Open Thread: Indians @ Twins Recap

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 1:45 PM EDT in Game Recaps Comment 21 comments

July 6, 2008.

Welcome to the game recap, your place for all your reactions following the action. As usual I'll toss out some questions, and then you can add some of your own takes from what you saw in the game as well.

* Who are your stars of the game?

Glen Perkins, Denard Span, Nick Punto

* Best defensive play of the game goes to?

It's not really a play. Just Cliff Lee running his trap at Carlos Gomez, and Gomez running it right back.

* Should this game have turned out any differently?

See below.

* What's your evaluation of Perkins' performance?

See below.

This is one of those games where I'm more happy with the result than any of the individual perfromances. We were able to put together a string of walks, singles and just a bit of luck to mound that three-run seventh: Monroe walks, Young hit an infield single, Harris singles into right field, Punto singles to center to score Monroe, Span walks to score Young and then Gomez ground out to third to score Harris. Only two of those balls were well-hit.

Perkins wasn't at his best tonight, but he was efficient and fun to watch. He struck out three, walked one and allowed three runs. Peralta's 2-run bomb in the top of the sixth was the worst that happened, and considering the outcome...that's okay.

I think this one could have turned out differently. If Lee would have kept his composure in the seventh, or if the Twins didn't have speed on the bases (or at the dish) in a couple of instances, things could have been different. But overall I think the Twins as a team did just enough to win, and Cleveland gave us a little help.

0 recs | Comment 21 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 5:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I give

just as much credit to Lee’s implosion and the Cleveland D as I do our own offense for mounting that comeback.

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

this team

this team has a heaping spoonful of confidence right now.
at yesterdays game. Slowey gives up a 5 spot, and there is no worry. chip at that lead and BAM huge inning of our own
No go to todays game, We took the lead, the next inning the Tribe looked helpless. No fire in thier at bats, their mannerisms. I know stuff like that cant be quanitifed in a statsical breakdown, but the Twins confidence is sure coming through

by DedicatedFollowerOfFashion on Jul 6, 2008 5:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Stars/Perkins

The Star of the game goes to Span, he started the scoring and had a WPA of .246, fangraphs next best player has Punto/Guerrier/Nathan at .114/.124/.168 respectively.

Perkins was pretty good too in this game also, though not at his best. He gets the quality start with 7 IP and 3 ER. Allowed only one walk and struck out three. Fan Graphs gave him a WPA of .012. His control was good, it was a very basic Twins Start.

by CARXRiedmann on Jul 6, 2008 5:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Off topic

Who are you guys voting for (if you do) in the final vote of the all-star game?
I’ve got Longoria and Burrell (Wrights there too, but Burrell is sick this year)

by CARXRiedmann on Jul 6, 2008 5:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like Longoria...

...I haven’t looked at the NL side yet.

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Giambino!

Im voting for Giambi!!!!

joking

by DedicatedFollowerOfFashion on Jul 6, 2008 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

How on earth does Crede make the team over Longoria?

And Burrell’s hit just as well as Utley this year.

by JopeX37 on Jul 6, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Longoria wasn't on the ballot because he started in AAA

and Utley is more impressive because of the position.

by CARXRiedmann on Jul 6, 2008 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But Francona still picked Crede as a reserve over Longoria. That was what didn’t make sense to me.

I realize that Utley’s position makes him the more valuable player, but I was making the point that by the numbers, Burrel has hit as well as Utley, and anyone who hits that well earns my vote for final starter. I should have been more clear.

by JopeX37 on Jul 6, 2008 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Players chose Crede.

I agree about Pat the Bat deserving the AS nod.

by CARXRiedmann on Jul 7, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotta Love

That Everybody before the Season Says, OH Yes, The Twins will be out of Contention by The Allstar game, and only win 72 games this season, Well its not even the Allstar break, the Twins are only 1 game out of first in the AL Central and have won 50 games. Proving those Doubters wrong.

PS, i vote for Longoria and Corey Hart (Just because he is a brewer hah)

by Tony_O on Jul 6, 2008 5:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was one of those.

I was POSITIVE the Twins wouldn’t win more than 84/85 games this season. They’re on pace to win 91/92.

That’s good stuff.

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm with you

I would have been very happy with a season over .500—but I guess this is baseball.

by LonghornedTwin on Jul 6, 2008 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll jump in

and put my money where my mouth was, to mangle that old saying.

I really thought .500 was the most optimistic I would have thought. Clearly I was wrong (for what little that is worth), but I would caution unbridled enthusiasm. The Twins are still much more likely to finish with 85 wins than they are with 92.

by montanatwinsfan on Jul 7, 2008 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"the twins want span to be more aggressive early in the count"

thoughts? Personally, I think his discipline is pretty refreshing on this team. Is he too patient?

http://noblingblings.blogspot.com/

by Aaron Fix on Jul 6, 2008 7:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

NO.

He’s NOT too patient. He’s fine.

Even patient hitters NEED to take cuts early in the count sometimes to keep the pitchers honest, but that doesn’t mean patient guys need to change their philosophy. Span isn’t a guy who’ll succeed by just going up and hacking. That’s a sure-fire, fast-track ticket to bad times and a career so short you’ll miss it if you blink.

by Jesse on Jul 6, 2008 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How can one be too patient? I thought walks were a good thing..

by CARXRiedmann on Jul 6, 2008 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly.

by Jesse on Jul 7, 2008 6:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You can be too patient

In Little League, our coach referred to it as “begging for a walk”, when you just stroll up to the plate with the bat on your shoulder and don’t even consider swinging until there are two strikes and you see a perfect pitch.

Then again, there’s probably a good argument that that’s a sign of fear, not patience.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Jul 7, 2008 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Perkins was just fine

He made two mistakes all day-one to Shoppach that Span should have caught and one to Peralta that even Superman couldn’t have caught-which ended up being fewer than the guy who will start the All-Star game.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jul 7, 2008 4:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs