MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Saturday, September 2, 2017

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MSF Daily: 9/2/17

Twins vs. Royals in Game 1 of 3:

The Twins’ hitters jumped on Kansas City on Friday night just like they have been jumping on everyone lately.

Dozier doubled to center on a ball that hit so high off the wall, you had to look twice to see if it didn’t bounce off the very top, which may have been a home run. It didn’t matter though. Polanco came to the plate.

2-0 Twins lead after 1

Dillon Gee had a solid first couple innings but things fell apart in the 3rd. I won’t get into specifics because I still have a lot of The Daily to write and there is still a lot of game left. Here is the quick recap:

There was a double and a single. Hosmer walked and then there was another double…. There was 2 runs mixed in there somewhere. Who cares. Then Moustakas came up. That guy is an asshole.

But the Twins’ bats are stubborn. A Dozier single and a Mauer double would bring Polanco back to the plate in another situation to drive in runs. He didn’t go yard this time but did hit a ball deep enough to left field to score Dozier from 3rd and replace him with Mauer who was able to tag from 2nd. Unfortunately, the Twins would leave him there.

5-3 Royals lead after 3

Tyler Duffey came in to relieve Gee after he struggled so early. Duffy pitched a solid 4th and 5th inning. But he gave up a hit to Bonifacio and a homer to Moss to put the Royals up by 4.

7-3 Royals lead after 6

The Twins would get a run back in the 7th. Kepler started the inning off with a fisted double to left field. He was later hit in by Kennys Vargas.

7-4 Royals lead after 7

Things would quiet down for the next couple innings as the Twins hitters were shut down and the bullpen stood fast.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, things got interesting as the Twins’ hitters decided they weren’t done yet.

It all started with an error on a ground ball by Kepler. Two outs later, Kepler was on 2nd. Granite walked and then Dozier was hit by a pitch. The bases were loaded for Mauer, who hit a ground ball up the middle to score both Kepler and Granite.

Polanco would come to the plate with Buxton (ran for Dozier) on 3rd and Mauer on 1st. Then, due to injury, Kansas City changed pitchers with a 3-0 count on Polanco. Even with the new pitcher, he would walk. That would bring Rosario to the plate with the bases loaded and the Twins down just 1 run. He struck out leaving the Twins one hit short from a great 9th inning comeback.

The FINAL was 7-6 Royals

The Twins are 70-64 heading into Saturday. They will remain a game up on the Angels since they went down to the Rangers on Friday night.

Kyle Gibson will face off against Onelki Garcia, who will make his first MLB start,  in game 2, at 6:10 Saturday Evening.

(Stat Help by ESPN)



Vikings trade 7th round pick for former Gophers, CB Tramaine Brock:

Zimmer and Spielman must not have liked what they were bringing to the regular season in the secondary. Tramaine Brock is a former Golden Gopher and had his best NFL years in San Francisco. It will be interesting to see where he gets most of his playing time since he has spent most of his career on the outside. Ever trusty Terance Newman was expected to be the guy who holds down the side of the field that Xavier Rhodes is not on, but that may change now. Our newest writer, Tyler Carmer, definitely likes the pickup. A lot.

If you like the Vikings. You will like Tyler. He could use your help getting to 1000 Twitter followers too.

Vikings cutting roster down from 90 players to 53:

According to the StarTribune, the Vikings have cut 12 people with 22 left to go. Here is the StarTribune’s list so far:

OL T.J. Clemmings
OL Freddie Tagaloa
CB Jabari Price
CB Tre Roberson
CB Sam Brown
WR Moritz Bohringer
DT Will Sutton
DT Chunky Clements
DE Sam McCaskill
LB Noor Davis
TE Josiah Price
RB Terrell Newby

Joe Nathan retires as a Minnesota Twin

The last time the Minnesota Twins were good enough to make the playoffs, Joe Nathan was on the team. He pitched for the Twins from 2004 to 2011.

He was a huge part of the teams that couldn’t beat the Yankees after the postseason started. They went 1-9 against the Yankees in postseason play from 2004-2010. I think we would still take that over what he have seen since he left.

He had some kind things to say about his time in Minnesota.

“This is where I wanted to finish my career whether it was pitching this year or signing a one year contract. It was a special place and a special team.”

Here is what Nathan had to say about his experience in 2009, playing in game 163:

“We had to wait to play Game 163 because [the Vikings] had Monday Night Football against Green Bay,” Nathan said. “The fans were going crazy, for a week straight with us trying to get into a tiebreak game, and then having Monday Night Football and then having Game 163 and then having Game 163 going down like it did … it seemed like the tying or go-ahead or winning run was in scoring position every inning, the crowd was electric, it seemed like from around the sixth inning all the way through the 12th, it was deafening in there.”

Here is the rest of the press conference story from the StarTribune’s Chris Miller:

MSF Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

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