One time i was at this park and i heard a story about two hikers that rounded a corner in the trail and came across a bear. One of them quietly sets his backpack down, removes his boots, gets out his running shoes and puts them on. The other looks at him like he's stupid and points out that bears can go upwards of 40 mph over short distances and there's no way he'll out run it if thinks come to that. The other fellow acknowledges the truth of what the fellow says, but points out in this situation, he just needs to not be the slowest person the bear is chasing.

 

I'm not sure if that story has bearing on this game, but it seemed somehow appropriate, what with the wild card race bearing down on us, to be reminded that complex situations may have easier solutions than are apparent at first glance. There is more than one way to skin a... um. Banana. I mean peal. No one will be grossed out by pealing a banana?

 

Alright, now your turn. Get your best curve over in this here game thread!

 

Berrios and Garver are the battery here to power an exciting lookin' game.

And it is never good to short change the number 9 hitter...

 

White Sox
Derek Holland (L)

1. Leury Garcia (S) LF
2. Yolmer Sanchez (S) 3B
3. Jose Abreu (R ) 1B
4. Avisail Garcia ( R) RF
5. Matt Davidson ( R) DH
6. Omar Narvaez (L) C
7. Tim Anderson ( R) SS
8. Alen Hanson (S) 2B
9. Adam Engel (R ) CF

Twins
Jose Berrios (R )

1. Brian Dozier ( R) 2B
2. Joe Mauer (L) 1B
3. Byron Buxton ( R) CF
4. Jorge Polanco (S) SS
5. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B
6. Eddie Rosario (L) RF
7. Mitch Garver (R ) C
8. Kennys Vargas (S) DH
9. Ehire Adrianza (S) LF

Gametime Forecast: 73°F • Partly Cloudy • 3% PoP

Are bears at the top of the list of animals children find adorable, but in reality would rip your %^%#^ face off? I want to love bears! They do fun things like wave at us, and jump in pools! They also wouldn't think twice to make you his or her lunch that day. 

Good joke, but you kind of spoiled the punchline..."I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"

 

In term of running people down, the Yankees lost the first half of a double header against Cleveland, and are down 4-1 in game 2. Of things break right, the Twins could end today closer to the Yankees than the rest of the Wild Card field.

Good joke, but you kind of spoiled the punchline...

Chief will be in touch shortly to schedule your own Game Thread-starter in September.

I hope Berrios doesn't show any hesitancy to bury his best breaking pitches in the dirt, and trusts his rookie catcher to make the necessary adjustments. Best may be to just avoid putting anyone on base tonight.

Huge game for this squad tonight. I don't know if there is such a thing as a trap game, but this seems like one.

 

They've had trouble breaking through and winning games like this this year. Seems like they always take a step back after taking a couple forward. Let's break that pattern and get the series win tonight.

 

Are bears at the top of the list of animals children find adorable, but in reality would rip your %^%#^ face off? I want to love bears! They do fun things like wave at us, and jump in pools! They also wouldn't think twice to make you his or her lunch that day. 

Maybe that's why they wave and jump in pools, to lure in the unsuspecting. Sort of reminds of the Twins over the last few years...

Chief will be in touch shortly to schedule your own Game Thread-starter in September.

Fair enough. I'll take one, as I haven't done one this year.

 

But no jokes.

Huge game for this squad tonight. I don't know if there is such a thing as a trap game, but this seems like one.

 

They've had trouble breaking through and winning games like this this year. Seems like they always take a step back after taking a couple forward. Let's break that pattern and get the series win tonight.

Not sure it's huge, but a win would be nice. Baltimore seems serious.

Fair enough. I'll take one, as I haven't done one this year.

 

But no jokes.

What is a joke?

Cleveland sweeps the Yankees in doubleheader. Could be just one game out of the first wildcard.

Man, Adrianza made that one look easy!

What is a joke?

Not really. He was a very fine second baseman.

Mauer drives one hard to right...

Can we unlock the "why doesn't Mauer pull the ball" thread?

 

 

I've been waiting 5 years for Mauer to capitalize on the shift. Talk about a long con.

Chief will be in touch shortly to schedule your own Game Thread-starter in September.

Or ChiTown ... so, AinM ... what dates can we sign you up for?

mlb.tv won't load. anyone else having this problem? just the spinning circle endlessly. gameday no problem. other streaming... no problem.

Mauer drives one hard to right...

Wait, where? To right? Umm ... no comment.

Mauer drives one hard to right...

As expected.

 

(For years and years now....)

mlb.tv won't load. anyone else having this problem? just the spinning circle endlessly. gameday no problem. other streaming... no problem.

Since I'm in Chicago I couldn't load this game, but I was able to load a different game.

Way back when my wife of 33 years and I were still living in sin and able to travel extensively we found ourselves in Yellowstone wandering aimlessly down this path populated by many other tourists, some undoubtedly of questionable intelligence as they were eating sandwiches and dropping crumbs like Hansel and Gretel, we came to a sign that warned us that grizzly bears frequented that same path. Which of course rattled the Little Woman, her being all of 4'10.5". Which of course made her an excellent appetizer for a hungry bear.

 

"What are we going to do if a bear shows up?" she asked me. She, you see, had not yet known me long enough to realize I don't have all the answers. Though I was able to fake it for a few more years.

 

"You see that guy ahead of us on crutches with a cast on his leg?" I asked her.

 

She nodded apprehensively.

 

"We grab his crutches and run like hell," I replied.

 

 

 

Can we unlock the "why doesn't Mauer pull the ball" thread?

 

 

http://2.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/39/52/1e7c8366fb020150a3f1c5c19ff6a183.jpg

 

What could possibly go wrong with such a plan?

Mauer with an early bid for player of the game. #bothsides

Joe not only shows how to take away a hit to right, he also shows the correct way to get a hit to right.

 

And, I did look out the window and, sad to say, no pigs went flying by.

 

Wait, where? To right? Umm ... no comment.

No big deal. It was only a double that scored Dozier from first.

 

Since I'm in Chicago I couldn't load this game, but I was able to load a different game.

 

Got it working.... it was an adblock update thing.....

Holland is listed as a switch hitter. A player that doesn't hit, can not hit from both sides of the plate.

There goes the no-hitter.

Since I'm in Chicago I couldn't load this game, but I was able to load a different game.

I've been loading mlb.tv via Roku on my TV set, but just now I tried in tandem on my laptop and ran into no difficulties. So, something local to one user?