Tigers 11, Twins 6: Pain and Misery
by Nick Nelson on Apr 29, 2010 12:57 AM EDT
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PrintThe Twins' 11-6 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday night was a painful one to watch for a multitude of reasons. The Twins took an early 6-1 lead and appeared to be completely in control, but a Scott Baker struggled mightily and let the Tigers back into the game. The trend of terrible officiating continued with questionable strike zone judgment and an absurdly bad call that took away an out from Denard Span and helped the Twins implode.
Nothing was more painful to watch on this night, though, than Jesse Crain. Crain entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded and the game tied, and with only one out. A very tough situation to walk into, to be sure. Crain was most definitely not up to the challenge. He surrendered back-to-back-to-back doubles, looking on the mound similar to a pitching coach leisurely feeding his hitters batting practice. Five runs crossed the plate while Crain was on the hill, and by the time he got out of the inning the game was out of hand. To his credit, Crain stayed in the game and at least pitched the final two innings -- conserving the team's bullpen in a lopsided loss -- but he continued to look terrible. Seemingly every one of his outs was a well-hit line drive near the warning track.
Crain now sports a 7.20 ERA in this young season, and combined with his last four outings -- in which he's allowed six runs on seven hits over four innings -- he is giving serious cause for concern. Certainly the Twins' $2 million investment in him is not looking wise right now.
The Twins' meltdown in this game was extremely unfortunate, because it overshadowed some big positives from the early innings. Chief among these positives was Luke Hughes homering in his first major-league at-bat, becoming the first Twin in over 25 years to do so. Hughes couldn't wipe the smile off his face for several minutes after rounding the bases. It was a special moment. He is a marginal prospect whose defensive shortcomings have held him back, but he has certainly demonstrated in the minors that he can hit for a power and he wasted no time displaying that power in The Show.
Sadly, the big blasts from Hughes and Jim Thome were small bright spots in an otherwise torturous game. The Twins now enter the rubber match of this series with the Tigers facing the threat of losing a series for the first time all season. They will have to hope that the Carl Pavano who takes the mound tomorrow is the one who dominated Detroit for much of last season.
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Yikes!
I watched the game through the top of the 4th because I had plans with a friend and I turned on the tv at my friend’s house to check the score and it was 11-6 in the top of the 8th. Wow.. I am glad I didn’t end up watching the whole game… it sounds brutal.
On a happier note, congrats to Luke Hughes for his first major league home run in his first MLB at bat! That’s awesome.
Luke Hughes is adorable.
Everything else sucked.
I always loved that one.
by FoulJack on Apr 29, 2010 1:15 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I missed the rest of it too
I watched the Tigers crawl back within 6-5. F-bombs flew upon seeing them take an 11-6 lead. Our first brutal loss of the year.
Jesse Crain’s great start seems like distant history now, he’s remembered what hot garbage he is. Gardy needs to stop bringing him in during dangerous situations. Extra base hits are all that ensue.
by MarshalltheIrish on Apr 29, 2010 1:21 AM EDT reply actions
For the Record
Gardy isn’t the person that brought him into the game. He was thrown out while arguing what should have been the actual second out of the inning. Ron Mahay is creditied with the loss.
I guess
I shouldn’t have stopped watching when things got close! Crain still sucks anyway. Other than that, though, I’ve liked Gardy’s work with the bullpen this year.
by MarshalltheIrish on Apr 29, 2010 4:42 AM EDT up reply actions
May the force be with you, Luke.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. ~ Terence Mann
And a batting coach!
I mean, look at him—his hands are all wrong if he’s right-handed, and he’s looking the wrong way if he’s a lefty!
Not gonna lie
I watched Ovechkin choke like crazy rather than watching this game.
Beadlemaniacs - Award winning* college basketball blog (new and improved!)
College Hockey!
Paul Emmel
-.147 WPA on the day.
"Pinch-bunters don't have a ton of value, even with the Twins"
by Steven Ellingson on Apr 29, 2010 2:47 AM EDT reply actions
Gardy got ejected because he was arguing that Emmel has it out for Span
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
I just watched a condensed version of the game on ESPN
and that had to be the goofy-est game I’ve seen this season. When the wheels fell of Baker I thought it could’nt get any worse for the Twins and then in comes Crain. One of those games you just have to turn the page on.
The 2009 Pregame Picks Winner and Iron Man of Halos Heaven.com
The catch that wasn't
Is anyone buying this argument?:
From today’s Trib: "Speaking to a pool reporter, Emmel cited the rule book, which states, ‘In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control … and that his release … is voluntary and intentional.’
Emmel noted that Span’s throwing hand didn’t touch the ball before he dropped it, adding, ’It’s not how the ball comes into your glove, it’s how it comes out.’"
Granted, the call was easier to make after watching it in slo-mo, and in realtime it is tough to judge. But is Emmel’s excuse valid?
Span's throwing hand did touch the ball. That is clear in the relay.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
I'm still not sure whether it was a catch or not, after watching the replay.
But I don’t buy Emmel’s excuse. If he had said “I made the best call I could, conferred with the rest of the crew and we made our judgement”, I get that. I understand. But to pretend like he was even able to see Span’s hand, or that he ruled on anything other than seeing the ball on the ground, makes me think either A) he thinks fans are stupid or B) he’s incredibly full of himself and doesn’t want to appear human…which he clearly is, considering all of the questionable calls he’s made the last two days.
what does this even mean?
“It’s not how the ball comes into your glove, it’s how it comes out.”
For it to be a"catch," it doesn’t even have to come out of the glove.
Right
He held it in his glove for three steps. Then he started to transfer it while beginning a maneuver to throw it into the infield. But he had Delmon there and the wall and he just fumbled it in the exchange.
On Tuesday, the Tigers had a similar play at second where the guy had the ball in his glove for a split second and dropped it without touching it with his throwing hand—and they still got the out. A lot of times, a guy will flip it from the glove to his hand and drop it in the process. He does not have to touch it with his throwing hand for it to be a catch.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
The rule is different for batted and thrown balls.
Here’s a paragraph from a (really interesting) Nov ’04 Baseball Digest article all about what makes a legal catch:
Three things are required to make a legal catch of a batted ball. A fielder must have control of the ball, secure possession of the ball, and must make a voluntary and intentional release of the ball. In the case of catching a thrown ball, a fielder merely needs to have control. For some reason, there is a much higher standard to make a legal catch of a batted ball.
That piece is full of examples of even more unfair-sounding examples than last night’s that are all, apparently legal.
Wasn't obvious at full speed, though
I didn’t see it live, just the replay, but while it looked like it was a catch in slo-mo, it looked much more like a drop at full speed. It may or may not have been a bad call (as KLP points out below, probably not a bad call according to the rules – it looked to me like it popped out of his glove involuntarily), but even if it was a bad call, it wasn’t egregiously bad.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
At full speed, the first time I saw it, I screamed
He had it in his glove with the glove closed for two full steps, then he had to open the glove to get the ball out. that’s when he started to lose control. To me, by the rules as stated by KLP, that’s a catch.
Austin Jackson made a catch in front of him in which the ball bounced off the heel of his glove and he fell on top of it. He had less control of that ball than Span, but the second base umpire made the out call without hesitation, before he even got up to try to make a throw. It’s just really rare to rule a non catch when a guy has the ball in his glove for any length of time.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
I'll definitely agree with that
It’s just really rare to rule a non catch when a guy has the ball in his glove for any length of time.
I saw the replay knowing that there was a lot of outrage, so I expected something a bit more awful than it actually was, but calling a catch there wouldn’t have upset Tigers fans nearly as much as ruling it a drop outraged Twins fans, since that is probably ruled a catch more often than not.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
as fun as it is
as fun as it is to bash on Crain, I dont think you can lay the entire thing on him. Does Neshek get a free pass for coming in before him on throwing 1 strike, walking 1 and hitting a batter? Does Baker get a free pass for sucking after the Twins got him a 6-1 lead?
by DedicatedFollowerOfFashion on Apr 29, 2010 9:41 AM EDT reply actions
no, they all sucked.
bonus suck points for baker fo blowing a big lead.
We got effed, it's just one game
1. We got effed BIG time in this game. I don’t know what pisses me off more: Even the commentary saying how big of a blown call this was and how it could be the reason the twins lost, OR the fact this isn’t even on the front page of ESPN. If there were the Yankees or Red Sox game, this would be ALL OVER THE NEWS RIGHT NOW. But it’s not.
2. Our bullpen had been unbelievable up to this game, something like a 2.36 ERA, I know it was middle to low 2’s, which is unreal. We had one bad game, time to forget it, and win the series in the armpit of america.
Why did Gardy pull Burnett again?
Baker’s totally lost control of the game and it looks like it’s only a matter of time before the Tigers put the hurt on. Then he brings Burnett in and suddenly, the game is under control again. It’s the sixth inning. Nobody’s put a good swing on him yet, despite an infield hit. And Gardy gets all left/right conscious and brings in Mahay, which was supposed to be for one batter. Mahay got the out that wasn’t. And then Neshek came in and all heck broke loose.
I kept thinking if he stays with Burnett there, he gets out of that inning with the Twins in the lead.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
+1
"It wasn't long ago that Kubel communicated mostly by nodding and mumbling." - Souhan
by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Apr 29, 2010 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Another question should be...
Why didn’t Gardy bring in Burnett earlier? Baker had just got rocked in the 4th and had nothing left. Yet, he was still brought in to pitch in the 5th. He gives up a lead off double and that ends his night. My girlfriend who just started getting into baseball kept saying, “Baker better not come back in the game next inning. He is sucking.”
by NYCisTwinsTerritory on Apr 29, 2010 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions
The deeper we get in the rotation
…the less nervous I am.
Baker is killing me!
The beard abides.
by Jason Kubel's Beard on Apr 29, 2010 10:28 AM EDT reply actions
Questions
1. What was up with Neshek? He wasn’t even close to the zone. I thought maybe he was intentionally unintentionally walking Ordonez to load the bases and set up a double play or force at the plate (which probably isn’t a good strategy with Cabrera coming up, but it’s at least possible), but then he was nowhere close against Cabrera, either. Just totally off last night.
2. Was it me, or did Crain give up those three doubles on THREE PITCHES? Wow. Talk about efficient.
3. Why wasn’t more made of the fact that Emmet was, at the time of Span’s catch, about twenty feet from third base? Sutcliffe pointed it out once, but that was a lame, lame effort on the ump’s part. He should be forced to admit he just assumed Span couldn’t get to that ball and therefore was not in position to make a call.
4. Is Damon that much of a pull hitter? Why was Span shaded so far to right on that play, anyway? That’s a pretty easy catch if he’s playing close to straight up. And if he’s shaded that far, shouldn’t Delmon be closer to the gap to cover balls like the one Damon hit?
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