Game Recap: Cleveland 4, Twins 1

Could anyone explain to me why Sanó wasn't used as a pinch hitter in this game? Ideally while it was still tied?

And another Berrios start wasted. "deGrom'ed" again. At least his team didn't drop the loss on him.

I don't miss Ryan Pressly at all. We have Alcala.

"Eddie Rosario broke the game open in his return to target field with a 2 RBI single followed by another RBI single from Bobby Bradley to give Cleveland a 4-1 lead that would hold through the end of the game."

Not that it matters, but Bradley's was a ground out and Polanco decided to let the run score and throw it to first for the second out (Rosario was running and the double play ball was mute). Common decision, but I always hate not making the play at home (Ramirez is no speedster) and getting the runner out. Maybe he scores anyway, but it is the 8th inning and being 2 runs down is way better than 3.

Here that hissing sound?  It's the very last of the oxygen escaping from the airlock of the 2021 Twins starship.

Zero offense...reoccurring theme of the 2021 Minnesota Twins 

Impotent? Infuriating? The entire organization has under-performed, and wholesale changes must be made.

Classic 2021 Twins, a carbon copy of what we've seen all year.

Twins have a few guys on base in the first couple innings against a bad pitcher, don't capitalize, then fail to get anything together for the next 8 unwatchable innings. This team continues to disappoint and there's no silver lining in sight.

Side note: this team could have scored a few more runs this season if they ever took an extra base. The baserunning is super conservative and it seems to cost them every time. For example, Larnach could have easily scored after Arraez came home on that wild pitch in the 1st inning. Was he not paying attention? Third base coach fell asleep?

I know 5-game win streaks can spark some interest, but let's not get fooled that this team is going to crawl back to .500 this year. It's a 90+ loss team, even if you've got rose colored glasses on.

Very poor effort by the offense.  With most of the regulars playing, minus Buxton of course, they were pathetic.  Only mustering one run against a pitcher that entered the game with an era over 6.  A major problem all year.  It's time to break it up boys.  And another strange performance by our beloved manager that continues to be out managed by the opponents.  Lackluster,boring,and no life.  Pretty sad performance.  Way too many if those this year.

Eddie-Eddie-Eddie.

I know he makes some boneheaded plays, but for years he comes up big at the biggest moment of games.  I guess I don't miss him because I have Hulu and haven't seen more than about 20 innings of the Twins all year.  But it sure as heck seems like the Twins miss him, on the field and in the locker room.  

Good piece in today's Strib about a guy who used to watch every game but no longer has access.  Have a sad feeling that together with their play on the field the Sinclair/Bally B.S. is going to lose the Twins and baseball a lot of fans over this year and next.

Countless times I have read the local experts asserting with confidence that Rosario would be easy to replace. Well, he is playing for a team with a poor offense and has 41 RBI -- more than any Twin. SO EASY to replace, and yet the Twins have not replaced him. Good for Eddie -- he went to an organization than knows how to win. 

9 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Describe tonight's loss in one word.

 

Buxtonless

9 hours ago, h2oface said:

And another Berrios start wasted. "deGrom'ed" again. At least his team didn't drop the loss on him.

I don't miss Ryan Pressly at all. We have Alcala.

Well you might have had nothing as the odds of the Twins signing him after his contract were low.  At least they got something and if we had someone better than Alcala I assume we would use him but no one but Farrell has seemed to make a move to grab that spot.  Pressly had his fair share of rough years until he found himself as well.

5 minutes ago, Dman said:

Well you might have had nothing as the odds of the Twins signing him after his contract were low.  At least they got something and if we had someone better than Alcala I assume we would use him but no one but Farrell has seemed to make a move to grab that spot.  Pressly had his fair share of rough years until he found himself as well.

I know we're digging hard looking for bright spots, but I am pretty skeptical Farrell is anything more than an average middle reliever on his best day.

1 hour ago, bighat said:

Side note: this team could have scored a few more runs this season if they ever took an extra base. The baserunning is super conservative and it seems to cost them every time. For example, Larnach could have easily scored after Arraez came home on that wild pitch in the 1st inning. Was he not paying attention? Third base coach fell asleep?

Yeah, it kinda felt like when they didn't push that second run across in the first inning it was not a good sign for the rest of the evening. It's similar to when the Vikings have a dominant drive in the first quarter then settle for a field goal. Arraez was wildly waving for Larnach to come home. Don't you have to trust Arraez (who is right there in the middle of the action) over the third base coach in that scenario?

31 minutes ago, bighat said:

I know we're digging hard looking for bright spots, but I am pretty skeptical Farrell is anything more than an average middle reliever on his best day.

Totally agree and you are correct he is just the only only that has done anything to this point.  That is how bad it has been.  They already cycled through Waddell and Law.  Stashak hasn't worked out so far this year and Colome is far worse than Alcala.  There just isn't much there. 

39 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

BTW, add Alcala to the "disappointing" list.

 

He has a sub 1 WHIP so not giving up lot's of hits or walks but when contact is made he is getting hit hard.  7 HR in 30 Inning's pitched, ouch!

11 minutes ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Yeah, it kinda felt like when they didn't push that second run across in the first inning it was not a good sign for the rest of the evening. It's similar to when the Vikings have a dominant drive in the first quarter then settle for a field goal. Arraez was wildly waving for Larnach to come home. Don't you have to trust Arraez (who is right there in the middle of the action) over the third base coach in that scenario?

Yep. The fact that they needed the wild pitch in the first place (and that was the only way they could score) is pretty sad - the fact that they threw away an extra run there was just another facepalm moment. Even when things go right and the Twins get lucky, they still manage somehow to screw it up.

1 hour ago, Mahoning said:

Countless times I have read the local experts asserting with confidence that Rosario would be easy to replace. Well, he is playing for a team with a poor offense and has 41 RBI -- more than any Twin. SO EASY to replace, and yet the Twins have not replaced him. Good for Eddie -- he went to an organization than knows how to win. 

Well, he has a .668 OPS and an 81 OPS+ which means that Kirilloff and Larnach are hitting better than him in every category except RBI, so it's fair to say the corner outfield spots are doing well in the interim. Plus we got to see classic Eddie when he was thrown out walking back to second on an admittedly boneheaded play. Honestly who would you rather have in LF, Rosario or Larnach? The answer seems pretty straightforward. I agree that it seemed people were too eager to get rid of him and I like Eddie as a player and he seems like a good person, but this narrative that he was an irreplaceable bat and clubhouse leader just doesn't make sense.

2 hours ago, Mahoning said:

Countless times I have read the local experts asserting with confidence that Rosario would be easy to replace. Well, he is playing for a team with a poor offense and has 41 RBI -- more than any Twin. SO EASY to replace, and yet the Twins have not replaced him. Good for Eddie -- he went to an organization than knows how to win. 

I don't think keeping Eddie around for another year would have helped this team, and I am a Rosario fan. Larnach and Kirilloff are getting valuable repetitions because of his absence and this should help going forward. And plays like last nights play at second would have been all to common. 

1 hour ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Arraez was wildly waving for Larnach to come home. Don't you have to trust Arraez (who is right there in the middle of the action) over the third base coach in that scenario?

Normally I would say no as players are usually caught up in the moment, but after watching the replay I would agree. However, Larnach needs to recognize what's going on also and anticipate a bad throw. I couldn't tell by the replay I saw if he rounded the base hard or if he pulled up thinking the play was over. It looked like he was about 1/3 of the way home and Diaz put up the stop sign. I understand it was the 1st inning, but you gotta make Cleveland make a play there. I will gladly take "hustle" outs when trying to spark a rally.

I guess it sounds that way, but no. I would like see players and coaches be more aggressive, especially early in the game. Keep the defense on their toes, make them make plays. I am not a fan of station to station baseball or coasting into a base anticipating that the play is over. Run hard, anticipate the bad throw or missed catch. I couldn't tell by the replay how hard Larnach rounded third, or if he even did until the ball deflected off of Arraez. I am just saying he needs to run hard and both he and Diaz need to anticipate the bad throw/missed catch.