Week in Review: Broken Record

[Nick Nelson]

At 12-20, the Minnesota Twins' busted record reflects a broken team. Meanwhile, their endless string of lapses, failures to execute, and late-game meltdowns are making this utterly deflating season feel like a broken record, repeatedly playing the same sad notes.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/3 through Sun, 5/9

***

Record Last Week: 2-4 (Overall: 12-20)

Run Differential Last Week: -5 (Overall: -2)

Standing: 4th Place in AL Central (7.0 GB)

 

Last Week's Game Recaps:

 

Game 27 | MIN 6, TEX 5: Strong Defense and Kirilloff Power Twins

Game 28 | TEX 6, MIN 3: Bullpen Gives Away Late Lead Once Again

Game 29 | TEX 3, MIN 1: Twins Go 0-for-9 with RISP as Bats Sleep

Game 30 | TEX 4, MIN 3: Another Blown Lead and Extra-Inning Loss

Game 31 | MIN 7, DET 3: Bats Awaken Against Detroit's Relievers

Game 32 | DET 7, MIN 3: In Unpredictable Twist, Bullpen Implodes

 

NEWS & NOTES

 

There were a ton of moves in the past week, most of them brought on by unfortunate events. Before we dive into the in-game highlights and lowlights, let's run through all the turnover this roster has experienced over the past seven days.

• The week started with Randy Dobnak being optioned to Triple-A, just in time for the start of the minor-league season. Dobnak had earned the demotion on merit, with an 8.16 ERA through seven appearances, but this decision seems more aimed at getting him back on a starting regimen. So far so good: Dobnak hurled four scoreless innings with five strikeouts in his debut for the Saints. The rotation may need him soon.
• Called up to replace Dobnak on the roster was Brandon Waddell, who went on to have an unbelievably disastrous second stint with the Twins. He pitched on Monday and Tuesday, allowing six runs (5 ER) while recording three totals outs. Waddell was subsequently optioned and designated for assignment; he was claimed Sunday by the Orioles. So much for that once-promising experiment.
• Supplanting Waddell on the roster was Devin Smeltzer, recalled to function as a long reliever. He hasn't since made an appearance.
• Lewis Thorpe came up for another spot start on Wednesday, tossing five innings of three-run ball against Texas, and was sent back to St. Paul afterward.
• Cody Stashak was optioned to Triple-A after coughing up three runs against the lowly Tigers on Friday night. He was replaced by Derek Law, a minor-league signing during the offseason who impressed during spring training. (Then again, so did Waddell.) To make room on the 40-man roster for Law, the Twins designated former third-round pick Travis Blankenhorn for assignment.

The worst news of the week is that the Twins lost three absolutely critical players to injury. Luis Arraez suffered a concussion during a home plate collision on Monday and went on the 7-day Injured List. A day later, Alex Kirilloff was placed on the shelf due to an ominous wrist injury. Then Byron Buxton came up limping at first base on Thursday, and was diagnosed with Grade 2 hip strain that figures to sideline him for at least a month.

 

You'd be hard-pressed to select anyone the Twins could LESS afford to lose from their lineup than these three. But that's just the nature of this gut-wrenching 2021 season. Filling in the roster spots of these lost fixtures were Nick Gordon, Miguel Sanó and Trevor Larnach.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Well, let's start with Gordon. He made his major-league debut on Thursday and – setting everything else aside – it was just a really nice moment. The former first-round draft pick has gone through hell over the past few years and it probably seemed at times like this opportunity would never come.

 

He made the most of it, reaching base twice – a single and a walk – and stealing second both times. He became the first player in Twins history to steal multiple bases in his MLB debut.

 

 

Despite his draft position and pedigree, Gordon is not considered a top-flight prospect, but there's a bit of intrigue there. His outstanding athleticism was noticeable on Thursday, especially in contrast with a relatively slow and old surrounding cast. I'd love to see Gordon get some significant tread in the months ahead, because at this point, why not?

 

Other highlights were sparse during this dreary week of play, but it was nice to see some signs of life from the likes of Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler. The continuing lack of production from this trio has been core to the offense's inconsistency and unevenness dating back to 2020.

 

Garver seems to be coming around. After launching three home runs in the previous week, he added another on Tuesday, and more importantly his plate approach is growing much sharper. Garver drew four walks in 14 plate appearances against just three strikeouts; in his first 20 games he had three walks and 28 strikeouts. Sunday's rainout might've been a fortunate twist for the catcher, who is healing up some minor shoulder inflammation.

 

Polanco went through perhaps his ugliest stretch of the year in games 2 and 3 against the Rangers, striking out six times in seven at-bats, but otherwise he was very productive, tallying seven hits including three doubles, a triple and a homer. He had more extra-base hits in these six games (6) than he had in his first 24 (5), raising his slugging percentage from .286 to .373.

 

Kepler too snapped free from an extended power outage, hitting his first home run of the year against Texas on Thursday and then adding his second the following day. It wasn't a great week overall for Kep – he slashed .192/.250/.423 in 28 PAs – but he was making some legitimately hard contact, and even managed to take a lefty deep.

 

 

Now, I will add the important caveat that all this success came against two of the worst teams in the league. It's way too early to be getting excited about these small sparks from foundational players who've been sputtering along for months. But, it's something. And the Twins need to see a whole lot more of it.

 

It is extremely difficult to envision this team doing much of anything if Polanco, Kepler and Garver continue to play the way they did in the first month and throughout much of 2020.

 

LOWLIGHTS

 

This team is just not very good. That feels clearer than ever after a week in which they struggled to keep pace with two of the worst opponents they'll face all year.

 

There's simply no resilience, no fight. After mounting a modest hot streak by winning four of five, Minnesota blew the second game against Texas and let it devolve into another cascade of collapses, with a woeful 1-3 stretch all but erasing their progress.

 

The Twins have not come back and won a single game this year in which they've trailed by more than one run. No fight.

 

The past week represented a critical opportunity to get right against bad competition ahead of a grueling stretch of the schedule. The Twins failed to take advantage, letting the last-place Rangers and Tigers win four of six.

 

What's wrong with this team? Where to begin?

 

The bullpen is a total disaster and it's difficult to fathom exactly where the solutions are going to come from.

 

Alex Colomé has tossed four scoreless innings in May after a catastrophic month of April, but he's not at the point of being trusted in anything resembling a high-stakes situation. Waddell's meltdown led to his departure from the organization, subtracting one of the front office's key offseason gambles. Another one, Law, inspired no confidence in his first appearance on Saturday. Stashak's been brutal. Tyler Duffey, a pivotal crux in this bullpen's construction, is a shell of his former self.

 

 

I've argued that the Twins need to take action on their bullpen quickly if they want to have any hope of resurrecting their fast-fading championship aspirations. It has become rapidly evident they are undermanned, and while fringy arms like Law are worth taking a look at, this relief corps needs an infusion of a much higher caliber. And I'm not sure even a slam-dunk acquisition would make enough difference at this point.

 

With that said, the failures of the bullpen are magnified by a continued absence of any late-game offense, or ability to rally from deficits. Relievers have a collective 1-11 record, and while they've earned it with their performance – they're on pace to blow away the worst bullpen WPA in baseball history – a W/L that lopsided doesn't happen on its own. The lineup bears its share of blame.

 

Topping the list of present concerns: Miguel Sanó is fast becoming an untenable option. While Polanco, Kepler and Garver show small signs of emerging from their prolonged slumps, Sanó's performance offers no real cause for encouragement. He has a decent idea of what he's doing at the plate, and continues to draw walks at a solid clip, but Sanó simply can't hit. Last week he went 3-for-17 with nine strikeouts, and his slash line for the season has sunk to .129/.299/.226.

 

The one thing you could always reliably count on from Sanó in the past, even during the down times, was crushing the ball when he made contact. But this calling card has gone amiss in a sea of pop-ups and grounders. Here's where he has ranked over the past five years among MLB hitters in terms of average exit velocity:

• 2017: 96th percentile
• 2018: 95th percentile
• 2019: 100th percentile
• 2020: 100th percentile
• 2021: 17th percentile

Sanó looks about as discombobulated and as he did in 2018, when the Twins opted to send him down to Single-A for a full-on reset in Fort Myers. That's not so much an option anymore. For an ostensibly healthy 28-year-old who's been in the big leagues for six years, breakdowns of this severity are very tough to accept and painful to navigate.

 

Surely the Twins would love to be playing him less frequently at this point, but sadly they don't have much choice. The absences of Kirilloff and Buxton mean they need Sanó, not just from a "body on the field" standpoint, but also due to the (however faint) possibility of tapping his offensive potency. The first baseman has looked so poor at the plate this year, and down the stretch last year, that it can be easy to forget how dominant he was for a lengthy period beforehand: From the start of 2019 through the end of last August, Sanó hit .247/.346/.571 with 41 homers and 94 RBIs in 137 games.

 

Is that player still within him? Can it be coaxed back out? It behooves the Twins to find out, when the alternative is running out Willians Astudillo every day at first base, but in the meantime Sanó's at-bats are just killing this team. They need more from him. They need it. Add that to the list.

 

Urgency is building because the ultimate lowlight of the past week is one that leaves this offense in a dire state going forward. Buxton's hip injury carries a timeline of multiple weeks at least, according to Rocco Baldelli. The news might even be grimmer for Kirilloff, who plans to test his strained wrist by taking swings in the coming week. Said the manager: "If it's an unplayable situation for Alex, I think having surgery is an option."

 

 

 

 

Even if Kirilloff CAN play through the injury, it's worth asking whether he SHOULD. And if you don't have him or Buxton in this lineup you don't have much. Not with Andrelton Simmons hurtling back to Earth (.451 OPS in his past 15 games after batting .450 in the first seven) and Jake Cave continuing to be a total offensive black hole (2-for-13 with five strikeouts last week, .507 OPS on the year).

 

The Twins need Sanó to suddenly figure out how to hit the ball again. They need Kepler, Polanco and Garver to build upon their fledgling hints of positive momentum. They need Larnach, who went 0-for-4 in his debut but didn't look bad by any means, to catch on very quickly, despite his relative lack of minor-league experience.

 

They need basically all of this to happen, because the Twins must play .600+ ball from here on out to even have a shot at the playoffs.

 

And you know what? I could kind of see it. These are talented hitters who've been oddly out of whack for what ultimately equates to less than one full season, and they've all been misfiring simultaneously. Who's to say they couldn't all find a rhythm and start clicking in lockstep? We've seen it before, and not that long ago, in 2019. The talent is there.

 

What I can't see is this bullpen turning around to the drastic extent necessary for a "2019 Nationals" type surge. (An example that many people love to point to as if it's a typical precedent, rather than a once-in-a-century event.) And that's why I personally have lost faith in this team as a true contender. But they've got plenty of time left to prove me wrong.

 

TRENDING STORYLINE

 

For the first time since 2019, minor-league baseball games were played last week! The Twins' reconfigured family of affiliates are all underway, which means that nightly Minor League Reports have returned to Twins Daily.

 

This is exciting not just because it gives fans a diversion from the lackluster big-league product, but also because the system and pipeline will now be poised to influence the Twins far more significantly. With prospects able to actually play in games and make on-field cases for promotions, we'll have much more robust narratives and storylines to follow.

 

One that I'm already keeping an eye on: Matt Canterino, TD's ninth-ranked prospect who's opened a lot of eyes with his ascendant arsenal. In his season debut for the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Sunday, Canterino tossed three scoreless innings and struck out six.

 

With Jhoan Duran and Jordan Balazovic sidelined to open the season, Canterino is the top active pitching prospect, and perhaps the Twins staff's best hope for a high-impact minor-league jolt this summer.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

 

After failing to make any hay against a soft patch in the schedule, the Twins are now shifting into a gauntlet, where the stakes will be high and the competition stifling. First, they're off to Chicago for their first meeting of the year with the first-place White Sox, who've won 12 of 17 and lead the major leagues in run differential.

 

Afterward, the Athletics come to Target Field, looking to follow up on their trouncing of the Twins in Oakland three weeks ago. The A's have won 21 of 29 games since starting the season 0-6.

 

These are two red-hot, high-quality teams. The Twins will be facing them without two of their best players. I'm bracing for the worst but if they can find a way to win four of six this week it would go along way in providing some semblance of a reason to believe.

 

TUESDAY, 5/11: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Kenta Maeda v. RHP Dylan Cease

WEDNESDAY, 5/12: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – LHP J.A. Happ v. LHP Dallas Keuchel

THURSDAY, 5/13: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Michael Pineda v. LHP Carlos Rodon

FRIDAY, 5/14: ATHLETICS @ TWINS – RHP Frankie Montas v. RHP Matt Shoemaker

SATURDAY, 5/15: ATHLETICS @ TWINS – LHP Cole Irvin v. RHP José Berríos

SUNDAY, 5/16: ATHLETICS @ TWINS – RHP Chris Bassitt v. RHP Kenta Maeda

 

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[Aggies7]

The twins lose even when they don’t play. Huascar Ynoa went 6 innings and gave up 4 hits and a run for the braves tonight on Sunday night baseball. You might remember Ynoa as the guy the twins traded to Atlanta for one week of Jamie garcia. He’s about to be 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA and a WHIP of 0.89

[ScrapTheNickname]

A well-balanced and thoughtful article, Nick. To remain so interested in this team at this point is a reflection of your dedication to the Twins and this website. I can hardly stand it, myself.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Nick, This was a difficult article to read...because it is accurate. This season has been an unmitigated disaster. And I really had looked forward to   watching Twins'  baseball again,, However this season has not been good for my   pandemic-bruised   emotional state. Fortunately I can take a break from this disappointing series of events and lack luster play, and just not watch for a while.   I feel badly for the TD writers, the broadcasters, the reporters, the players, staff and FO who must   continue to   watch this train wreck day after day, and cannot turn away.. 

[Old Twins Cap]

I love baseball but even listening to the Twins is more than I can handle at this point.

 

You know instinctively they will find a way to lose, especially close games.

 

Going winless in extras, yeah, maybe unlucky, but have they even scored any runs starting with a guy at 2B? Have they even stopped the other team from scoring?

 

They are simply a rotten team, playing terrible baseball, over and over.  The bigger the moment, the more dramatic the collapse.  Player after player failing to come through.

 

There is no path back from this.

 

If baseball is ultimately about accepting failure, the Twins are giving a Master Class in how unsatisfactory that feels on a regular basis.  O-18 in the playoffs, 0-7 in extras, 0-anything in overcoming a deficit in 2021.

 

To get these outcomes rolling dice would constitute an anomaly outside the realm of probability; to make it happen on the field is senselessness without redemption.

 

Literally, there are no words to describe how execrable they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LA VIkes Fan]

Well said, Mr. Nelson. You really encapsulated they way I, and I suspect many others, feel about this team. You see glimmers of hope for the lineup, the starting pitching seems decent, but the bullpen and clutch defense just seems to doom this season. Add in some injuries and very poor managing at the FO and field levels and it’s just hard to see how things can improve. I’ll still follow the team and rant on Twins Daily every now and then, but my heart just isn’t in it this year. This team shoes no signs of life, fortitude, or resilience; nothing you can grab on to and give one much hope. It’s frankly a little sad.

[darwin22]

Echoing the comments of others, I do appreciate your efforts Nick of putting this information out there.  For all the eternal optimists that this season can turn around to be competitive for a playoff slot, I commend you.  Saying that, with all due respect, I do seriously question how much those fans actually watch this team?  Like many others, I've lived (and mainly died) with this team since I began rooting for the Twins in the early 1970s.  A lot of very lean years throughout the 70s and into the early to mid 80s and then again into the 90s.  Those teams were hard to watch, but I can honestly say I seldomly questioned their effort and enthusiasm to play this game.  With this group--its become exhausting to witness the complete lack of intestinal fortitude required to be successful at this level.  Much of whats lacking, I attribute to Baldelli's style as a manager.  Attitude reflects leadership.  I will say that again.  Attitude reflects leadership!  This is a soft team that shows the grit and fight of your pet bunny.  The one "stat" mentioned that struck me was that the Twins have not won a game all season in which they trailed by more than 1 run.  A total system failure that Falvey, Pohlad and the players are responsible for.  Since the meltdown in Oakland a few weeks back, I've taken my "time investment" to our minor league prospects.  Quite a few, I know only the first week, to be encouraged by.  Namely, Matt Canterino (High A Cedar Rapids), Josh Winder (CR & Wichita) as well as Aaron Whitefield (OF-Wichita) and Jose Miranda (2B- Wichita).  

[Otwins]

I saw that Shane Greene signed for one year 1.5 million prorated it is closer to 1.2million. Why would he not be an option for our bullpen? If the front office did not consider that then I think may as well start planning the tear down.

[SoDakTwinsFan4]

Echoing the comments of others, I do appreciate your efforts Nick of putting this information out there.  For all the eternal optimists that this season can turn around to be competitive for a playoff slot, I commend you.  Saying that, with all due respect, I do seriously question how much those fans actually watch this team?  Like many others, I've lived (and mainly died) with this team since I began rooting for the Twins in the early 1970s.  A lot of very lean years throughout the 70s and into the early to mid 80s and then again into the 90s.  Those teams were hard to watch, but I can honestly say I seldomly questioned their effort and enthusiasm to play this game.  With this group--its become exhausting to witness the complete lack of intestinal fortitude required to be successful at this level.  Much of whats lacking, I attribute to Baldelli's style as a manager.  Attitude reflects leadership.  I will say that again.  Attitude reflects leadership!  This is a soft team that shows the grit and fight of your pet bunny.  The one "stat" mentioned that struck me was that the Twins have not won a game all season in which they trailed by more than 1 run.  A total system failure that Falvey, Pohlad and the players are responsible for.  Since the meltdown in Oakland a few weeks back, I've taken my "time investment" to our minor league prospects.  Quite a few, I know only the first week, to be encouraged by.  Namely, Matt Canterino (High A Cedar Rapids), Josh Winder (CR & Wichita) as well as Aaron Whitefield (OF-Wichita) and Jose Miranda (2B- Wichita).

 

"Pet Bunny"..I love it.."soft"..Yeah, I hear you. It makes me look back at the 2019 Washington Nationals. That team was as gritty as any team I have seen. I wish this Twins squad could resemble anything close to those guys.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

From the Twins social media account, a declarative statement of fact, if there ever was one: “We faced the Rangers and Tigers this past week.”

[Dodecahedron]

Lots of stuff happened last week.  None of it was surprising, none of it was new.

1. Astudillo is the best #26 guy around.
2. Cruz is having a good time, and is doing his best to be a positive in the clubhouse.
3. Dobnak is too good to be in AAA, though he has to be due to past mgmt decisions.
4. Buxton is injured.
5. The bullpen needs an overhaul.

We talked a bit about if the Twins are still struggling at the end of May, they are in real trouble.  I think their performance last week pushed that forward two weeks.  They are now 8 games under .500, any more sub-.500 weeks in the near future puts this thing out of reach.

[Cap'n Piranha]

14 hours ago, Old Twins Cap said:

I love baseball but even listening to the Twins is more than I can handle at this point.

 

You know instinctively they will find a way to lose, especially close games.

 

Going winless in extras, yeah, maybe unlucky, but have they even scored any runs starting with a guy at 2B? Have they even stopped the other team from scoring?

 

They are simply a rotten team, playing terrible baseball, over and over.  The bigger the moment, the more dramatic the collapse.  Player after player failing to come through.

 

There is no path back from this.

 

If baseball is ultimately about accepting failure, the Twins are giving a Master Class in how unsatisfactory that feels on a regular basis.  O-18 in the playoffs, 0-7 in extras, 0-anything in overcoming a deficit in 2021.

 

To get these outcomes rolling dice would constitute an anomaly outside the realm of probability; to make it happen on the field is senselessness without redemption.

 

Literally, there are no words to describe how execrable they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe the Twins have scored the bonus runner once, when Buxton went yard in Oakland.  That was promptly rendered moot when Baldelli left Colome in for the bottom of the 10th, even though he had coughed up the lead in the 9th, and various Twins infielders forgot how to play defense.

[Guest]

The minnesota twins have also been called the Minnesota twinkies....

 

Well that name has changed to the Minnesota possums ....

 

They either play dead at home or get killed on the road ....

 

[hybridbear]

This season is a tragedy. Total system failure. 

[twinfan]

I agree that Greene should have been signed. He is a proven closer who could maybe have helped. But I also believe that Alcala should be given more of a role, that Dobnack should be brought up to start and have Shoemaker pitch long relief, that Sano should be put on waivers and, if anyone claims him, maybe we can trade him to them for something-anything. I don't think he would be claimed at this point. Rogers should be the closer but we hardly have a lead in the ninth anymore. We have 3 weeks til Memorial Day when we can then play taps on the season. It doesn't look good- especially with Bux and Arraez out- but stranger things have happened. Keep toying with the lineup and move Donaldson into the cleanup spot. After all, that's why we signed him- isn't it?

[chpettit19]

13 hours ago, Otwins said:

I saw that Shane Greene signed for one year 1.5 million prorated it is closer to 1.2million. Why would he not be an option for our bullpen? If the front office did not consider that then I think may as well start planning the tear down.

I can't remember where I read it, but sounds like Twins offered more than that, but Greene wanted to go back to Atl. Can't blame him either. If given the choice between those two teams I'd pick the Braves right now, too.

[mikelink45]

Thanks for the summary.  It is hard to write positive when the teams gives you such terrible performance against the worst teams in the league.  I do not know the way up.

Hrbek and Puckett were so energetic and so positive.  Astudillo and Cruz seem to be the only ones with life since Buxton and Arraez went down.  Rocco is not going to provide the energy so who is?  Sometimes it is not just talent.  Gladden was not great, but he was not willing to settle for losing.  Knoblauch could be an ass, but he also did not want to lose.  We need players like that.  Kepler goes through the motions, Garver does too and Cave does not even know what the motions are. 

Simmons seems to have fun, but is too new.  No one on the pitching staff can push the envelop and challenge the others to perform.  

Where is Billy Martin when you need him?

[nicksaviking]

Just to be clear, the broken record is most extra inning losses in a row right?

[wsnydes]

As hard as this team was to follow while making the Tigers look competent and the Rangers look above average, I'm not looking forward to see what Chicago and Oakland will do to them.  Health can be blamed for some of the offensive struggles, but they keep taking one step forward and two steps back in that department.  Meanwhile. the bullpen can't manage to get out of its own way.  Not being able to do much damage after this past week is disappointing, to say the least.

As far as weeks in May are concerned, this will be a rather important one for this team.

[Guest]

One of the most puzzling and mystifying things for this long-time Twins fan, player, and coach to fathom is this "Major League" team not being able to push across ONE run in extra innings (beyond the Buxton HR). I dislike the new extra-innings rule very much, but it is what it is--and given what it is, you would think that Baldelli might just fall back on some basic baseball fundamentals in that situation.  When a team is struggling to score runs, it needs to work at "manufacturing" a run or two, It's been said here before, but with a runner on second and nobody out, it shouldn't be rocket science for a major league manager and players to get the guy to third--bunt, slap the ball to the right side, maybe even try a steal (depending on the runner), but ANYTHING to get that guy to third.  Once there, even with one out, lots of good things can happen. I know that's "old-school" baseball and not in currency right now, but what the heck????  I think I've watched 6 or all 7 of the Twins' losses in overtime, and Rocco's lack of strategy and baseball sense in that situation has astounded me. In the last extra-innings loss, the player at the plate with no outs was someone batting below .200 and had gone 0-3 or 0-4 on the night--and Rocco lets him hit away into an out without advancing the runner,  Mind-boggling...

[cHawk]

I don’t think anyone predicted this. 
 

It certainly looks like we’re out of it after these next six games, the way we’re playing right now. I hope I’m wrong.

[insagt1]

Very honest summary! Sometimes even optimists must be realists to maintain credibility. While speaking of Polanco, Garver, and Kepler...it might be noted that Cruz actually has slowed quite a bit. He isn't producing runs like he did in April. Donaldson too, until he had a decent game this weekend. His production has been, to be honest, poor so far, considering what is expected.

And I guess it wouldn't be the Twins if Buxton didn't find an injury that would take him out of action for many weeks. Sigh...

[Dodecahedron]

22 minutes ago, insagt1 said:

And I guess it wouldn't be the Twins if Buxton didn't find an injury that would take him out of action for many weeks. Sigh...

Some tall & skinny people have connective tissue diseases, such as Marfan Syndrome, Nail-Patella Syndrome, or various other diseases in the same family.  People who have these diseases can also run like the wind, if they so choose and keep in shape.  Affected areas are knees, hips, angles, elbows, wrists.  One has to wonder with Buxton.  I'm certainly not advocating that he get tested, as a positive result would kill his career.

[GNess]

The disappointment and frustration are understandable, after all the primary sources in life of unhappiness are unmet expectations.

Yes, the Twins have disappointed and performed poorly especially in central moments. However, disparaging their performance and character are separate issues.

Almost no one (or maybe no one) on this site can speak coherently about the intentions of the players or for goodness sake make definitive judgements as to how much individual players' "care" about winning due to an assessment of their level of "energy". 

[h2oface]

So.... the Tigers have Monday off, the Twins have Monday off. The Tigers stay at home to play KC on Tuesday. The Twins are already there. The Twins travel all the way to Chicago for Tuesday. Why the hell didn't they play the makeup today, on Monday, a real 9 inning game, instead of tacking on a cheap double header later with two little league 7 inning games? 

[Danchat]

I can't say much more than what's already been said... good article, Nick. When Nick Gordon having one good start is the main highlight of the week... it's been a really bad week!

[h2oface]

9 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I believe the Twins have scored the bonus runner once, when Buxton went yard in Oakland.  That was promptly rendered moot when Baldelli left Colome in for the bottom of the 10th, even though he had coughed up the lead in the 9th, and various Twins infielders forgot how to play defense.

Yup. And does that really count, in a way, because of the homer?

[mikelink45]

17 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Just to be clear, the broken record is most extra inning losses in a row right?

Goes right along with an 18 game post season losing streak.  Boy do we know how to put our name in the record book.