the game thread went last night? The team needs help, but more importantly, so do we. We have descended into the mud. We treat straightforward discussion threads as self-help communities. One commenter in a game thread this weekend even suggested that Brian Dozier should check himself in to Pull Hitters Anonymous. If he does, he should wait a few weeks, beca…

Who wants to think about a team that's on pace for 110 losses and allows an average of 1.4 home runs per game? A team that has been outscored 289-204 thus far and is on pace to be outscored 851-601 – by a grand total of 250 runs – this season? Therefore, I have carefully expunged any mentions of this harrowing topic from our five things to think about for the day: 1. High school baseball. It's the best, man. 2. "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts." Four lines from an old play which has survived the ages because the playwright was Shakespeare, who in turn…

Andriese vs. Santana – Matt Andriese may be 0-1 with a 15 ERA in one career appearance against the Twins, but that was last year when he pitched 3 innings in relief for Nathan Karns and gave up 5, allowing a Brian Dozier home run which scored Byron Buxton, an Escobar double which scored Plouffe and Suzuki, and a Buxton double which scored Escobar. In those 3 innings, he also struck out 5. Ervin Santana happened to start that game and only went 2.2 innings, allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits whilst walking 2 and striking out only 1. Fortunately, Andriese (and, of course, J.R. Graham and the Twins' offense) saved the day. One game is, of course, a very small sample size. …

The curtain rises to a thin man in full team array seated comfortably in a swivel chair in the Twins' clubhouse, right leg crossed over the left to form a triangle between the two, notepad and pen in hand. The numbers 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 24, 25, 26, 36, and 52 have been penned in an orderly row, and his finger moves slowly up and down the line, occasionally pausing to mark a tally by a number. Stepping closer, you can hear him murmuring softly under his breath as he nears the end of this agonizing process and taps his finger back and forth between the two remaining numbers, 5 and 25: "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo ... and you are not it." With a sweeping motion he crosses off the 5…

Almost 7 years ago, i watched the Twins play in the Coliseum. I was sad they had sold out of $2 tickets, but i had my pride, and didn't pay a scalper. It just meant i think i limited myself to <5 $1 hot dogs rather than 10-15... But while i was waiting in line, someone out of the crowd recognized me from being in the chorus of a theatrical production some 5 years before. Small world, eh? And i guess i'm hard to forget, or something. Anyway, game was fine, and alas you miss some of the game if you get in line for hotdogs, so i was okay with the rationing. Kubel homered to tie it in the 8th, then the Twins plated a couple more in the 9th to win it. That trip i got to …

I was reminded last thread of my Grandpa, he once asked me "What is the most important part of a car?" I forget my response, probably i said something like the wheels... He set me straight as follows: "The starter is the most important part of a car, 'cause if that doesn't work, all you got is a 2 ton paper weight." What that has to do with the Twins season so far is left as an exercise to the reader... I got nothing against the Coliseum. I actually been there. But ya gotta leave the audience wanting more. Even if it is someone else on stage... So without further ado... Game time Forecast: 70°F • Clear • 0% PoP Twins Tyler Duffey (R ) 1. Eduardo Nunez (R )…

ANND Welcome back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Game Thread Edition! What a crazy ending to last night's ball game! For those that stayed up for it, you were rewarded with seeing a unique 2-4-5-6 double play to end the game. Also, NASA just announced that they have identified 2 baseballs that left Earth's atmosphere last night. It's safe to say they were from the bat of Miguel Sano and Eduardo Nunez. Check out the game recap HERE if you missed it. Let's talk weather and lineups for the streaking Minnesota Twins! For once it doesn't appear that rain is in the forecast Perhaps the roof will be open today? 56 degrees when the first pitch happens. Real feel of 62 degrees…

ANND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Game Thread Edition! I am your host for the next 2 days, Vanimal. How neat was that victory last night? The odds were stacked against ol' Pat Dean... But he was able to out-duel King Felix, notorious Twins killer! I'm sure he'll be telling that story to his grand kids one day. Let's talk weather and lineups.... It's Seattle. Of course it's raining when the first pitch happens. The retractable roof wins again! Real feel of 54 degrees. Minnesota Twins: 1. Eduardo Nunez ® 3B 2. Brian Dozier ® 2B 3. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 4. Miguel Sano ® RF 5. Byung Ho Park ® DH 6. Robbie Grossman (S) LF 7. Eduardo Escobar (S) SS 8. Kurt Suzuki ®…

Forecasts: 75 degrees, and 72% chance of rain after 2 p.m. LINEUPS Royals: 1. Alcides Escobar (SS) 2. Whit Merrifield (LF) 3. Lorenzo Cain (CF) 4. Eric Hosmer (1B) 5. Salvador Perez (DH) 6. Paulo Orlando (RF) 7. Cheslor Cuthbert (3B) 8. Omar Infante (2B) 9. Drew Butera © vs. Tyler Duffey (RH) Twins: 1. Eduardo Nunez (3B) 2. Brian Dozier (2B) 3. Joe Mauer (DH) 4. Miguel Sano (RF) 5. Robbie Grossman (LF) 6. Byung Ho Park (1B) 7. Eduardo Escobar (SS) 8. Kurt Suzuki © 9. Danny Santana (CF) vs. Dillon Gee (RH) Things to think about: 1. Protests and Fate. Albuquerque was in turmoil last night after the Trumpster rolled into town. This was inevitable after he …

Twins (11-33, 5th AL Central) vs Royals (23-21, 3rd AL Central) Santana (1-2, 3.13 ERA) vs Volquez (4-4, 3.79 ERA) Target Field, Minneapolis, MN Forcast: Partly Cloudy, 76F, 0% of Precip. TV: FS-N Radio: Go 96.3 Minnesota Twins Lineup: 1. 2B Eduardo Nunez ® 2. 1B Joe Mauer (L) 3. DH Miguel Sano ® 4. 3B Trevor Plouffe ® 5. LF Robbie Grossman (S) 6. RF Oswaldo Arcia (L) 7. SS Eduardo Escobar (S) 8. C Juan Centeno (L) 9. CF Danny Santana (S) Kansas City Royals Lineup: 1. SS Alcides Escobar ® 2. 2B Whit Merrifield ® 3. CF Lorenzo Cain ® 4. 1B Eric Hosmer (L) 5. DH Kendrys Morales (S) 6. C Salvador Perez ® 7. RF Paulo Orlando ® 8. 3B Cheslor Cuthbert ® 9. LF Jarrod…

Game Thread, Blue Jays v. Twins May 22 1:10pm Starters: Marcus Stroman (4-1, 4.23 ERA) v. Phil Hughes (1-6, 5.70 ERA) 1: Phil Hughes Oh boy… here we go. So Hughes had a pretty good outing a few days ago, but he was pulled at around 75 pitches. Then Trevor May came in and blew the game. There was some debate about what should have happened. I myself can understand why they pulled him. Hughes was about to go up against the meat of the Blue Jays’ lineup and Molitor wanted May to face them instead. The problem is that apparently at around 75 pitches, Hughes is losing velocity due to shoulder fatigue. So, does that mean he won’t go past 80 pitches today? If so, Hughes should b…

Game Thread, Blue Jays v. Twins May 21 1:10pm Starters: Happ (5-1, 3.40 ERA) v. Dean (0-1, 4.50 ERA) 1: Pat Dean So, who is this Pat Dean guy? Let’s take a look at this AAA numbers from 2015 and 2016. AAA 2015 – ERA 2.82 – H/9 8.5, BB/9 – 1.8, K/9 – 4.9 AAA 2016 – ERA 3.00 – H/9 8.2, BB/9 – 1.8, K/9 – 5.0 The first thing that pops out to me is that K/9. In a full season of AAA last year, Dean struck out 4.9 per 9 innings (for those who don’t know, 4.9 is inordinately low). And this is in AAA! Yikes. This is one of the prime reasons why many people here at Twins Daily didn’t want Dean to be added to the 40 man roster. In my opinion, Dean definitely deserves a cup of co…

Wednesday 5/18, 12:10 PM CT at Target Field TV: FS-N, MLBN (out-of-market only); Radio: Go 96-3, TIBN Weather: Partly cloudy, with a low around 55. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Lineups: BLUE JAYS (24-15) 1. Bautista, RF 2. Donaldson, 3B 3. Encarnacion, DH 4. Smoak, 1B 5. Saunders, LF 6. Tulowitzki, SS 7. Martin, C 8. Carrera, CF 9. Goins, 2B Aaron Sanchez (3-1, 3.29 ERA) TWINS (10-30): 1. Dozier, DH 2. Nunez, SS 3. Mauer, 1B 4. Sano, RF 5. Plouffe, 3B 6. Polanco, 2B 7. Grossman, LF 8. Centeno, C 9. Santana, CF Tyler Duffey (1-2, 1.85 ERA) Five things to think about: 1. I hope I'm not overstepping boundaries by making …