btw as good as Berríos has been up until the time he was yanked, it's not as if he was untouchable. Yes he had 5 SOs, but also 3 H and 1 BB and it was 100% a must-win situation for TOR. if Kikuchi does his job regardless of how the rest of the game played out I don't think the decision receives that much scrutiny. That said he would look good in a Twins uniform again.
In Berrios' defense, two of the three hits he allowed were infield singles. The Twins only had two balls hit in excess of 79mph against him - a lineout from Wallner and a single from Polanco.
I know Toronto had that move made in their gameplan ahead of time because they wanted to try to get Rocco to take Kiriloff and Wallner out of the lineup but it backfired for them because Kepler welcomed Kikuchi into the game with a single which then turned the tide back into the Twins favor with Solano in for Kiriloff drawing a walk and Correa getting the bases loaded single. I'm glad it did.
You've got this exactly backwards. Twins submitted that lineup with this exact move in mind.
btw as good as Berríos has been up until the time he was yanked, it's not as if he was untouchable. Yes he had 5 SOs, but also 3 H and 1 BB and it was 100% a must-win situation for TOR. if Kikuchi does his job regardless of how the rest of the game played out I don't think the decision receives that much scrutiny. That said he would look good in a Twins uniform again.
In Berrios' defense, two of the three hits he allowed were infield singles. The Twins only had two balls hit in excess of 79mph against him - a lineout from Wallner and a single from Polanco.
I know Toronto had that move made in their gameplan ahead of time because they wanted to try to get Rocco to take Kiriloff and Wallner out of the lineup but it backfired for them because Kepler welcomed Kikuchi into the game with a single which then turned the tide back into the Twins favor with Solano in for Kiriloff drawing a walk and Correa getting the bases loaded single. I'm glad it did.
You've got this exactly backwards. Twins submitted that lineup with this exact move in mind.
The Twins should have sent a bottle of champagne over to the Jays manager.
btw as good as Berríos has been up until the time he was yanked, it's not as if he was untouchable. Yes he had 5 SOs, but also 3 H and 1 BB and it was 100% a must-win situation for TOR. if Kikuchi does his job regardless of how the rest of the game played out I don't think the decision receives that much scrutiny. That said he would look good in a Twins uniform again.
In Berrios' defense, two of the three hits he allowed were infield singles. The Twins only had two balls hit in excess of 79mph against him - a lineout from Wallner and a single from Polanco.
I know Toronto had that move made in their gameplan ahead of time because they wanted to try to get Rocco to take Kiriloff and Wallner out of the lineup but it backfired for them because Kepler welcomed Kikuchi into the game with a single which then turned the tide back into the Twins favor with Solano in for Kiriloff drawing a walk and Correa getting the bases loaded single. I'm glad it did.
You've got this exactly backwards. Twins submitted that lineup with this exact move in mind.
The Twins submitted basically the same lineup they've used the whole second half of the season (when everyone has been healthy, which unfortunately wasn't often), being fully aware that Toronto would potentially make a move to bring in a LHP early. I reckon we'll see the same lineup today as well. Maybe see a change in game 2 when Houston starts Framber Valdez.
Julien leadoff, Kepler cleanup, Kiriloff 3 or 5 (he was 3rd a good chunk before he got hurt and then Lewis took over) and Wallner somewhere in the 7-8-9 range. That's part of the beauty of the way the front office put the position players together. Lots of guys with position flexibility that are good defensively in multiple spots and are solid offensively so putting in a guy like Solano for Kiriloff doesn't absolutely kill the middle of your lineup, and Castro for Wallner-while certainly a downgrade in the ability to hit the ball 500ft-is essentially an upgrade in every other category.
Rocco bet on his guys, Schneider bet on his guy. Rocco won.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Verlander is in a groove now. They had their chances early. They're gonna need to rough up the bullpen now because I don't think we're gonna muster much else against JV.
Verlander is in a groove now. They had their chances early. They're gonna need to rough up the bullpen now because I don't think we're gonna muster much else against JV.
Agreed. You can't really let any pitchers out of early jams in the post-season, but one like Verlander? Nope. They'll need to keep Houston at 3 runs and hope to score late.
the good news is I was unable to watch the previous two playoff games. I will be unable to watch the remaining four in this series.
I listened to this game in the car and now am settling in to watch. If me not watching is what helps us win, we should be fine. Let’s take our lumps today and get it over with.
Unlike Rube, I’m not throwing in my homer hanky til the fat lady sings!
the good news is I was unable to watch the previous two playoff games. I will be unable to watch the remaining four in this series.
I listened to this game in the car and now am settling in to watch. If me not watching is what helps us win, we should be fine. Let’s take our lumps today and get it over with.
Unlike Rube, I’m not throwing in my homer hanky til the fat lady sings!
GO TWINS!
I haven't given up, but until just recently, the Twins seemed like they did.
Went out for a cig, and boom. I smoked some runs. 😀
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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A huge loaf of bread....as in Abreu was completely loafing down to 2nd.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Correa deked the hell out of him too. Held his hand up to say don't throw then had no reaction until the ball was in his glove.
Very true. Always amazing how the little things are magnified in importance during post season play. Chuck Knoblauch being exhibit A.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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The big advantage for the top 2 seeds in this current MLB playoff format is that the top 2 seeds get to have their #1 guy go against the advancing team's #3 or 4 starter. The Twins had their chances against Verlander and failed to capitalize.
Now we need our two best pitchers to flip the script in games 2 and 3 in games they should theoretically have a leg up in (although Framber Valdez is exceptionally good and Christian Javier has some dynamite stuff but he has been "gettable" this season overall).
On the plus side, the Twins knocked one of Houston's best RPs around tonight and saw Bryan Abreu throw almost 30 pitches today too while the Twins didn't use Jax or Duran at all.
It will be interesting to see if Rocco uses the Solano 1B, Castro LF setup to start tomorrow against the lefty Valdez and brings in Kiriloff late.
Wallner and Kiriloff both looked like they were squeezing the bat a bit today and taking some uncharacteristically poor ABs.
