Mound Torture

Astros 14
Twins 3

Twins game #2 for me was played on one of those days we all dreamed about when Target Field was announced. Hot but not humid, breezy, bluest of blue skies. A literally perfect day for a ballgame.

But then they actually played a game.

This was never a game the Twins were going to win, most likely. The bats were sleepy. Nelson Cruz and Ryan Jeffers hit solo homeruns, because the Twins almost never get homeruns with men on base. That was the extent of the highlights.

Michael Pineda pitched 4 innings, but had to leave due to forearm soreness or a weak arm or whatever else they came up with. Because of course along with everything else that has gone wrong this season, our most tradeable pitcher now has to have injury problems.

But down 3-0 after 4, Rocco Baldelli waved the white flag and began trotting out the 3 pitchers most responsible for this now 26-39 season.

First came Randy Dobnak. Dobnak was a neat little story in 2019. He saved the Twins asses (ironically after the Pineda suspension), even started a playoff game (which went disastrously wrong), but had a pretty mediocre 2020 and looked to have been found out. Yet this front office inexplicably gave Dobnak a 5 year contract last offseason, after which he was so bad that he was pitching in St. Paul until the Twins were desperate for any warm bodied starter. 

Today Dobnak gave up 6 runs in 2 innings, and at times appeared to be indistinguishable from a batting practice tosser against the Astros lineup. His ERA is now above 8. 

So now it was 9-2, and Rocco Baldelli put in Alex Colome, who has gone from opening day closer to historic disaster to middling middle relief and lately back to disaster.

Today the Astros tacked on a pair of runs off of him in his lone inning.

Finally we got to see Matt Shoemaker. Shoemaker was one of our 2 1 year veteran starter signees this offseason, and he has been so bad that he makes J.A. Happ looks like Jack Morris. Last week he gave up NINE runs and got only 1 out in a start against the Royals. That fiasco finally got him bumped out of the rotation, but then on the same day he lost that job, Rocco put him in in the 8th inning of a tied game against these Astros, his 1st relief appearance since 2015. Surprise...the Twins lost. Even THIS did not get him DFA'd. 

And because of this, Shoemaker got to pitch two more innings today and give up 3 more runs. But hey, he managed to load the bases with nobody out at one point and only let 1 run come in. Way to battle, Matty!

And Rocco didn't even have the decency to give us a Willians Astudillo relief appearance. Bastard. 

But hey, did you see that blue sky? 

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