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Think of it this way: If the roles were reversed and the Twins allowed a lead-off batter to get on in the top of the 8th with a one-run lead, I'd be plenty happy to be handed the first out of the inning in exchange for giving the runner 2nd base. Even if they score that run before we record two more outs, the game is only tied, and we live to fight another inning. And we have 6 remaining outs to use, they'd only have 3.

Not to mention our manager felt the need to play offense one inning with only two outs instead of three. Yet again.

One more thing to add regarding Betances, after he has fallen behind 1-0 (as he did to Granite), opposing hitters have a .466 OBP and 31.1 BB% this season.

Here's a link to Tom Tango's run expectancy matrix. I believe this is the same information that's in Keith Law's book Smart Baseball. If you look at the middle table, that is giving the odds that your team scores at least one run in an inning in any give scenario. With a runner on first base and nobody out, you have a 41.6% chance of scoring a run. With a runner on second and one out, you have a 39.7% chance of scoring a run. So bunting a guy to second to record the first out decreases your likelihood of tying the game. But lets breakdown what we're looking at here. This is big data. These tables are generated off actual game situations from 2010-15. Like, every inning of every game. In a way that's great, because the sample size is huge, but on the other hand it fails to account for the specific situation in the particular game you're watching. But here are a couple numbers that make it seem like the bunt was an even worse call in this particular scenario: -Dellin Betances has walked 17.3% of the batters he's faced this year. So there's a chance he could've just walked Castro/Granite and advanced the tying tun to second base anyway without recording an out. -One of the better reasons to bunt is to try and avoid the double play, but Betances is terrible at inducing them. He's gotten 10 DPs in 199 career opportunities. That's 5%, league average is 11%. So it was over three times as likely that Betances simply walks the tying run to second base than it was that he was going to get a double play. I know those aren't the only two possible outcomes, and the scales are always tipped in favor of the pitcher recording an out, but given both the big data and the specific data in this case, there is very little to support bunting in that situation. The other problem with bunting there is it also greatly reduced the chance the Twins would score multiple runs and take the lead. That's the top table at the link I provided. With a runner at first a no outs, you're going to score .859 runs that inning on average. With a runner on second and one out, that drops to .664.

According to B-Ref, the Twins have now attempted 51 sacrifice bunts on the season. Only the White Sox have attempted more bunts for AL teams. AL League average: 30 attempts. The Twins are successful 51% of the time on their bunt attempts. AL League average: 58% https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2017-situational-batting.shtml #neverbunt

It's too risky to let the Yankees have a lead with that bullpen. This game became problematic when Garcia struck out 9 after 4 innings which meant we would have to navigate the bullpen in order to comeback. We were too aggressive and swung at too much crap.

I'm your huckleberry. I am not a proponent of giving away 1 of your 6 remaining outs in the interest of, if all the stars align, tying the game. I'd be much more open to that line of thinking as the home team, in which case you'd have the same amount of outs left as your opponent after tying the game. I believe Betances threw 6 strikes on 17 pitches before exiting with the bases loaded. The one out he got was handed to him with a bunt.

Last pitch by Chapman 104 mph. What the...? CC tomorrow is going to look like soft toss compared to this guy.

The Twins pitching staff, led by starter Ervin Santana, had a solid game Monday night at Yankee Stadium, but the bats were uncharacteristically quiet. The Twins have had the best offense in the American League in the second half, but could only muster four hits and struck out 13 times tonight.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: CorrectedSnap.png Old friend Jaime Garcia … wait, can we even call him that? I mean, it was really just a one-night stand, right? Anyway, the guy the Twins traded for and then traded away after just one start absolutely killed them tonight. Since the trade, Garcia had struggled to find his footing with the Yankees. Over six starts he had a 4.60 ERA. There were no such struggles tonight. The veteran lefty gave up one unearned run over 5.2 innings and struck out nine batters. Below is a breakdown of Garcia's pitches on the evening via Baseball Savant. While he may have gotten a couple of generous called strikes, Twins hitters swung through a ton of pitches outside the zone. Download attachment: JaimeGarcia.png The Twins got a leadoff double from Jorge Polanco in the second inning, but failed to score. They got their first two batters on in the fifth. Eddie Rosario had gone first-to-third on an Eduardo Escobar single, with an error being charged to Aaron Judge. The Twins managed to scratch across a run that inning on a Robbie Grossman fielder’s choice. The Twins went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings. The dominant Dellin Betances came in for the eighth inning and led things off by hitting Grossman with a pitch. Luckily it was an 84 mph curve and not a 100 mph fastball. Now one thing to note about Betances is that while he has been just as overpowering as ever, his control has been all over the place. After averaging 3.5 BB/9 last season, that number has spiked to 6.6 this year. Jason Castro was due up next, but Paul Molitor opted to bring in Zack Granite to bunt. The first pitch was high, but Granite got the bunt down on the second pitch of the at bat. Per Fangraphs, the Yankees’ win probability actually increased from 65.9 percent to an even 70 percent as the result of that bunt. Max Kepler pinch hit and was walked on four pitches to turn over the lineup. With Brian Dozier batting, Betances threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners. Dozier ended up walking after a nice eight-pitch battle. Betances exited, leaving the bases loaded. Just six of the 17 pitches he threw went for strikes and the only out he recorded was on the Granite sac bunt. Aroldis Chapman came in and struck out Joe Mauer on three pitches and got Byron Buxton to fly out to end the threat. Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. It was a shame, too, because the Twins pitched pretty well tonight. Ervin gave up a pair of runs over 5.2 innings, but Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers pitched out of jams they inherited and Tyler Duffey had a scoreless appearance. The Yankees got their first run on Judge’s 44th homer of the year. In the sixth, they had back-to-back one-out singles. Santana threw a wild pitch that allowed the runners to move up to second and third. After intentionally walking the next batter in hopes of setting up a double play, Todd Frazier hit a sac fly to score what went down as the game-winning run. AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 83-67 (+5.0) WC2: Twins 78-72 Angeles 76-73 (-1.5) Mariners 74-76 (-4.0) Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen918.png Looking Ahead Tue: Twins (Jose Berrios) at Yankees (CC Sabathia), 6:05 pm CT Wed: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka), 12:08 pm CT Thu: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) at Tigers (Myles Jaye), 6:10 pm ET Looking Back MIN 13, TOR 7: Mauer Grand Slam Among 4 Twins Homers In Comeback Victory TOR 7, MIN 2: Pub Crawlers Have Best Night Ever Despite Twins Loss TOR 4, MIN 3: Pressley Fails To Pounce, Is Victim Of A Bad Bounce Click here to view the article

The odds are always in favor of the pitcher recording an out ... that's exactly why outs are so precious.

Seems like this has been happening a lot lately, though. At what point are you concerned? When Molitor bunts with Sano down 3 runs or something ridiculous? That's not going to happen, but mildly questionable bunts every other day should add up to something...

Thanks. I don't have the time right now to peruse the whole thing, but I would like to say this: I don't expect any manager to be able to delve completely into all the stats involving all the scenarios between every pitch or batter. But I would expect a manager to show some semblance of recognition of score, pitcher, situation, game location, BP, etc. Not just simply bunt endlessly. Given a late opportunity however slight against a dominant pen, to get ahead, you better go for the kill. The future in the 8th and 9th innings (Chapman) ain't bright! Add your own pens likely inability to hold the other team in check, and it's actually dismal.

Should have pinch ran Granite, get the steal. (There's your sac bunt). Glad to see the young bullpen not wilt under the pressure. Best part of the game.

I chalk up 104 to another Juiced Ball era.

I'm starting to think this team is winning despite the manager and FO. The FO waived the white flag at the deadline and has not been able to stop Molly from all these stupid bunts. Sure, they'll let him leave after the season but 51 sac bunts? That's terrible. On the plus side, the players are fun to watch generally.

I was tossing it out there to make a point about overreacting to small-sample occurrences, which you consistently have a tendency to do. And no, trading Buxton for prospects is and was not a "viable" option; he's been arguably the AL MVP in the second-half, and he's the biggest reason this team is even in position for the "unacceptable" losses you're talking about to matter. Also, Granite is not a major-league starter. Respectfully, I don't really need to hear lecturing about "mean spirited" from someone who is constantly on these boards and elsewhere clamoring for people with the Twins to be fired. If you're going to spew vitriol nonstop that's fine but at least be ready to be held accountable for the things you write.

I would be very surprised if the actual percentage was anywhere near that high. Would also be surprised if road teams would bunt in that spot nearly as often as home teams. There's gotta be data on that split somewhere.

Well, the fact that you would let a three-game series loss (which was actually a four-game series split) entirely alter your perception of the team's effort and cohesion for the entire season probably means you're alone in that stance. Making these kinds of rash, snapshot judgments on the basis of tiny samples is the kind of thing that would lead a person to conclude Zack Granite is a superior option to Byron Buxton in center field.

On Sunday, when the Twins stormed back after falling behind early against the Blue Jays, it was fittingly a collective effort. The offense rallied with a seven-run second inning and Kyle Gibson settled in after a shaky start, combining with three relievers to help guide Minnesota to a much-needed victory. Throughout the season, this team has been receiving help from just about everyone involved.Going from 100 losses to 80-plus wins requires an all-hands-on-deck kind of effort, and that's exactly what the Twins have gotten. As you look up and down the roster, outside of rookie cups of coffee and spare bullpen parts, nearly every player has contributed in some type of positive way. Let's run through the cast of characters, by order of WAR via Fangraphs: Brian Dozier (3.7 WAR): Dozier has taken the lead and set the tone for this scrappy club, with his thunderous pop, making life immediately uncomfortable for opposing starters. He won't reach last year's total of 42 home runs but he's still a force to be reckoned with, and he's been a key figure in the team's success since the start of August with an OPS approaching 1.000. Byron Buxton (3.2 WAR): In the early going he looked hopeless, whiffing at a catastrophic rate and making himself a candidate for another demotion to the minors. But the Twins stuck with him, and they've been richly rewarded by a scorching hot second half that continued Sunday with a double and homer. By many metrics Buxton has been the most valuable defender in all of baseball. Jose Berrios (2.6 WAR): It's been a bit of an up-and-down year for the 23-year-old but we've definitely seen more good than bad. Berrios arrived with a bang, tossing gems in his first two starts with the Twins in May. He went through a bit of a downswing in the middle months but has heated up during the stretch run with a 2.68 ERA in his past six turns. His past two have been arguably his most impressive, as Berrios has been able to succeed despite lacking his best stuff (7 innings of 2-run ball against KC despite one K and five swinging strikes) or his best control (5.2 innings of one-run ball against Toronto despite four walks). Ervin Santana (2.5 WAR): He's playing at the highest end of his ability, and has been for most of the season. Santana should surpass 200 innings within his next start or two, and would join Phil Hughes (2014) as the only Twins pitchers to do so since Carl Pavano left town. Big Erv has been a steady, durable stud atop the Twins rotation, and gives Minnesota a legit shot in the event of a one-game Wild Card playoff. Miguel Sano (2.4 WAR): He carried the offense through much of the first half, with his All-Star output helping to offset slow starts elsewhere. He was on pace for 38 home runs and 104 RBI before going down with a shin injury in mid-August that continues to sideline him. Sano's absence has been felt in the lineup, but the fact that the Twins have been one of baseball's highest-scoring teams without him speaks to the depth and balance of this offense. Eddie Rosario (2.1 WAR): He has turned a corner at the plate. He launched his 25th bomb on Sunday to spark Minnesota's huge second inning, then later added his 26th. Since Sano went down on August 19th, Rosario has slugged 11 home runs and driven in 26 in 27 games. He has routinely batted cleanup of late and is an imposing threat every time he steps in. Joe Mauer (2.0 WAR): It's been overshadowed by the huge breakouts of Buxton, Rosario and Jorge Polanco, but Mauer has done his part in the club's late-season surge, batting .350 since the start of August and .380 in last thirty days. As usual, Mauer is taking some of the best at-bats of anyone in the game, and he's also stroking the ball as well as he has in years. It once looked like the days of Mauer being a .300 hitter were over, especially with the feat becoming rarer across baseball, but Joe is currently one of 10 AL hitters in that class. His defense at first has been among the game's best. Eduardo Escobar (1.3 WAR): Someway, somehow, Escobar has managed to render Sano's absence almost unnoticeable. Since stepping in as everyday third baseman when the big man got hurt, Escobar has launched a Sano-ian eight jacks with 21 RBI in a month. He's also a slick fielder at third, upgrading on the serviceable glove work Sano had been providing. Jorge Polanco (1.3 WAR): On the one hand, it's kind of crazy Polanco only has 1.3 WAR – he's been hitting like Mike Trout for the past six weeks, as a shortstop! But that speaks to the monstrous rut that plagued him for the first four months. Through the end of July, he was a total drain on the team, yielding a lowly .570 OPS. But Polanco turned it on in a huge way at the start of August and is now validly the No. 3 hitter in arguably baseball's best lineup. What a turnaround. Kyle Gibson (1.2 WAR): Speaking of turnarounds, who'd have guessed at the All- Star break that by mid-September Gibson would have even a positive WAR, much less the third-highest mark on the staff? Gibson's start against Toronto on Sunday was emblematic of his season as a whole: he struggled early on, giving up five runs in the first two innings, but bounced back and dominated the next four frames after the Twins rallied and gave him a lead. Even with those five runs charged, Gibson has a 3.30 ERA in his past 10 starts. Generating whiffs and grounders in bunches, the right-hander is fulfilling his potential at last, and now would clearly slot into a playoff rotation. Heck, he might start Game 1 of the ALDS. Jason Castro (1.2 WAR): The new front office's first free agent acquisition is a hit. Castro has once again been one of the league's most effective pitch framers, helping facilitate all-around improvements from the pitching staff. At the plate he's been about average, and the nine homers – most for a Twins catcher since Mauer left the position – have been a nice bonus. Max Kepler (1.1 WAR): Kepler hasn't had the kind of breakout year we saw hints of last year, but not everyone can do it at once. His immense difficulties against left-handers (.382 OPS) have held him back, both in terms of playing time and overall production, but he's still been a very solid asset with 17 home runs and 63 RBI (the exact numbers he finished with last year) and he rounds out an elite defensive outfield. Chris Gimenez (0.9 WAR): He's been about everything you could want in a backup catcher, handling the staff well and providing a bit of value at the plate with six homers and an OPS around .700. He even made six pitching appearances, providing an oft-embattled relief corps with some needed relief of its own. Ehire Adrianza (0.9 WAR): When they grabbed him off waivers this spring, the Twins looked to be getting a no-bat defensive specialist, which has value on its own. But Adrianza has been plenty respectable with the stick, hitting .270 with a .718 OPS. His defense at shortstop has graded out very well as usual, and he's even looked OK during a few appearances in left. Very useful bench piece. Adalberto Mejia (0.8 WAR): He made the rotation out of camp, looked a bit rocky over three starts, went down to Triple-A, returned in May, and then posted a 3.84 ERA over 13 starts through the end of July. The lefty scuffled in early August and then spent more than a month on the disabled list before returning Saturday. Mejia hasn't really been a factor in Minnesota's emergence over the past six weeks but he helped keep the rotation afloat during the middle months. He needs to clean up his control, but the sharp slider and mid-90s fastball definitely play in the majors. Looks like a nice find from last year's deadline. Trevor Hildenberger (0.8 WAR): Brandon Kintzler was an all-star closer in the first half, putting up a 2.78 ERA and 28 saves in his four months with the Twins. He rated at 0.7 WAR during that time. Hildenberger has accrued a higher number in less than three months. His 0.84 WPA is the highest of any pitcher presently on the Twins roster other than Santana. With tremendous control and stellar K/GB rates, Hildy looks like a long-term bullpen piece. Robbie Grossman (0.7 WAR): His .369 on-base percentage is among the best in the league. Grossman hasn't been a great hitter but he's been perfectly adequate as a frequent DH and occasion spell in the corner outfield, where his defense has been far less of a liability than last year. Tyler Duffey (0.7 WAR): The 4.66 ERA doesn't look so great, but it also doesn't encapsulate what he's done. He has the second-highest WAR among Twins relievers for a reason: Duffey has pitched better than his bloated earned run average suggests. His 64-to-17 K/BB ratio in 66 innings is excellent, and opponents have only hit .266/.310/.395 against him. Keep in mind it's his first time pitching in relief since he switched to starting in 2013. Matt Belisle (0.5 WAR): Much like Polanco and Gibson, Belisle has redeemed himself in a big way, and at an absolutely crucial time. He looked like a free agent flop for most of the first half, but then went through the entire month of July without allowing a run, and since taking over the closer role after Kintzler's departure, he has a 1.73 ERA with seven saves in nine chances. Incredibly, he has turned into a strikeout pitcher with 30 K's in 26 innings since the start of July. He had a 6.8 career K/9 rate coming into this season Kennys Vargas (0.4 WAR): I'm sure some would argue that Vargas is dead weight, but he's been an average MLB hitter (100 OPS+) and has delivered some huge home runs – both figuratively and literally. There are plenty worse guys you could be forced to plug in at DH or first. Dillon Gee (0.4 WAR): His venture as a starter fizzled, but of his seven relief appearances for the Twins six have been scoreless. And he almost always goes multiple innings. Having a quality arm you can call on to keep you in the game following a short start is hugely important, and this is a guy they signed off the street in June. Speaking of which... Bartolo Colon (0.3 WAR): What a get. Colon was bad enough for the Braves that they ate millions and cut him in June, and the Twins brought him in for the veteran minimum. He opted for Minnesota over the familiar Mets, and it turned out to be a great call because now the 44-year-old finds himself pitching huge games in a race, and mostly pitching quite well. He has a 4.80 ERA in 12 starts as a Twin, although if you take out last weekend's clunker against KC that drops to 4.12. He has completed at least six innings in all but two of his starts. and consistently gives the team a decent chance to win while also being extremely entertaining to watch. Taylor Rogers (0.3 WAR): For some time he was the Twins' most reliable reliever, period. At the All-Star break he had a 2.14 ERA and ranked among the league leaders in WPA. He ran into some trouble during the rest of July and August, perhaps owing in some way to his heavy first-half usage, but Paul Molitor backed off a bit and Rogers has settled back into a groove here in September with eight scoreless appearances. He continues to be almost automatic against lefties. Alan Busenitz (0.2 WAR): His WAR understates how effective he has been. In 23 appearances the rookie has a 1.65 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. His 95.7 MPH fastball hasn't produced the strikeouts one might expect but hitters haven't been able to do much against Busenitz. Another good find from the 2016 deadline paying quick dividends. Ryan Pressly (0.1 WAR): It's just been an odd, unlucky, cursed season for Pressly. His premium heat has produced plenty of strikeouts – one per inning, on average – and his control has mostly been good with only 16 walks in 56 frames. And yet he's been hard to trust, allowing crooked numbers 10 times. But Pressly has come around since the Kintzler trade, with a 2.18 ERA and .471 opponents' OPS in August and September. Buddy Boshers (-0.2 WAR): He's the one significant contributor currently on the roster who you can argue hasn't had any real positive impact for the Twins. Boshers has a 5.18 ERA in 33 innings, but that mostly ties to overuse against right-handers. In same-sided matchups the southpaw has held opponents to a .216/.255/.412 line. He's fine as a second bullpen lefty. There you have it. Those are the 27 present Twins players who have played a consequential role for the Twins this year (100+ PA or 20+ IP). All but one have a positive WAR, and each has a narrative reinforcing his role in getting the club to where it is. That's pretty amazing, and not at all common. Even great teams usually have a few clear anchors slowing them down. For reference, the 2010 Twins had five players meet the aforementioned playing time criteria with negative WAR. The 2009 team had six. And those were playoff squads. Now these Twins are trying to get back. They stand two games clear in the Wild Card standings with two weeks and 13 games remaining. They'll be going to war with a group that is, almost to a man, worthy of trust. They've earned it. Click here to view the article

I like your optimism! Trout has been a generational player and Buxton won't ever catch him in career stats. But I believe Buxton has a chance to challenge Trout in WAR in any given year. The talent is there and he's two wins per year better than Trout in the field. The guy is 23 years old so he's certainly not a finished product. Why not be optimistic?

I'll take that bet right now.

Yes. Yes I do. What of it?

2nd half numbers: Lindor: .316/.377/.578 .955 OPS 3.4 fWAR Donaldson: .274/.397/.613 1.010 OPS 3.0 fWAR Trout: .296/.444/.551 .995 OPS 2.8 fWAR In that context they are very, very good comparisons to Trout.

And league average is only in the .250s these days, so while .230 isn't great, it's not terrible either. Still, I don't mind pinch hitting or especially pinch running, but I don't think I'd be so eager to bunt.

Can one rant about people over-reacting to small sample sizes and then turn around and say Buxton could be 2nd half AL MVP when he has only played 47 games and had 186 PAs? :-) Anyway, Lindor, Donaldson and of course Trout lead the way in the AL for the 2nd half. Buxton has been truly awesome since the break though. So has Rosario, Polanco and Mauer.

Yeah this. I'm not against a bunt but when a pitcher gifts you a ball or two, it's time to pivot in the new position and swing away.

link?

Teams bunt 98% of the time in that situation, even the analytical teams would bunt in that situation with a weak-hitting catcher at bat (I know they pinch hit for him with a good bunter). Edit to add: Not that I'm saying I agree with bunting, but in this situation, even Joe Maddon would ask for a bunt if a sub-.220 hitter was coming up.

One thing I like about Target Field: No cheap homers. Gotta hit it to git it. Not at all a fan of short fences & tons of dingers.

Our best pitcher versus their worst starter and we loss. Those bats better be ready to step up the next two games - the Angels are drooling. After all these years I feel like there is some kind of curse that the Yankees have put on the Twins. I normally do not engage in bunt discussion, but the way that Betances was throwing it did not seem like good strategy and as it turned out the bunt - which Granite did a good job on - did nothing for us and just gave them a worthless out. The pitcher throwing and the pitcher in the pen need to be considered with bunts unless it is a bunt for a hit.

Was anyone besides me confused as to why we paid an opposing pitcher $4 million to beat us last night?

Kepler has an .837 OPS against right handed pitching. That's plenty fine for a 24 year old in his second season in the bigs. He'll hit lefties in time and in the meantime, Adrianza/Grossman are fine as a platoon. Not disappointed in Max at all, that second season can be hard. Rosario showed that last year and look where he is now!

Dude, people posted that he wasn't smart enough to play ML baseball. There were lots of posts about him lacking mental toughness. And there were posts about replacing him with Kepler in CF. And that's just in one thread! Funnily, now that Buxton is hitting better than Kepler, no one is questioning Kepler's IQ. Wonder what the difference is.

A comment on Kepler: He's having a solid season. He has all the ability in the world. He runs well but lags behind Buxton and Rosario in pure speed. But I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the best overall hitter of the three. I know hitting LH has been an issue. But I believe he will come around there. He has a great stroke, solid discipline, and his hands just look so good. One thing we can't forget is he practically skipped AAA, and despite his athletic gifts, he had a big hill to climb initially playing ball in Germany as a youth. I would honestly expect a breakout season in 2018 similar to Rosario this year.

sure, there's a chance anyone can be better for 1 year, or 3 months, or whatever. But would you bet on it straight up? Do people think anyone is likely to hit 325/372/589 over a year? Two players slugged that high all last year. Four had a BA that high all last year. Seven are SLG that high this year (giving credit to 2 just short of that). Four have a BA that high this year. He could easily be the best BSR in a given year, imo. I'll take the under. Don't get me wrong, Buxton might be great even discounting his defense, but that seems unlikely.

the goldy helmets were the best ever.

I can only speak for me. My votes went to who I thought had the best year, statistically. This isn't a prospect ranking (for me), so I went with numbers/opinion.

someone literally posted up thread that next year Buxton could be better than Trout. Do people really think Buxton is going to be better than Trout?

People comparing anyone to Trout....wow.....

Rooker has an ETA of July 2017 and Gonsalvez June 2016? I think I missed those debuts.

I didn't like when he asked Polanco or Rosario to bunt in 7th or 8th innings. Any time before the 7th inning is just silly.

Except for the game against Cincinnati a few yrs back where a Mauer double followed by a willingham dinger gave chapman his first BS for that yr.

I am on board with all of your analysis but the difference in scoring one run and not scoring a run is 2% and while I respect all your analysis on this particular situation I am pretty sure that if he walks Granite then Chapman comes in and your chances of scoring a run drop dramatically if he is on and I don't think we can argue about him being on. So all this talk about bunting in the late innings is burying the lead which is that Garcia struck out 9 in 5.2 innings. Just like Estrada the other day when a guy is in a groove and has your timing all messed up THAT is the time to bunt and for the purposes of base hits rather than sacrifice. Maybe I have no stats to back it up but it sure seems to disrupt the pitcher's rhythm, heart beat and pitch selection when guys get on and they get on by making the pitcher get off the mound and run a little bit.

T he only bunt I would have done is with Mauer on a squeeze against Chapman. Mauer hasnt come close against him.

... Jason Castro's OBP is exactly league average ...

I was longing for Josh Willingham to pinch hit last night, fondly remembering that bomb he hit off of Chapman several years ago in Cincinnati.

103mph, lefty on lefty. Yeah, you want to see Joe put wood on the ball there but crikey.

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

Kepler's metrics as of today are nearly identical to his stats last year, but he played fewer games last year. So yeah, it's a step back, but not a big one. Kepler is playing well enough, but with so many people stepping up he is easily forgotten. For his first full season, he is doing fine.

2 out of 4. That was not a "phenomenal comeback". A phenomenal comeback is when you come back late in a game down big. The Twins were down 5-0 in the second and scored 13 runs. That's just a good game. Not every game is 4-3. The first game was a quality win. The second game was a quality loss. The third game was a spanking loss. The fourth game was a spanking win. That's what the Twins needed to do that series and they did it well. Some people just want to be negative I guess.