Front Page: Twins ALDS Game 2 Recap: Nothing Works, Twins Lose 12th Straight To Yankees

[Mr. Brooks]

Not really... What really matters is that all margin of error is now gone. They can't suffer a bloop hit now.

 

The Reds destroyed, dismantled and out everything'd the Giants in San Francisco in 2012.

 

The Giants survived it... this can happen again. The odds are against it because all margin of error is now gone... but, It will be a fresh set of zeroes tonight on the scoreboard and what happened on Saturday was yesterday.

 

Win tonight, You play again on Tuesday... Win Tuesday... You play on again on Friday.

 

It's been done before.

SF didn't get completely blown out both games though. Game 1 was close to the end.

[GCTF]

 

I'm done. I'm just soooo over this train wreck of a franchise. Life has too much to offer to waste anymore time or concern on this nonsense. They suck when they're bad and they suck when they're good. No more. Goodbye Twins. 

[OldManWinter]

There is no reason for anyone to be embarrassed by performance of a team we want to succeed. Or, for that matter to be personally embarrassed over any conduct of others.

 

And, Baldelli is correct. This is a new group, they do not take any losing streak into this series.

Losing to a team you have often lost to is merely a disappointment, that there were breakdowns and they did not play their best.

 

Reusse is correct in his collumn, I think it has been a great and fun season for the Twins.

 

I am happy they did not get into a bidding war for a rental, or a player who may not be good in the future. I am glad they did not give up valuable prospects for short-term gain.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I know Duffey's been great for us the last few months, but -- why turn to him first in game 2, the night after he threw 25 pitches in game 1?

 

Throwing Stashak, Gibson, and even Graterol the night before -- wasn't the whole point of that to keep Rogers, Romo, and May fresh for game 2? So you wouldn't necessarily have to rely on Duffey again right away?

 

Not to mention the whole "over-exposure" risk -- Didi's GS was on the 41st Duffey pitch seen by the Yankees within 24 hours.

 

Especially since the quick hook for Dobnak wasn't exactly a surprise -- it's just so weird that they'd plan on this kind of usage for Duffey, after game 1.

[Riverbrian]

 

SF didn't get completely blown out both games though. Game 1 was close to the end.

 

First... Finding an exact match for the conditions will be really difficult. 

 

Second... It doesn't matter what happened in Game One or Game Two... They were both losses including a supposed soul destroying 9-0 (game two) loss with Madison Bumgarner (the future world series hero) getting tagged during the loss.

 

Game three is going to be a fresh set of zeroes on the scoreboard no matter what happened in the previous two games.   

 

Third... What the Giants didn't do is throw the back end of the bullpen in game one with a one run deficit. They were staring at 3 run deficit and they turned to George Kontos who had a 2.47 ERA with 44 K's in 43.2 innings over 44 appearances in 2012.

 

Sergio Romo was there in 2012 and he is probably wondering why we turned to Stashak.       

[Riverbrian]

 

I know Duffey's been great for us the last few months, but -- why turn to him first in game 2, the night after he threw 25 pitches in game 1?

 

Throwing Stashak, Gibson, and even Graterol the night before -- wasn't the whole point of that to keep Rogers, Romo, and May fresh for game 2? So you wouldn't necessarily have to rely on Duffey again right away?

 

Not to mention the whole "over-exposure" risk -- Didi's GS was on the 41st Duffey pitch seen by the Yankees within 24 hours.

 

Especially since the quick hook for Dobnak wasn't exactly a surprise -- it's just so weird that they'd plan on this kind of usage for Duffey, after game 1.

 

I worry this was some sort of script that they tried to follow.

 

Kind of like the offensive coordinator scripting the first 20 plays or something. 

 

No idea the reasoning... but... it happened for some reason. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Coming back from an 0-2 deficit in a DS has happened before. The Yankees came back against the Indians from 0-2 in 2017. 

Good point!

 

The 2017 Yankees came back from an 0-2 division series deficit... to beat the 100+ win AL Central champs... behind the solid pitching of Luis Severino... and the timely hitting of Didi Gregorious.... wait a minute, maybe this isn't the most encouraging comeback example for the 2019 Twins.

[Otto von Ballpark]

This article highlights some of the obvious flaws in Baldelli's decision to turn to Duffey first in game 2:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/disciplined-yankees-dominate-twins-again/

 

 

Unfortunately for the Twins, Duffey had thrown 25 high-stress pitches on Friday. Per Baseball Savant, his velocity was down ever so slightly, from an average of 94.1 mph with several pitches touching 95 in Game 1, to 93.4, with none above 94 in Game 2. His location was lacking as well, and he simply couldn’t finish off the Yankees’ hitters. Inheriting a bases-loaded, no-out jam, he got to two strikes on five straight batters and retired just two, letting in five runs.

 

 

Gregorius drew upon Friday night’s plate appearance against Duffy [sic], in which he struck out on a high fastball. “[J]ust thinking back to my at-bats that I had against him yesterday, and after I had two strikes, he threw me that fastball, so I was prepared for it this time after he threw me the curveball in the dirt. I was ready for it this time, so that’s why my reaction was like that.”