Royals 3, Twins 2: Smeltzer Dazzles, Bullpen and Bats Fall Short

Bullpen help by the deadline, please.

Would Gordon and Sands get us a decent relief pitcher?  Need to make a move NOW and get Lewis and Kiriloff back on this roster.

Would it have killed him to have Smeltzer pitch the 8th? Why did he leave Duffy in after the first 2 hits? After last night's bases loaded futility, why not bunt a runner in this time? 

Miranda's heating up just in time to get Royce'd when Kirilloff comes back up.

As much as the lack of offense is to blame for this loss--------2nd straight game leaving the bases loaded without scoring a run with zero out-------I have to take issue with Baldelli leaving Duffey in to face Merrifeld with 2 outs in the 8th when he had 2 better options (Smith and Duran) in the pen.

Go ahead and call me out for this, but the the following FACTS cannot be ignored:

1.  Duffey's pitch count was already at 17.  His command was not good as evidenced by falling behind Rivera (sub. 230 avg) 3-1 and O'Hearn (.171 avg) 2-0.  Gave up singles to both.

2.  Merrifeld---before his game tying double------was a career .385 hitter (5-13)vs. Duffey with a .846 OPS.

Why leave him in at that point Rocco??

3.  Joe Smith was available---throwing only 3 pitches yesterday------and was a much better option to face Merrifeld:  1-6 career vs. Smith.

4.  As bad as that non-decision was by Baldelli------why after walking Benintendi, after being ahead 0-2, was Duffey allowed to stay in to pitch to Witt, Jr. with his pitch count now at 25?

No shock to me that Duffey's implosion continued, again after getting ahead 0-2 of Witt.

Baldelli's failure to hook Duffey is just mind boggling to me.  It sure conjured up images of Rocco hanging Josh Winder out to dry (now on IL and his last game pitched) vs. Oakland on May 17th.

As much as Duffey (and a bunch of hitters) owe an apology to Smeltzer, Baldelli should be first in line.

Agree with a number of comments.

1, Why wasn’t Smeltzer staying in to start the 8th - especially with the lead off batter being a lefty.

2. Duffy stayed in too long. Too quick to yank Smeltzer and too slow to yank Duffy. Rocco was 0-2 tonight on his primary bullpen decisions.

3. DH - smeeH.  How you don’t pinch run Gordon for Sanchez is unbelievable. Was anyone else screaming at the TV set “Pinch run Gordon!”

In summary, a lot of the blame for this was is on Rocco. 

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

... The Twins did not leave 30 runners on base. That's not even physically possible in a 9 inning game.

For the record, it was 12.

But it sure felt like 30!

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

As for the game, I don't understand:

-how Duffey is allowed to cough up 3 runs without even having another reliever warming up

- how we get 2 OF singles with a runner on 1st and don't score. I realize ww lose the DH if we pinch run for Sanchez in the 8th, but...it's a 1 run game on the 8th.

- if Buxton is so injured he can't attempt a SB in a one run deficit in the 9th, why isn't he on the IL?

-what does Gordon provide? 

All seems fair to me. Gordon is a useful player but we have too many MLB caliber  players in the organization to justify him anymore.

3 hours ago, darwin22 said:

As much as the lack of offense is to blame for this loss--------2nd straight game leaving the bases loaded without scoring a run with zero out-------I have to take issue with Baldelli leaving Duffey in to face Merrifeld with 2 outs in the 8th when he had 2 better options (Smith and Duran) in the pen.

Go ahead and call me out for this, but the the following FACTS cannot be ignored:

1.  Duffey's pitch count was already at 17.  His command was not good as evidenced by falling behind Rivera (sub. 230 avg) 3-1 and O'Hearn (.171 avg) 2-0.  Gave up singles to both.

2.  Merrifeld---before his game tying double------was a career .385 hitter (5-13)vs. Duffey with a .846 OPS.

Why leave him in at that point Rocco??

3.  Joe Smith was available---throwing only 3 pitches yesterday------and was a much better option to face Merrifeld:  1-6 career vs. Smith.

4.  As bad as that non-decision was by Baldelli------why after walking Benintendi, after being ahead 0-2, was Duffey allowed to stay in to pitch to Witt, Jr. with his pitch count now at 25?

No shock to me that Duffey's implosion continued, again after getting ahead 0-2 of Witt.

Baldelli's failure to hook Duffey is just mind boggling to me.  It sure conjured up images of Rocco hanging Josh Winder out to dry (now on IL and his last game pitched) vs. Oakland on May 17th.

As much as Duffey (and a bunch of hitters) owe an apology to Smeltzer, Baldelli should be first in line.

 

 

 

Baldelli's entire tenure here has been mind boggling to me, but I keep getting told that I shouldn't question the MOY (what year was that again.......oh, never mind, it was back there somewhere), and that nobody lets pitchers throw more than 80 pitches anymore or complete games (or was that going a 4th time through a lineup?).  So who am I to question a plan that requires 3-6 pitchers all 162 games regardless of how well the starter is doing that game?  We play the game today by 2 rules:  #1) the computer is always right.  #2) when the computer is wrong............see rule #1.  Never let it be said that Rocco doesn't play by the rules.

Just another one of Rocco's  mismanaged games  ,,, leaving in duffey  ,,, duffey couldn't locate any pitches on the corners , either out of the zone or  right in the hitters sweet spot  , didn't throw many fastballs  , mostly curves and sliders  ....

The offense didn't help much with bases loaded and no outs  ,,, 

5 hours ago, MplsFan said:

Bullpen help by the deadline, please.

Taylor Rogers?

4 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

The twins offense is somehow in the top half of all MLB in most classic offensive categories. Certainly not BA with bases loaded, no outs

That is amazing, considering they have scored 3 runs or less in 25 of their 45 games so far.  It would be interesting to see what categories they are so high in.

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

That is amazing, considering they have scored 3 runs or less in 25 of their 45 games so far.  It would be interesting to see what categories they are so high in.

Possible overreaction incoming, but......

Yeah, this team straight up can't hit. The past 2 weeks they've been the lowest scoring team in all of baseball and they've been playing the Tigers and Royals and their no-name pitching staff the whole time. And we know what happens when they face good pitching: Kershaw and Verlander both almost no-hit this team. Yes, the Twins bullpen is all smoke and mirrors but Duffey, Pagan and company would have a much harder time blowing a game if the score was 7-0 for a change. 

The majority of this team's wins this year are 2-1 victories against Detroit, KC, Baltimore and Oakland. There are at least 6 teams in the AL that are much better than Minnesota. I think this fast start might be a mirage and the playoffs might be a pipe dream - a .500 finish would be a miracle and I think we should probably start to adjust our expectations.

Oh and Buxton's feel-good story has taken a pretty dark turn while we're at it. Yikes. I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy out there.

Smeltzer should have had the win, sorry that he didn't. Good news though, Polanco will be back. Twins got to get their bats going. Somebody needs to start get hot and help carry the team. We have a lot of talent. We need to stop ignoring the absence of our long relief.

8 hours ago, darwin22 said:

As much as the lack of offense is to blame for this loss--------2nd straight game leaving the bases loaded without scoring a run with zero out-------I have to take issue with Baldelli leaving Duffey in to face Merrifeld with 2 outs in the 8th when he had 2 better options (Smith and Duran) in the pen.

Go ahead and call me out for this, but the the following FACTS cannot be ignored:

1.  Duffey's pitch count was already at 17.  His command was not good as evidenced by falling behind Rivera (sub. 230 avg) 3-1 and O'Hearn (.171 avg) 2-0.  Gave up singles to both.

2.  Merrifeld---before his game tying double------was a career .385 hitter (5-13)vs. Duffey with a .846 OPS.

Why leave him in at that point Rocco??

3.  Joe Smith was available---throwing only 3 pitches yesterday------and was a much better option to face Merrifeld:  1-6 career vs. Smith.

4.  As bad as that non-decision was by Baldelli------why after walking Benintendi, after being ahead 0-2, was Duffey allowed to stay in to pitch to Witt, Jr. with his pitch count now at 25?

No shock to me that Duffey's implosion continued, again after getting ahead 0-2 of Witt.

Baldelli's failure to hook Duffey is just mind boggling to me.  It sure conjured up images of Rocco hanging Josh Winder out to dry (now on IL and his last game pitched) vs. Oakland on May 17th.

As much as Duffey (and a bunch of hitters) owe an apology to Smeltzer, Baldelli should be first in line.

 

 

 

Another thing I don't understand is why Rocco pinch hit for 3 guys who had hits in the game and both rbis. That was a horrible decision. Also, if you've faced the 3 batter minimum and have allowed more base runners than you've gotten outs, you should be pulled. It isn't rocket science. Rocco Baldoofus strikes again. 

Duffey has not shown anything that makes him a reliable RP this year.  But that said, I understand the angst that is in the comments - we cannot keep leaving pitchers in when they do not have it and watch them fill the bases.  Come on Rocco - you yank Smeltzer when he was still going well, you leave in Duffey when he obviously is not. 

1 hour ago, bighat said:

Possible overreaction incoming, but......

Yeah, this team straight up can't hit. The past 2 weeks they've been the lowest scoring team in all of baseball and they've been playing the Tigers and Royals and their no-name pitching staff the whole time. And we know what happens when they face good pitching: Kershaw and Verlander both almost no-hit this team. Yes, the Twins bullpen is all smoke and mirrors but Duffey, Pagan and company would have a much harder time blowing a game if the score was 7-0 for a change. 

The majority of this team's wins this year are 2-1 victories against Detroit, KC, Baltimore and Oakland. There are at least 6 teams in the AL that are much better than Minnesota. I think this fast start might be a mirage and the playoffs might be a pipe dream - a .500 finish would be a miracle and I think we should probably start to adjust our expectations.

Oh and Buxton's feel-good story has taken a pretty dark turn while we're at it. Yikes. I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy out there.

The only saving grace is how bad the rest of the central has been, but the last 2 games should have been W's if they had a manager who was able to manage a bullpen competently. 

Nice job by Smeltzer, only to have the Doof completely blow it. Can't believe Rocco didn't pull him before all that damage was done, and to not even have someone warming up was a total WTF moment. C'mon Rocco...what the hell are you thinking? 

7 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

First, Duffey... 

Second, 

 

Sorry this is just writers kissing the organizations butt (or just be lazy one of the two) trying to stay in good graces with the team. Smeltzer had 77 pitches in his first start up and 74 in the second and had made 5 AAA starts if a pitcher can't make 90 pitches in his 8th start that is terrible

Do you know what a real writer would say? The Twins will tell us Smeltzer was taken out because of pitch count but guess what all but 3 starting pitchers last night pitched more than him.

No analytic should every justify pulling a pitcher averaging 11 pitches(80 total) with a 2 hit shut out for an inferior pitcher.

8 hours ago, USAFChief said:

 

The Twins outhit the Royals 12 to 6 and left a whopping 30 runners on base

The Twins did not leave 30 runners on base. That's not even physically possible in a 9 inning game. 

 

For the record, it was 12.

MLB calculates the number of runners each batter left on base, which some batters strand the same runners so the total is 30. See graphic. 

2 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Sorry this is just writers kissing the organizations butt (or just be lazy one of the two) trying to stay in good graces with the team. Smeltzer had 77 pitches in his first start up and 74 in the second and had made 5 AAA starts if a pitcher can't make 90 pitches in his 8th start that is terrible

Do you know what a real writer would say? The Twins will tell us Smeltzer was taken out because of pitch count but guess what all but 3 starting pitchers last night pitched more than him.

No analytic should every justify pulling a pitcher averaging 11 pitches(80 total) with a 2 hit shut out for an inferior pitcher.

If the Twins gave up selling their collective soul to analytics and actually used their brains they would win far more games. Even the game Sunday they came back and won was in spite of analytics, not because of it. 

3 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Duffey is on a roll.  He's allowing an earned run on every other hit, on average.

But...he's not allowed an intentional walk.  So, there is that.  

 

Sidenote: anyone that still rocks stirrups gets some respect from me!  Smeltzer pitched a nice game, he deserved better.

At least his mediocrity is consistent?

8 hours ago, darwin22 said:

As much as the lack of offense is to blame for this loss--------2nd straight game leaving the bases loaded without scoring a run with zero out-------I have to take issue with Baldelli leaving Duffey in to face Merrifeld with 2 outs in the 8th when he had 2 better options (Smith and Duran) in the pen.

Go ahead and call me out for this, but the the following FACTS cannot be ignored:

1.  Duffey's pitch count was already at 17.  His command was not good as evidenced by falling behind Rivera (sub. 230 avg) 3-1 and O'Hearn (.171 avg) 2-0.  Gave up singles to both.

2.  Merrifeld---before his game tying double------was a career .385 hitter (5-13)vs. Duffey with a .846 OPS.

Why leave him in at that point Rocco??

3.  Joe Smith was available---throwing only 3 pitches yesterday------and was a much better option to face Merrifeld:  1-6 career vs. Smith.

4.  As bad as that non-decision was by Baldelli------why after walking Benintendi, after being ahead 0-2, was Duffey allowed to stay in to pitch to Witt, Jr. with his pitch count now at 25?

No shock to me that Duffey's implosion continued, again after getting ahead 0-2 of Witt.

Baldelli's failure to hook Duffey is just mind boggling to me.  It sure conjured up images of Rocco hanging Josh Winder out to dry (now on IL and his last game pitched) vs. Oakland on May 17th.

As much as Duffey (and a bunch of hitters) owe an apology to Smeltzer, Baldelli should be first in line.

 

 

 

I could not possibly agree more, with everything you said.

10 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

If the Twins gave up selling their collective soul to analytics and actually used their brains they would win far more games. Even the game Sunday they came back and won was in spite of analytics, not because of it. 

YES!  Hey, maybe I am not a minority of one.