stringer bell

Congratulations!

One more hit??????

Cleveland just got Sanchized.

Lewis certainly looks like a major leaguer. I think it will lower the anxiety about whether Correa opts out next year.

Well, it's settled. The Twins will score two runs tonight unless they hit more solo homers. Will that be enough?

Houston is playing very well. At the top of their game they are superior to the Twins. The thing is that no one goes through an entire season on the top of their game. Even at the top of their game, the Twins have some gaps. They definitely don't have much team speed they are strikeout prone. They're reliant on homers to fuel their offense. This would seem to be a formula where there are slumps and the past week has shown an offense that just doesn't measure up. Over the course of a long season, the offense will have peaks and valleys. Guys like Arraez who make contact and work counts tend to have fewer slumps and dry spells. Guys like Buxton are a bit of the opposite. I am worried about the rotation and the back end of the bullpen still needs at least one reinforcement. I do think the Twins are better than they showed against Houston and they will play better ball. I'm not sure they have enough talent to make up for their shortcomings.

Yup, it's fun to see all the young unproven talent and have them sweep a series against the A's, but the club needs to get healthy if they want to consistently win games. Not to make too big a deal about it, but the 2021 Twins won a series in Houston (which was on their way to the WS) last year. There is something to it's not who you play, it's when you play them (except for Twins vs. Yankees--that never has seemed to matter).

So who goes back to St. Paul first, Kirilloff or Miranda? Before today, I was pretty sure it was Kirilloff, now I'm not too sure.

I do want to mention that I have a special spot in my heart for Niko Goodrum. I believe it was Spring Training of 2016 (maybe 2015) and I sat next to Niko's dad at a minor league game. His dad was pulling for him and hoping he would just get a chance to play somewhere. Niko had kind of gotten lost in the shuffle in the minors. Anyway, dad talked about how hard he worked and what he had to offer (speed, power and versatility) and sure enough he made his debut with the Twins in 2017. Niko had been a high draft but really didn't find his way for a while in the minors. His dad wore a sweat suit and had a few chains, kind of stood out among all of us who were wearing tee shirts and shorts. Just about every big league player is a success story in the big picture, especially if their personal life isn't a mess.

It seems the Twins aren't getting bludgeoned, so much as having a pillow put over their face and smothered.

I agree on the sentiment of letting Gordon run in that situation, but the fact is they're only succeeding on about 45% of their steal attempts. Gordon is 0-2. Outs are too precious to take a 50-50 chance of succeeding.

I would like to see Winder come back and complete six innings. Not sure if it will happen.

Were Nick Gordon and Niko ever teammates?

It could be that they have enough speed throughout the team that they can afford to send their runners. Also they have more guys in whom they are confident that they will make contact.

Nice catch Nick!

Probably Jeffers best throw to second and it still wasn't close.

Astros probably have the deepest lineup we've seen, with exception of their catchers.

Speed is not Miranda's calling card.

Make this guy throw out of the stretch, so we don't have to watch the gyrations.

Buckle up! Here comes Winder!

Would someone post the lineups when they become available? Thanks!

Anyone who sees the lineups, please post them on this thread. Thank you!

There is a game thread for the regularly scheduled game started by sampleSizeOfOne. We can wrap this game thread in the next five minutes and move on to the next. Thanks!

I’m a bogey golfer and couldn’t break 90 today. The putter was not my friend.

I just got home from the golf course and see the the ‘Stros put up a big number on Canó and Stashak. The reason for trying to give Canó a third inning and letting Stashak take a beating are pretty clear. There are fourteen innings to cover. Somebody is going to be extended. As Houston turned the game into a laugher, it is more clear that the Twins shouldn’t waste resources on a lost cause. Cano’s line looks crummy and Stashak is wearing a bit hit on his stats. That’s the way it happens sometimes.