Game 102: Twins at Cleveland
Posted by ubelmann on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Livan vs. Cliff Lee
We're getting to the point where writers start talking about "must-win" series. I don't really believe in must-win situations, though, unless a team would be mathematically eliminated by losing. I've seen too many crazy things happen in my life to believe that a somewhat larger deficit is going to become insurmountable. Less surmountable? Sure. But not insurmountable.
Today's pitching matchup is kind of like that. Cliff Lee is much better at pitching than Livan Hernandez, in essentially every way you could possibly judge pitchers. But even if the Twins don't have an edge on offense (which they do), they could still win this game, because it's just one game and crazy things can happen over the course of one game. It doesn't mean that I like the Twins' chances of winning today, but it's not like I can sit here and tell you that the Twins will certainly lose. Anyone who would say that isn't really worth listening to, anyway.
I'd feel a lot better about this matchup of Lee were right-handed. I also have a hard time believing the Twins will hand Lee another loss when he had only one in all his previous starts against every other team. The Twins' plan of attack should be to get Lee's pitch count up to ensure that they will get multiple innings against their awful bullpen and hope that Livan can at least keep it close. In this series, the Twins should have a sizeable advantage in the bullpen and on offense.
Plus, we need to bunt.
I turned off the sidebar for game logs. This should really speed things up.
Speed kills.
Almost.
More creative double play making by Twins base runners.
You can't hit into a double play when you take ball four instead of swinging at a pitch neck high. There was very little Span could have done there. By the time he was able to figure out where the ball was, it was too late.
Durn it - Span doubled off. He even got on base with a regular old hit!
An early threat here tonight, two on and no out.
Oh boy, Gomez hit the wall pretty hard there. Nice catch, but I think he's hurt.
Yikes, that's not good. Seems like Gomez has had a tough time with the wall out there. Not necessarily bad timing but just hitting in a way that knocks him out.
This is the third time I have watched/listened to a two base Sac Fly this year. The Twins hit one early this year, AJ Pierzynski hit one against the Royals right before the All Star Break, and now this
Hopefully Go Go is ok
They are bringing out the cart for Gomez. I think it's right hip, but I'm not sure.
And now a stretcher. They are going to strap him down. Ah crap.
It didn't appear that he hit the wall head first or anything. They have the neck brace on him. Not good.
I think it's precautionary. He was moving before they came to attend to him. So, I don't think it's a catastrophic injury.
WASTE tells us that he's got full movement. So that's good.
Looks like Span will have Center field after all. Kubel in right?
I would guess that is the plan
Maybe Monroe playes Center
Scary stuff.
boy, this does not sound good.
As much as I hate to see Gomez possibly seriously hurt, I think our lineup just improved a bit.
Bad form, Guppy. You need to wait at least an inning before the return of snark.
Like, for instance, how this would never have happened if Hernandez wasn't just putting the ball on a tee out there.
queue up Gilbert Gottfried doing his Aristocrats routine
Oh man... I really hope he's okay.
Hernandez is going to get someone killed. Where's Liriano? You know that was coming.
How do you even keep playing baseball after you see your friend be taken off the field strapped down on a stretcher? If I was on the Twins I would have some real concentration issues for the rest of the night.
It's a tough game.
Good grief, Span has to make a nice catch. Livan is fooling nobody.
Can we trade Livan to Colorado for a single A prospect?
-1 Razor Ramon
Livan is remeniscent of that 71-year-old dude who pitched to Hamilton in the All Star Game. Check that--the 71-year-old was probably better.
You are fucking kidding me. Span crashes into the wall, but he doesn't catch it.
It's not a good sign when Gordo starts soft-peddling the Livo performance: "After he has a bad inning like this he usually settles down and pitches real good!" Ok, John, I'll stop worrying and learn to love it.
Son of a bitch, Livan. How many outfielders are you going to kill tonight?
Time to get Liriano up.
nah, we need Livan's leadership.
Cleveland using the scorched earth policy tonight
Wow, wasn't that a fun inning.
Can we mercy kill Livan before all our OF get killed?
eventually the absurdity of trotting Livan out there for outings like these while Liriano dominates in Rochester has to convince the twins to bring him up and DFA livan, right? right?
If the Twins want to seriously prove to the world that they want to contend, they'll trade/release/sit Livan and bring up Liriano. It's a no-brainer isn't it? WTF?
It appears that today's poll was timely.
You'd think so.
So are people still going to argue that Livan is a great clubhouse guy? If I was Denard Span I would be giving him a righteous ass-chewing right now.
Evening, gents.
Welcome to the slaughterhouse.
Hey... it's been a long night already.
Livan does not like the taste of Cleveland innings at all.
Finally, the Indians hit a ball in the seats instead of trying to kill our centerfielder.
On the plus side, no outfielders were injured on that homerun.
Good thing Livan is settling down.
Keep pilin' it on tribe. I want Livan the fuck out of a Twins uniform.
But, but, he's tied for 10th in most wins in the AL this year, and no Twins pitcher has more wins than he does--what could possibly be wrong with continuing to send Livan to the mound?
What would you rather have 10-15, 2.82ERA or 15-10 9.00ERA?
ERA without wins is just "piling up stats"
On the other hand, Livan doesn't exactly put the team on his back in crucial situations (unless you're arguing that he lets the team break his back in crucial situations), so maybe he's one of those dreaded "compilers."
Livan in Cleveland this year: 4 IP, 18 hits, 12 runs. effen Brilliant.
I think the innings are starting to eat back.
In Soviet Russia, innings eat you!
+1 glasnost.
Dateline, Moscow, 2010.
Boy asks, "Grandpa, what is line?"
"You see, twenty years back, not enough meat in stores, so people form long queues at the stores' entrances and wait hoping some meat would appear on sale. That was called line. Did you get it?"
"Yes, Grandpa... And what is meat?"
He's got a big ass, but there's some serious chewing going on tonight.
Hilarious
There you go. 2,500 career innings for Livan. Now get his ass out of the game.
Maybe next year Morneau gets Livan to pitch to him for the HR Derby? Just sayin'
Right at this speed.
Zito and Livan should pitch the entire HR Derby next year.
Clearly, Hernandez is some sort of sleeper agent. The question is, whose payroll is he on? White Sox? Detroit? Liriano's agent?
Well, Livan's agent is Liriano's agent, so I would start the investigation there.
Aha! The plot thickens!
Actually, since we're investigating anyway, we need to figure out where Cliff Lee found his juvenation machine. Or just exactly what the terms were on that deal with Satan.
+20 mojo basis pts == 1 soul
Follow the money.
All this Cold War talk *looks at his avatar, sweats*
kuuuuuuubel
This aggression will not stand, man.
Quebel!
Kubes! You CAN hit lefties!!!!
Hey, hey! We are on the board!
at least there's some abiding going on.
How funny would it be if Livan somehow got the win tonight?
Worst. Joke. Ever.
No way man, that would be the absolute funniest thing that's happened all season.
Only if you want him around for the rest of the season. "He just wins."
Whatever, the field staff would pull the plug eventually.
All we need to do is hang about a 10 spot in the top of the fourth.
I'd laugh, but I have a warped sense of humor.
Denard!
Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic.
DEE. NARD. SPAN.
Su-weet.
Does the strike zone seem a bit tight tonight?
WW, but judging by Livan's results so far, it certainly seems plausible.