Cleaning up your own mess

Twins 6
Rockies 3

Twins game #4 for me was the last of a 6 game homestand, that began with the Twins just 1 game up on Cleveland and ends with the Twins, well, 2 games up on Cleveland. But it was a bumpy week. 

The Twins gagged 2 games to Cleveland due largely to horrific bullpen implosions. But this game today was marked most by pitchers getting themselves into sticky situations, and then finding their way out.

Wasn't sure the pen was even going to be a factor early. After spotting Colorado a run in the 1st, the Twins bats went to work. A Buxton walk was followed by 4 straight singles and 3 runs. In the 2nd Arraez singled, Buxton drilled a triple into the gap, and Correa brought him home on a sac fly for a 5-1 lead.

Joe Ryan gave up a solo shot in the 3rd, then put the next 2 on. But he got out of it. In the 4th he gave up a run but stranded a runner at 2nd. He wasn't sharp, but he grinded through 5. An acrobatic catch by Mark Contreras in deep center marked his final out.

On came the pen, and trouble immediately hit, as Caleb Thielbar loaded the bases on 2 singles and a walk. But he snared a line drive back at him, and coaxed a force out, before Emilio Pagan came in to get a strikeout and hand Colorado a NOBLETIGER. 

In the 8th the beleaguered Tyler Duffey came in and immediately gave up 2 singles. But then he got a strikeout and got a double play. Gosh what a nice change of pace to have Twins relievers face trouble and not have it cascade into a complete disaster. The Rockies wound up leaving 11 men on, 7 in scoring position. 

The clutch pitching was needed since the Twins lineup had another one of those mid-game naps. The only run they got past the 2nd came on a Kepler double scoring Buxton from 1st in the 7th. 

Jhoan Duran set em down 1-2-3 in the 9th and the Twins secured a series win and a homestand split.

Then big news broke just hours after the game, that Wes Johnson is leaving the Twins in the middle of the season to become pitching coach at LSU. I guess maybe he decided that once he helped coach a game in which Thielbar and Duffey both pitched and did not give up a run that he has reached his apex. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message Board Classics: 2004 NFL Season

Preseason kickoff post (and other posts): Oh yes, it IS that time again. Training camps are open. The first preseason games are less than a week away. Players are already being idiots. It's the best time of the sports year. It is not yet the time for predictions, but I'll hit on some of the big recent stories. Ricky Williams retires. Well, we know now he did so cuz he was gonna be suspended for using marijuana. He's a little shit as far as I'm concerned. You do not abandon your team when he did. He had every right to retire, but do it at least before the draft. He's left the Dolphins with zero chance of making the playoffs. They couldn't go get Eddie George or Antowain Smith, nor could they draft a RB. The Cowboys cut Quincy Carter. I spent all offseason pleading with Dallas to go get a QB like Warner or Collins or Garcia. Instead they fail to upgrade, and now take a step back. Vinny is 80 years old and has little if anything left. My prediction is that Drew Hen...
Read more

Awful NFL season ends with awful Super Bowl

BUCCANEERS 31 CHIEFS 9 The 2020 NFL season is over. Thank god! A season that was almost across the board unenjoyable, and felt empty and largely felt manipulated, ended with the worst outcome imaginable. With a result that not only continues this 20 year nightmare but that will frankly hurt the NFL for years to come. I was not looking forward to this game. I knew this was going to happen. Maybe not in blowout fashion but I knew the NFL was going to see to it that Tom Brady got his 7th title. The house wins. The game was never fun. Right from the start the Chiefs seemed sleepy, like they weren't really in it. This team plays with swagger, but in this game they had none. Patrick Mahomes was under enormous pressure from the start. The Chiefs grabbed the 1st lead at 3-0 but then from basically the end of the 1st quarter until halftime it was a nightmare. The Chiefs offense remained lifeless. The Chiefs defense did manage a goal line stand that at the moment seemed like it could be a tu...
Read more