After 5+ hours, Baldelli forfeits

For the 2nd time in just over 2 weeks, the Twins played a marathon extra inning game today against Tampa. And this one beat the Boston game both in length (18-17) and almost in actual time. And it certainly was more frustrating, since the Twins lost.

I'm not gonna recap the game. It was mostly just inning after inning of inexcusably bad hitting by our no longer scary lineup. Our bullpen made a couple escapes. But eventually the arms were running out.

Ryne Harper was supposedly off limits, so in the 17th here came Kyle Gibson, and he had a quick, clean inning. So okay, he's good to go for a few more, right? Uhhh, well, we'll never know, since inexplicably in the 18th Rocco Baldelli DID put Harper in. And he had NOTHING to offer. A walk, a hbp, an infield single. Then a sac fly, and two singles put a 3 spot up and the game was done. It was like Baldelli waved the white flag in a tied game.

What was the thinking here? If Harper is off limits then why does Gibson only pitch one inning? If Harper WAS available why make HIM that absolute last resort? What if Harper doesn't implode and the game keeps going? What was the plan?

Who cares if Gibson's next start gets fucked with? Bring someone up for a spot start.

I would almost understand a pseudo forfeit given the way the lineup disgraced itself. 17 consecutive innings in a single game without a run. I'm sure it's not a record, but I guarantee it hasn't been done.many times since the dead ball era.

I'm officially done blindly trusting this lineup. Sure, some guys are out, but that doesn't explain some of the downright unprofessional at bats taken by Cron or Schoop or even Kepler and Garver.

Then we have the 1-2 black hole of Jake Cave and Miguel Sano. Cave should just be DFA'd at this point. He has no business taking nearly daily at bats, injuries be damned. And as for Sano, his robust 0 for 7 today officially dropped him under .200. He is unplayable as a hitter. I don't care if maybe once a week he hits a ball 450 feet. He is indisputably a net negative on this team. I already know that when Gonzalez and Adrianza are both back, Luis Arraez is gonna be the guy shipped out, while Sano stays. It's indefensible. The hopes that Sano will ever be even close to the player we once thought, those are gone. Take away the hype and the flashes of greatness in 2015 and 2017 and you basically have a bust. Sano has no future. He will never be a guy the Twins give a longterm deal to. He is not a part of whatever the Twins put on the field 4 or 5 years from now. Ideally they can package him as part of a deal for some pitching, but his value has to be so low right now that nobody would want him.