Archived Game Threads

Hello everyone and welcome to the game thread for the Royals vs. Twins on Joe Mauer Day. The weekend is all Joe Mauer all the time and his elevation to the Twins' Hall of Fame along with the retirement of number 7 has brought back many Twins' greats and Mauer teammates. There will be a sellout crowd tonight and I would expect the game to start later than the posted 6:10 start time. Mauer and his career have been discussed to death on this site, so I will leave that topic and concentrate on the game. First thought--With now a two-catcher rotation and ten very capable players everyone is getting days off. Adrianza is in the lineup at least twice a week and Gonzalez gets f…

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…

Welcome to Summer Camp baseball. The Twins take on the Cubs for their first and only July exhibition before they start the postponed 2020 season. The season figures to be dramatic and entertaining. It is guaranteed to be different with a scant 60 games scheduled, all against Central Division foes (AL & NL), featuring roster and rule changes that will further change the grand old game. First, a word about this game thread and all of the regular season game threads. The idea of a game thread is to provide a place to discuss today's game, as if you were at the game watching with friends. Introductions set the stage and give some of our talented members a chance to pre…

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 …

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…

Good morning Twin fans! The Twins go for the sweep against Cleveland this afternoon. The Twins swept a day-night doubleheader to take a 5.5 game lead to give them a big edge going into the last two weeks of the season. Today Randy Dobnak gets the ball first for the Twins with the expectation that there will be many relievers. Cleveland counters with All-Star Shane Bieber. Advantage Cleveland, but they had the edge in the pitching matchup earlier in the series. The starting lineup features a couple of surprises--Araez at DH, Austudillo catching, Jake Cave (back!) in right field and Ronald Torreyes at short. Health remains a big concern for the club. Twins: Arraez dh …

Quick introduction for the third game of four in the Twins @ Seattle series. The Twins are now 29-15 (14-7 on the road) and lead the AL Central by 5 games. After a 13-2 start, Seattle has fallen below .500. These are two of the leading home run hitting teams in MLB. José Berríos vs. Wade LeBlanc. Twins 29-15 Polanco ss Schoop 2b González 1b Rosario lf Cron dh Kepler rf Sanó 3b Castro c Buxton cf Berríos p Mariners 22-25 Gordon 2b Haniger rf Vogelbach dh Encarnación 1b Narváez c Healy 3b Bruce lf Crawford ss Smith cf Le Blanc p

No game thread in sight, so I'll start one. The Twins are 4-2 after a 10-4 defeat in the rain last night. We saw bad Odo after good Odo pitched the second game of the season. Jorge Polanco went 5-5 and hit for the cycle in his first four ABs. Kepler and Polanco homered, now giving the Twins 3 homers on the year. The pitching staff walked eight and the game was brutal to watch, but today is another day! Lineups: Twins Kepler RF Astudillo C Polanco SS Cron 1B Cave LF Schoop 2B Adrianza 3B Buxton CF Pineda P Phillies McCutchen LF Segura SS Harper RF Hoskins 1B Herrera CF Hernandez 2B Knapp C Franco 3B Arrieta P

Game 2 of the four game series between the Twins and Rangers in Arlington. Today it will be Minor versus Odorizzi, a matchup of surprise All-Stars. Runs should be hard to come by at least while the starters are on the mound.Minor had a lousy July (20 earned runs in 27.1 innings), but has thrown fifteen shutout innings so far in August. Odorizzi has similarly bounced back from a tough patch and has won his last two decisions and pitched effectively in his last three starts. Both bullpens have had issues since the All-Star break. The Twins' pen will be rested because Pineda and Smeltzer combined to pitch all nine innings yesterday. There probably will be an additional arm…

The Twins battle the Royals today in game three of a four game series, currently tied 1-1. On the mound Duffy (KC) vs. Berríos (MN). We're two-thirds through the month of June and predictably there have been some slumps and swoons from the Twins. Of note, Pérez has a 5.91 ERA, Parker is at 10.20 and Magill at 11.88 this month. Hitters OPS: Castro .588, Schoop .646, Rosario .704, Sanó .737, Garver .747. Going well in June, Berríos 1.31 ERA, Duffey 1.00 ERA in 9 IP, Rogers 1.13 in 8 IP with 5 saves. Hitters: Kepler .299 with a 1.084 OPS and Cruz .293 with a 1.043 OPS. Schoop held out with a sore ankle today, so a limited bench. Lineups: Twins Polanco ss Cron 1…

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…

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…

It's a sad day in Minnesota. After today, the Twins will be done playing the Baltimore Orioles. So far, the Twins are 5-0 vs. the Birds, with a chance to sweep the season series today. They have averaged more than four homers per game against the Baltimore pitching staff. It is tough to win six straight against anyone, but a loss today would be a disappointment. Today's lineups: Baltimore 10-18 J. Villar2B 31-114 10 3 6 .272 S. WilkersonRF 3-16 1 1 1 .188 D. Smith Jr.LF 27-97 19 5 3 .278 R. NunezDH 29-101 18 6 0 .287 R. Ruiz3B 21-84 10 2 0 .250 A. WynnsC ----- -- -- -- -- C. Davis1B 9-62 10 2 0 .145 J. RickardCF 17-80 6 2 1 .213 R. MartinSS 10-62 1 0 1 .161 Pitch…

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…

Bounceback test. The Twins played a lousy game at “The Stadium” last night. Their past poor games have been answered by good games, with no indication of a skid. They face another lefty (Happ) today and Jake Odorizzi will answer the bell for the Twins. A reminder that there is a game thread intro signup thread. If you’d like to improve on my efforts to start a game thread, please sign up. Lineups: Twins Garver. C Polanco SS Cruz DH Rosario LF Gonzalez 3B Cron 1B Kepler RF Schoop 2B Buxton CF Odorizzi P 3-2 3.34 Yankees LeMahieu 2B Voit 1B Sanchez DH Andujar 3B Torres SS Gardner CF Maybin RF Romine …

Catfish. Now there’s an ugly fish. But they’re fun to catch, at least a neighbor told me that. We were whacking fresh rhubarb out of the patch that straddled our property line, sweating in the sun, throwing lies and fairy tales about so he might’ve been exaggerating a little. I’ve never done that myself. Anyway, he claimed he once caught a thirty-pound catfish out of the Minnesota River and took most of an hour to relate the complete tale. I wasn’t sure who got the worst of it; me or the catfish. Anyway, fighting the fish so exhausted my neighbor he claimed his arms were about to fall off before he landed the brute. He’s been hooked on the catfish sport ever since. I gu…

Mr. Moustache The Moustache Gang Rollie Fingers, one of the pioneers of the closer role in baseball, is also known as the owner of the Best Moustache in Baseball History. Ironically, Fingers grew the famous moustache in 1972 in protest over Reggie Jackson showing up for the A’s spring training with a full beard. Fingers and a few other players (Catfish Hunter being one) didn’t like Jackson’s beard and grew their own facial hair, against club policy, figuring Charles Finley, the team’s erratic owner, would force them all to shave, thus ridding the team of Jackson’s hirsute appearance. Finley however, always the showman, instead offered a $300 reward …

The Twins managed to lose last night. With their current bullpen, leads in the middle innings look very fragile. The Royals shut down bullpen shut the Twins down and the Twins bullpen allowed the tying and winning run to score. No surprises in that. The Twins stand at 5-9 and are looking up at the rest of the division. Meanwhile, the Royals are tied for first with a nice 11-3 start. The pitching matchup is probably the #5 starter for each club. Cuddy's old pal 36 year old Jeremy Guthrie has started twice. He has a win and a no-decision, he allowed four earned runs in each start and has toiled 13 innings in his starts. Gurthrie has had a bit of a resurrection since c…

Impingement - having an effect or impact, especially a negative one Seems the Twins have adopted a new three-syllable word to replace an old, out-of-fashion one-syllable term. Players used to get stiff, or sore in the old days. Now they get impingements. Advanced metrics or something I guess. A guy feels a pull in his hip; impingement. A pitcher feels a twinge in his elbow; impingement. Another pitcher feels a tightness in the shoulder of his throwing arm; impingement. Makes you wonder if impingement isn’t a new viral epidemic. Impingement does sound more serious than “strain”, or “ache”, or “sore” doesn’t it? A guy’s got a sore arm, big deal. Throws s…

Quick’s The Word And Sharp’s The Action Pirates Logo 1960-66 You gotta love the Pirates, if for no other reason than their team name and logo. I mean what kid hasn’t grown up playing pirates, jumping around the living room, slashing the air with a toy sword, maybe stabbing the kid brother a few times until he runs to momma crying like a baby? Advancing from playing pirates to becoming a Pirates baseball fan seemed like a natural transition for me back in 1960. You could say their logo shivered my timbers and because of that Pirate baseball cards were probably my first attempt at collecting anything. I’d save up my pennies (yeah, kids used to earn penn…

Hi Ho Silver! Away! I grew up listening to the Lone Ranger on the radio. Yeah, that’s right; the radio. TVs didn’t start making their way into homes until the ’50’s and I was six and about ready to graduate from kindergarten when we got our first TV; a black-and-white Sylvania. We maybe got two channels and you had to watch ‘em through a snowstorm. So it was a slow transition from listening to radio to watching TV in our household. Anyway, radios back then came in big wooden cabinets with lots of dials, tubes and antenna leads. Things weighed about forty pounds. Not something you were going to carry over your shoulder blasting out eardrums over a square block…

It’s the rubber game of the season series today. Berrios vs. Peacock. I’m on my phone so no lineups. I’ll be attending the game today. 55 degrees and mostly cloudy was the last forecast I saw.

END OF THE LINE Okay, the 2022 Twins aren't headed for the World Series. So what. We still have other disappointments to look forward to; the Vikings, the Wild, the Terrible Wolves... whatever that team that runs around in short pants is called. Hey this is Minnesota. We thrive on disappointments. Wouldn't know how to properly celebrate a sports championship anyway. Would probably only embarrass us further. However, if we look hard enough there still are a few good things we can hope for; Arraez besting Judge for the batting title, hometown boy Varland getting his first major league win, Rocco getting a "rest", me getting the sunroom and …

Fun With Numbers The Twins are currently in 2nd Place in their division, 1.5 games back of Cleveland. The BoSox are currently in last place in their division, 17 games back of New York. Total Twins salary: $143,413,800 Total BoSox salary: $240,168,494 Conclusion: W-2’s don’t win games Top Four Twins Hitters Player Ave. OPS Salary OPS Point Return Per Dollar Invested Arraez .319 .809 $ 2,125,000 .0003807 Gordon .276 .752 $ 706,000 .0010652 Correa .274 .788 $35,100,000 .0000225 Miranda .274 .774 $ 700,0…

End of Season Truths and Consequences Pictures Worth A Thousand Cuss Words Rocco, time to get your head out of… Learn to protect your players against weird injuries. When it comes to conditioning, cut back on the weight-lifting, it’s hard on the joints. Instead, go for suppleness and flexibility. But what the hey, keep doing things the way you want. It's your funeral. Today's Pitchers In A Lost Cause Twins: Dylan Bundy 8-7 4.68 ERA 87 SO (4 innings followed by 6 relievers) Royals: Zack Grienke 4-9 4.67 ERA 67 SO Line-Ups Twins: Unkn…

Byron Buxton, CF Brian Dozier, 2b Trevor Plouffe, 3b Chris Parmelee, 1b Josmil Pinto, C Jason Kubel, DH Darin Mastroianni, RF Max Kepler, LF Eduardo Escobar, SS Hughes Jose Reyes, SS Ryan Goins, 2b Jose Bautista, RF Edwin Encarnacion, DH Adam Lind, 1b Brett Lawrie, 3b Melky Cabrera, LF Dioner Navarro, C Anthony Gose, CF Hutchison Setup: I got nothin.

Game 2. Here we are! Still excited because it's baseball season ... I'm sure that will change somewhere in the middle as the season goes on. For today, I hope Odorizzi progressed from where he ended the season last year, and I hope Bauer did not. CLEVELAND 1. Leonys Martin (L) CF 2. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B 3. Tyler Naquin (L) RF 4. Carlos Santana (S) 1B 5. Hanley Ramirez ® DH 6. Jake Bauers (L) LF 7. Roberto Perez ® C 8. Brad Miller (L) 2B 9. Max Moroff (S) SS Trevor Bauer P TWINS 1. Max Kepler (L) RF 2. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 3. Nelson Cruz ® DH 4. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 5. C.J. Cron ® 1B 6. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 3B 7. Jonathan Schoop ® 2B 8. Mitch Garver ® C 9. Byron Buxt…

Game time is getting close. Could someone post lineups? I am not good at setups, but would note that the Twins are leading the season series against the White Sox by 8 games to 2.

As all on these boards are aware, Justin Verlander’s third no-hitter was a pretty big deal. He joined a short list of all-timers. Nolan Ryan’s seven remain the benchmark. Sandy Koufax’s four had sat in the pole position for ten years before the Ryan Express tied that record when he blitzed the Royals, Tigers, Twins, and Orioles across a two year period in the mid-70s. With three no-hitters, Verlander joined Larry Corcoran, Cy Young, and Bob Feller on a short-list of six: four hall-of-famers, another hurler who is sure to join them, and Larry Corcoran. That last fella’s story is to follow. All of this came to my attention when Dick and [ex-ballplayer] were bantering bac…