The Day The Twins Died

PHILLIES 7

TWINS 5

Okay, we had some fun. We had some laughs. But it's time to admit the Twins aren't only not making the playoffs, they never were. 

Since I last set foot in Target Field, we had the trade deadline. And for the first time in years, the Twins were absolute buyers (albeit buying from the bargain bin), bringing in starting pitcher Dean Kremer and relievers Jeff Hoffman and AJ Minter. 

The other thing that happened, though, is that the Twins went in the tank. They came into Sunday 4-7 since the deadline. Hilariously, this hadn't cost them too much ground in the "race" for the 3rd wild card, cause all these other teams "fighting" for the spot have stayed bad, too. 

But Sunday proved one thing pretty conclusively. We have all been fooling ourselves. The Twins are not at all eliminated from the playoffs, but they will NEVER make it. 

Sunday was close to a must win game. The Phillies had clobbered the Twins in consecutive games, including the Field Of Dreams game. The Phillies were starting Andrew Painter, who was 2-8 with a plus 6 ERA. The Twins had Kremer on the mound, who had been great so far since the trade.

The Twins flailing lineup started hot. They loaded the bases in the 1st, and then Brooks Lee hit a grand slam. Kody Clemens added a solo shot a couple of innings later.

Kremer was cruising through 5. It absolutely looked like the Twins were going to manage to get this needed win. 

But games last longer than 5, unfortunately. 

To start the 6th, Kremer gave up a pair of walks sandwiching a single, to load the bases. Derek Shelton came to the mound, but opted to leave Kremer in. This would soon be second guessed, but tbh I didn't mind this. You have a cushion. Give Dean a shot. 

This would, of course, prove disastrous. After old pal Luis Arraez drove in a run on a groundout, Alec Bohm hit a 3 run homerun just inside the left foul pole. Kremer walked off up just a run, with a lot of outs left for the bullpen to get. 

The pen didn't immediately cave in. Kody Funderburk finished the 6th. Minter blanked em in the 7th. Unfortunately, our lineup went cold after the early lead, so we were stuck on 5.

So many games this season, particularly early on, went from wins to losses because of the bullpen.

Another gut punch arrived in the 8th. With Andrew Morris pitching now, Bryce Harper singled. Then Arraez hit a ball towards defensive replacement LF Austin Martin, which cranked off his glove and became a ground rule double. Martin also hurt himself on the play.

Then, with the infield in, Bohm blooped one into the outfield, between Royce Lewis (a non-1B playing 1B) and Luke Keaschall (a non-RF playing RF). Would have been a tough play, but winning trans make them. The Phillies made every play in the field. Meanwhile, our fielding had tied the game. 

The damage wasn't done. An intentional walk loaded the bases, and then Bryan De La Cruz hit one past Lewis down the line to give the Phillies the lead.

This set up a special kind of dagger. On for the save came Jhoan Duran, cause who better to shut the door than a reminder of last year's embarrassing firesale.

Oh, but the Twins teased. You see, that's what this team does all season. They tease. They make you think something might happen, only to let you down.

Victor Caratini walked. Kaelen Culpepper had a hell of an at-bat that ended in a single. So we had Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton each up with a chance to do something really memorable. 

But it's the Twins so each struck out, and the game was over and with it the hopes of contention.

The Twins haven't been more than a few games out of a playoff spot in a long time now, but they are also 60-65. They have spent less than 24 hours above .500 since late April. That 3rd wild card that MLB gave us a few years back has been tantalizingly close, but that's just because the American League is terrible.

This just isn't going to happen. The Twins are not capable of playing well enough to make it happen. 

Sunday showcased it all. 

A maddeningly inconsistent lineup, made worse by another late season collapse by a hurt Buxton.

Starting pitching that is all over the place, made worse by Joe Ryan also having another late season collapse and injury to boot. 

Bullpen...I mean...say no more.

Terrible fundamentals and fielding, made worse by damn near the whole team always playing out of position.

The trades didn't change anything. We might have some guys at AAA who could spark the offense, but while the whole league sees prospects come up and produce, we are still screwing around with service time BS.

This franchise never changes. From the top down, they just don't want it bad enough.