Article: Game Thread: Twins @ Yankees, 9/18@6:05pm CT

[Riverbrian]

Off to Yankee Stadium for a 3-game series starting tonight, which also begins a 10-game road trip. These two teams are currently in possession of the two wild card spots with just 13 games to go. You can hear the dramatic music in the background, however, I am going to do my best to downplay the importance of this series while trying to express the true importance of this series.

 

How do you downplay it?

 

You do it by saying forget about the Yankees. Currently the Twins are 4 games in back of the Yankees. We all want a sweep but only a sweep will be helpful in our pursuit of the Yankees and it still leaves our Twins 1 game back with 10 to play. If the Twins take 2 out of 3… the Twins will be 3 games back with 10 to play. So… simply winning the series will barely improve our situation with the Yankees and the buzzer is soon to go off. The Twins must sweep to bring the Yankees in range so lets forget about the Yankees... unless we sweep.

 

So how do you express the true importance of this series?

 

You do it by focusing on the Angels while playing the Yankees because the Angels are really the only ones left. The Mariners, Royals, Rangers, Orioles and Rays have fallen off the pace and are about two losses from goodbye. The Angels are the team to watch because they are currently 2 games back and will spend this week taking on the Indians and Astros.

 

What the Twins need to do this week is this: Just have a bigger lead over the Angels at the end of the week. Forget about the Yankees... just increase that leadwhile the Angels are playing the Indians and Astros.

 

Of course… sweeping the Yankees will help that.

 

Thanks for reading my Pretzel Logic… "Those days are gone forever. Over a long time ago… oh, yeah."

 

Here are some things to think about:

 

1. Neighborhoods – New York City is made up of collections of neighborhoods. You don’t simply get an apartment in New York, or even in Manhattan or Queens, you get a place in a specific neighborhood, like Flatbush or Hell’s Kitchen. I think this is a fantastic idea and since I live in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which isn’t laid out in distinct neighborhoods, I have the chance to plant my flag and name my own neighborhood Riverbrian. There are no parks or tourist attractions in Riverbrian, but I do have a Burger King, Pizza Hut, sports bar and laundromat. Hey… At some point in time, someone in Harlem named one of the neighborhoods Sugar Hill and eventually a rap group came out of there called the Sugar Hill Gang. Someday there may be a gang of Norwegian descendants called the Riverbrian Gang and this is how it all begins. Paul Simon says Rosie is the queen of Corona, let her be the queen of Riverbrian. Billy Joel walked Bedford Stuy Alone, that could be Riverbri alone. If you think this is a brilliant idea… "you may be right." Everyone should go claim the naming rights to your neighborhood right now.

 

2. Our Twins – Shame on all of you who left after the Blue Jays took a 5-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Thank you, Vikings, for making everybody come back.

 

3. The Yankees – In my opinion, the scariest part of the Yankees is the bullpen. Chapman, Betances, Robertson, Kahnle is a pretty fearsome group, so I strongly recommend never letting the Yankees get a lead… ever. In game 2 of the series we will get to see Jaime Garcia face us; we are paying Garcia 4 million dollars to pitch against us so we will see if this clever strategy works.

 

4. Today’s Joe M Conversation:

 

Maddon: What do you guys think of armadillos?

 

Mauer: I’ve never really thought about them.

 

Montana: They are kinda like rocks with feet.

 

Maddon: I’m thinking about bringing a bunch of them into the locker-room for the players to enjoy.

 

McCarthy: Why would they enjoy them?

 

Morgan: They could play catch with them.

 

Maddon: If you choose well the players enjoy them. I brought in an elephant once. That didn’t work very well as it could barely squeeze through the Wrigley Field hallways and it got stuck a couple of times. Its trunk was smashing lightbulbs, and trophies, fire extinguishers were knocked off the wall. When we finally got it into the locker room… it took up all the space and the players got trapped inside their lockers. In hindsight it was a mistake to try and get it into that small room.

 

Morgan: Wow… the Cubs organization must have been a little upset with you.

 

Maddon: Thankfully they didn’t know… I asked everyone not to mention it.

 

5. Miss America – Miss North Dakota is the new Miss America. I didn’t watch but the other 184 North Dakotans were talking about it so I am aware. It’s been probably decades since I’ve watched the pageant but I remember thinking that presidential elections should be a similar format. All 50 states are represented, they get asked important questions like, “If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?" If the Presidential candidates also had to compete in talent and swimsuit, we would have all the information we currently use to make decisions and the whole thing can be condensed into a 3 hour show.

____________________

 

TWINS

 

Brian Dozier 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Byron Buxton CF

Jorge Polanco SS

Eddie Rosario RF

Eduardo Escobar 3B

Robbie Grossman DH

Jason Castro C

Ehire Adrianza LF

 

Ervin Santana P

 

YANKEES

 

Brett Gardner LF

Aaron Judge RF

Gary Sanchez C

Didi Gregorius SS

Chase Headley DH

Starlin Castro 2B

Jacoby Ellsbury CF

Todd Frazier 3B

Greg Bird 1B

 

Jaime Garcia P

 

Weather: you'll have to look it up yourselves. These articles are difficult enough to edit from my phone.

 

Click here to view the article

[Craig Arko]

So when my nephews were small and we'd walk them back to our house after school for the afternoon, one time the youngest was telling us about the strange pet one of the families in the neighborhood had.

 

They said it was a pet wolverine. This struck us as unlikely in the city limits, and we'd never seen a wolverine up close before.

 

We had them and their group of buddies take us to the house in question, so we could view this ferocious creature.

 

It was an armadillo. Also unlikely in Minnesota, so exotic.

[MN_ExPat]

Ugh...lol.   HATE those things.   They are a complete menace down here in South Georgia, and more than a few have been sent to an Armadillo "farm" for destroying our lawn (in case you were wondering, a single one can tear apart a lawn in less than an hour digging for insects).

 

You guys can have all you want; we'll even pay for the postage and shipping.

[gocgo]

Pet wolverine...lol!  Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...they would eat the hand that feeds them.

 

Well, here we go.  The make or break road trip that has been looming on the horizon.  Go get 'em boys!

[Puckett34]

 

Of course… sweeping the Yankees will help that.
 

 

http://s.quickmeme.com/img/25/2575cc6d168e9a73edd817b032692480de5648246f5af73f175ed79615a032e2.jpg

[Respy]

Well the Twins should hopefully have a deep scouting report on Garcia for tonight.  They need to win this one with Santana on the mound.  I don't like our odds the following two days with Berrios against Sabathia (who we never beat) and Colon (who has not pitched well at Yankee stadium the last few years) against Tanaka.

[wsnydes]

mmmm, pretzels....

[Darius]

Bad news: Molitor just said on MLB Network that he's "not as encouraged" as he was at one point in the Sano injury, and that "it just doesn't seem to heal." He also stated "getting him back would be a bonus, but I'm not counting on it."

 

Not exact quotes, but paraphrased from memory. Might be a little off.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

In search of 7 wins.  If they can get one win each in New York and Cleveland, they can still get there by taking 5 of 7 from Detroit.  If they can somehow take two of three from NY or CLE - then I think the Twins are in very strong position.  So one win is necessary in New York, two would be gravy, three would be a second helping of gravy.

[Broker]

@Riverbrian #5 is brilliant.

[twinsnorth49]

7 straight days of the Jays and Yankees.....

 

http://readeroffictions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/gif-this-is-my-hell-parks.gif

[Brandon]

Why did the chicken cross the road?......To prove to the armadillo it can be done....

[diehardtwinsfan]

good times... my hotel has the MLB network, and the Twins are on.

[amjgt]

Of course Garcia struck out the side

[Riverbrian]

Ugh

 

I hope we make contact eventually

[Riverbrian]

 

good times... my hotel has the MLB network, and the Twins are on.

 

Where are you lounging?

 

Room service, delivery or take out?

[mickeymental]

season is over.

[USAFChief]

@Riverbrian #5 is brilliant.

I hope to meet him some day. In the meantime we're stuck with RB I.

[yarnivek1972]

The Yankees (team of Lou Gerhig, Chris Chambliss, Don Mattingly and Tino Martinez) have their first baseman hitting 9th.

[yarnivek1972]

345 feet...

[Aggies7]

Great.

[yarnivek1972]

Is it concerning that, even though well over the fence, Rosario was 30-40 feet to the left of where the ball left the stadium?

Edited September 18, 2017 by yarnivek1972

[Riverbrian]

Well now we gotta make contact for sure.

 

0-0 after 9 innings is out of the question. 

[USAFChief]

345 feet...

Same distance when the Twins are up to bat.

[Riverbrian]

 

The Yankees (team of Lou Gerhig, Chris Chambliss, Don Mattingly and Tino Martinez) have their first baseman hitting 9th.

 

4 1B in all that time is pretty impressive. 

[Aggies7]

I'm stuck with the Yankees telecast, too. Blacked out on MLB tv so I can't switch to the dick and Bert. Endless shots of the "judge's chambers"

[yarnivek1972]

Same distance when the Twins are up to bat.

Yes, but in probably 25 other parks, that's barely a warning track fly ball.

[Riverbrian]

 

Same distance when the Twins are up to bat.

[Riverbrian]

Yay

 

Contact!!!

[yarnivek1972]

Want to bet they bunt.