Archived Game Threads

After the Twins won the home run battle against the Yankees, but lost the war, I was in a bit of a funk. However, with liberal application of Dr. J., I was able to put things behind me and look forward to the series against the Sox. *Yes, I've already used the image. However, recycling is in and, what part of "funk" don't you understand? Now the Twins face off against a team, the White Sox, that is in "rebuilding" mode. However, in looking at the Sox fielding stats, it appears the coaching staff needs to be rebuilt too. *The above really has nothing to do with errors, but, still it's fun to watch. And, it's about the only time Harrelson is worth listening to. Becau…

The Twins meet the Rangers in game 2 of a 4-game wraparound series at Target Field. Chris Archer starts for the Twins, while the Rangers are sending out Glenn Otto. I haven't paid much attention to the Wildcard race, assuming the AL East would provide all of the wildcard teams. Seattle has moved into good position to take a spot. I wouldn't be surprised to see an AL Central team sneak in as well, so even if the Twins don't win the Central, they still have a chance. Lineups: …

And…. Welcome back to the nightly game threads this is your host diehard... er... Vanimal reporting live from Corpus Christi Texas where I have hija… er… borrowed the whine line studios for your listening pleasure. We have a top shelf baseball game on the hopper tonight where the good guys will be backed by Hector the Hero facing the goliath that is Cole Hammels. sounds of papers being shuffled and drunken mumbling No, not Kohl Stewart… He plays for the Twins. I don’t think Texas would take a Cole for Kohl swap because their first names sound the same. Good idea though Mr. Intern. sounds of more shuffling and then quiet whispering No, that’s a Beta max player.…

Things to think about: 0: Thinking. What is it? Are you doing it now? Good for you! It's important. "It seperates us from people who like "Love Song" (great book, dumb title)"* Alas, i like to just pop references in lieu of thinking too often. And i apologize if today is no different. 0: Counting. Some things do, some things don't. Then there is the counter thought: does a counter count? I don't know. Today i'm only a Duke. 1: "I want my Johnson."** This is Wes's final game, right? I will sure miss him. If anyone feels like writing up an homage or other tribute to his wokr here, go for it. 2: Alternating Currently. It seems we win a game. Then they…

Welcome to Game 2 of the 2021 season! Pretty fun Game 1, eh? I have some commitments on Friday and during the day on Saturday, and so I am for once not procrastinating, and am writing this intro on Thursday during the mid-inning break, heading into the bottom of the ninth. Solid outing by most in the lineup, with enough hitting to rack up 5 runs. Would have liked a couple of insurance runs when Garver almost hit one out just now, but those surely won’t be missed. Great to have Buxton go yard - not like he swings for the fences every time, and it’s nice to see him mix in the occasional dinger. Too bad Donaldson got an owie while legging out his double in the first inni…

Twins (8-18, 5th AL Central) vs Astros (8-18, 5th AL West) Line: HOU -143 O/U: 8.5 runs Meyer (0-0, 18.00 ERA) vs McHugh (2-3, 6.65 ERA) Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX Forcast: Overcast, 58F, 0% of Precip. TV: FS-N Radio: Go 96.3 Minnesota Twins Lineup: 1. CF Danny Santana ® 2. 2B Brian Dozier ® 3. 1B Joe Mauer (L) 4. RF Miguel Sano ® 5. 3B Trevor Plouffe ® 6. DH Byung-Ho Park ® 7. SS Eduardo Escobar (S) 8. C Kurt Suzuki ® 9. LF Eddie Rosario (L) Houston Astros Lineup: 1. 2B Jose Altuve ® 2. RF George Springer ® 3. SS Carlos Correa ® 4. LF Colby Rasmus (L) 5. 1B Tyler White ® 6. DH Preston Tucker (L) 7. CF Carlos Gomez ® 8. 3B Luis Valbuena (L) 9. C Jason Castro …

Nothing like an unplanned baseball game taking place on a should be off day! The Twins were part of the third rainout in Los Angeles since 1995, and will finish their season series against the Angels this afternoon. Minnesota has already locked up the season win, as well as the series win. They will also travel back to Minnesota with another successful road trip. The Pitchers: Martin Perez (6-1, 2.89 ERA, 53 K's) vs Matt Harvey (2-3, 6.35 ERA, 34 K's) Martin Perez would be the clear cut choice for most improved player in the American League if the season were to end today. However, it does not. The former top 100 prospect has put together an amazing year on the bump f…

Game-time forecast: 70-75 deg F, currently mostly cloudy, but should clear and be sunny, winds from the S at 7-8 mph. All in all, shaping up to be a good day for a baseball game! Lineups: ORIOLES Machado 3B Davis RF Jones CF Pearce LF Walker DH Hardy SS Parmelee 1B Schoop 2B Joseph C Jimenez P TWINS Dozier 2B Mauer DH Plouffe 1B Sano 3B Hunter RF Rosario LF Hicks CF Fryer C Santana SS Milone P Stuff: 1. Milone v Jimenez. If Milone stays on this roll of his, I give Milone the big edge. He's just been, well, amazing; a 1.95 ERA since he returned, 5 quality starts in a row (a team best), I mean, yeah! I give him the edge. Jimenez has been good this year, too, but as I…

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…

Game Thread, Twins vs. Athletics, 5/7 @ 12:10 pm CT Weather: We are not talking about neutered rams here, so I did not spell this “wether,” because wethers don’t have anything to do with baseball, unless the Cubs decide they would rather have “The Curse of the Wether,” but who knows? Maybe that is what is effecting the Twins these past years, but I don’t know how or why we would have been cursed. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 76. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. [ATHLETICS (12-17): Drew Pomeranz, LHP (1-2, 4.61 ERA…

Minnesota Twins (78-72) at New York Yankees (83-67) -- Yankee Stadium Season Series -- Tied at 2 Last time out -- Yankees 2, Twins 1 -- Pitching was the name of the game as Jaime Garcia had the Twins flailing early on (9 of first 12 outs were K's) and Ervin Santana escaped more jams than Houdini until the Yanks scratched a run across in the 6th to take a 2-1 lead. From there, the Yankees bullpen took over and Aroldis Chapman saved the oft-booed Dellin Betances by stranding the bases loaded in the 8th and torching the Twins with that 104 MPH fastball in the 9th. The win allowed the Yankees to pull 5 ahead of the Twins for the WC1 position but they got no help in the …

Happy May Day and welcome back to another Game Thread party! So excited to be here today. Excited for a couple of reasons. First, we have left the month of April behind. It was an absolute abysmal month in Minneapolis with 22" of snow fall over a couple of days and a Twins franchise that is collapsing like a house of cards or like the acting career of Kevin Spacey. Bye, bye April! The second reason for my excitement is my daughter turns 18 today. I have three kids, two of which are now legal adults. I can't believe how fast time goes by. I don't even feel that old...Regardless, just wanted to throw out a happy birthday to my beautiful daughter. As I mentio…

No game thread yet? Two teams will face off. Likely only one of them will win. Discuss.

I have been resurrected! Fittingly, I have come back to life in time for Easter. You see the Dastard was dead for about a month, then I was resurrected. No, I’m not a zombie, though my wife at times might disagree. In fact she lives to disagree with me, but that’s neither here nor there. Well, actually it’s more here than there because we don’t go there as often anymore. But getting back to my return, my vintage iMac (once you go Mac you never go back) gave up the ghost about a month ago. Partially anyway. The built-in monitor after beaming blue waves at me for nine years pulled Douglas MacArthur’s Old Soldier’s trick and just faded away (fittingly MacArthur start…

The annual TD Fun Drive. Help us reach our goal of enjoying this game. Post. Then post post, like a post. And not the stereotypical California like, ya know. A solid" i like the sound of that!" like. For 10 likes, you get joke about stereotyping. For 20 likes, you get to hear about the bizarre liscense plate on a car that just passed me. And protip, don't post and drive. For 30 likes you get a parmigan for president joke. For 40 likes you get to hear an 80 year old joke i just made up... For 50 likes... A princess bride reference! Twins Tyler Duffey ( R) 1. Brian Dozier (R ) 2B 2. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 3. Max Kepler (L) RF 4. Miguel Sano ( R) DH 5. Eddie Ro…

Welcome baseball’s rivalry week. We get to travel to Packer’s territory, as our hometown heroes get to travel to Milwaukee. Football seasons is right around the corner, and given how well we are playing, we probably have a better shot at beating Green Bay at baseball than we do Milwaukee. So with that, let’s think about football… or just Milwaukee. The Vikings – like the Twins, the Vikings are riding some pretty high expectations going into the season. The obvious big difference is that the Vikings made it all the way to the NFCCG before being eliminated, whereas the Twins got to game 163. I’m hoping that there’s some sort of universal law preventing two Minnesota teams…

To Two Twain. A twin billing. Double header. Zaphod Beeblebrox would be proud. I wonder the position he would play in a baseball game? Not to be confused with the cricket wars. "If at first you don't succeed, try again." (now with less trying) doesn't really apply to baseball, does it? It should be if at first you don't succeed, sounds like you are out, so head back to the dug of outs. And as a side note, should the game get too boring. What is your favorite work of Samuel Clements? And what in this game reminded you of it? Er... besides this question? And as yesterday had an Abbot and Costello clip, could some kind tech savvy poster track down the Niagra falls bi…

Roster Moves As we all know, the Twins have been dealing with a mini-COVID outbreak through the weekend, and today is their first game back. We know that Simmons was already on the COVID IL, and he was joined by LHP Caleb Thielbar, OF Kyle Garlick, and OF Max Kepler. Kepler tested positive for COVID, as did Kyle Garlick. Thielbar is on the IL as a close contact. The Twins recalled IF Travis Blankenhorn, selected the contract of RHP Luke Farrell, and reinstated OF/1B Brent Rooker from the IL. The Pitchers RHP Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 4.71 ERA, 26 K's, 28.1 IP in 2020) vs LHP Sean Manaea (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 45 K's, 54 IP in 2020) The Twins turn to Matt Shoemaker, who last pitc…

Good morning from the not so sunny and rather windy Central Valley of CA. I am your host today and we've got a good one scheduled for your viewing and snarking pleasure. The Twins are in the Big Apple, playing the Mets, who have managed to assemble a starting staff that looks to be formidable. However, tossing aside the first game in Philly, the Twins played solid baseball the second two games against the Phillies. Yes, the third game resulted in a loss, but, the Twins hung in there. Hopefully, Mr. Gibson recovers from his horrendous first start and shows us that he's able to shake off a bad performance. And, he'll need to, because DeGrom is a tall order. This i…

On short notice, Five things: 1. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaims Daisy. 2. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either. 3. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn’t find any. 4. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says Dam!" 5. The Twins are carrying 13 pitchers. That's it. Someone please post the lineups. Thanks!!

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy with a 30-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing out to left field at 10-15 m.p.h. Temperature around 65. Twins: SP, Nolasco Dozier 2B Fuld CF Plouffe 3B Colabello 1B Kubel RF Suzuki C Pinto DH Escobar LF (hmmmm ... ) Florimon SS Indians: SP, Salazar Morgan CF Swisher 1B Brantley LF Santana 3B Murphy RF Cabrera SS Chisenhall DH Gomes C Aviles 2B --------------------------------------- Please check back for the stylings of Riverbrian! -------------------------------------------------------- "The Stylings"... That's the name of a Philadelphia Soul Band if you are incredibly lazy... Betcha By Golly Wow!!! Things to Think a…

Hello Game Threaders and welcome to another double header edition of the game thread! Today, your Twins try to remain above .500 on the season and keep their ever fading hopes of staying alive in the division alive. Before we get too far into this, I'd first like to welcome Matt Wallner to The Show! He'll man right field today as Kepler was put on the IL. At the very least, that gives us something to look forward to today. Good luck in your debut, Mr. Wallner! Of other interest to many, myself included, is that today is the birthday of my favorite cartoon character! Wile E. Coyote debuted on this day in 1949 in "Fast and Furry-ous". How can you not enjoy…

Lineups: Twins: Eduardo Escobar 3B Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit DH Chris Parmelee RF Brian Dozier 2B Aaron Hicks CF Pedro Florimon SS (P.J. Walters P) Royals: Alex Gordon LF Eric Hosmer 1B Salvador Perez C Billy Butler DH Mike Moustakas 3B Lorenzo Cain CF David Lough RF Chris Getz 2B Alcides Escobar SS (Jeremy Guthrie P)

Lineups: Twins: Jamey Carroll 3B Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer DH Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit C Chris Parmelee RF Aaron Hicks CF Pedro Florimon SS (P.J. Walters P) Brewers: Carlos Gomez CF Jean Segura SS Ryan Braun LF Aramis Ramirez DH Jonathan Lucroy C Yuniesky Betancourt 1B Logan Schafer RF Rickie Weeks 2B Jeff Bianchi 3B (Kyle Lohse P)

http://www.austinrollerdisco.com/uploads/6/8/0/0/6800356/9792750_orig.jpg ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Roller Disco Edition! I am your host and FUNKY DJ for the next two days, Vanimal. Happy Jose Berrios Day! It sure is nice to talk about him instead of pretending to care about Adam Wilk starting a game! The Twins are squaring off for game 2 against Cleveland, and who knows.... Maybe this game will be good! Before we get down to some funky beats and randomness, let's talk weather and lineups.... It's a bit chilly today in Cleveland! Sunny and 59 degrees at first pitch. REAL FEEL of 65 degrees... Winds out of the NW at 7 MPH. Minnesota Twins (18-14…

I've barely been able to watch the games lately they've been so … well, you know. Sometimes I just can't take it. And sometimes, despite it all, I just can't help it and watch anyway. It's like watching an accident. Even when you want to just drive by, and I'm usually pretty good at that, something impedes you … other gawkers … and you are forced to catch a glimpse. TD has been one big gawker for me … and I can't help but take a peek. Even if I don't watch the game every day … I'm still reading about it all. I just can't seem to turn away. Not sure what that makes me … a true fan? A masochist? An idiot? (Chief says 'yes.') Anyway … whatever it makes me, here I am; and tod…

Roster Move The Minnesota Twins activated 2B/OF Luis Arraez prior to the first game of the series against the White Sox. Arraez was placed on the 7-day concussion IL last week after colliding with a catcher on a play at home. Arraez missed the minimum amount of games possible, which is a good thing for both himself and Arraez. The Twins sent down MIF Nick Gordon to Saint Paul (AAA) to clear space on the 26 man roster. Gordon appeared in one game, where he reached based 3 times and stole two bags. The Pitchers RHP Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.02 ERA, 28 K's, 28.2 IP) vs RHP Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.37 ERA, 40 K's, 30.1 IP) If you were to look at these two name…

Local Clockwatcher claims he can write a better game thread. At the coffee machine in the break room, handyman Earl tells coworkers that game thread intros have gone down hill in recent years. They weren't as lively as back when he first joined the site. Most of the folk coming through just shrugged it off, and returned to work. "He's always on about something, best to leave him be untilhe gets it out of his system." But Epy-Sue, a recent hire, egged him on. "And i suppose you could perhaps hit better'n Kepler too, eh? That's just swingin' a stick, right?" "Oh sure could, why just lemme at it, i'll..." at which point the Boss leaned through the door. "Breaks over! Every…

Today opens an important late season series for the Twins. And, this series also bring out the magic of the baseball season. For instance, the following: Of course, there is also another kind of magic But the true magic lies in a number, specifically, the magic number: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/34786-magic-number-thread/?do=findComment&comment=910891 *See above thread for the countdown. Of course, transportation to Twins games is important: I admit, at one point, maybe many points, I had a bit of this going on: Because I thought perhaps things weren't going quite as they looked. But, here we are, the Central title there for the Twins…

Normally, I have these game thread thingies written a couple of weeks before I'm supposed to post them. However, writers block set in about the same time the Twins went from road kill to road killers. What's even worse, the Twins were going to play the White Sox, a team who's best pitcher has been awful against the Twins. So much low hanging fruit yet the old brain was not bearing game thread fruit. I also admit to some trepidation yesterday, because I figured Chris Sale would be on a mission to get some revenge. It turns out I was wrong, Sale was on a mission to be the Sale the Twins have grown to love. Then, things got interesting, Duffy left, and the Sox to…