Postgame: Two missed chances cost Twins in 4-2 loss
Posted on April 26th, 2009 – 4:24 PMBy Joe Christensen
CLEVELAND — The Twins comeback fell short in a 4-2 loss to Cleveland today, and there were two big missed chances.
After scoring two runs in the seventh inning, the Twins had one out and the bases loaded, with Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel due up, when Indians manager Eric Wedge summoned lefthander Tony Sipp.
The Twins are used to seeing LHP Rafael Perez in those situations. Sipp was just called up from Class AAA Columbus on Wednesday. He struck out Morneau with a 94-mph fastball, and got Kubel to wave at an 85-mph slider.
“You tip your hat to the kid because he made good pitches, and also, he had the little advantage that we hadn’t seen him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Then in the ninth, the Twins put the first two runners aboard against Cleveland closer Kerry Wood. Gardenhire said he considered having Denard Span bunt the runners over but opted against it, and Span grounded into a 4-6-3 double play before Brendan Harris struck out, ending the game with Morneau in the on-deck circle.
“Span is a very good fastball hitter,” Gardenhire said. “So I probably could have bunted them over and taken a shot there — if we get it down with a guy throwing 94. You don’t know if that’s going to happen either.
“But taking a shot and at least getting Morneau to the plate, that’s the only disappointing part. But we elected to — or I elected to — let him swing there. But the young man out there, Mr. Wood, throws the ball very, very hard.”
82 Responses to "Postgame: Two missed chances cost Twins in 4-2 loss"
goingyard,
“this crowd is full of Gardy apologists..so they will never see it the way you do”
I am a sometimes “Gardy apologist” who still thinks pitching Crain instead of Humber on the day Crain’s arm became injured was a total Gardy screw-up.
Today, “to bunt or not to bunt that is the question”.. the answer is not obvious.
The success of a sacrifice is not a slam-dunk, especially against Kerry Wood’s pitching.
But neither is Span’s avoidance of a DP a slam-dunk either, although he had only TWO GIDP in 79 PA.
The only slam-dunk was that your buddy “A” was going to come on the blog after the game for the sole purpose of piling on Twins fans and crapping on somebody’s birthday cake.
That’s why he got the reaction that he got.
“Two missed chances cost Twins in 4-2 loss”
I couldn’t agree more, Joe C., and those two missed chances are Michael Cuddyer and Nick Punto.
Cuddyer, coming off his best game of the season (2-for-5 including an infield hit), continues to define why folks on these blogs are pulling their hair out asking for him to be the right-handed bench bat.
Punto, in a continued display of RBI ineptitude, followed Morales’ four-hit effort with another 0-fer, leaving two men on base.
With all the platooning surrounding this team, you’d need a resurrection of John McGraw to explain why Gardy insist on playing these two each and every game. A lot of you will quickly point out how Brendan Harris failed in several RBI spots today as well, but my comeback to that is you cannot fault a guy who’s been forced to sit on the bench and watch Punto and Casilla all this time when he doesn’t perform when finally called upon.
As for the key at-bats in the game (Morneau and Kubel striking out in the seventh), Joe C. is right–those two hurt. But if that’s what you come away with on this day, you miss the forest for the trees. Kubel, coming off another hot Fri. / Sat., did show us why Gardy has been hesitant to use him against lefties (i.e. “Free” him).
So I know there are plenty of hitters on struggling on this roster, but I honestly think something more along these lines on an everyday basis would be better:
Span RF
Casilla 2B
Morneau 1B
Kubel DH
Crede 3B
Young LF
Harris SS
Redmond C
Gomez CF
I’ll be curious to hear if my thoughts are shared by others….also, why no bunt by Span in 9th inning?
I don’t think going yard is buddies with A…I don’t think going yard has any budies on the board.
but…the point made is a good one..if Span cannot be relied upon to lay down the sac bunt…well…come on..he is arguably the best bunter on the team
and…I would have loved to give Morneau a second chance. He and Kubel were both champing at the bit, no doubt. A good bunt ensures Morneau is the guy Wood has to get out. I like that matchup…I am surprised Gardy did not. A guy who throws a straight 97 mph heater…give Morneau a shot at him (instead of the nasty lefty he had to face earlier)…no guarantee Morneau ties it up…but I would much rather have seen that.
water under the bridge
I’m with ya Jason. There should be consequences if the coach is playing his guys despite an obvious need for change. The numbers are there…we’ve all seen them thanks to thyrlos…Cuddyer is going down that proverbial slippery slope of a declining ballplayer.
you cannot fault a guy who’s been forced to sit on the bench and watch Punto and Casilla all this time when he doesn’t perform when finally called upon.
Of course you can fault him. Don’t throw him under the bus, but no free pass, either.
As for the key at-bats in the game (Morneau and Kubel striking out in the seventh), Joe C. is right–those two hurt. But if that’s what you come away with on this day, you miss the forest for the trees.
No. Those two at-bats and Span’s in the 9th were the key to the game. The Twins’ three hottest hitters thus far came up empty in the decisive ABs. Kudos to Sipp and Wood. Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you. End of story.
There should be consequences if the coach is playing his guys despite an obvious need for change.
LOL. Consequences? What a firing squad at dawn?
I just hope does the right thing and send down Buscher when Mauer comes back, instead of Morales. You can just not get rid of the hottest hitter in the team. And Morales should be starting until Mauer returns, until he turns cold.
Well, I guess if we want to sit and talk about the Morneau and Kubel 7th inning at-bats until the sun sets, we can, but the bottom line is those are our two best hitters by far and even the best hitters only succeed about 3 out of 10 times on average.
My post was to suggest that perhaps we should chat about the hitters who continue to play everyday despite “succeeding” in the form of an non-run-producing hit 2 out of 10 times. Obviously, neither Punto nor Cuddyer “lost” us this game. Lots of hitters failed in key situations today. A manager also failed in the ninth inning, in my somewhat-humble-opinion.
I do think there’s a market for a right-handed bat on the bench with this team…even with Go-Go struggling like crazy. As for Punto, I like the guy…I really respect his tenacity. Truly. But when you can’t hit for power, can’t drive-in runs, and can’t hit above .240…a player with the skill-set of Punto should be a utility guy.
Maybe I just have a headache and want a lineup shake-up. Fault my take here a number of ways, but don’t fault me for being short-sighted. I thought this going into the season, and we’re almost 20 games in and nothing’s changed. Maybe Cuddy goes on a tear this week and I will be glad to shut up… 
it’s risk reward I dont disagree with not bunting. I like the idea of sitting punto, but I’m not a big fan of harris either. LNP just doesn’t quite do it for me and I agree with Fran somedays you get it somedays you don’t but every game is important look at last year
another thought..a bit more complex..
why put two key lefties together, back to back…Morneau and Kubel?
Because they are the two best hitters..ok fine..but you set yourself up for a LOOGY. And when we saw him…it hurt us to have two lefties back to back.
but later in the game..when there was no doubt who we would see…Wood…a hard throwing rhp…we were well set up with Morneau followed by Kubel..we should have set the inning up that way when the opportunity presented itself…we had them where we wanted them..
Granted, Morneau could have struck out..or hit into a dp….but I still would have rather had the bat in his hands against a rhp ….I would rather have rolled the dice that way.
I don’t really care if people don’t agree…everyone is entitled to their own opinion…but I agreed with every choice Gardy made in the game until that decision not to bunt in the 9th…so I am not anti-Gardy…I just wish he would have played that one differently
thrylos-is it more important for morales to be playing everyday instead of on the bench once mauer returns..great take Jason on punto being a utility guy
“it’s risk reward I dont disagree with not bunting.”
LOL, is that a triple-negative, D?
I notice Gardy has been a lot less of a fan of bunting in recent years…Punto could’ve been asked to bunt in an earlier AB as well. I would’ve bunted there, but I suspect many years of failed execution of that play by the Twins has changed Gardy’s attitude. Plus, something tells me players don’t like being asked to bunt.
Lost in Morales’ four-hit game was the fact that he threw a runner out! That alone should have him starting until Mauer returns.
either you bunt for a hit. or not at all, span is to good of a slap hitter,,
I dont have a problem with 2 lefties back to back
me either, D. They are your two best hitters….you bat them 3, 4. No one would question it if they were righties.
sweet that was a triple negative. I think punto should have bunted earlier. He does seem to bunt less than before
thrylos-is it more important for morales to be playing everyday instead of on the bench once mauer returns
I think that it is more important to look at who will give the Twins the highest chance of winning this season rather than having Morales play every day… It is not like the Twins are devoid of catching prospects…
I was pretty damn excited when he threw him out.
true almost seems like age is starting to catch up with redmond
Mauer update: He is DHing today and is 1 for 3 with one K through 7
it will be good to get him back in the lineup. I don’t care how much others want to hate on him
thanks for the update, thrylos….let the speculation begin on what the roster move will be.
twins will do what they always do morales will be sent down
mauer should bat second when he comes back but that would be 3 lefties in a row
Span, Mauer, Morneau, & Kubel…that’s 4 lefties.
The Miracle game is over. Mauer finished the night 2 for 4.
I’m a big fan of Gardenhire, but over the last few years this has to be one of the worst executing teams in baseball. I know that their average w/RISP was insane last year, but to me the definition of “Twins Baseball” seems to be changing from “get em over, get em in” to hoping for an error or a wild pitch to keep any rally going.
Obviously Gardy is doing alot of things right, and like I said I’m still a fan of his, but they are going to have to start doing the little things right again if they are going to contend for the division, let alone the world series.
Does anyone remember Greg Gagne? He was a slick fielding shortstop with a very weak bat, and the Twins had not problem winning the World Series with him at short. I have no problem with Punto as the starting shortstop. His fielding advantage over Harris is stronger than Harris’ hitting advantage over him. Shortstop is the most important position to have quality defense.
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Mauer, Morneau, Kubel & Span are the 4 best hitters in the Twin’s line-up in that order IMO. Kubel has some problems hitting lefties but otherwise these 4 batters are very troublesome to other teams. Mauer & Span have very high on base %, setting up many RBI chances for Morneau & Kubel. Give your best hitters the most chances each game & watch the runs add up.
Kubel has some problems hitting lefties
Urban legend. This season Kubel is hitting .375/.444/.500 off lefties.
I think that would be 4 good hitters to start it off
Urban legend previous seasons?
Sssuperdave, we had this discussion on the 220 blog when someone made the same observation, and my suggestion is you go back and look at the numbers–it’s not even close.
Gagne was always between 40-50 RBI during those glory years, from the 9-spot, and he had 67 HRs between 1986-1992, not to mention two awfully handy ones in World Series games. Punto’s a nice scrappy player, but let’s not lessen Gagne’s contributions to a magical era of Twins baseball by comparing him to Punto.
Punto had 4 RBI the first week of this season. He continues to be stuck on that number…he’s started every game but one. We’re obviously not expecting Punto to put up huge numbers offensively, but something better than ‘way below average’ is necessary if you’re going to start everyday.
Gagne, to me, was better defensively and a much stronger hitter than Punto will ever be. Plus, he was better at the basic fundamentals; base running, bunting, hit & run, etc.
“Triple negative”! Sounds like a good nickname for Punto!!!
Just like last year the Twins lost some games at the first of the year because of some bad calls from the bench, but at the end of the year your out of the playoffs by one or two games, now the same thing is showing up, you need those wins at the first of the year, no excuse for this, I have seen them bunt with a man on second with no one out, Span is the best one to bunt on the team?????
I actually trust span with the bat there. watch how he works a count and fouls off pitches waiting for the one he wants. And I agree at least Gagne had some pop. I don’t have much hope at all for LNP
oh wait Punto does have a strong arm. thank god
I will never understand this. Gardy has implemented in and fans ask for it.
If your outfield is Span, Gomez and Young why on earth don’t you put the weakest arm and best range in LF?? Put Young at his natural position and take advantage of his cannon arm.
Span in LF
Gomez in CF
Young in RF
Should be a no brainer.
The other one that rears its ugly head is when Punto and Harris play the middle infield positions. Harris should play SS and Punto 2nd. Again it should be a no brainer.
Gagne wasn’t as good as Punto in terms of……um…..let me think…
Diving headfirst into first base!
Gagne did have the benefit of playing on Twins teams that actually had more than 1-2 power hitters, especially the 1987 team.
Guys like Jeter, A-Rod and Jose Reyes have made SS a more offensive position since Gagne’s time with the Twins.
right Shaun, but the point is, with Gagne, there was always a chance he could go yard a couple times a month or drive in a run now and then.
agreed Jason I would never think Punto would go yard. LNP does the best at firstbase dives. It has been awhile since he did one
agree with JP 100 percent
Morneau never not be mentioned as an MVP candidate again. Despite putting up good overall number, he is not good in the clutch. In the home stretch last year he choked and he choked again today. No one capitalizes every time or even most of the time, but I have seen him choke too many times and not get the big hit in the big situations
Morneau never not be mentioned as an MVP candidate again. excellent we have a double negative
Nick Punto has 57 RBI’s in his last 967 plate appearances.
Nick Punto has 57 RBI’s in his last 967 plate appearances
That is so terrible it seems made up
morales is a terrible defensive catcher. it seems that everytime a runner gets on, he’s on 2nd easily because morales can’t throw anyone out. i don’t care how he’s hitting it’s unacceptable to have him behind the plate.
It is not just this last game but the question of Cuddyer and Punto being Gardenhire’s favorites. He sticks with them despite common sense : Cuddyer is a 268 lifetime average, not very athletic but a good arm (and strong lips with the post-game interviews). He is simply blocking the development of Gomez (exciting, fast, needs experience) and Young (high average hitter, left field not his cup of tea). As to Punto, I frankly prefer to see Harris playing every day (solid hitter, will not hurt you on defense). Yes, both MC and NP should be bench players, but do not hold your breath. Mr. Gardenhire is a stubborn man and he is not in the class of Tom Kelly.
There’s no worst front-runnin’ fan than he who wants to be a front-runnin’ fan. Before changing his mechanics throwing to second, Morales have always had a 35-40% success against base stealers. His drift towards thirsd when throwing has been corrected and it we get tired of hearing the narrators praise his efforts back there. We all know Mauer is the pretty boy and we all want him back, but let’s be fair with Morales. Besides, this is NOT a sudden outburst of hits. Only in AA did he not hit .300+, so he’s doing what he has shown the Twins staff he can do. His career is just starting and he’s hitting .375 and .429 including all numbers. Grow up!!
I couldn’t agree more, Joe C., and those two missed chances are Michael Cuddyer and Nick Punto.
Leave it to Jason to completely gloss over his boy Morneau’s big ol’ K with the bases loaded.
I’m surprised you didn’t use this opportunity to pile on Kubel. Considering this is the first time he hasn’t come up big in some form or another.
Also, Casilla currently has no business hitting 2nd. Put Harris there until Mauer gets back or until his average drops down to meet casilla’s.
Shaun says:
Gagne wasn’t as good as Punto in terms of……um…..let me think…
Diving headfirst into first base!
It’s Ironic that you right this when you think about it. Maybe Gagne’s biggest hit was the infield sinlge in Game 7 of ‘87 series that scored the winning run. Gagne used his speed running thru the base to beat the throw. I think we all know what Punto would have done coming into first in that same situation.
A manager also failed in the ninth inning, in my somewhat-humble-opinion.
Jason, I bet Gardy would catch as much flack here for taking the bat out of the hands of Span (one of his top hitters to this point) and giving away an out with a bunt, even if it brings MVP to the plate. And if Span doesn’t execute the bunt just right, say he pops into the air or it turns into a DP, flack would not even begin to describe the reaction here. I think when you have the table set and four .300+ hitters due up, you roll the dice. The failure is on them.
Fault my take here a number of ways, but don’t fault me for being short-sighted. I thought this going into the season, and we’re almost 20 games in and nothing’s changed.
Twenty (19, actually) games into a 162-game season. About equivalent to two games of the NFL season. Short-sighted seems a pretty good compound word.
I think we all know what Punto would have done coming into first in that same situation.
It’s good to see that we’re running so low on actual reasons to hate Punto that we’ve started placing him in historic situations so we can hate him there too.
In the spirit of the game, allow me to also add that we all know who really was in the Book Depository on that fateful day in 1963. Of course, he quickly beat it out of there once he saw the cops were coming.
Just another prime example of the false hussle we’ve all come to know.
T, you really want to dwell on Morneau’s strikeout in the 7th inning yesterday? Is that really what you want to discuss going forward?
Morneau is such a cut above the rest of our hitters, it’s not even funny.
Fran, you do have a point about Span’s plate appearance…but the situation called for a bunt, I believe, especially since that would all but have guaranteed that Morneau sees the plate in the inning.
Frustrating…ah, I guess it’s time to move on to the Rays tonight…my head hurts thinking yesterday’s game.
“Just another prime example of the false hussle we’ve all come to know.”
Like the false bravado of a certain blogger who has to correct everyone with his arrogance and self proclaimed baseball expertise.
OK, I’m not going to jump into the Punto fracas. Instead, I’m going to give Morales props. He’s really come around at the plate. Good for him.
I always want Harris to play more, but we had first and third with two outs in the 5th inning after they walked Gomez on 5 pitches. Harris then hits the first pitch on a low sinker to the third baseman for the final out and end of rally. That at bat bothered me more than any other on Sunday. Morales is a good hitter but the kid needs to go to Rochester to work on his defense. Remember, he’s being replaced on the roster by a two-time batting champ. Morales will be a better catcher to be called up later in the year and eventually and hopefully as Redmond’s permanent replacement
Agreed Brett: Morales is picking a great time to get hot (well, a great time for himself anyway).
I wonder if the Twins FO isn’t already talking to Redmond about options. I recall reading he was a bit sore/hurt coming into the season…perhaps a DL stint just long enough to figure out where they want to go from there?
T,
there is another way to keep Morales: send Buscher down. At this point, Morales is a better LH (and RH) bat than Buscher and about as versatile as Buscher on the field…
Looking ahead to the Tampa series, I bet Kubel doesn’t play Wednesday vs. the Rays lefty Kazmir. Plus they will need a backup OF if Gomez is away from the team for a few days. Harris or Crede will be the DH on Wednesday.
there is another way to keep Morales: send Buscher down.
I had thought about that option, but it leaves Harris as the only realistic backup in the IF. Which means the team will have to trust that at least two of Crede, Punto, Casilla can get something going.
I’m still concerned about Crede. Another HR over the weekend…but not in a situation where it was particularily useful.
it leaves Harris as the only realistic backup in the IF.
even with Buscher on the bench, Harris is still the only realistic backup in the infield… Worse comes to worse, play Morales at third if you have to in an emergency. He cannot be that much worse than Buscher…
bufftwins….you think maybe we should give Harris at least 50 ABs before we break down individual plate appearances?
That’s the whole point here…you can’t expect Harris to be Superman when he only plays sparingly.
As for Morales, I don’t have strong opinions either way…sure I’d like a better hitter than Red Dog, but Morales probably needs more than one good game to displace him, right? Maybe Gardy carries three catchers, who knows…
imo you either dl red for 2 weeks to get healthy or send buscher down he just sits on the bench anyway. morales was an infielder has played 3b, ss and 2b enough to fill in an emg. to this point morales deserves to stay up with the twins. red really doesn’t look like he’s got much left or is hurt. if mauer can only catch 3-4 gms a week to start red would be a big liability in the condition he is in now.
it could also work sending gomez down for a few weeks to get his head screwed on right kubel can play in the field a few games and mauer can dh. punto would be an emg of’r.
the only thing for certain is that cuddy has to play everyday!
He cannot be that much worse than Buscher…
I hear “he can’t be much worse” quite a bit when people are offering alternatives. It doesn’t instill much hope in me that it’s an actual option.
Plus “he can’t be much worse” is often a common argument when somebody has preconcieved biases about the player being replaced.
Becaues if you recall “He can’t be much worse” was the argument used to support the Guardado aquisition.
Hindsight, always 20/20. I’m a big Gardy supporter, but have to admit that when Span came up with runners on 1st and 2nd in the 9th. Well, I was watching it with my Dad and we were trying to guess which baseline he would try to bunt down. Seemed like a “small ball” slam dunk. Oh well, whaddyagonnado.
HAVE FUN !!! GO TWINS !!!
The Twins are really going to have to stuggle to stay out of the cellear in the Central Division. They are lacking consistency and have no comminating starting pitchers. The other teams in the division have improved far more than the Twins and Gardenhire and Anderson keep making the same mistakes year after year.
Hi herb.
I’ve finally figured it out. The Twins have not had the start to the season that we would like because they are all confused. Bill Smith, Gardy, Andy, Jerry White, Scott Ulger, even the players, are all reading these various comments, and trying all of the things we are suggesting. No wonder the Twins players are confused!!!!!!
The key difference is that:
1) Gomez is slumping (at least partly) because he is getting sporadic at-bats.
2) Cuddaver is slumping DESPITE getting more @#$%@#$% at-bats than the good hitters.
How many players (in the past) have said “Give me regular at-bats everyday and I’ll show how I can hit!”
Cuddaver is doing precisely that!
But damn, Dr. You can’t throw the gold nugget of Morales away, can ya?
hi romer….I will repeat my postition regarding the catching situation when Mauer returns…Here are the options: 1) DL RedDog, Keep Morales.
2) Keep RedDog, send Morales down.
Now, let’s explore option 2 first. If either RedDog or Joe goes down with injury, we have Morales ready to come back on a moment’s notice.
Option 1: If either Morales or Joe goes down, we are screwed. That is what I am looking at.
The 3rd option is keep all 3, send Cuddy packing his bags.
BTW….I think sane prefers option 3. LOL
thry and I prefer option 4: send Buscher down.
Looks like Morales is a more attractive pinch hitter because he’s a switch hitter and you don’t have to pinch run for him. A no-brainer. And it looks like he’s just plain a better hitter than Buscher.
But Gardy says this: “We’ll let [the roster move] happen when it happens,” Gardenhire said. “It’s a situation that’s going to take care of itself.”
Yeah right, Gen Gardy.
“We’ll let (it) happen when it happens,” Gardenhire said. “It’s a situation that’s going to take care of itself.”
“Yeah right, Gen Gardy.”
Kind of like US war preparation before Pearl Harbor.
I think the Twins would be a much better team without Punto and Cuddyer in the starting lineup. Neither are a net plus for the team. Cuddyer is clumsy and frequently falls down for no reason. Punto is vastly over-rated and a utility player at best. Both are worthless with runners in scoring position. Cuddyer dropped a ball in right field last night than span could have easily caught.
Since Buscher never plays, you may as well send him down.
How does no one pinch hit for the bottom of the order in the 7th last night? that’s my question.
*I hate the sacrifice bunt and won’t second guess having your best OBP guy not give away an out*
