Rangers 4, Twins 1: Cole Hamels’d Minnesota

I originally thought that the Twins would be starting Dillon Gee in this game in place of Jaime Garcia, who the Twins traded away to the Yankees. I was wrong. Instead, the Twins started Kyle Gibson, and it went about as well as you would expect.

That is to say, Gibson gave up two runs in the top of the first inning on a home run by Nomar Mazara. Gibson gave up another run in the second. And, okay, sure—maybe Gibson doesn’t deserve as much flack as I’m giving him here, because he did end up making it 5.1 innings, but that was just not an encouraging start to the game, and the Twins never came back from it.

Meanwhile, on the Rangers side, starter Cole Hamels pulled a frickin’ Bartolo Colon, pitching a complete game win for the Rangers.

The good news for the Twins is that... um... Eduardo Escobar is cute as heck? He made two great defensive plays and was laughing a lot, as always. Otherwise, it was pretty bad for the Twins. Taylor Rogers continued to struggle in the pen, the Twins batters only got four hits total, they lost the game, badda bing, badda boom...

Happy birthday, Bobby Kielty.

STUDS

• Ryan Pressly: pitched 2.0 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts.
• Jorge Polanco: 1-for-3 with a double—the only Twins’ extra-base hit in the game. Also made some good defensive plays.
• Brian Dozier: 1-for-3 with a walk—the only Twins walk in the game (Joe Mauer did not play).

duds

• Kyle Gibson: 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks over 5.1 innings.
• Robbie Grossman: 0-for-4

ROLL CALL!

# Recs	Commenter	Comment Link
5	Coach Farmer	[no title]
4	kenzertz	Today is Bobby Kielty's 41st birthday.
4	TeamCrazyMatt	[no title]
4	James Fillmore	Bullpen time
3	Daniel Carlson	Gibson getting tagged early
3	TeamCrazyMatt	In case anyone wants a Strat-O-Matic update,
3	kenzertz	Lew Ford will turn 41 next Saturday.
3	James Fillmore	There's so many verses to that song Cohen would mix in and out based on his mood
3	Can't Read Good	BUT THE TWINS, THEY SCORED NO MO-ORE.
3	TeamCrazyMatt	Only when
3	James Fillmore	Flagged for reminding me I'm old
3	kenzertz	Sometimes when the wind blows, you can hear fans yelling his name.
3	TeamCrazyMatt	All products 44% off!
3	TJ Gorsegner	I read that four times trying to make sense of it...
2	TeamCrazyMatt	Let's not suck next game
2	James Fillmore	Minus Sano this is not an intimidating lineup against LHP
2	TJ Gorsegner	Its probably better for him to get the chance to play everyday
2	less cowbell, more 'neau	Innovative
2	montanatwinsfan	Rally Northwoods Twins!
2	TeamCrazyMatt	That was a legit TOOTBLAN
2	James Fillmore	I'm too handsome for radio and too ugly for TV
2	TeamCrazyMatt	A white flag
2	TJ Gorsegner	GO GIBBY GO!!!
2	TeamCrazyMatt	Playing Strat-O-Matic with my dad during the game.
2	James Fillmore	Now here's a super-cool thing!
2	James Fillmore	I discount it on aesthetic grounds
1	James Fillmore	I know me my Old Folks music
1	James Fillmore	Cantillates rec
1	Lestermilk	What do you expect?
1	James Fillmore	I do that sometimes
1	less cowbell, more 'neau	I traded Bartlett for Cole Hamels in MLB: The Show 2006 (or 2007?)
1	less cowbell, more 'neau	He lives just to stick it to the Twins every time he plays against us
1	James Fillmore	Official member of the Twins Did Me Wrong resentment club
1	James Fillmore	I doubt anyone here is posting from the happening club party
1	James Fillmore	Colon Game, Cole Game
1	James Fillmore	Oh wait there was a hit oops
1	TeamCrazyMatt	Flagged for reminding me I'm single
1	Can't Read Good	Well, apparently he worked on the song obsessively.
1	James Fillmore	Two hits so far
1	Pau from the sky-tinted water	Yep. It's a Gibson start
1	James Fillmore	Molitor loves the L/R/L/R thing
1	gintzer	Robbie is top ten in the league in OBP.
1	kenzertz	Ichiro would be a better 4th OF because he hits LHP pretty well.
1	TJ Gorsegner	I'd sign that
1	TJ Gorsegner	That is a really great question actually....
1	Coach Farmer	Huh, yeah this is an interesting lineup
1	Pau from the sky-tinted water	Modern day: Dad went out to get a charge for his E- ciagrette, and we never saw him again.
1	Pau from the sky-tinted water	How long does the delay project to be>?
1	kenzertz	His last Major League plate appearance was in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series.
1	Daniel Carlson	Was just gonna say that
1	James Fillmore	At least when they throw their carrots at you, they'll miss
1	Can't Read Good	Byron Buxton got a hi-it
1	James Fillmore	Interesting sports game news on Canis Hoopus
1	Coach Farmer	He pointed to the sky and it pleased the lord
1	James Fillmore	Great minds...
1	blackmankitteh	this lineup is disgusting
1	kenzertz	Long Island Ducks
1	TeamCrazyMatt	Yep, Polanco's a shortstop
1	kenzertz	Huh.
1	TJ Gorsegner	Is it weird that I think madden was a better game in like 2003 than it is now?