Archived Game Threads

Another game thread, another dollar. Well, not really ... I'm not paid to do this. So ... here we are ... we've won 3 games in a row! Okay, against Detroit ... still ... a win's a win, and we've had 3 in a row, with a comeback from 4-0 yesterday to Berrios on the mound today. I don't want to jinx things, but I'm hopeful we can extend that streak to one more. And a win today means ... we could tie with Detroit for 3rd in the AL Central! Woohoo! heh. And then after the game today starts the MLB draft! I don't usually do much 'research' beforehand, other than reading the articles and various discussions on TD, but I'm always excited to follow along, to learn about who t…

BREAKING: Twins still have half the season to play, and that means another game to play this afternoon. We will have more information as this situation develops. For now, let us talk amongst ourselves. Lineups to follow.

Good Evening Twins Fans!! Sorry this posted late! Big game tonight against the Tigers. Hopefully the Twins can pull off another win. Maeda is on the mound so I think we could be in good shape. Let's see what happens...Twins need to pick this up another notch but you never know what bullpen, offense or starting pitching will show up. Tough year I know! Weird seeing Sano hit in the number 8 hole...I guess that's where his slash lines are now. Kinda sad. Larnach is starting to roll though! Go Twins!!! Let's get started with tonights lineups: TWINS 1. Luis Arreaz, 2B 2. Josh Donaldson, 3B 3. T. Larnach, LF 4. Nelson Cruz, DH 5. Ale…

TWINS, TIGERS AND TIP-TOEING THROUGH THE TULIPS Thank you Buck Owens for predicting the Twins 2021 future so far in advance. Love the nighttime highway construction worker “don’t-hit-me” suit. I wonder if it comes with a plug-in cord or if it’s battery operated. The Twins are sort of like Buck; deceased but still playing. The Twins chances of making the play-offs are dead, fini, zilcho. In other words, their buck stops here. And though Buck still sounds good, the Twins… well, they don’t even smell good. Those big birds circling over the stadium? Buzzards. It’s just a question of which current Twins players are dead meat, trade bait, or bu…

Yes i like pitching Pineda and that catch in the rain. as we're still watching baseball though our team's down the drain Then get up for this noon game and see how our team plays it might be quite the same as what this song says: White Socks: 0. Lance Lynn (R) P 1. Tim Anderson (R) SS 2. Gavin Sheets (L) 1B 3. Jose Abreu (R) DH 4. Brian Goodwin (L) RF 5. Adam Engel (R) CF 6. Leury Garcia (S) 2B 7. Jake Burger (R) 3B 8. Billy Hamilton (S) LF 9. Seby Zavala (R) C Twins: 0. Michael Pineda (R) P 1. Luis Arraez (L) 3B 2. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B …

The Pitchers: RHP Jose berrios (7-2, 3.52 ERA, 96K) vs LHP Carlos Rodon (6-3, 2.37 ERA, 122 K) This matchup features the best arms on both ball clubs, and while that isn’t shocking on the Twins side of things, it is for the white sox. Rodon has battled injuries and poor performance in the past, but has been lights out in his contract year. The lefty is throwing as hard as he ever has, and the slider is an absolute weapon. Berrios has been as consistent as we’ve seen him, but struggled last time out against the Sox. Are the trade rumors weighing on him? Lineups Twins 1. Luis Arraez 3B 2. Jorge Polanco 2B 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Alex Kirilloff LF 5.…

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun and excitement! Can our Minnesota Twins win tonight in front of a full stadium? Local media in Minneapolis report that tonight's game is sold out and the stands will be full. Personally I'm glad I'm not going as it's hot as Hades here...game time temperatures will be almost 94 degrees with a heat index near 100. I think I prefer watching tonight's game in a dark bar with a few cold ones lined up. Happy July 5th by the way! It is the officially observed holiday at least according to my iPhone calendar. Hope most of you had the day off today. I had the day off and didn't do much. Getting ready to grill …

Cripes, I almost forgot. Here's the opening post of today's game thread. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday today. By the way, they do have the 4th of July in other countries too. They also have the 5th, 6th 7th and so on. Even in the throes of a lost season there is reason for players to have hope and joy. Veterans hope they can wind up on a contending team, rookies and prospects hope they can become part of a winning team in the future, and everyone gets the joy of playing baseball. Here are the lineups: Pitchers: Kenta Maeda (R) 3-3, 5.56 Brad Keller (R) 6-8, 6.67 Twins: 1. Luis Arraez (L)…

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE I always liked the Royals. No, not Thee Royals, although you have to admire the Queen Mum and her recently deceased husband, Prince Phillip. As young folks they both did their bit in World War II, the Queen serving in the Motor Pool and Phillip in the British Navy. No, I’m talking about the KC Royals. I actually followed them quite heavily back in the late 70’s - early 80's, mostly because Tom Poquette’s brother was a frequent visitor to my Eau Claire office. I knew if Tom had a good day at the plate his brother was going to pop in to talk baseball and ogle my secretary. Not sure which drew most of his attention but my secretary …

Everything i know about Kansas City, i learned from popular music (well, once upon a time it was popular) "Everything's up to date in Kansas City... they went and grew sky scraper 7 stories tall, about as high as a building aught to grow!" "goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here i come... They got some crazy little women there and i'm gonna get me one" (and i'm sure there are more, but i am under the clock) Kansas City isn't in Kansas any more. (Pretty sure they play in the Missouri side, right) Just round the time they were discussing statehood, weren't there some minor disagreements that John Brown was involved in? I …

Happy Birthday, Nelson Cruz! I don't care which one it is, just keep it goin'! I often think, "hey it's a new unit of time (year, month, game) maybe i can do something different this time... So rather than tryin' to overthink a clever introduction (or underthink it, as the case may be) i'm just gonna roll with whatever comes to mind... Of late, we typically have had trouble against lefties? Let's change that... Twins: 0. Jose Berrios (R) P 1. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B 2. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B 3. Nelson Cruz (R) DH 4. Trevor Larnach (L) LF 5. Ryan Jeffers (R) C 6. Miguel Sano (R) 1B 7. Alex Kirilloff (L) RF 8. Gilberto Celesti…

Welcome back to another Game Thread extravaganza! Big night for the Twins...They need to start chipping away at the lead the White Sox have put on our beloved Twins this year. The Twins needed that win last night and they really need a win tonight if there is any last minute hope to gain some ground. I apologize for the late post but my flight was delayed so I'm writing this in the MSP airport. The wifi here isn't the best but hey, we are 11 games back. It's not like we have a 5 game lead before the All Star break. GO TWINS!!! Let's start winning dammit! Here are tonights lineups: TWINS: 1. Luis Arraez, 2B 2. Josh Donaldson, 3B 3. T. Larnach…

No Rhyme, No Reason They diddled, they daddled but it was a bum horse they’d saddled And the front office was in denial. The Twins bumbled and fumbled and in the standings they stumbled As their free agent signings went down the Nile. They stink, stank, stunk and were caught in a funk Until the team was at the bottom of the pile. But through it all loyal fans stood tall And they laughed and joked and smiled. Cold beer here! they cried a tear in their eye And for a shot of Jameson they'll go the extra mile. Sadly, a number of Twins fans have been jumping off the Beer Wagon (Minnesota has worn out its allotment of Band Wagons…

Preface Game thread intros are usually posted 1 hour before first pitch. But due to forecasted forum conditions, today's game thread intro is a little late. Mind you, just like how it wasn't raining during yesterday's weather delay at Target Field, nothing unusual was happening in the forums today, and I probably could have posted through it. But the forum forecast called for a little spam, plus there was a potentially disrespectful thread comparing Falvey and Levine to Skeeter and Scooter of the Muppet Babies. (Disrespectful to whom, I'll leave it to the reader to decide.) So I decided to wait it out, and fortunately, no postponement should be necessary (or unfortun…

The Twins face the soon-to-be re-nicknamed Cleveland team in game three of a four game series at Target Field (weather permitting). Last night the Twins prevailed 8-7 despite allowing four home runs and two unearned runs. Winning pitcher Griffin Jax provided 4.1 innings of acceptable relief and some hefty hitting by Luis Arraez and others was just enough. The weather forecast for Minneapolis is for rain to start this afternoon and last through the evening hours. The ground is parched and the rain is needed, but it would be nice for the Twins to get this game in today. Here in southeast Minnesota, the rain has already begun. I think either the game starts on time or i…

With the scheduled starting pitcher Randy Dobnak a last-minute scratch due to a contract dispute, let’s go to the next audition tape: [ inserts VHS tape into VCR ] Hi! I’m Danny Coulombe! You may remember me from such heartwarming baseball films as, “The Day I Walked Joe Mauer on Four Pitches!” or “I Was Once Traded for Cash Considerations, Too!” or “I pitched in the Same July 2017 Game that Brandon Kintzler made his Final Appearance in a Twins Uniform! Reflections on the Last Four Years of Major League Baseball, including the Juiced Ball Controversy of 2019, Lockdown…

Luis Arraez LF Josh Donaldson 3B Trevor Larnach RF Nelson Cruz DH Max Kepler CF Jorge Polanco 2B Alex Kirilloff 1B Ben Rortvedt C Andrelton Simmons SS SP: Jose Berrios Cesar Hernandez 2B Amed Rosario SS Jose Ramirez 3B Eddie Rosario LF Bobby Bradley DH Harold Ramirez RF Josh Naylor 1B Bradley Zimmer CF Austin Hedges C SP: J.C. Mejia While the Twins have had their fair share of injuries and disappointing performances, it will be interesting to find out how the Indians can now react to their fair share of adversity. Out of Cleveland's Opening Day rotation, nobod…

As game thread intro Haiku offers no comfort Lost Byron, won game. Wrapping head around the Byron boxer's fracture Can he be strong bad? I distract easy How many games Buxton's missed? Soliceless number Others can take slack Kirilloff, Gordan, Larnach The game must go on... Reds: 0. Wade Miley (L) P 1. Jonathan India (R) 2B 2. Jesse Winker (L) DH 3. Nick Castellanos (R) RF 4. Tyler Stephenson (R) 1B 5. Tyler Naquin (L) LF 6. Eugenio Suarez (R) 3B 7. Shogo Akiyama (L) CF …

I'm going to start this game thread on a serious note. Tonight is cancer awareness night at Target Field. I don't think anyone, anywhere hasn't been touched by cancer in some way or another. For myself ... my Mom and sister both had breast cancer, my Dad had prostate cancer, my grandfather died from colon cancer, my aunt had uterine cancer, my uncle died from an an acute form of leukemia, and the latest, a very dear friend of mine diagnosed recently with melanoma. It's everywhere in one form or another, so take care, get check ups, offer help where you can to someone in need, donate, volunteer ... nothing is too small or too great. That said ... onto baseball. Wow! F…

Good afternoon and welcome back to more Game Thread fun! Also, here's a huge shout out to all the father's out there! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Can the Twins make this 4 in a row? Not really sure but it's been nice to see a few wins in a row. Big Maeda is on the mound for us this afternoon. Hopefully he returns to his old self and can take us 7 innings into the ballgame before letting our bullpen into the action. The lineup looks better today as well with Buxton back in the fold. Speaking of Father's Day, I have 3 kids, all adults now. They make their own money and only lean on "Old Dad" every now and then for a small loan...They want to take me to dinner tonight to c…

The Rangers entertain the Twins in Texas in the middle game of a three game set. Buxton is back! La Tortuga is gone (for now), but not forgotten. Dobnak gets one last chance to show he can be in the rotation. Play ball. Pitchers: PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR R. Dobnak 1-6 8.38 1.73 38.2 56 24 11 10 K. Allard 2-2 2.91 1.12 34.0 29 37 …

Welcome back to more game Thread fun!! Berrios is heading to the mound tonight. I see a 8-2 win/loss ratio after the game tonight. I'm really not sure what to say about this team right now...Hot, cold, cold, cold, drought, rain, shine. Enough of the weather examples. This team really needs to figure out who they want on their pitching staff and who they want to trade or upgrade. Is the season lost? Maybe but this team always surprises me. Stranger things have happened! Sorry for the late post and short introduction but work got a little crazy today. It's Friday, people should be home enjoying happy hour at 4pm versus sending emails at 5:30. Who does that?......On to …

Mr. Ober has this. No need to watch. Mr. Kirilloff will clean up, as he is in the position to do so. I keep wanting to give a rousing welcome back to Mr. Buxton, but alas, it was not to be. However i can still do so for Mr.Arraez! Welcome back Mr. Arraez, and may your bat meet the ball with authority, and avoid others' gloves. Contrariwise may the ball find your glove quickly and happily. Alas, today i am not clever. I think on the whole, the worse my intro writinggoes, the more likely the win. (April was just cruel to me... Teaching me to respect Tom Stoppard's R&G are dead) Well have at it! I shall listen to the game, and check the thr…

The Twins visit Seattle in the second game of their series with the Mariners. They lost last night 4-3 as the bullpen yielded three runs in four innings. The Twins continue to hit and allow home runs. They are (were) second in MLB in homers and third in allowing home runs. If you want to see home runs, go to a Twins game. JA Happ takes the hill versus a pretty weak Seattle lineup. Happ has struggled, as almost all of the Twins pitchers have, with allowing homers. The Twins bullpen leads MLB in losses, not a stat to lead the majors. Luis Arraez returns to the Twins starting lineup, hitting leadoff and playing second base. Nick Gordon gets another start in cente…

The Twins visit Seattle on the first leg of a two-city road trip. The Mariners are three games under .500 despite having a poorer run differential than the Twins, who are 13 games below the break-even mark. The Mariners started the Twins slide off a cliff in April when they came back from a 6-0 deficit in the middle innings and beat the Twins. The Twins really haven't been the same since. Yesterday's game marked another low point as the Twins gave up 14 runs and 20 hits to a good Houston lineup. The three relievers who followed Pineda to the mound yielded runs in every inning, totaling nine runs and 14 hits in five innings. The way those three pitchers are throwing, they…

Lineups: Twins 1. Jorge Polanco 2B 2. Josh Donaldson 3B 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Rob Refsnyder RF 5. Miguel Sano 1B 6. Trevor Larnach LF 7. Ryan Jeffers C 8. Andrelton Simmons SS 9. Gilberto Celestino CF SP: Michael Pineda Astros 1. Jose Altuve 2B 2. Michael Brantley DH 3. Alex Bregman 3B 4. Yordan Alvarez LF 5. Yuli Gurriel 1B 6. Carlos Correa SS 7. Kyle Tucker RF 8. Myles Straw CF 9. Garrett Stubbs C P: Framber Valdez One of the biggest reasons of the current situation for the Twins is a barren pitching staff, so I looked at whether any old friends would have h…

The Twins look to even the series tonight in a 6:15 tilt against the Houston Astros. The Twins version of an ace, José Berríos, will face Luis Garcia of the Astros. Garcia has impressive numbers. I don't know anything about him. Yesterday, the Twins hit four homers (all solos) and still lost to Houston 6-4. The Twins lead MLB in homers, yet their offense is only 11th best in scoring runs, while they are third worst allowing runs. Too many solo homers, too few innings where hits were strung together. A couple of comments about the big talker--substances pitchers have been using to "get a grip" and spin the ball effectively. Offense is way down again this year. J…

Complete the following sentence: "Revenge is a Dish best served ____" They knocked us out of the playoffs last year. True, it was crazy time season only 60 games long and extra special post season, but shouldn't that just make it easier to do something different than we normally do? Well, they have come all the way up i35*, the least we can do is show them some proper hospitality! Take a peek at the line ups. See anything in the following to pique your interest? Peak specimens, all! Astros: 0. Jose Urquidy (R) P 1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B 2. M. Brantley (L) LF 3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B 4. Yordan …

Good evening and welcome back to the Twins Daily Game Thread fun! If you live in Minnesota you know it's really hot here. I know we have TD members scattered around the globe but right now we might be one of the hotter places in the world right now. In Minneapolis we have a dew point over 72, a real feel temp of 108, bright hot sunshine and a major league baseball team that is ICE cold.... I hope we can at least stay close to the Yankees tonight. The lineup is looking better but I have no idea who is playing center field tonight. Here's looking at you Gilberto Celestino! Make the most of it kid. Looks like Buxton is getting closer to coming back. By the way, I went t…

SPITSBERGEN - Baseball Style I had this buddy growing up; we called him LB, though it wasn’t his real name. He became LB when a high school nun who made a habit (chuckle) of misremembering names called him “Little Boy” because he was only five and a half feet tall. We teased him about it of course, but out of the kindness of our hearts we eventually cut Little Boy down to LB and he was thus christened from there on ever after. Me and LB were a Mutt and Jeff team. I hit six feet in junior high while LB labored to reach 5’4”. We took a lot of kidding about the discrepancy in our heights, but LB had a bigger heart than I did, so I over…