OT: Twins v. Tigers
Once again the Twins strand about a dozen runners on base and manage a win. Neither run scored in an inning with an outfield hit. I've seen Liriano walk too many guys to think he's not going to implode. I want to think my Twins are good, but the offense really looked bad today. What say you, Tiger fans?
April 27th, 2010 at 10:16 PM ^
It was a dismal offensive day on both sides. Neither offense deserved to score runs, and the Tigers' three errors gave the game away. Verlander seriously needs to get his pitch count down or he's never going to the make it to the 7th inning.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:19 PM ^
While this post appears to be "baseball", this doesn't fall under the "baseball" category. Pro sports goes in "other" category. I've had to change about 10 board posts relating to the Tigers/MLB since the categories system was put in place. Just thought I'd reiterate pro sports being "other" after I made the change.
I still don't think Tigers fans have much to complain about. Being an Astros fan has been horrible this season. I am only exaggerating by a little when I say Carlos Lee might have 10 hits this season (~20 games). Something like a .150 batting average from a guy that is supposed to hit clean up.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:32 PM ^
My bad dude. Forgive my ignorance.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:50 PM ^
No big deal. Like I said, it's a widespread issue. Hockey threads figured it out really quickly, which is surprising compared to how long it took them to understand that NHL is OT. Can't leave baseball fans with a bad name for not doing meta stuff correctly. They're supposed to be smarter than hockey fans who root for players with mullets (John Kruk aside).
April 27th, 2010 at 10:26 PM ^
I'm watching hockey.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
the effin ball Raburn!
April 27th, 2010 at 10:53 PM ^
cost us a chance to beat the twins. Leyland don't play Raburn against the twins please.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
Verlander still thinks he needs to throw about 216 pitches to get through the 5th. Even so, Raburn drops the 3rd out in the 5th, and Sizemore throws one down the first base line, and there's the Twins offense for the night. Once again the pitch count knocks out a starter before he can get through 6. He threw 72 pitches from the 3rd to the 5th innings. You can't do that.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
What the hell is wrong with Jon Rauch's smile?
April 27th, 2010 at 11:15 PM ^
I have no idea how, but the Twins have a bizarre ability to take mediocre relievers and turn them into intimidating closers. Hawkins, Guardado, Nathan, and now seemingly Rauch all had undistinguished careers until they became Twins closers. Rauch blew his first save this weekend but still got a win out of the deal, otherwise he's 6 for 6. Good call though, he'd better stick to his grimace or no one will take him seriously.
Nice neck tatt
April 27th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^
Raburn is STILL not an outfielder (or an infielder for that matter). Awful.
April 27th, 2010 at 11:11 PM ^
That smile is creepy.
the Tigers played Monday, but the Twins didn't, and were already in Detroit before the Tigers got back from Texas. It's a tough loss - I agree, but it's a long season.
Except when your season comes down to a one game playoff, then you look back at these lost opportunities in April and May and grind your teeth in frustration....or am I the only one who does that?
I am also a diehard Twins fan. This is not the year to be pessimistic. think how good this team will be when the offense starts clicking. They have completely transformed from the free swinging Torrie Hunter/Jaques Jones philosophy to leading the league in walks. Remarkable for long time twins fans. The team has won every series this year, despite poor "clutch" hitting. With that lineup, that will change. It took them until JUNE 9 of last year to win as many games on the road as they have already won this year. Just This is a very good team, which should win the division comfortably. The Tigers are good team, but I dont think they will be able to keep pace for too long. Yes tehre is a long way to go, but when a team is that patient and has that much depth, team slumps are not a likely outcome.
The only starting pitcher I am terribly concerned about as a Twins fan is Blackburn. I think that he is more injured than letting on, and even when healthy, his peripherals are nothing to get excited about. Pavano is fine at the back of rotation. Baker and Slowey will be fine. I am not sure which Liriano you have been watching, but his control has been outstanding. He is also missing a ton of bats and has a ground ball rate near 55%. That is not the recipe for worry. He has not given up a run in the past three games while going deep into the games. While he is not as dominant as he was in 2006, I'll take this facsimile any day. He is back.
The one wild card is how the flyball heavy staff will fair once the weather warms at target field. So far, it is playing pretty fair, leaning toward pitcher friendly, but that may change as the weather warms.
Also, the role of closer is highly overrated and Rauch has been and will be fine. He is not overpowering, but his groundball rate is fine (around 45%) and he has a high balls in play batting average which hopefully will regress a little to the mean. Keep in perspective that even average closers succeed in 85% of the time (Nathan was about 91-92%). The Twins will win some games that he blows (like they did in KC), and in many of the save situations he will be coming in with clean slate and more than a 1 run lead. I am not at all worried about closer. The rest of the bullpen has been very good.