Matt Guerrier!

I was shaking in my boots. As the game got into the late innings, I
decided it was a pretty important game to win, and I was thinking that
Gardy was demonstrating an awful lot of faith in Guerrier. He did a
nice job. Every win in this road trip is huge. Huge.

You probably all noticed that Joe Mauer was walked last night twice,
to get to Justin Morneau. Both times it paid off and ended a threat.
Do the Angels know something about Morneau? If so, what is it?

brianj

brianj wrote:
> Matt Guerrier!
>
> I was shaking in my boots. As the game got into the late innings, I
> decided it was a pretty important game to win, and I was thinking that
> Gardy was demonstrating an awful lot of faith in Guerrier. He did a
> nice job. Every win in this road trip is huge. Huge.

IMO it was the wrong choice. Too much risk... all these games are
important, and a tie game late is oh-so-winnable -- no time to be
experimenting with the bullpen. Guerrier had no business pitching the 9th,
let alone the 10th.

But like hitting on 17, sometimes you get lucky. And look like a genius by
getting 21. Gardy hit 21 last night and as a result, the team not only won
an important game (since they're ALL important), but they finally won a
close one on the road, instilled some confidence back into Guerrier, only
burned out one arm in a 12-inning game -- frankly, the one guy who should
only be pitching in low-leverage situations until further notice -- didn't
have to pitch Reyes or Breslow, and Crain and Nathan should both be
available tonight. Pretty nice, huh?

>
> You probably all noticed that Joe Mauer was walked last night twice,
> to get to Justin Morneau. Both times it paid off and ended a threat.
> Do the Angels know something about Morneau? If so, what is it?

It's less about Morneau and more about Mauer -- Mauer's been on fire
recently. Morneau has been mortal (his August numbers aren't good but he's
been heating up). The first IBB was mainly about loading the bases for the
DP anyway (which worked). The second one was "we think Mauer has a better
shot of beating us here" -- and that turned out great for them too.

It's telling that in the 12th they did *not* walk Mauer -- if they truly
thought there was something "wrong" with Morneau, they would've done so. I
think they realized poking a bear three times in a game was probably not
wise.

Finally -- notice that in the last 2 weeks the Twins have snapped two 20+
game hit streaks? Ichiro lost his last week at the Dome... Twins ended
Garrett Anderson's 23-game streak last night.

brink

On Aug 22, 9:30 am, brianj <firstp...@turtlecreek.net> wrote:
> Matt Guerrier!
>
> I was shaking in my boots.  As the game got into the late innings, I
> decided it was a pretty important game to win, and I was thinking that
> Gardy was demonstrating an awful lot of faith in Guerrier.  He did a
> nice job.  Every win in this road trip is huge.  Huge.
>
> You probably all noticed that Joe Mauer was walked last night twice,
> to get to Justin Morneau.  Both times it paid off and ended a threat.
> Do the Angels know something about Morneau?  If so, what is it?


That was a great game. I admit that I was figuring the Twins would
lose a heartbreaker. Instead, thanks to Torii Hunter, the Angels lost
a heartbreaker.

As to walking Morneau twice, the first time it made some kind of weird
sense. Lackey's splits are:

vs. left 0.83 WHIP .190 BAA
vs. right 1.48 WHIP .293 BAA

which is why the Twins didn't start Buscher or Lamb at 3B. Morneau
grounded into a double play to end the innings.

But the 2nd intentional walk? There were 2 outs so it didn't make
sense. Plus Scot Shields was pitching, not Lackey.

One thing I noticed is that the Angels, like the Twins, are described
as a team "that does the little things right". Well, last night their
best base stealer got nailed, Garret Anderson struck out by looking at
three straight strikes, they failed to get down a bunt, they dropped a
fly ball at the warning track, etc.

In Wed. night's game vs. the Rays, they failed to catch a pop foul and
Rivera and Hunter let a ball drop between them in the outfield. They
won that game in extra innings, helped by a blown call by an umpire,
but that's two games in a row where I've seen the Angels playing like
crap.

> On Aug 22, 10:37 am, "brink" <brinknos...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> brianj wrote:

> IMO it was the wrong choice.  Too much risk...  all these games are
> important, and a tie game late is oh-so-winnable -- no time to be
> experimenting with the bullpen.  Guerrier had no business pitching the 9th,
> let alone the 10th.

So did you want Nathan? Or who?

Scoscia went with K-Rod early and it kept them in the game, but Gardy
ended up looking like a genius. It was an interesting managerial
battle.

And what's up with K-Rod? The guy isn't overpowering. I don't see what
makes him so great. Unless it's his funky delivery and whirling and
gurning around on the mound that distracts hitters.


> but they finally won a
> close one on the road, instilled some confidence back into Guerrier, only
> burned out one arm in a 12-inning game -- frankly, the one guy who should
> only be pitching in low-leverage situations until further notice -- didn't
> have to pitch Reyes or Breslow, and Crain and Nathan should both be
> available tonight.  Pretty nice, huh?

Yep, looking good.

> Finally -- notice that in the last 2 weeks the Twins have snapped two 20+
> game hit streaks?  Ichiro lost his last week at the Dome...  Twins ended
> Garrett Anderson's 23-game streak last night.

Actually, Anderson's streak was broken on Wednesday night but the
scorer gave him a hit on a play that was actually an error. (Scorer
reversed his original call) I couldn't believe it when Anderson struck
out looking at three straight pitches last night.

On Aug 22, 11:37 am, "brink" <brinknos...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> brianj wrote:
> > Matt Guerrier!
>
> > I was shaking in my boots.  As the game got into the late innings, I
> > decided it was a pretty important game to win, and I was thinking that
> > Gardy was demonstrating an awful lot of faith in Guerrier.  He did a
> > nice job.  Every win in this road trip is huge.  Huge.
>
> IMO it was the wrong choice.  Too much risk...  all these games are
> important, and a tie game late is oh-so-winnable -- no time to be
> experimenting with the bullpen.  Guerrier had no business pitching the 9th,
> let alone the 10th.

So whom would you have pitched? Crain? Nathan? Oh, you thinking
Boof? ; )

I agree it was very risky, but I have more confidence in Crain for one
inning than for two, though I was sure that is who would get the call.

> But like hitting on 17, sometimes you get lucky.  And look like a genius by
> getting 21.  Gardy hit 21 last night and as a result, the team not onlywon
> an important game (since they're ALL important), but they finally won a
> close one on the road, instilled some confidence back into Guerrier, only
> burned out one arm in a 12-inning game -- frankly, the one guy who should
> only be pitching in low-leverage situations until further notice -- didn't
> have to pitch Reyes or Breslow, and Crain and Nathan should both be
> available tonight.  Pretty nice, huh?
>
It really could not have gone much better. I even have a little hope
that they are not done beating the Angels. Much may depend on the
bullpen, and that all went as well as could be expected last night.
They should all be in OK shape.

brianj

powrwrap wrote:
>> On Aug 22, 10:37 am, "brink" <brinknos...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> brianj wrote:
>
>> IMO it was the wrong choice. Too much risk... all these games are
>> important, and a tie game late is oh-so-winnable -- no time to be
>> experimenting with the bullpen. Guerrier had no business pitching
>> the 9th, let alone the 10th.
>
> So did you want Nathan? Or who?

Nathan, absolutely. He's the least likely to yield a run -- get him out
there, hopefully get the Twins another AB... maybe get lucky keep his pitch
count down, the Twins score a run and he's able to close it out. I would've
gone roughly Nathan - Crain - Breslow - Reyes - Boof - Guerrier, with some
adjustments for platoon matchups or whatever.

Guerrier would be the last guy I'd put in. If I'm Gardenhire, I'm going
all-out to win a game like that. That means putting in your best reliever
because the game is suddenly all about being "perfect" on the defensive side
of the ball where "perfect" is defined as "not yielding any runs." A tie
game ends in the 9th inning or later as soon as a home player touches home
plate safely, so why put in the one guy who has allowed at least 1 run in 6
of his 8 August appearances?

Don't get me wrong, I have been behind Guerrier for years now and the Twins
need him to come around. But throwing him on the mound in that situation
last night was the wrong thing to do, IMO, given the information I have. I
confess that I'm not the manager and they have access to more information
that I do -- maybe they were aware of some problem he'd been battling this
month that is now corrected.

No matter what, as I said, hard to imagine it turning out any better.

>
> Scoscia went with K-Rod early and it kept them in the game, but Gardy
> ended up looking like a genius. It was an interesting managerial
> battle.

Scioscia played exactly right, IMO... he went roughly best to worst in his
available arms. I think Arredondo wasn't available as he went 1.2 IP in
their game the previous night at TB (which explains the absence of their
*best* reliever).

> And what's up with K-Rod? The guy isn't overpowering. I don't see what
> makes him so great. Unless it's his funky delivery and whirling and
> gurning around on the mound that distracts hitters.
>

He's effectively wild and has great numbers... but I think they'll likely
let him walk instead of overpaying for a position of strength for the team.
They have relievers coming out their orifices.

>> but they finally won a
>> close one on the road, instilled some confidence back into Guerrier,
>> only burned out one arm in a 12-inning game -- frankly, the one guy
>> who should only be pitching in low-leverage situations until further
>> notice -- didn't have to pitch Reyes or Breslow, and Crain and
>> Nathan should both be available tonight. Pretty nice, huh?
>
> Yep, looking good.
>
>> Finally -- notice that in the last 2 weeks the Twins have snapped
>> two 20+ game hit streaks? Ichiro lost his last week at the Dome...
>> Twins ended Garrett Anderson's 23-game streak last night.
>
> Actually, Anderson's streak was broken on Wednesday night but the
> scorer gave him a hit on a play that was actually an error. (Scorer
> reversed his original call) I couldn't believe it when Anderson struck
> out looking at three straight pitches last night.

The SoCal broadcasters sure didn't think so... they were repping his
23-game streak in every AB.

brink

On Aug 22, 9:30 am, brianj <firstp...@turtlecreek.net> wrote:
>
> You probably all noticed that Joe Mauer was walked last night twice,
> to get to Justin Morneau.  Both times it paid off and ended a threat.
> Do the Angels know something about Morneau?  If so, what is it?

Good question. He's been cold lately, and has been awful in this
series, but that hardly explains it. I guess it was a simple question
of them fearing both hitters and figuring it was worth getting the
double play in order.

When Morneau starts hitting again, it'll be fun.

Matt

"Matt" <AcesWired@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b483f750-eaa6-466a-be22-26b87d6bcda4@59g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 22, 9:30 am, brianj <firstp...@turtlecreek.net> wrote:
>
> You probably all noticed that Joe Mauer was walked last night twice,
> to get to Justin Morneau. Both times it paid off and ended a threat.
> Do the Angels know something about Morneau? If so, what is it?

Good question. He's been cold lately, and has been awful in this
series, but that hardly explains it. I guess it was a simple question
of them fearing both hitters and figuring it was worth getting the
double play in order.

When Morneau starts hitting again, it'll be fun.

Matt

and when you guys start recognizing PUNTO it'll REALLY be fun. lol

AnnE

On Aug 23, 1:58 pm, "AnnE" <A...@spam.proof.com> wrote:
>
> and when you guys start recognizing PUNTO it'll REALLY be fun.  lol

I'll take Punto over Everett, that's for sure. Does that help?

Matt

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008, Matt wrote:

> On Aug 23, 1:58 pm, "AnnE" <A...@spam.proof.com> wrote:
>>
>> and when you guys start recognizing PUNTO it'll REALLY be fun.  lol
>
> I'll take Punto over Everett, that's for sure. Does that help?

He came out of the All Star Break just brutal, but in August has
turned it around and is really contributing. Maybe he'll never be
steady on offense, but overall this season is looking like a valuable
one.

--
John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/ tilde ashbury
Thought for the moment:
Individualists of the world unite!

"Matt" <AcesWired@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:7038f6a3-6c12-42b2-aaae-d97955c23581@26g2000hsk.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 23, 1:58 pm, "AnnE" <A...@spam.proof.com> wrote:
>
> and when you guys start recognizing PUNTO it'll REALLY be fun. lol

I'll take Punto over Everett, that's for sure. Does that help?

Matt

Ah, Matt...thanks for the laff this morning. That's like comparing
apples to oranges! lol

I hear ya! AnnE

"John Gregory" <ashbury@skypoint.com> wrote in message
news:20080823225747.J24790@mirage.skypoint.com...
> On Sat, 23 Aug 2008, Matt wrote:
>
>> On Aug 23, 1:58 pm, "AnnE" <A...@spam.proof.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> and when you guys start recognizing PUNTO it'll REALLY be fun. lol
>>
>> I'll take Punto over Everett, that's for sure. Does that help?
>
> He came out of the All Star Break just brutal, but in August has
> turned it around and is really contributing. Maybe he'll never be
> steady on offense, but overall this season is looking like a valuable
> one.
>
> --
> John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/
> tilde ashbury
> Thought for the moment:
> Individualists of the world unite!

Well, Punto's heart is in the right place. He's playing like he's got a
score to settle tho. That's good for the most part but he needs to
start having FUN out there.

Maybe if we were 10 games ahead, eh?

AnnE Go TWINS