Bringing the B game will only get you close
Posted on July 9th, 2009 – 8:58 AMBy Howard
The Twins were continually on the verge last night, falling one run short owing to some bad at-bats (especially Michael Cuddyer’s flailing strikeout with the bases loaded in the fifth) and a couple of other things that seemed to go unnoticed because of the clutch offensive failures.
As Gardy said after Wednesday’s one-run loss: “We’re competing with them, but we’ve got to beat them.”
Repeat after me: “You can’t give away runs and outs to the Yankees.”
That’s exactly what the Twins did in the second inning and, to a lesser extent, in the fifth. Those are the innings when the Yankees scored their four runs. There were two defensive misdeeds in the second inning. Even though it was called a hit, Brendan Harris (Is he taking bad at-bats into the field with him?) should have been able to throw out Hideki Matsui on his grounder up the middle. Owing to age and injury, Matsui has evolved into a lead foot — and if Harris had brought his throw down, Matsui would have been out at first. That would have given the Twins two out and none on in the second.
It didn’t go down that way, though. Matsui managed to score the first run when he scored from third on a bases-loaded, one-out tap by Nick Swisher. Anthony Swarzak opted to tag Swisher instead of trying to get the force at home. On the replays, with the camera showing a wide view, it looked like an on-target throw home would have gotten the force. Again, that play would have been possible because of Matsui’s slowness. (Jeter and most of the others are easily safe on both of those plays.) Would a veteran pitcher have shown more field awareness in that situation?
In the fifth, it would have been an excellent play, but Justin Morneau came up just short chasing down A-Rod’s foul drifter — the ball glancing off his glove and A-Rod coming back with an RBI single for the Yankees’ final run. Again, if Morneau makes that play, it’s an excellent catch. But when the Twins are battling to stay near the top of their division and fancy themselves a postseason contender, excellent plays are the ones that make memories and pull out victories. (Joe Crede’s running, sprawling catch of Mark Teixiera’s foul pop in the third inning, for example.)
This was the wrong night for Morneau/Cuddyer to go a combined 0-for-7 and for Span to get the groaners going in the first inning by getting picked off second. The Twins escaped the second without more runs scoring even though Joe Mauer sailed a pitchout throw to second on a Brett Gardner steal.
A frustrating night. You kept waiting for the big hit that didn’t come and then hoped for a miracle when Mariano Rivera came in to close.
Day game today. Maybe this one will erase some memories from the first two, instead of forming an ugly series of three that’ll make some people wonder whether postseason baseball would be the crapshoot that the Twins would want it to be — or a foregone conclusion that makes you wonder if an October meet-up against the Yankees or Boston is worth the chase. I believe the former, but can understand those who think otherwise
47 Responses to "Bringing the B game will only get you close"
This is not a playoff team as constructed now. I’ve known it since March, what I can’t understand is, why am I alone? Twins front office completely blew the offseason off..(Think if we had Blake, Hudson, Cruz all season (for cheap and NO player losses)..and please for those who think Juan Cruz is a stiff..well..do you really think Twins would have had the same early results with him as they did with a real stiff..Ayala)..
Now FO has a chance to redeem itself, but because of off season negligence they will have to give up a boatload of players to get Doc Halladay and Freddy Sanchez. But it must be done to show any kind of commitment for a World Series run for this yr and next.
For what it’s worth (not much, I know)- at least the Twins made a game of it instead of the Tuesday night fiasco. BA with RISP is still a problem and there were some great opportunities last night to pull ahead but as the trend goes the LOB number keeps going up.
This team appears to be nothing more than a .500 team. I’m not sure why I can’t get use to that fact. It would be much easier to watch…a lot less frustrating. The apathy on this team is amazing…absolutely no emotion, no fire, nothing…lifeless.
I would rather Twin’s get blown out to fully reveal who they really are instead of this facade that they are a real playoff contender.
as logn as we can claim moral victories Billy and Friends will continue to not do anything to drastically improve the team’s weaknesses - infield,bullpen
I think Mauer and Morneau should march into Billy’s office and say “surround us with some talent or you can forget about signing us to another contract.” Maybe that will light a fire under Billy and the Pohlads. If M and M were gone you’d see a significant drop in attendance and interest and we don’t need that going into a new stadium.
Firing Vavra and Grady seems a little rash but I would ask, what has Bill Smith done to improve the team since he took over as GM?
IMO, the best thing he has done is acquiring Joe Crede…but that wasn’t part of a trade.
in Billy’s DEF he has already shown he WILL trade minor league talent when he sent Garza out the door, that the trade was a bust is a swing and a miss but Terry Ryan never ever tried to make a risk/reward trade
Those plays were important, but two other plays stand out for me.
* With two on and two out in the second and two strikes on Gardner at the plate, Swarzak threw a BP fastball at the letters over the middle of the plate. Gardener did what any major league hitter would do: lined it to right center to drive in two runs. A better pitch was needed there.
* With two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth (I think), Cuddyer swings at two fastballs in the dirt for an inning-ending strikeout. He picked the worst time to have his worst at bat of the season.
The Twins just can’t afford to make these kinds of mistakes. The Harris play and the Morneau play could have been made and were not. The Swarzak pitch and the Cuddyer at bat should have been done better and were not. We at least have to make the plays we should make if we expect to beat the Yankees.
!@#$ Rivera, I’m so sick of him and his followers. He his good but he not a god. He pitches 4 innings a week. Only reason he has the postseason marks he does is because he is playing for the Yanks.
The umpire last night definately gave that 3rd strike call on Harris in the 9th strictly on reputation. The ball was on the white of the batters box! I hate the !@#$ing Yankees and I hate the umpires that give into them.
Magic Man did exactly what I thought he would do and has proven he would do
golf at pitches thrown at his shoe tops
I EXPECT Magic Man to do that as should you, no evidence to expect otherwise
Adam I and most rational Twin’s Fans would take Rivera over Nathan every day of the week and twice on Sunday
your hatred of the Evil Empire doesn’t need to cloud logically thinking
Rivera is a class act and the best closer ever
cmath,
I agree with you that the Harris play and the Morneau play could have happened but didn’t. What gets me more than either of those plays was Cuddyer’s at bat with the bases loaded and he watches one right down the middle for strike one and then swings at one only 6″ above the plate and the third strike had to be only 4″ above the plate. What the heck? We had the bases loaded so a more patient at bat would have been prudent because he could have been 2-1 at that time and maybe even drew a walk. This is why I hate to see him behind Mauer and Morneau because we get burned so often and then he’ll come back a couple of innings later and get a meaningless hit or double. He is NOT a clutch hitter and I would rather see Crede, Kubel or even Delmon in that spot. Arghhhhhhhh!
Shouldn’t the headline be…
Bringing the B TEAM will only get you close
Punto in line-up
Morales as PH…wow scary bench Billy?
Redmond in radio commercials…AA ability and not funny
I think the Twins really need to go back to Mauer and Morneau batting second and third.
Rivera - best closer ever? How so? Hoffman has more saves. Rivera has been with excellent Yankee teams that hve helped him tremendously.
A save is a save. Closers don’t need run support - just some decent defense behind them.
How does playing on the Yankees help him have an ERA under 2.00? How does playing on the Yankees help him rank in the top five in walks and hits given up per 9ip
Who is the leader of this team?! There is absolutely no heart, no urgency, and seemingly no one willing to take control of this team in the locker room, on the field, or in the front office.
If Torii goes on the DL in LA, we should fly him out here to take another swing at Justin…
Then we need to have the definition of ‘best closer’. Based on what stats and criteria? MLB has way too many stats to narrow this down.
I think not keeping Torii Hunter was a much bigger loss to the Twins than trading Santana. Not saying the Twins should have matched the Angel’s ridiculous offer, just saying he is a missing ingredient.
I think save conversion percentage is a better number than total saves.
who would you rather have close a game?
Hoffman or Rivera? umm who picks Hoffman?
Jaime-
Great question. I would have said Mauer because he brought his Bat to the game yesterday (everyday) but his overthrow on the pitchout made me think all these guys itimidated by the Yankees. Starts with the manager. When you are 0 for life against a team, you should take it personally and not excuse everything away.
Well there is a reason Hoffman has that many saves playing for a pretty lousy Padres team..I don’t know how many opportunities he has had compared to Rivera. Someone look it up.
I agree Koopa Troopa. It is true that Rivera is very, very good, but he has had a lot of help. Hoffman has not.
I guess even conversion % isn’t totally accurate. If one guy blows 5 save opportunities, each with a 3-run lead, and another guy blows 10 1-run lead save opportunities, which is doing a better job?
Many of Rivera’s save have been the 1+ inning type. It is not unusual to see him enter a game with men on base in the 8th inning. That is the deciding factor for me.
Hoffman pitched for the Padres in four post seasons including the 1998 World Series. Not such a bad team.
What about the other horrible years?
Hunter’s heart and leadership are big missing pieces for the Twins. This team is so lifeless and boring. I’ve said it before…this team has no personality. That is a big part of what is missing. You either have it or don’t. I’m not sure it is anything that a player can just acquire. We need to add a player–an everyday player–that will bring some life to this team.
WJ: “If one guy blows 5 save opportunities, each with a 3-run lead, and another guy blows 10 1-run lead save opportunities, which is doing a better job?”
I’d ask “Does it matter? They both suck.”
JC:
Nathan blew 6 saves in 2008. You saying he sucks?
This picture says it all, doesn’t it?
Still only the first half. There’s a lot of baseball left to be played, and a lot of things can happen between now and the end of the season to light the fire under these guys. I certainly have to agree that this is a .500 team now, but I think the talent is there to make a strong run in the second half.
Jamie made an excellent point, and I’d say that if there are leaders on the team, they are Mauer and Morneau. But they are more stoic, sage-type leaders, who lead by example and don’t talk much. In the good years we had a few years ago, the team’s leaders were Hunter and Santana, both very emotional people who can inspire a little more passion.
I’d also say that Redmond has tended to be a “spirit captain” in the past, and I feel like he’s been moping his way through the season this year, dealing with injuries and trying not to let Morales steal his spot. I wonder if his not-so-happy emotions are bringing the whole team down.
The problem with the Twins is that none of their starters with the possible exception of Blackburn want the ball in a must win situation. The Twins starters have no b—s. When the going gets tough they want to be taken out of the game as soon as possible. Except for Blackburn they’re all six inning wonders but don’t have the intestinal fortitude to want to go nine like a Morris or a Blyleven. We need a Twins starter with the guts and personality of a Jack Morris.
Anyone notice Gardenhire in the dugout the last two nights? He looks like he’s not into these games at all. No wonder this team has no heart – if the Manager isn’t managing his tail off, the players can’t be expected to get after it.
WJ if those 6 saves had all been 3 run leads or if he had blown 10 1 run leads, yeah… I’d say he was in the “sucking” category.
1 Span,
2 Mauer,
3 Morneau,
4 Cuddyer,
5 Crede,
6 Kubel,
7 Young/Gomez/Morales,
8 Harris,
9 Punto.
Harris is about 0-for-July.
Exactly, Bill Brimner!!
Fabulous line-up today! We will be 0-7 against the Yankees this year. Maybe we can do something against them in the play-offs….(just joking).
Major league baseball needs a win from the Twins today. If a team with a $212 million payroll wins it all, it justifies driving up market value…please win Twins…
~ a Padre fan…
Twins all have the same look when playing the Yankees….DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS!
Bill Brimner……What exactly should Gardenhire be doing? Pacing back and forth? Jumping up and down? He supposed to be watching the game and contemplating his next move(s). He’s not there to be a f’ing cheerleader. Jesus christ….
Mark Outstate (First post): There’s no way that the Twins could get Halladay, because 1. they wouldn’t be willing to give up the players required to get him, and 2. The Twins don’t have a dire need for a starting pitcher. I would LOVE to have him, but I doubt it would happen.
I definitely agree that the team needs more energy, both on and off the field. But that’s difficult when your stars are Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel (seriously, when’s the last time you saw one of these guys give a fist pump?) and your high energy guys are usually on the bench and/or not performing, like Gomez, or only play several times a week, like Mijares.
funny what a bad series can do to the fan’s confidence. i agree this isn’t a WS team, but to say they’re not a playoff contender?? this is the same team that came within a thome home run of making it last year? is this not the IDENTICAL team (minus neshek, plus crede), that has another year’s worth of experience? bad baseball is contagious and this is a group of talented ballplayers wandering through a poor year. indians have done it consistently, same with the cubs. some of these comments are ridiculous. we should be thankful that we still have a .500 ballclub when we’re playing lousy
