[faithful2thecall]

October 17, 2018

NLDS Game:
St. Louis 6 at Miami 2 (St. Louis wins the series 3-1)

• Series MVP: Michael Wacha (St. Louis) 2-0. 14 IP, 1.29 ERA, 10 K


ALDS Games:
Los Angeles Angels 7 at Toronto 9 (Toronto leads the series 2-1)


Cleveland
Jose Ramirez (SS)
Kyle Seager (3B)
Yan Gomes (C)
Carlos Santana (1B)
Tyler Naquin (CF)
Jesus Aguilar (DH)
Ben Zobrist (LF)
Jason Kipnis (2B)
Greg Allen (RF)
Kyle Crockett (SP)

Minnesota
Byron Buxton (CF)
Danny Santana (SS)
Joe Mauer (1B)
Kennys Vargas (DH)
Travis Harrison (3B)
Aaron Hicks (LF)
Hank Conger (C)
Jon Garcia (RF)
Tommy La Stella (2B)
Lewis Thorpe (SP)


Clinching could be on the cards as the series shifts to Progressive Field. It has the potential to be an outstanding pitching matchup, though Thorpe hasn’t looked as sharp as he did before his injury when these were arguably the top 2 starters in the AL at the All-Star break. With both teams having southpaws starting on the mound the lineups got a bit of a shakeup. It’s a partly cloudy day with the wind blowing out to center at 10 MPH.

There were a few zealous Twins fans seen in the stands waving brooms around as the game prepared to get underway. Thorpe got himself into a bit of trouble in the 1st after Ramirez singled and Seager struck out to start the game, Thorpe walked Gomes and Santana to load the bases. Naquin showed no mercy, getting some help from the wind to hit a 1-0 fastball 418 feet to center for a grand slam to open the scoring with the 1st home run of the series for either team.

With Crockett on the mound that pretty well deflated the bench as it was unlikely for us to score 4 runs. Thorpe then proceeded to compound his issues by loading the bases with nobody out in the 2nd on a single and 2 walks for Seager. At least this time the ball stayed in the park, though the sacrifice fly to Garcia added another run. Gomes followed with a RBI single before Thorpe could escape the inning.

It didn’t help our case that Crockett struck out 6 of our 9 hitters in a perfect 1st trip through the lineup. With the game well out of hand and having seen more than enough of Thorpe for the day, I gave the ball to John Curtiss just to eat some innings.

We didn’t have a base runner until Hicks lined a 2-out double into the left field corner in the 5th. My bullpen put up some scoreless innings, but with my offense not doing anything it didn’t matter. Fortunately we worked enough deep counts that Crockett had to be lifted after 6.1 innings of 2 hit ball where he struck out 8 without walking a batter. I took advantage of the blowout to get some of my bench players into the game so that by the end of the game the only player who hadn’t appeared yet in the series was Yorman Landa, tomorrow’s starter.

Huston Street and Cody Allen shut us down after Crockett exited combining to complete the 3-hitter that cut our lead to 2-1 in the series.


Minnesota 0 at Cleveland 6

WP: Kyle Crockett (1-0), LP: Lewis Thorpe (0-1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Tyler Naquin (1)
POTG: Kyle Crockett, 6.1 IP, 2 H, 8 K, 95 pitches



October 18, 2018

• Zack Greinke (Los Angeles Dodgers) signed a 2 year, $56.8 million extension, keeping him off the free agent market after the season.

ALDS Games:
Los Angeles Angels 5 at Toronto 3 (series tied 2-2)

Toronto was 1 strike away from winning the series with 2 outs and the bases empty in the 9th before the Angels put together a rally where the key hit was a 2-run double by Chris McGuiness that gave the Angels the lead.


Cleveland
Jason Kipnis (2B)
Kal Simmons (SS)
Tyler Naquin (CF)
Carlos Santana (1B)
Yan Gomes (C)
Kyle Seager (3B)
Jesus Aguilar (DH)
Ben Zobrist (LF)
Greg Allen (RF)
Bryan Price (SP)

Minnesota
Byron Buxton (CF)
Danny Santana (SS)
Joe Mauer (1B)
Kennys Vargas (DH)
Travis Harrison (3B)
Aaron Hicks (RF)
Tommy La Stella (2B)
Hank Conger (C)
Andy Dirks (LF)
Yorman Landa (SP)


I would rather not get into a winner-takes-all situation, so I want to end the series today. The skies are clear, but the wind is blowing out to left at 17 MPH.

Things got off to an encouraging start as Buxton singled and stole 2nd. After Santana struck out, Mauer delivered by lining an opposite-field RBI double into the left-centerfield gap to open the scoring. However Vargas and Harrison struck out to end the inning. As Landa took the mound in the bottom of the inning he became the last player on my roster to get into a game in this series. Landa made quick work of the Indians, retiring the side on 8 pitches.

Cleveland had a mini-threat in the 2nd as singles by Santana and Aguilar led to runners on the corners with 2-out, but Zobrist swung over a sinker to strike out and end the inning. We caught a break in the 3rd as Price walked Mauer with 2 outs and Vargas reached on a fielding error by Santana. That brought Harrison, who was 0-for-9 in the series, to the plate and he grounded a RBI single through the 5.5 hole to double our lead. After Hicks walked, La Stella lined a 2-run single over Kipnis’ head to make it 4-0 and send Price to an early shower. Carlos Carrasco came in to try to put out the fire. He coaxed a fly ball to Naquin to end the inning, but the damage had already been done.

We extended the lead in the 4th thanks again to Buxton’s speed, as a single and stolen base with 1-out put him in scoring position to score on the 2-out RBI single blooped into right-center by Mauer. Landa was pitching with the poise of a proven veteran, despite being a rookie.

The pitching staffs were both in control as the game moved into the late innings, with neither team getting anything going since the 4th. Despite his pitch count being at 93 pitches, Landa was pitching well enough that I let him take the mound to start the 8th, though I did have Lester Oliveros warming up in case Landa got into trouble. 4 pitches later, Landa was on his way back to the dugout having retired the side, despite giving up a single. A taylor-made double play ball from Kipnis that we converted into a 6-4-3 double play ended their threat.

3 outs away from winning the series I wasn’t going to mess around, as I called on Nick Burdi to close it out. Burdi may have shown a few nerves walking Simmons on 5 pitches to start the inning, but Naquin grounded the next pitch into a 6-4-3 double play to bring us within 1 out of the ALCS. Burdi then got Santana to chase a 99 MPH fastball down and away to end the game and the series. It’s the 1st series win for the Twins since the 2002 ALDS against Oakland (of “Moneyball” fame).


Minnesota 5 at Cleveland 0

WP: Yorman Landa (1-0), LP: Bryan Price (0-1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-None
POTG: Yorman Landa, 8 shutout innings allowing only 5 hits without walking anybody and striking out 9 on only 97 pitches.

Minnesota wins the series 3-1

Series MVP: Joe Mauer .471 BA, .500 OBP, 4 RBI, 3 R



October 19, 2018:

Off Day



October 20, 2018

ALDS Game:
Toronto 1 at Los Angeles Angels 3 (Angels win the series 3-2)

• Series MVP: Kevin Plawecki (Los Angeles Angels) .400 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI