Damn Yankees! Playoffs GDT

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Here we are...the weather in NYC is good, so there will be a game tonight. The prevailing Twins fan opinion is "no chance...we never beat the Yankees. But the attached article provides some information that is a little more hopeful:

http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/on-beating-luis-severino-and-other-wild-card-notes-r6135

Severino is a great young pitcher, but he is young and has never been on the big stage before. Plus he is not as effective in Yankee Stadium as he is on the road, and not nearly as effective against lefties as he is against righties. Maybe our left-handed heavy lineup is why we knocked him out in the 4th inning just last month. We need to be patient, go deep in the count, and get the lead before they turn the game over to their awesome bullpen.

I love Sano, but he should not start against Severino. Go with the percentages and DH Grossman or Vargas...probably Grossman. Sano just can't be sharp enough after his layoff to go up against a great RHP like Severino. Leave Sano on the bench as a PH option in case they bring in a lefty in the late innings.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Duffey on the roster instead of Sano...ugh. If we need to use an 11th pitcher like Duffey, this isn't a good sign. On the other hand, I'd rather see Sano up in the 9th in a tie game against Chapman than most of our LH options. Unless Sano said he couldn't go, I don't like this decision.

[Monster]

Duffey on the roster instead of Sano...ugh. If we need to use an 11th pitcher like Duffey, this isn't a good sign. On the other hand, I'd rather see Sano up in the 9th in a tie game against Chapman than most of our LH options. Unless Sano said he couldn't go, I don't like this decision.

I read he had pain and soreness and it's not like he looked great in his ABs. Sounds like the pain was the bigger issue though.

[WildWolf2813]

I'm nervous as hell for this. If this was a 5 game set I'd be so confident in the Yankees but anything can happen in one game.

I hope we can get to the Twins' pen

[Jester1534]

I'm very sad I'm not handling this loss very well. I think Molitor manage this game like a moron. Didn't take Girardi too long to pull his starter. Why was Castro batting 8th and not 9th? 0-6 with runners on with 3 strikeouts. How about do what the Yankees did and go to Hildenberg in the third and try to Ride him for 2-3 innings what's the point of him throwing in the 8th when we're down 3. Future still bright on this team but man do we need a #1 starter they need to pony up and by one or hope to God one of these young guys turns into it. Still overall great season but 4 runs Shouldve been more than enough to win this game.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Same story. Different year. Get a pitching staff (ace through the bullpen) if you want to compete. 4 runs should win a majority of playoff games. I hate losing to the fucking Yankees in the playoffs.

[WildWolf2813]

I'm gonna have FUN tonight! Wow what a win!

Sucks Sano wasn't healthy. Had he been able to play, Yankees might not have survived the first inning. House money from here on out.

[Monster]

I'm very sad I'm not handling this loss very well. I think Molitor manage this game like a moron. Didn't take Girardi too long to pull his starter. Why was Castro batting 8th and not 9th? 0-6 with runners on with 3 strikeouts. How about do what the Yankees did and go to Hildenberg in the third and try to Ride him for 2-3 innings what's the point of him throwing in the 8th when we're down 3. Future still bright on this team but man do we need a #1 starter they need to pony up and by one or hope to God one of these young guys turns into it. Still overall great season but 4 runs Shouldve been more than enough to win this game.

The Yankees have a deeper better pen than we do. They could literally pitch a whole ball game with top notch guys out of there. And on top of that the Twins best reliever Hildenburger didn't really get the job done when he was in there. I only watched the condensed game but I'm more tipping the hat to the Yankees and also thrilled to see the Twins offense did what they needed to do jump ahead early and get some runs. It's been a crappy week it would have been nice to have something to celebrate but oh well.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Jester, I agree that Mollie was overmatched again...loved him as a player, but I really hope they replace him with a veteran who can manage a game better. The reason he had three catchers on the club was so he didn't have to use his poor hitting catchers in clutch spots...well, second and third in two different innings is a clutch spot, and Mollie let Castro strike out both times. And why couldn't he see what the ESPN woman announcer saw right away...that Santana had absolutely no bite on his slider. Honestly, he should have given up 10 runs in those first two innings, but the Yankees kept missing hanging sliders...I was cringing on about half the pitches. I love Santana, but he's a disaster on the nights where he doesn't feel his slider. And finally...down a run with first and second and nobody out against a tough reliever...don't you bunt Escobar?

The Twins were a better team than the Yankees the last half of the season (despite the obvious advantage in the bullpen), but they didn't look like it last night.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

So predictable. I almost forgot there was a game last night because a few days ago when I saw they were playing the Yankees, I just automatically assumed it to be a loss. Yup.

And of course ESPN had a "tracking Aaron Judge's first playoff game" blog thingy going. What a joke.