Game report-Cardinals vs. Twins

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I know baseball has a limited audience on this board, but today's game was special and deserves a write up.

Wonderful Spirit Airlines canceled my flight to Boston, so I found myself with a free afternoon. It's a perfect day here in Minnesota, so I biked downtown and bought a cheap seat on the street to take in the game. The stands were awash in red, as an army of Cardinal fans had decided to escape the sweltering summer sizzle of St. Louis, and head north to experience what a real summer day feels like. And the game was as spectacular as the day, with Jaime Garcia and the reborn Mike Pelfrey matching each other in putting up zeros on the scoreboard through 6 innings. In fact, Pelfrey was so dominant that the Cardinals didn't have a hard hit ball until Justin Heyward came up in the 7th. When he fell behind Heyward 3-1, I thought to myself "don't give in and give him a strike". But Big Pelf grooved one, and Heyward deposited it deep in the right center field seats for the first run of the game as the Cardinal fans erupted.

The Twins then had their chances in the 7th as the managerial wheels turned. Torii coaxed a lead off walk, and then Rosario hit a rocket that the usual fielding butcher Mark Reynolds snagged on one hop diving to his right. Both players dived to the bag at the same time, and the umpire signaled out, but Molly wasn't so sure and asked for a review. Two angles were shown to the crowd on the big board...one made it look like Reynolds got there first and the Cardinal fans roared their approval, but the other one clearly showed Rosario stretching his hand to the bag just ahead of Reynolds' and the Twins fans roared louder. The umpires agreed, and now the Twins had runners at first and second with nobody out. Molly correctly ordered the bunt, and Nunez moved them up to second and third. But Mike Matheny also made the right call and walked Suzuki to load the bases with one out for Kennys Vargas. This is where I disagreed with Molitor. He had on his bench Shane Robinson, who generally makes contact and is tough to double up. Instead he let Vargas hit, and predictably he grounded into an inning ending DP.

Things looked bleak in the 8th, as the first two Twins struck out and the struggling Joe Mauer came to the plate to face the flame-throwing lefty Kevin Siegrist...with the unhittable closer Trevor Rosenthal lurking in the bullpen ready to shut us down in the 9th. But Mauer surprised everyone by taking a Siegrist pitch the other way for a game-tying home run. And on to the 9th.

Blaine Boyer has been terrific all year, but he left a pitch up that Carpenter hit off the right canter field wall for a lead off double. Peralta did his job by moving the runner to third with a grounder to second, and all the Cardinals needed was a sacrifice fly to take the lead. But just like Molly had the wrong guy up in the 7th when Vargas hit into the DP, Metheny had Mark Reynolds as his next hitter, and Reynolds strikes out as frequently as anyone in the game. Metheny should have pinch hit a contact hitter, but instead let Reynolds hit...and he complied with a predictable strike out. Molina still had a chance to drive in the go-ahead run, but he flew out weakly to Hunter.

Now, the Twins had a chance to win it in walk-off fashion, but they were going to have to accomplish it off of Carlos Villanueva...he of the sub-1 ERA. Villanueva is a junker, and the Twins seem to struggle with junkers. Nunez and Suzuki proved it with routine ground outs, and with two outs the goat of the 7th inning, Kennys Vargas, lumbered to the plate. Vargas more than any one on the team hits very poorly against junk-ball pitchers, so Twjns fans can be pardoned for not feeling very optimistic. But Vargas redeemed himself by hitting a ball to right that took about 3 seconds to leave the park...a walk-off home run for Vargas! He may be struggling this year, but very few hit the ball harder than he does when he makes contact.

All in all, a terrific day at Target Field, with a lot of drama and decisions packed into a brisk 2 hour and 38 minute game...a pace that was unheard of with Pelf on the mound before this year. Hats off to Vargas for the game winner, but perhaps if Molly had pinch hit for him with the bases loaded and one out in the 8th, we would have won the game without ever getting to the bottom of the 9th. Who knows? But today's game reminded me why I love baseball.

Pardon this brief distraction. We can now go back to debating the relative merits of Towns and Okafor.

[Crazysauce]

It was a sweet game for sure. Pelfrey looks like a totally different pitcher out there. On the one negative for today besides not being able to hit, Buxton really looks like he is in over his head. Its still early but his at bats just dont look very promising. These guys really do seem to enjoy being together though. Hunter seems to have brought a fire back to the Twins. Really enjoy watching them. Really want to know why they have Arcia down in the minors. The guy was hitting the balll better than Vargas or Robinson or any of our other options. Really hope we dont see another Ortiz in Arcia and we deal him before letting him play.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yeah, Buxton is really having a hard time at the plate. I'm not worried though. He's seeing some hellacious pitching...tough way to break in. I think he's here to stay. I saw him live today for the first time, and was really impressed with how he moves in the outfield. He gets a great jump and glides effortlessly to the ball. I think he's really going to be something special.

I had big hopes for Arcia, but he's crapping the bed down in Rochester. He's only hitting .190 with 17 K's in 65 AB's. He's better off staying down there until he figures it out. I'd be more inclined to bring another one of the AA sluggers (Sano, Walker or Kepler) rather than giving Arcia another chance right now.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Nice recap LST.

I am a casual follower of the Twins (unlike the Wolves) and find these rare gems on the Twins by you guys very informative. Good stuff.

[Monster]

It was a sweet game for sure. Pelfrey looks like a totally different pitcher out there. On the one negative for today besides not being able to hit, Buxton really looks like he is in over his head. Its still early but his at bats just dont look very promising. These guys really do seem to enjoy being together though. Hunter seems to have brought a fire back to the Twins. Really enjoy watching them. Really want to know why they have Arcia down in the minors. The guy was hitting the balll better than Vargas or Robinson or any of our other options. Really hope we dont see another Ortiz in Arcia and we deal him before letting him play.

I think Arcia is still down because he is hitting like under .200 at AAA and that number has gotten higher the past week or so. Like I was texting. My brother the other day the Twins have a bunch of bats and outfielders and not enough spots to play them all. Some of it will sort itself out but you wonder if all the young guys will get a chance out there to really get a shot to show what the got. It's sort of a good problem to have but it's tough especially since a few of them are so bad defensively that they are basically DH material.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

And there's still Kepler and Brett Walker to think about.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

And there's still Kepler and Brett Walker to think about.

Kepler and Walker have been absurdly hot this month. A lot of our prospects still strike out too much, but not Kepler. He has more extra base hits this season than strike outs...unbelievable for someone his age.