MIN 4, DET 3: Fashionably Late

Great comeback!

Buxton literally just makes this team wins by nothing more than just being in the lineup. My goodness is he crucial to the team doing anything.

The last two wins were huge. It really stunk that the Twins lost 6 straight. I think had they gone 3 - 3 over that stretch no one worries about anything. But when you lose 6 straight you kinda feel that panic mode hitting and then they rip off 5 straight that kinda evens it out, but to rip games away like they did today is huge for the team in my opinion.

That kind of speed is not humanly possible.

Describe Byron Buxton: Fast. Really, really fast.

Ludicrous speed.

Who is tired of Buxton? Certainly not me!

Kenta got "deGrom'd" by his teammate again, this time Clippard. And Clippard's ERA even went down! At least the team got the victory this time, too.

Pretty awesome grit shown by this team the last 3 games. Now I just hope the vaunted offense can start hitting.

Buxton got the game winner, but Sano was in the middle of everything. He has been more impactful at the plate than any Twins player under the age of 40 for quite some time.

HOW....???

Honestly this was a routine grounder. Not a dribbler, not a high chopper. Just a two-hop bouncer to short. And played solidly by the defender.

It's unfair. And I'm laughing maniacally and rubbing my hands together.

C'mon Bux, let's get hot and keep making contact. There might just be an All-Star year for him yet next year if he can stay healthy and stay in this lineup.

The way Buxton looked overmatched in his two (6 pitch total) strikeouts?  Not so sure the Tigers made a bad judgement call in pitching to him.  They were probably hoping   to punch him out again - but it was not to be!

I wish to make two points about Rosario's baserunning in the ninth.

First, it was good for him to take second base on defensive indifference. That probably would not have had an impact on the outcome of the game because it would have been a difficult play for a charging shortstop to try for the force at second but it's still good to eliminate a force play.

Second, why was Rosario running on Buxton's ground ball? Or even taking a lead? There was no reason for him to leave second base. He should have been standing with his foot on the bag the whole time.

Can you call Buxton's hit a walk off? Buxton is a difference maker, able to contribute what no one else on team can, speed. 

Ludicrous speed.

Buxton has gone to plaid!

It appears the Tigers made a major blunder by not simply waking Buxton in that spot. Yeah, it would have loaded the bases and reduced the pitcher’s margin for error in terms of walking the next batter (Marwin), but it would have:

1. Restored the force play at every base
2. Largely taken Buxton’s legs out of the situation
3. In the event the game remained tied and gone to extra innings, it would have put Marwin at 2B to start the 10th rather than Buxton.

As it was, pitching to Buxton there meant the Tigers were pretty much destined to lose, if not in that plate appearance then likely in the next inning or two.

What you are saying Gardenhire did not look at game situation and use his brain to make a good move?  I am shocked at this I mean the man never made a bad call in his entire time with Twins(if you cannot tell super sarcasim here)  Gardy was never good at thinking outside the box on a decision like that.  I fully agree walking Buxton was right move.  Dick even pointed out the stolen base/defensive indifference was not a small thing in case there is a ball that out could be made at second but harder for first.  Not sure they would have tried out at second on that same play.  Also, the point that if Buxton does fail he starts at second base something that changes the inning so much.  That is why I had been calling for Gardy being fired about 5 years before he finally was. 

I wish to make two points about Rosario's baserunning in the ninth.

First, it was good for him to take second base on defensive indifference. That probably would not have had an impact on the outcome of the game because it would have been a difficult play for a charging shortstop to try for the force at second but it's still good to eliminate a force play.

Second, why was Rosario running on Buxton's ground ball? Or even taking a lead? There was no reason for him to leave second base. He should have been standing with his foot on the bag the whole time.

I get the second point you want to make, that if Eddie runs and the short stop is able to tag him out prior to run crossing the plate then he made dumb move.  Eddie has never been a super heads up guy but more reactionary.  This would have also meant the short stop had same thoughts that I cannot get Buxton but can tag Eddie, however it would have required to happen before run crosses, so unless Eddie just gives himself up, which he never does on bases when he makes bad move, the short stop is not likely to try to tag him out.  Yes, the correct play would have been to stand on 2nd base the whole time and not even take a lead but that means going against thousands of innings of baseball instincts. 

Eddie thinking? Come on. Eddie was running because Eddie runs, not because he was thinking.

Eddie thinking? Come on. Eddie was running because Eddie runs, not because he was thinking.

If I'm managing, I pitch to Buxton over pitching to Gonzalez (with no open base) in that situation 100 times out of 100.

I HAVE to get out of that inning. Buxton gets thrown out on ground balls all the time, this one just happened to be pretty slowly hit.

And Who will be the runner at 2nd in the 8th, if we get that far, is way way down the list of concerns.

Who wasn't in the game. Sano was playing first.

I agree with your first point but disagree with the second. There was no way Rosario was getting thrown out at third on that play. Rosario was trying to block the fielder’s view of the ground ball to try and cause confusion to the fielder. It is unlikely a major league shortstop will make an error on that play, but even if it costs him a fraction of a second with Buxton’s speed that could make all the difference.

If this is why Rosario was running I suppose that's a good play. It would be interesting to hear from him and from Rocco about it.

It appears the Tigers made a major blunder by not simply waking Buxton in that spot. Yeah, it would have loaded the bases and reduced the pitcher’s margin for error in terms of walking the next batter (Marwin), but it would have:

1. Restored the force play at every base
2. Largely taken Buxton’s legs out of the situation
3. In the event the game remained tied and gone to extra innings, it would have put Marwin at 2B to start the 10th rather than Buxton.

As it was, pitching to Buxton there meant the Tigers were pretty much destined to lose, if not in that plate appearance then likely in the next inning or two.

Buxton also strikes out a lot and hits a lot of first pitch pop-ups. I'm not walking the hitter who had batted ninth for the Twins the past 3 years in this scenario.