Tonight the Twins look for a win in game 2 of the Seattle series.
It's been a brutal road trip so far, with a 2-6 record against three sub-.500 teams. The Twins need a pair of wins in Seattle to prevent a bad trip from becoming disastrous. Last night was especially disappointing, with Liriano giving a strong performance to no avail.
On Thursday, it's everyone's favorite pitcher, but the Twins really need a good effort from Boof "Junk" Bonser, who is facing veteran lefty Jamie Moyer.
Add your thoughts.
I'm excited to see how Hargrove tries to one up Gardy's Rondell White hit-and-run last night. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve, maybe more sac bunts from the team RBI leader.
Bonser could be fun to watch. I'm hoping that at least one part of the "Triangle of suck" at the bottom of the lineup gets the day off.
...maybe more sac bunts from the team RBI leader.
Reading USS Mariner game threads is both painful and hilarious with regards to this particular Hargrove tendancy. It makes absolutely no sense in the world to have Lopez bunt--he's been their best hitter all season and has the minor league pedigree to back it up--but if there are runners on base, Hargrove is almost sure to order up a bunt. So. Retarded.
This is pretty much an ideal situation for Bonser. He's going against a lineup whose best power threats (Sexson, Beltre sort of) are also big strikeout threats, which I think plays into Bonser's three true outcomes approach to pitching. Also, Safeco plays very well for flyball pitchers, which Bonser most definitely is.
Bonser's going to be lucky tonight that he's facing Moyer, because Gardy will likely keep Kubel out of the lineup in favor of Ford, even though Kubel can probably hit Moyer just fine (no probs in the minors against LHP and he did fine against last night's soft-tossing lefty, and generally has a good approach at the plate), but Ford has a lot more range, and there's a lot of room out there in LF at Safeco. Having Ford in the outfield with Bonser on the mound is probably a good thing. (I do miss the Jones-Hunter-Kielty 3 CF outfield.) And you know, Moyer seems like the sort of pitcher that could just carve Morneau up all day. And we also know it's going to be a day game tomorrow against a right-handed pitcher, so we might as well get Mauer his time off from behind the plate tonight and let Redmond catch. All told, this seems like it'd be kind of an interesting lineup for tonight:
2B Castillo
RF Kubel
DH Mauer
CF Hunter
1B Cuddyer
C Redmond
3B Batista (I like Lil' Rod, but not much against LHP)
LF Ford
SS Punto
Also, that lineup has approximately zero chance of actually happening, even though all of those guys have played those positions at one time or another this very season. (Oh yeah, Punto may also not be healthy enough to play defense, so you'd kind of have to go with Castro there.)
Moss was going to suggest that the Twins take a collective hit from the "leaded" tank today after yesterday's listless performance. But with Moyer on the mound, maybe they should stick to the "unleaded". Moss, on the other hand, may have to hit the "leaded" pot to stay awake through another dreadful performance.
Bench one of the triangle of suck and get Lew Ford in the lineup...
Castro and Batista display enough urgency, and fire in the belly to keep me awake through another 3-1 loss.
Speaking of Mr. Grimsley, it'll be interesting to see who is on his list of users.
Seems that Grimsley played in St. Louis. Hmmm. Let's put it this way. If Albert Pujols is on that list, the wailing and gnashing of teeth will hit new highs.Oops. I misread that story. Regardless, he played for the NYY, PHI, CLE, KCR, and BAL as well as AZD. A lot of people could be very nervous.Damn Castro. One more uncounted error.
Exactly. And it cost two runs.
Junk Bonser is getting knicked and Castro's poor play didn't help.
At least he showed the urgency it took to get to second base. Physical errors happen.
Castro had an urgent need to play some shitty defense, huh? What a travesty. Why does TR continue to subject the fans to this farce?
How about Redmond DHing??? I believe that ScruFi has decided to STOP THE INSANITY!
With Castro up, first and second, nobody out, yeah, I think I'd just go ahead and bunt.
JUNGLE FUNK!
can't believe they're harping on Cuddyer for that play at first. He would have been safe regardless, and it was a pretty blah throw from Castro.
Boy, has Castillo fallen off the face of the earth.
Magic Glove!! T. Ryan is supposed to be on with Hartman Friday afternoon. I'd love to hear somebody grill him good.
Booooooooooooof!!! Mr. Gopherball. Stop the insanity.
Hoo boy. Three homeruns. Where's that Baker kid?
Watching this is almost as bad as listening to Mike Max.
Mauer power.
Watching this is almost as bad as listening to Mike Max.
Let's not get crazy.
You'll apreciate the the fact while biking around Harriet, Isles and Calhoun after dinner I suffered through about 30 minutes of his show. The wounds are fresh.
What's the matter, the tuner on your radio broke?
I kid, of course. I was listening to Barreiro rant on race tonight on the way home.
Nice base running by Hunter there. Running through a stop sign. Or did he? The world may never know.
At least they do the little things right.
f-in torii runs through the stop sign at third down by 2 runs with 1 out.
Did you hear Barriero give up the ghost on criticizing Mauer? It was of course a backhanded compliment. But still.
And the shit just keeps on coming.
Great job of managing by Gardy, helping keep his bone-headed player pumped up by giving an encouraging five/slap thing.
This team blows. Good thing they don't want to give any youngsters chances, these veterans really show how its done.
Still bitching about Cuddyer's play.
Did you hear Barriero give up the ghost on criticizing Mauer? It was of course a backhanded compliment. But still.
I didn't. I only listened during my ride home. He was in an indefensible position.
Excellent Batista imitation on that play.
What a throw by Beltre on Castillo's grounder.
Complaining about Mike Max? He's Ernie Harwell compared to Dark Starr.
I enjoy watching Joe Mauer.
Mauer Power. He's on an enormous tear.
Complaining about Mike Max? He’s Ernie Harwell compared to Dark Starr.
How Mr. Dark ever got on the radio is beyond me.
I guess Dark Star is an acquired taste. I think he's brutal in a comical way. I'll say this for Dark - at least he has a schtick. Max's main M.O. is to see how far he can ram his head up the backside of the person he's interviewing.
It is seriously like Mauer is using one of those "fat albert" bats. It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
So will Gardy take out Bonser in time?
Gardy has to give Boof a chance at the win, even if it costs the team a real chance at it.
I mentioned to my wife that Mauer might be on one of the biggest tears I'll ever see in baseball.
Banjo - that is the best description of Mike Max I've ever seen.
I wish they'd just bring in Nathan in this bases loaded situation. Why the hell not?
Gardy has to give Boof a chance at the win, even if it costs the team a real chance at it.
Well, let's see what happens here in the fourth with the bases loaded.
Boof-tastic!
I am trying to get my poll software to work. If you see it goofing things up, please be patient.
Now the Twins need Santana to come through for a 3-7 trip.
Joe Mauer is to Mike Sweeney as...
Holy sh-- Batman.
FREE MICHAEL CUDDYER!!! Oh wait, that's already happened.
im in disbelief. on a 1-2 count no less
i guess this means Johan will get zero runs tommorow
Well, the Twins got three hits from their DH and I heard that Mauer will be DHing tomorrow afternoon. Stopping THE INSANITY.
So why can't Redman be pinch run for? ... Wait a second. Nope...Rodriguez is pinch hitting. Rodriguez is better than Tiffee and Batista, but he still doesn't get to start two days in a row.
It's nice to hear Dick shilling for Gardy on this one. "You simply can't pinch run for Redman. The sky will fall."
So Tiffee is that bad of a bunter that we need to use a pinch hitter to sacrifice? Twins - they're about FUNDAMENTALS!
pinch-hit for Tiffee in the 9th in order to have L-Rod BUNT. Then let Castro swing away instead of using Morneau to pinch hit against a mediocre righty?? What the hell?
OK - especially why pinch hit Elrod for Tiffee to move Redman, who you are not pinch running for, into scoring position... and then let Castro hit. Seriously, someone help me here.
Holy shit - someone needs to write a non-fiction short story about the managing in that half inning. I need interviews with everyone from Justin Morneau to the grounds crew staff. I'm just lost. This is a moment that needs to be archived for posterity.
I think I get it now. A while back I mentioned that Gardy plays late tie games/extra inning games as if the game will last 14-16 innings. So he wants to make sure his defense is aligned appropriately. From this perspective, I'm surprised Gardenfire didn't put Morneau in as a defensive replacement for Cuddyer in the bottom of the 9th.
Morneau's the third string catcher. Can't use him in this game as a pinch hitter. What if both Redmond and Mauer get hurt?
In a 16-inning game anything can happen! And in the bottom half, we get Jesse Crain. My-freakin'-lord.
The game is tied, we've used Rincon for two innings. So, who do you warm up? Easy. Jesse Crain.
And warm up Nathan in each top half just in case the Twins score. That way he gets some work in.
Oh my god you people are lucky you are asleep. Punto running for Kubel. Yeah, Kubel who has two SB's this year. When he didn't run for Redman earlier.
And then have a guy hitting .380+ bunt him over so that you can get to a guy hitting .235 to drive him in!
But Morneau's gonna pinch hit for Castro. Which means that Cuddy is going to right, Lew Ford to left, Punto to short and Morneau to first.
But, it doesn't work.
Oops. Silly me. Intentionally walk L-Rod to set up the inevitable double-play ball from Castro. Triangle of Suck.
What's this? The third-string catcher enters the game?????
Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Hell, Castro could have done that! Now what happens when Redmond gets hurt???
I'm a Spammer! I'm a Spammer!
JESSE CRAIN! JESSE CRAIN!
GARDENFIRE! GARDENFIRE!
Though the Twins wound up on the wrong side of it, that was one spectacle of a ballgame to watch in person. Baseballs flying every which way out of the park, big innings galore. Pitchers getting out of jams here and there. It had just about everything but scads of 1-2-3 innings.
can’t believe they’re harping on Cuddyer for that play at first. He would have been safe regardless, and it was a pretty blah throw from Castro.
It would've been nice to see Cuddyer make that catch, but in person, that throw from Castro looked absolutely terrible. I mean, I understand that Betancourt and Beltre each have good arms (that play by Beltre was amazing, though he had to flub up a bit to get himself in that position), but Castro's arm is just not strong at all.
Also, I could watch Mauer hit for days on end. He can't keep this up (can he?) but I sure hope his legs don't betray him at the end of the season and he finishes strong.
I feel Mauer is better defensively than Redman. I don't know who calls a better game. But considering, I can't believe Gardy would DH Redman over Mauer if both are in the lineup. It just doesn't make any sense. Unless Gardy is planning on having both in the lineup much, much more than previously.
It looked terrible on TV, too. And the runner looked safe regardless.
It's probably true, though that the game last night would have been fun/interesting to attend. Glad you had fun!
(Wow - 72 letters to the editor!)
I feel Mauer is better defensively than Redman. I don’t know who calls a better game. But considering, I can’t believe Gardy would DH Redman over Mauer if both are in the lineup. It just doesn’t make any sense. Unless Gardy is planning on having both in the lineup much, much more than previously.
I think that we'll see Mauer DHing today and Redmond catching.
From the looks of it, I'm glad I gave up on the game after Reyes gave up his runs.
Gardy might have taken offense to my suggestion that Hargrove could out-poorly-manage him in the game.
Forget "Free Cuddyer" or "Free Bartlett," we need to free our best relief pitcher...
He's not to be used unless we have a lead.
SBG, you need to specify it further:
"He's not to be used unless we have a 3-or-fewer-run lead."
Looking over the thread at DTFC just cracks me up. I don't want to sound like an eternal pessimist, but I just don't get how people can still defend Gardy's "strategies" and Castro's appearance in the field. I really don't want to be negative all the time but the Twins constantly reinforce my negativity towards them.
Gardy freaking laid down a sacrifice so Castro could have a guy in scoring position. CASTRO!!! That is worse than Hargrove having Lopez bunt all the time in my opinion.
Enjoy the season!
I figured. I guess if Redmond is going to play 2 out of every 3 games, it probably doesn't make sense to have Mauer DH 2 out of every 3 games. He's too good of a defender. On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have Mauer DH in 2 out of every 3 for every 2nd or 3rd series.
(Am I seriously calling Redmond "Redman?" Man, I'm losing it.)
and further still:
"He's not to be used unless we have 3-or-fewer-run lead, or if the Twins are getting blown out and Nathan hasn't been used the last three times we lost a close game."
I'd like to play poker with Gardy sometime. He's the kind of guy who likes to keep an ace up his sleeve but doesn't have the guts or the sense to use it.
There is a group of people at DTFC who can never, ever recognize (or admit) when management does anything stupid or wrong. There is always an excuse to let Gardy or TR off the hook.