Different day, same result for the Twins. Another walk-off win for the douchebag Yankees; this time it’s A-Rod who homers in the eleventh inning to send the Yankees home for a 6-4 victory. The Twins battled back in the eighth inning to take a one-run lead, but if you’ve followed the Twins, you knew that was far from enough. Another pathetic effort in the Bronx; the loss drops The Brain’s regular season record there to an astounding 3-21.
You don’t get a record like that against anyone without being a terrible manager, and Ron Gardenhire again showed everyone why he is among the league’s worst in-game strategists. However, I would like to make a first here at the MTRC – I
thought Ron Gardenhire made the correct move in the eighth inning by keeping Nick Blackburn in to face Mark Teixeira, who would eventually single to tie the game. In reality, if his bullpen was fresh, Blackburn never would have even started the inning (interesting – only when you’ve overtaxed the bullpen by overmanaging the game do you actually make wise decisions). Though the move backfired on him, it was the correct call, but then Ron Gardenhire displays his idiocy by taking Blackburn out after the Teixeira hit. Talk about a dickhead move: Blackburn’s given you almost eight innings, saved your bullpen, and all you do is take him out in the middle of an inning, which ended Blackburn’s chances of getting a win, and put the game into the hands of Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez, who is an astonishing 4-6 with three home runs against Guerrier. Potentially Blackburn could have lost the game sitting in the dugout – a nice treat from Ron Gardenhire.
Well, Guerrier ended up throwing a wild pitch, advancing Teixeira to second base and putting the count at 3-1, and here again Ron Gardenhire showed his supreme stupidity. He pitched to Alex Rodriguez! Here’s Matt Guerrier, topping out at 85 miles an hour, who’s served it up three times in six at-bats to A-Rod, pitching to him with an open base! Unbelievable stupidity. It’s too bad the game didn’t end there, but had to drag on for three more innings. Gardenhire deserved to lose the game right then and there.
Four runs in Yankee Stadium is a phenomenal feat for the Twins, so it was no surprise that when they achieved that plateau, they shut down the bats for the final three innings. They had a chance in the tenth inning, however, when Ron Gardenhire again mismanaged a scoring opportunity. It’s as if Ron Gardenhire heard me give him props for leaving Blackburn in during the eighth inning and he was just making up for his lapse of stupidity. Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel both got hits off Mariano Rivera to start the 10th, bringing Michael Cuddyer to the plate in a fairly obvious bunting situation. Cuddyer’s a middle-of-the-order guy, sure, but in a lineup which features Matt Tolbert hitting second and Nick Punto hitting anywhere, that’s not a big compliment. Gardenhire doesn’t even think of bunting, and Cuddyer pops up. Brian Buscher, the next batter, flies out to center – had the runners been sacrificed, a run would have scored on the play. You’ve got to understand the situation here and acknowledge that you’re facing a Hall-of-Fame pitcher in Rivera. By not bunting Cuddyer, you’re betting that either Cuddyer or Buscher is going to get a hit against him in order to get the run home. Have you seen Cuddyer hit this year? Here’s a guy who tried to fake getting hit by a pitch that wasn’t within a foot from touching him – even Cuddyer himself knows he can’t get the job done with the bat. In that situation, you play small ball (like you’re supposedly good at) and manufacture the run. Hell, Buscher already had a sac fly and an RBI double in the game; it’s not like Nick Punto or a pitcher was on deck.
Then there’s Gardenhire leaving lefty Craig Breslow to face Alex Rodriguez. Most likely he’d say he was just “saving the bullpen,” which apparently he’d rather do than try to win a ballgame. Sure enough, A-Rod hit it into Manhattan.
Two more games left to lose here in New York, and it’s been very surprising that they haven’t gotten their ass kicked yet; that’s usually an annual tradition. Kevin Slowey gets the honors Sunday, and with his hittable stuff, expect a lot of runs for the home team.
You don’t get a record like that against anyone without being a terrible manager, and Ron Gardenhire again showed everyone why he is among the league’s worst in-game strategists. However, I would like to make a first here at the MTRC – I
thought Ron Gardenhire made the correct move in the eighth inning by keeping Nick Blackburn in to face Mark Teixeira, who would eventually single to tie the game. In reality, if his bullpen was fresh, Blackburn never would have even started the inning (interesting – only when you’ve overtaxed the bullpen by overmanaging the game do you actually make wise decisions). Though the move backfired on him, it was the correct call, but then Ron Gardenhire displays his idiocy by taking Blackburn out after the Teixeira hit. Talk about a dickhead move: Blackburn’s given you almost eight innings, saved your bullpen, and all you do is take him out in the middle of an inning, which ended Blackburn’s chances of getting a win, and put the game into the hands of Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez, who is an astonishing 4-6 with three home runs against Guerrier. Potentially Blackburn could have lost the game sitting in the dugout – a nice treat from Ron Gardenhire.Well, Guerrier ended up throwing a wild pitch, advancing Teixeira to second base and putting the count at 3-1, and here again Ron Gardenhire showed his supreme stupidity. He pitched to Alex Rodriguez! Here’s Matt Guerrier, topping out at 85 miles an hour, who’s served it up three times in six at-bats to A-Rod, pitching to him with an open base! Unbelievable stupidity. It’s too bad the game didn’t end there, but had to drag on for three more innings. Gardenhire deserved to lose the game right then and there.
Four runs in Yankee Stadium is a phenomenal feat for the Twins, so it was no surprise that when they achieved that plateau, they shut down the bats for the final three innings. They had a chance in the tenth inning, however, when Ron Gardenhire again mismanaged a scoring opportunity. It’s as if Ron Gardenhire heard me give him props for leaving Blackburn in during the eighth inning and he was just making up for his lapse of stupidity. Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel both got hits off Mariano Rivera to start the 10th, bringing Michael Cuddyer to the plate in a fairly obvious bunting situation. Cuddyer’s a middle-of-the-order guy, sure, but in a lineup which features Matt Tolbert hitting second and Nick Punto hitting anywhere, that’s not a big compliment. Gardenhire doesn’t even think of bunting, and Cuddyer pops up. Brian Buscher, the next batter, flies out to center – had the runners been sacrificed, a run would have scored on the play. You’ve got to understand the situation here and acknowledge that you’re facing a Hall-of-Fame pitcher in Rivera. By not bunting Cuddyer, you’re betting that either Cuddyer or Buscher is going to get a hit against him in order to get the run home. Have you seen Cuddyer hit this year? Here’s a guy who tried to fake getting hit by a pitch that wasn’t within a foot from touching him – even Cuddyer himself knows he can’t get the job done with the bat. In that situation, you play small ball (like you’re supposedly good at) and manufacture the run. Hell, Buscher already had a sac fly and an RBI double in the game; it’s not like Nick Punto or a pitcher was on deck.
Then there’s Gardenhire leaving lefty Craig Breslow to face Alex Rodriguez. Most likely he’d say he was just “saving the bullpen,” which apparently he’d rather do than try to win a ballgame. Sure enough, A-Rod hit it into Manhattan.
Two more games left to lose here in New York, and it’s been very surprising that they haven’t gotten their ass kicked yet; that’s usually an annual tradition. Kevin Slowey gets the honors Sunday, and with his hittable stuff, expect a lot of runs for the home team.
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