stringer bell

Or Celestino run if they wanted the better defender in center.

I don’t know why they don’t run for Sanó. Gordon could play center, Kirilloff first.

According to Dick Bremer, this will be a bullpen game for the Tigers. The opener, Kyle Funkhouser (yes, that's a real name) has good numbers in over 30 innings this year. I have a few random thoughts in connection with the Twins and MLB: 1) Which AL Central team will be the best for the next 3-6 years? I had thought going into this season that the Twins looked like a good bet to be good for quite a while. After this season, not so much. Chicago looks good now, but like the Twins, life on top is fleeting. Cleveland has managed to stay competitive, but how long can that last with limited payroll? KC and Detroit are rebuilding, it appeared the Royals had more good pieces than Detroit, but the Tigers are outperforming them this year and seem to be loaded in the lower minors. 2) Tampa Bay is universally praised for their ability to be more than competitive despite facing the big markets in the East. They have been early believers in baseball metrics, early innovators with using openers and managed to make the World Series last year. If the Rays manage to win the World Series this year, will Tampa be crowned the city of champions? They have the Super Bowl winning Buccaneers and the two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning. 3) By the time the Twins play somebody new, they may well be in third place in the Central. Do anyone care at all, or is it "first place or no place"? Personally, I hate to see my team on the bottom and I believe the rewards of early claim status and higher draft selection aren't worth that much.

I thought Maeda was laboring in his last two innings despite putting zeroes on the board. More specifically, I wonder if he’s 100% recovered. He looked a bit gimpy to me.

Which Miggy?

It seems they switched uniforms in the seventh.

Quite a nice first inning for Happ.

I think this team’s construction is fatally flawed. The pitching staff is substandard and too many short starts have exposed most of the bullpen. The construction of the position players and their backups is problematic. I don’t think the roster is primarily Baldelli ‘s problem and so, I think Rocco should be retained. People want to see a manager that challenges his players publicly, but that is a dying breed. Baldelli is a modern manager, give him a better put-together roster and pitching staff and he will do well.

Does anyone know what the stats are in MLB for a run or more scoring when there’s a runner on third with less than two out?

Congratulations to ex-Twins All-Stars, including Kyle Gibson and Eduardo Escobar, both making their first All-Star game when over the age of 30. Add Lance Lynn, Ryan Pressly and Liam Hendriks, each making their second All-Star team. In other news, Rene Rivera was DFAed by the Cleveland team and former Twin Chip Hale is going from third base coach for the Tigers to head coach of the Arizona Wildcats college baseball team.

Tall young man gets first major league victory!

Excellent outing for Ober. He was walking the tightrope his last two innings, but he still got some swings and misses in the 4th and 5th.

I don’t think that’s true. Strikeouts and infield pop ups are common. The Twins’ strikeout numbers are in line with other teams. It’s an epidemic in baseball.

Bad bullpen and inability (somehow) to add on. The Twins have underacheived in just about every respect. It doesn't surprise me that they are below .500 when they score first in a game.

Larnach doing better with RISP!

I’d say that is convoluting the the numbers. They’re barely below .500 when they score first, but that would make them 11-24 when the other team scores first. And one of those two results will occur every time.

Impressive two innings from Ober.

I’m going to pick Rortvedt to square up a couple balls and get a double and homer in a low-scoring game.

Early start. Shadows might be an issue.

Well, the two veterans are out for another game. The Twins did well without them yesterday, so maybe they will do well tonight. Obviously, with the season decided, it is important to see the young players. Five rookies--Ober, Rortvedt, Gordon, Kirilloff and Larnach are all playing against the likely division champ. Let's see what happens.

I think Rogers was All-Star worthy, this year as well as in 2019. In the big picture, it doesn’t mean much, but being an All-Star at least once looks good for a career.

Best choice. I’d like to see another Twin in there because most likely Nellie will be playing for someone else in less than a month.

The DP makes up for the two well-placed singles. Nice play by Simba.

Fly ball Ober. Not exactly working at a launching pad.

My father claimed it was the British disguised as Japanese, in order to draw the US into the war.