Experts: Twins Letting Cleveland Win All These Games Might Backfire

In an otherwise positive season for the Minnesota Twins, one troublesome negative stands out: They keep letting the Cleveland Guardians baseball team win games they oughtn’t.

Late-game meltdowns by the bullpen in general and Emilio Pagan in specific have flipped the result of five recent Twins/Guardians matchups from likely Ws to definite Ls. Multiple baseball experts have confirmed to Twins Daily that this could eventually be a major problem for the current AL Central leaders.

“Are you seriously asking me if losing to a division is rival is bad,” said Phil Miller, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Twins beat writer. “Are you seriously asking me this? What is wrong with you?”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s bad,” said legendary sportswriter and MLB TV personality Peter Gammons. “You’ve proven that there is such a thing as a stupid question. My god, man. My god. I’m friends with Pearl Jam, and you trouble me with this abject nonsense.”

“[EXPLETIVE] you,” said The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. “[EXPLETIVE] you. Really. I mean that. I will find out where you live.”

Indeed, the frankly hurtful responses from these and the other baseball experts who didn’t hang up on us or send poop emojis indicate that the Twins could be in real jeopardy of losing what looks like a very winnable division. Dr. Tanner Rosenblatt, a sports psychologist at the University of Iowa, thinks this may become an impediment to future success.

“Sportsmanship, even in the high-stakes realm of professional sports, is so important,” said Dr. Rosenblatt. “Playing fair, helping an injured opponent, exchanging jerseys after a game, things like that. While it’s admirable that (the Twins are) offering encouragement to a division rival by losing so many of these games in quick succession, this could impact Minnesota negatively at some point.

“It’s just hard to see how your bullpen eating [EXPLETIVE] night after night after night after night against your closest rival, all while turning the fanbase into cauldrons of defeated sadness, could be considered sustainable.”

Experts agree.

"When I find out where you live, and I will, when you least expect it, I will be there," said Hayes. "Then ask me if turning a 10-game lead into a 1-game lead in 35 pitches is good. Northern Minnesota has countless acres of remote forest and farmland. No one will find you."