Good Morning Twins fans and welcome back to another game thread extravaganza! Happy May Day too!

 

Last night we took home a great 9-1 victory over the Royals. We also got a glimpse of Alex Kirilloff's talent. Between Kirilloff's two homers and Buxton's defensive greatness I actually got excited about this teams potential over the next month or so. I think we'll climb our way back up in the standings in no time (assuming the bullpen can pick it up).

 

Speaking of May Day, My daughter turns 21 today. I'm not sure how 21 years can go by so quickly but they do! If she wasn't away at college I'd take her to my favorite watering hole and buy a few rounds of beer and watch the Twins beat up on KC...Happy Birthday Sarah!

 

OK, back to today's game. I'm liking the lineup. Interesting batting order but I sure would not enjoy pitching to our first 3 hitters and our #9 hitter. Nasty.

 

Let's GO Twins!

 

Lineups:

 

TWINS:

 

1. Byron Buxton, CF

2. Josh Donaldson, 3B

3. Nelson Cruz, DH

4. Jorge Polanco, 2B

5. Kyle Garlick, RF

6. Mitch Garver, C

7. Alex Kirilloff, 1B

8. A. Simmons, SS

9. Luis Arraez, LF

P - Matt Shoemaker ®

 

ROYALS:

 

1. W. Merrifield, 2B

2. Carlos Santana, 1B

3. Salvador Perez, C

4. Jorge Soler, RF

5. Ryan O'Hearn, DH

6. Hunter Dozier, 3B

7. A. Benintendi, LF

8. M. Taylor, CF

9. Nicky Lopez, SS

P - Danny Duffy (L)

 

Weather: Beautiful spring day in Minnesota. 80 degrees and sunny. No rain expected.

My pick to click today is Kirilloff. I'm gonna play the hot hand and ride that train til it throws me off. 

 

Go Twins!

I hope the boys can come through with an awesome 21st birthday win!

That was a bad attempt

 

Interesting that Garlick is in instead of Kepler, not instead of Arraez. Preview of things to come? Kepler becoming more of a platoon player? Obviously, one game does not mean a lot but I do think it’ll be interesting to watch as they try to find a way to keep Arraez in the lineup five or six days a week. It will be also interesting to see what happens when Sano’s ready to come back. If we are committed to playing Kirilloff on almost every day basis, and I think we are, either the outfield is more crowded and someone (Cave) has to go or Sano spends a lot of time on the bench. I think we’re a couple weeks away from that decision because I think Sano will be sent to St. Paul to “tuneup his swing after the injured list time off”. Injuries may take away that decision, but if they don’t I think it’s going to be very interesting.

We're facing a lefty today, so Garlick makes sense over Kepler. Cave should be spending plenty of time on the bench, where he belongs.

Pretty poor 0-2 pitch to Perez, who as I said yesterday, is hitting .947 against the Twins.

 

Also pretty stupid attempt by Buxton, which ends up costing 2 runs.

I have no problem w buxton going for that catch.

 

I have no problem w buxton going for that catch.

He was 3 ft from catching it. Not smart. Cost 2 runs.

I was doing a crossword puzzle the other day, and I got stuck. I asked Mrs Chief for some help. "Honey," I asked, "Help me out here. Crossword puzzle. I'm stuck on 'Overworked Postman.'"

 

"How many letters?" she asked.

 

"Well, duh. Waaayyyy too many," I said.

Cooking a $20 pan of boneless country style pork ribs in the the oven. 300F for 2 hrs, drain the juices, paint on BBQ sauce, then back in the oven at 275F for 1 hr, uncovered. 

 

Skol Twins!

Watching Garver hit has become depressing

 

Also WTF was that AB by Kirilloff.

 

Cooking a $20 pan of boneless country style pork ribs in the the oven. 300F for 2 hrs, drain the juices, paint on BBQ sauce, then back in the oven at 275F for 1 hr, uncovered. 

 

Skol Twins!

Wow, must be nice. Spending $20 on a pan.

 

Wow, must be nice. Spending $20 on a pan.

Maybe if it’s made out of iron it’s worth $20

Well damn

Well it was fun while it lasted. Need tomorrow's game badly.

 

Well it was fun while it lasted. Need tomorrow's game badly.

It’s only 4-0. A lot of baseball left.

 

Wow, must be nice. Spending $20 on a pan.

I should use some tenderizer?

Should Shoemaker be sent down or DFA’d?

 

Should Shoemaker be sent down or DFA’d?

Yes.

For the record, that was another 0-2 hit given up by Shoemaker immediately before the HR.

He was 3 ft from catching it. Not smart. Cost 2 runs.

It looked closer than 3 ft to me.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Morneau makes me yearn for Bert Blyleven in the booth.

 

And Morneau is one of my favorite Twins ever. 

It looked closer than 3 ft to me.

You know it's one of those days when KC plays their DH in the outfield and he makes the best defensive play of the game.

Had a rough day yesterday. Haven't been feeling well all week, so Mrs Chief finally convinced me to let her take me to the doctor.

 

Well, I came out after the visit pretty upset. Crying, actually.

"Chiefee dear," she said. "What's wrong??"

 

"The doc told me I'll have to take one of these pills every day for the rest of my life," I told her, showing her the small prescription bottle in my hand.

 

"Well," she said. "That doesn't seem so bad."

 

"Really?" I said. "Not so bad? He also told me not to worry about refills."

Shoemaker has been terrible.

Wow, O'Hearn just blasted that foul ball and barely missed a homer by an inch of the foul pole.

 

Next pitch, HR to center.

 

Shoemaker is literally throwing BP right now.

Shoemaker has been getting ahead in the count and then throwing absolutely horrible pitches

Can't get swings and misses. Pretty pedestrian stuff.