Do the Twins Want This?

John Danks and Fransico Liriano both had rough outings on Friday but one of them will be pitching in the biggest game of their regular seasons.

Well, tonight is the make or break game for the Twins.  If they make the playoffs I like their chances against the Rays but I agree with La Velle and have a hard time picturing them making it that far.  In true Twins fashion I just don't feel like we want it bad enough.

Nick Blackburn should not be pitching this game.  This will be the third game in a row the Sox have trotted out a pitcher on three days rest.  Ozzie wants this pennant and is willing to stake the readiness of his pitching staff on an all in move, and the Twins should be playing to win as well.  John Danks is arguably the Sox' number two pitcher behind Gavin Floyd and bringing him out is absolutely the right move against a Twins team who traditionally has had trouble at US Cellular field.  It's especially a good move considering Blackburn has had a tough time of it against the Sox and a terrible stat line there in Chicago where he's given up 13 runs in 15 innings pitched over 3 starts.

The problem is that starting our (#2?) ace Liriano on three days rest is fairly risky - a gamble with just as many postseason repercussions as Guillen's.  First, there's Liriano's performance on the 26th - 85 pitches over 4.1 innings against a Royals team that smacked him around the park for 6 runs on 11 hits.  So while his arm shouldn't be tired, there's a mental worry there - how well and how quickly can he bounce back?  There is some comfort in that argument, however.  While Liriano was getting pounded by the Royals Danks was getting stomped by the Indians to the tune of 7 runs in 4.0 innings over 80 pitches.  If anything, Liriano's potential shakiness could be rivalled only by Danks.'  I think the real issue is the health of Liriano's arm and a worry on the Twins' side that short rest is going to do some damage to a great second-half recovery story.  I can't think of much else besides that as a reason for why we can't put all our chips in and let Liriano take us to the bank.  It can't be because we're afraid of the Rays.

Tampa has limped in to the postseason dropping 3 of 4 in Detroit.  They are a team that we've split the season series with.  Their ace, Scott Kazmir has struggled with his control and hasn't pitched more than six innings in a game since July 21st.  This is already a team that's tired, inexperienced and frankly, one that either the Twins or Sox could handle considering the veteran talent on both teams (extremely veteran in the case of the White Sox).

I understand that to even be this close to the postseason is far and above any expectation anyone had for this team after we traded Santana but now that we're here, why not take advantage of this thing and run with it?

No!

A rain delay on the last, most important game of the Twins' season?  Not a good sign!

Who Needs Sleep When You've Got Baseball?

Last night's MLB All Star Game was one of the greatest baseball games I've ever seen. Holy crap, it was long, but after about the 5th inning it was pretty freaking exciting. I've watched MLB All Star games since the time of Kirby Puckett - I love watching the players, sure, but I mostly love watching how our small-market Twins (3-5) fit in with the likes of the rat-bastard Yankees (1-5).

Joe Mauer reaching down to unbuckle his ankle guard while the ump called a questionable strike two, getting back into his stance and immediately reaching down again and walking to first after another close pitch was classic. He was making the calls, dammit. I also like how Joe Mauer wasn't afraid to take a walk in the All Star game. It's like softball - all the big hitters would rather pop out to the shortstop than just take a walk and help the team.

The suspense was great, the multiple bases-loaded, end-game scenarios were exciting, and Dan Uggla's incompetence was embarrassing. These things I think will be said and said again. I don't think anyone will mention, however, that the guys that won and lost the game are not at all stars. Sure, they were on the team, but seriously. Dave already blogged about the disrespect the media gave our favorite Canadian home-run champ, but think about all of the other players out there and how little of a narrative there was for them.

Anyone staying up for the full game got to see five at-bats for Morneau, who hit twice, was walked once and incidentally scored the winning run. They got to see Russell Martin throw some serious heat to catch a speedy Kinsler stealing (another name that's been lost in the Josh Hamilton-mania, by the way). Clint Hurdle probably made a mistake putting Guzman in for Ramirez after only one at bat but Guzman got to show off his glove at 3rd base for the rest of the game. I was happy to see all of these players from small-market or less-covered teams get the national spotlight for such a huge chunk of the game.

By the end of the game, however, I wanted Joe Buck to go to bed. His complete hackery was apparent as he had absolutely nothing to say for any player out there after the front-liners besides "he's the second-to-last pitcher in the bullpen." Look at your goddamn media guide, dude. If Bert Blyleven can fill entire innings of Twins/Royals baseball by talking about some of the REAL no-names in the league, surely Joe can come up with something the say about Evan Longoria besides "he's a rookie." Jesus.

Hahaha You Suck Yankees

Thank you, Brian Cashman, for turning down a ridiculous trade for Santana back in the Spring that would have ensured your dominance over the American League for years. Thank you so much for holding on to your prized "prospects" Phil Hughes (0-4, 9.00 ERA) and Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.37 ERA). I sure hope that you are confident in your decision to hang on to this young "talent" and were planning all along to have one demoted to AAA by May 3rd (Kennedy) and one out until AT LEAST the All-Star break with a broken rib. I hope your new-found dedication to youth in your organization makes you feel like you're really competing with the Red Sox or even the Rays on that front.




See, Cash, the difference between your club and the Twins, Sox,or Rays, is that just having young talent isn't enough. You have to actually develop them. The Yankees haven't developed a player since Jeter and Posada, so I'm sure you've just forgotten how. Meanwhile, the Twins will take a kid who is a terrible first strike swinger, who has raw outfield instincts and who is tied for the MLB lead in steals and turn him in to something a lot like this.

UPDATE: Just wanted to mention that the day after I wrote this Gomez hit for the cycle. Just sayin. Oh, and yesterday I heard PA and Dubay talking about this exact thing with Cashman. I'll get a link to their segment but basically they must have read my post. Just goes to show that unless you play for the Vikes or the Wild those guys won't pay attention to you until they need to fill some time on a Wednesday morning.

Oh So Close to Perfect...

The family and I went to the Twins game last night. Even though they're pretty much done it's nice to hang with the parents and catch some baseball. It was a good time - eating corn outside, drinking some beers, making fun of Mike Redmond's "wide stance." Good times. It wasn't until about the 7th inning, after the Twins already had a comfortable lead, that I looked up at the scoreboard and realized that Scott Baker had a no-hitter going. To be honest, we were playing the Royals, so I wasn't really paying attention when they were up to bat.

I was excited that I would be witnessing a no-hitter here! I thought about the game a little and turned to the fans next to me. "Has he even walked anyone yet?" Nope. Scott Baker had a perfect game going into the seventh inning.

Well, me and the rest of the 15,000 people in attendance seemed to liven up a little and suddenly the 7th was over. Then in the eighth Scotty looked great. He wasn't even up to 100 pitches yet and he was still striking people out. This perfect game from a pitcher who last year was sent up and down, bouncing between AAA and the Twins was really happening.

The ninth started and everyone was into it. From our seats to the left and above home plate we had a tough time seeing the strike zone well, so I couldn't get too upset when Baker walked the lead-off batter in the ninth on some questionable balls. Perfect game shattered. Next the Royals pinch-hit Mike Sweeney for Tony Pena Jr. just to be dicks. Sweeney looped a single over 2nd base. No-hitter destroyed. All in the ninth. Crap.

Baker rallied and finished the game with a shut-out intact, but it'll be a while before I forget about the time I almost saw a Twins pitcher not named Johann go lights out and pitch a perfect game.

The End of An Era

Friends, it's my sad duty to inform you (all three of you) that the greatest Twins blog ever is done. Batgirl is retiring to spend more time with her brand new baby, plus she doesn't live in the Cities anymore and it's tough to get the Twinks on TV without a sizable investment.

Batgirl was my favorite way to catch up on the Twins if I missed a game or a series and could always be counted on to make me laugh if I was super pissed because Carlos Silva ate hole for five innings or because Travis Hafner lives to destroy the Twins.

I'm forever stuck calling Johan "The President," and Lew "Lew Fordwalker," and Mauer "The Chairman," and Nick Punto "Little Nicky Punto/LNP" and Mike Redmond "NBP (Naked Batting Practice)" and there are so many names for Morneau like "Dr. Neau" and you can always make reference to the Island of Dr. Morneau, and... damn that was a good blog.

If you've got nothing to do please browse the entries from key times last season, especially September and October (near the bottom) and understand how freaking great this blog was and marvel at how one woman with a career and a baby could have kept it up if it weren't for a deep-seeded love of the game of baseball. I said marvel, dammit!

I'm inspired by Batgirl's retirement. Look for more Twins posts here at Pumaspeed. Look for more posts in general. Honest.

Holy F*king Shit, Twins Get Killed!

I'm not angry, just sad that their amazing run is over. I'll just have to hope that they eat a dick during April and May next year and turn it around again.

I am a little angry that Brad Radke's final game was this piece of junk. I'm pretty sure that after they pulled him he went to the dugout, sat down, and just stared ahead a little, saying nothing. Then Torii Hunter came up and moved to pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Brad said, and Torii just backed away quietly.

Then someone who's always positive and spunky like Nicky Punto or Mike Redmond sat down and before Brad knew it gave him a little love pat on the right shoulder.

And then Brad's arm flipping fell the hell off.

Brad continued to stare into center field absently while the rest of the team went apeshit at the sight of Brad's arm on the goddamned ground. That's when the wheels fell off and we decided to commit two more errors and Crain couldn't pull himself together after seeing that arm just lying there and decided to walk a run in because we needed to feel his pain and then while he's at it let's just give up another damned double to Marco "Vespa" Scutaro and clear the bases. Christ!

Here's the man who single-handedly beat the Twins, give it up for Marco "Vespa" Scutaro.

Holy F*king Shit, Twins Win!

Earlier this week, as the Twins dropped the first game of the series to the White Sox, I thought it was fairly improbable that the Tigers would lose as well, and to the Kansas City Royals. But they did. OK, crazy stuff happens, we still have a shot at this. But when we lost yesterday's game and Detroit lost too I said, "That's it. Detroit won't lose again tomorrow. I'm happy with a wild card spot."

But this is re-god-damned-diculous.

The Royals swept the Tigers, and we pulled one game up over Detroit to take the lead. So awesome... Plus, Joe Mauer won the AL Batting title (Eat it, Jeter), Johan Santana is the probable Cy Young winner, and Justin Morneau is getting better and better press every day and could very well win the MVP. Check out the really sweet article by ESPN's Jayson Stark here documenting the year in review and making the MVP case for Justin.


Playoffs start Tuesday, when we will whip the asses off the Oakland A's.