68 thoughts on “Game 2009.110: Twins at Tigers”

  1. Mauer getting signed by the Yankees after next season would be terrible for baseball, yet amazing for the Tigers.

  2. Attaboy Washburn. Getting that 1st inning out of the way unscathed is huge.

    It would be very nice to get a win here so we can go to Boston on a high note. We might actually have a chance to win a few games there. Boston has lost 5 games in a row, so things probably couldn’t be much worse for them.

  3. Ahhhh, leadoff double and stranded. Hopefully not a portend of things to come.

  5. Yup….0-1….Probably going to end that way….I have a bad feeling about this team’s offense today after last night. How can they get owned by Pavano three times in a season, yet most other teams tee off on the guy???

  6. Glad Avila is sitting on the bench.

    With Laird and Santiago anchoring the bottom of our batting order, we’re guaranteed to get shut-out again today.

      1. just like Smokey’s platoon set up of Maggs against the lefty and Thomas against the righty…that lasted 2 games

  8. The league doesn’t know Avila yet, so he’s at the advantage. He’ll keep getting pitches to hit for a little while yet, but the true test will be how he’s doing at the end of the month and beyond. Me — I’ll take Laird throwing out 40% till something better comes along.

  9. Such a lack of patience, and what weak swings….this is incredibly frustrating….

  12. my god Washburn WTF

    lets see we get Washburn and the Twinkies add Pavano …..somehow this doesn’t seem right

  16. funny by putting together these 4 runs the Tigs accomplished something that has stymied them for 2 years. Scoring that runner from third
    1. with a sac fly( Inge usually delivers that run)
    2. a great situational ground ball by Santiago when the team is giving you that run
    3. A timely hit by Laird
    maybe today is Christmas!

  17. getting Span, Mauer, and Morneau to make the 3 outs in one inning might not have happened this year before this one for Tiger Pitchers

    1. thx for the link, it’s fun to watch a game now and then as I live in MPLS and usually follow on MLB audio

  19. Wow. Cabrera is having a huge week. That is some sick power he has. 10 RBI’s for him this month so far. If he keeps this up, he’ll be back on the leader board. Can’t believe people here were dumping on him last week.

  21. here is another Tiger rarity:::: making a team take a pitcher out because he is getting bombed after that team put up a 3-0 lead

  22. A dink double and broken bat single and it is a tie game. Lets get another big inning and put this one away.

  23. Hopefully Cuddyer won’t be much of a threat for a while after Miggy sat on his legs.

  26. Did they defensive sub for Marcus in the 5th or something? Man, give the guy a break. We could really use the ole quadruple base hits right now.

  27. as awesome as Lyon has been doing wonder why with the game on the line Smokey didn’t bring him in with 2 outs in the 7th and went with the kid instead…tie game

    1. Or if they are going to use the kid, why not another inning in case this one goes extra, use Lyon in 9-10

  28. Interesting maneuver to intentionally walk Granderson to get to Polanco. This is the situation where I trust Polly to get the run in.

  29. Laird is reminding me of a right-handed Avila…

    Looks like they are going to count on Two-Pitch Polly to GIDP

  30. I was going to say after the called strike 2nd pitch that that would have been a great pitch to take to right…then they come back and give him another one. Thank you very much! (they probably could have sent Granderson home on that, but he scored anyway so no matter).

  38. only one run, one bomb off Rodney counts as a 1-2-3 inning. for RollerCoaster….never a doubt

    HUUUUUUGGGGEEEE win

    Go Indians

    1. I like the Fernando “No Doubt” Rodney nickname possiblity. (although, are nicknames supposed to have a little truth to them?)

  39. OK, web-gemmy kinda play there Brandon, but, um, maybe skip the hip-bumping thing next time? especially with Cabrera? in case he bounces you a bit and you land funny and your knee goes ‘twang?’

  44. If Rodney gives you a headache, try watching What Could Have Been Kerry Wood trying to “close” games for Cleveland. Yikes. At least a rollercoaster has the “up” part; I’m not sure what you call a ride that’s all downhill…

    1. But hey, today he pulled through, which is what matters. Sox lose! Sox lose!
      And now that very rare event: I’ll be rooting for the Yankees tonight. A tailspin with momentum is just the thing for the Red Sox right now…(and seriously, Youkilis, in left field??)

      1. I’ll be rooting for the Yankees too. I’m glad that Boston is playing rather meager these days. I can’t stand their organization and fans. If they lose again today, they’ll be tied with the Rangers in the race for the wild card.

        My top 5 hated teams-
        Red Sox
        White Sox
        Indians
        Yankees
        Mets

        1. For me the Yankees actually moved up a notch or two on my list this season because I’m so @#!! sick of all the “coming up on Sportscenter: the first Infield Fly Rule call in the New Yankee Stadium” kind of nonsense. I mean sure that 15-inning walkoff vs the Red Sox was a classic game, but do we really need the “this will surely forever hold a top spot in New Yankee Stadium lore” angle (this was actually said). Maybe my memory is bad but I can’t remember too many Sportscenter updates on Granderson Hits 1st Triple in New Comerica Park stuff.

          And I find it hard to really hate Cleveland. Dislike, sure. But they’re too much like us to hate. (Plus I grew up listening to stories about how Herb Score “threw so hard that…” from a Cleveland-fan grandfather)

          I guess the Blue Jays would make my list; leftover mid-80s feelings I guess.

          1. because I have great respect for the Twins and their fans. I think they are a model small market team with a great history. I’m a Joe Mauer fan too. He’s one of the best pure athletes of our generation and I hear he’s a real down to earth guy too. If he ever moves away from being a catcher I think he could make a good run at hitting .400.

            If you don’t know much about Mauer, here’s a decent article about him-
            http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=4331383
            Here’s his Wiki page-
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mauer

          2. I have to agree with Mr. X. The Twins continuously contend with a tiny payroll and seem to have good guys on their team. It’s hard to hate them except for that ugly stadium and they’re getting a new one next year.

          3. There’s nothing wrong with respecting and hating a team at the same time. And indeed, I’m sure we can all agree that we hate the ‘dome.

  45. I definitely don’t agree with Gardenhire’s decision to walk Granderson to get to Polanco in that situation. Granderson is a definite strikeout candidate while Polanco can always be counted upon to get the bat on the ball. Granted, Gardenhire was probably hoping for a GIDP, but Polanco has great bat control. Turned out to be a huge mistake as Granderson came around to score.

  46. How lucky we are to have Rodney over Kerry Wood or J.J. Putz…got to hand it to the crooked hat, I keep waiting for the breakdown and it never comes.

    Of the 19 closers with 24 SVO or more, no one has been perfect and Rodney is tied with Mariano Rivera, Heath Bell, Huston Street, and Francisco Codero with only one save blown.

    Nathan/Papelbon have blown 3, Jenks 4, F-Rod 5. I never would have guessed after last season that crooked hat would be this good. Glad to be wrong.

    1. I’ve always been a Rodney fan. He seems like such a fun and cool guy in his interviews, but when he’s out on the mound he is all business. I hope he’s back with the team next year, along with Lyon.

  47. yep, it hasn’t been always pretty, but Rodney has done the job. Lyon has also been outstanding. He’s 1000x better than Zumaya.

  48. Pretty amazing that we gave up 26 runs in this series and still managed to win two games.

    I am scared of the Red Sox, though!

    1. I don’t think the Twins have recovered from their Magical Misery Tour out west, especially losing 2 of 3 to Oakland and giving up 32 runs in the process, including a 16-1 blowout and a 14-13 loss that they led 10-0 at one point. And this is OAKLAND, a team with only 3 guys in double-digits in home runs–one of whom currently plays for the Cardinals, another whom they just cut.

  49. Food for thought:

    Remember how this Tigers team couldn’t score more than 3 runs in a game? Well, this weekend the Twins scored 26 runs (8-11-7) and still lost the series.

  50. Rets keep up some of this scoring in Fenway…Get to Boston while they are down…in fact 2-2 would be a great series given the Tigers road woe’s. 3-1 would be Christmas II

  51. Chicago has a stretch coming up of 15 games on nothing except Yankees-Boston-Twins and 1 Cub game

  52. Rodney did learn how to pitch the ninth from Todd Jones, who usually made it exciting anyway.

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