MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Saturday, September 30, 2017

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MSF Daily: 9/30/17

Minnesota Twins Playoff Run:

Gibson has Problems Early with Detroit but Bats Pick Him Up AGAIN and He Settles In:

Kyle Gibson is trying to show Molitor, and the rest of the Twins’ management, that he should be the guy on the bump in game 3 or 4 of what would be a best-of-five vs Cleveland. First, they would obviously have to beat the Yankees on Tuesday. Gibson was shaky early, giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning. But, the Twins wouldn’t give up another run the rest of the game. Gibson wasn’t great in his remaining time (3.2 innings total), but didn’t surrender another run, nonetheless. He finished with 6 Ks, giving up 7 hits on 87 pitches.

The offense would shake off the early deficit and grab 6 runs in total. It started with an Escobar double in the 1st that scored Brian Dozier.

Then, in the 2nd inning, the Twins wanted the lead back, and took it.

The Twins would sneak one more in the 6th inning and Detroit sucks.

FINAL: 6-3 Twins WIN

(Stat Help from MLB.com)

Miguel Sano Says He’s Ready; Molitor More Cautious:

So the biggest news that came out of the Twins’ locker room today was about Miguel Sano. This time though, it was positive. It has been a while since we have had good news about our favorite 3rd baseman. Today, that finally changed:

Then….

Unfortunately, we would find out shortly after that Sano was not in the starting lineup for the game on Friday night. He was available to play, though. It is a pretty incredible turnaround. On Thursday, Molitor was skeptical on Sano playing AGAIN THIS SEASON, let alone Friday. Then, less than 24 hours later, he is hitting shots in warmups and making some of us think he might crack the starting lineup.

The Twins will use the Tigers’ series to gauge where Sano is at in his comeback. If he proves he can hit and doesn’t have any setbacks physically, it looks like he will be there on Tuesday night….. and beyond….

Sano did get an at-bat tonight. He grounded out to the pitcher but everything seemed to go well and he was smiling afterward:

Wildcard Viewing Party @ Target Field Tuesday:

It has been a long time since the Twins have made the playoffs but it isn’t Target Field’s first postseason. The Twins made the playoffs in Target Field’s inaugural season of 2011. They were swept by the Yankees…

Well the Twins are in the playoffs again… but this time things are a bit different. Target Field isn’t even guaranteed to host a game. The Wildcard game is being held in New York and if the Twins can’t make it out, the tarps will go on our favorite baseball field, and we will turn to football, basketball, and hockey for the next 6 months.

So, the Twins are hosting a viewing party at Target Field that will be open to the public. That should be a cool atmosphere.

Gopher Gameday: Gophers BIG Favorites vs Maryland Saturday:

 

So this game makes me a little nervous just because the Gophers are such big favorites. It is the first game in which all the “experts” seem to be sure the Gophers are going to win in convincing fashion. Everyone seems to be jumping into Fleck’s boat and whenever I see that, I get nervous. But…. they really shouldn’t lose.

Maryland is starting their 3rd-string QB. That in-itself is the main reason why the Gophers should walk away with this one.

The Gophers will wear another new helmet this week. This one will honor the different branches of the United States Military. They will also honor the 1967 Big Ten Co-Champion Minnesota Gophers.

Game Preview:

The Gophers are better than the Terrapins in every aspect of this game. Maryland was gashed by two of the teams they have faced so far. Texas and Central Florida ran it up on them for a total of 901 yards. Maryland’s other game was against the Towson Tigers and the Terrapins blew them out of the water with a score of 63-17. However it was interesting to see that Towson had the ball for 38 minutes compared to Maryland’s 22.

The Gophers excel at keeping the ball on the ground and pounding it into opponents. Maryland held Texas and Towson under 100 yards rushing but gave up 250 yards to Central Florida. That is where the Gophers need to start. The run game will dictate how easily Minnesota can take this game. If the offensive line is on point and the running backs can find green, this game should go swimmingly. If not, we might be in for a nerve-racking afternoon.

The Gopher defense should be even more dominant than the offense. They have given up an average of 8 points per game in their first 3 games. The Gophers’ top defense will go up against Maryland’s 3rd-string Sophomore Quarterback, because of knee injuries to both guys ahead of him on the depth chart.

Again, this game points to the Gophers in just about every fashion. That is why the Gophers are 12.5 point favorites.

(Stat help from ESPN and GopherIllustrated – Scout.com)

Game Info: 11:00 AM – TCF Bank Stadium – FS1

Gopher Basketball Team Holds First Practice; Pitino Press Conference:

So there is a lot of hype on the Gopher Basketball team this season. That is quite the difference from last season, at this time.

Pitino’s squad is a hurting unit right now on the injury front but he says they will get healthy. He touches on just about every player and his father’s issues over at Louisville in this press conference. But first, watch Murphy jump off the screen here. He has Marcus Fuller taking notice.

Teddy Bridgewater Busting Out the Moves (not his knees) in Locker Room

Another video of Teddy Bridgewater surfaced on Friday. It came from Rodney Adam’s snapchat (RodneyAdams87). More on him shortly…

Teddy has been showing his personality a lot lately and I can’t wait to see him on the field. On friday, we got to see him dance. Also, these movements are not easy for someone who’s knees are still bothering them…

Rodney Adams Has a YouTube Channel:

So, after seeing that video of Teddy dancing in the locker room, I stumbled across something that was pretty entertaining. Rodney Adams has a YouTube channel AND he is an aspiring actor. His channel has regular videos. Most of them are about Adams and his day-to-day life, as he goes from practices to meetings, and through the locker room. Those scenes might be the most fun.

The videos are edited and clipped. I’m not sure if he is the one who does the editing or not. In fact, I have a lot of questions so shout out to Rodney Adams: If you read this and you want to hang out and do some sort of hybrid interview video, let me know.

It looks like he and his manager are currently working on a movie that would star a football player. At least that’s what his most recent video says. You also get to see how bad all the Vikings are at putting. Even Bradford leaves it short.

Here are some others:

Lynx Lose and Go Down 2-1 to Sparks; Next Game is Elimination:

MSF Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

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