Tuesday was a blustery fall afternoon in the Twin Cities area and, even if you couldn’t hear the cheers while walking by, the Minnesota Twins were playing game 1 of a postseason game vs the Houston Astros inside the limestone walls of Target Field. Only family members and employees, including Joe Mauer and Paul Molitor apparently, were allowed to be in attendance.

Before the game, Josh Donaldson was ruled out with his nagging calf injury, but Byron Buxton was allowed to return, after being hit in the head with a fastball over the weekend. When Alex Kirilloff was called up overnight, the fan base was in disarray. But then, the first pitch came and we were playing baseball again.

This is #MNTwins Territory.

This is #OurSZN.

Let’s go. pic.twitter.com/ilFckxfGTk

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 29, 2020

1st Inning

In the bottom half of the 1st inning, the Twins got frisky but couldn’t seal the deal, with the bases loaded. Buxton singled, with one out in the inning, then Kepler and Sano both walked. Rosario proceeded to piss on a line drive that was caught by Yuri Gurriel at first base and Sano hit a dribbler to 3rd that he couldn’t beat out.

Inning over.

3rd Inning

The Twins left runners on base all night, but got their lone run in the 3rd inning. Cruz hit a missile over Josh Reddick’s head in right. Because there were two outs, Kepler was off with the crack of the bat and scored in a close play at home. Twins hit the scoreboard first but the game got a little boring from there.

Alex Bregman just robbed Miguel Sano pic.twitter.com/HZcXy5WP0i

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken) September 29, 2020

Cruzin’ to the lead. #OurSZN pic.twitter.com/bWe9kA5tP2

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 29, 2020

5th Inning – Greinke Out

Greinke was pulled before the bottom of the 5th inning and he was pissed about it. He took his mask, went into the first row of seats above the dugout and sulked for the Twins-half of the inning. I can’t blame him, but the move worked for Houston.

Framber Valdez started the 5th inning by walking two hitters but those two runners were just about all he let on for the rest of the game. He was completely dominant and the Twins had absolutely no answer for him.

7th Inning

Finally, the Astros broke their silence in the 7th inning and it started with two outs. Reddick and Maldonado both singled, before Springer got a hit, that scored Reddick. Maldonado is an idiot and got thrown out at 3rd base right after the one run was scored.

George Springer ties it up for the Astros (+149 ML) in the 7th with this single up the middle#BarstoolSportsbook pic.twitter.com/R9zYvEwwxG

— Sterling Bets (@_sterlingbets_) September 29, 2020

9th Inning

This is where shit all hit the fan. Sergio Romo was brought in after a surprisingly clean 8th inning by Taylor Rogers. Unless Baldelli was going to hand the ball to Odorizzi, I don’t know where else he could have gone. I would question why we took Maeda out so early? The Twins now enter a win-or-go-home game 2 tomorrow, with a taxed bullpen and Jose Berrios starting on the bump.

That’s a blog for another hour, though.

The Minnesota Way to Lose

This had to have been the most Minnesota way any team has ever lost a baseball game. Romo allowed hits from the first two batters of the inning, before pulling two straight outs from his ass. Then, George Springer hit an inning-ending ground ball to Jorge Polanco at shortstop… or so we thought.

Polanco sidearms the throw and the bases are loaded. pic.twitter.com/gmAn475v0N

— Alex ? (@Dubs408) September 29, 2020

We’re not talking about a difficult play or even screwing up an easy ground ball (Bill Buckner style). No, this was a sunday-hop ground ball that just needed to be tossed to second base. How Polanco fucked up this throw will forever haunt my dreams.

Nobody scored, though, and the bases were loaded with two outs and Jose Altuve at the plate. Altuve got approximately 3 hits all season but clearly, Romo was afraid of throwing strikes to anyone. He wasn’t the same “in your face” hyped-up Sergio. He was nibbling and it cost him.

Yes, he walked Jose Altuve AND the winning run, across home plate. He was then pulled and replaced by Caleb Thielbar (now our 5th pitcher of the game), who gave up the hit that essentially ended any hopes the Twins had of making a comeback.

Romo walks Altuve. Astros take the lead in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/zCiLIqD2Zk

— Stros Nation (@StrosNation) September 29, 2020

UNCLE MIKE!! Astros now lead 4-1! pic.twitter.com/fwaALQSZIS

— Stros Nation (@StrosNation) September 29, 2020

This is What the Twins Do.

This is peak Twins. Even in games where they don’t get blown out and suck the entire 9 innings, something fucked up enough happens, you almost wish they had been blown out again.

How does your veteran shortstop and a World Series winning relief pitcher both choke away a playoff game, like ours did today? That doesn’t happen to anyone else but the Minnesota Twins.

This makes 17-straight playoff losses, which would be completely impossible for any other franchise, in any other sport. You could run a college team out there and win one of seventeen games. Now, my worst fear has been realized. Jose Berrios will take the mound for a do-or-die game 2, tomorrow.

If we’ve learned anything from Twins playoff baseball or Jose Berrios over the last handful of years, it’s that we can expect this series to be over by the end of tomorrow afternoon.

See you then.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

After a crazy regular season finale across Major League Baseball, the (3) Minnesota Twins have drawn the (6) Houston Astros for a 3-game Wild Card Series at Target Field. Kenta Maeda will throw the series’ first pitch at 1PM CT on Tuesday. Then, Zack Greinke will take the mound for Houston.

When the Houston Astros traded for Zack Greinke at the 2019 trade deadline, they solidified what looked to be the best starting rotation in baseball. It started with Justin Verlander, rolled into Garrit Cole and was topped off by Zack Greinke. It doesn’t get much better than that, right?

In the 2019 AL Divisional Round, the Astros went up against the Tampa Bay Rays. Their trade-deadline genius looked to be paying off when Verlander steamrolled through the Rays lineup in game 1. He surrendered just one hit and zero runs in 7 innings. Houston took the series opener. With Garrit Cole on the mound in game 2, the result was more of the same. 7.2 innings, 4 hits, zero runs and an Astros victory.

Needing just one more victory to complete an ALDS sweep and move onto the American League Championship Series, with rest, Houston ran their prized trade deadline acquisition, Zack Greinke, out to the mound. That’s when the entire landscape of this series changed.

Greinke was terrible.

1 swing and the Rays are up. #ALDS pic.twitter.com/6XZyxnieio

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2019

The Houston Astros stumbled again in game 4, but finally pulled out their series-clinching victory in game-5, thanks to 8 innings of 2-hit, 1-run baseball by Garrit Cole.

Greinke never really recovered. The Astros lost his next start, 0-7, to the Yankees (game-1 of ALCS). Zack pitched six innings in that game, but gave up 7 hits (2 HR) and 3 runs, only striking out 5.

Houston still made the 2019 World Series, but they got there on the banging of trash cans, not the coattails of Zack Greinke, who never stretched his services farther than 6.1 innings. He finished the 2019 postseason with 25 innings pitched (5 starts), a 4.68 ERA and an opponent OPS of .835. I won’t go as far as to say Greinke stood in the way of an Astros World Series in 2019… but I’m betting they’d reverse that deadline trade and try the whole thing again, if given the chance.

Going Deeper Into Greinke’s Playoff Past

I wouldn’t have written this blog for just one bad Zack Greinke playoff run. Zack’s playoff demons go farther back than 2019. He helped the Diamondbacks make the playoffs back in 2017 and pitched the play-in Wild Card game for them. Luckily, Arizona also brought their bats that night and won 11-8.

His NLDS appearance that season wasn’t much better. He got his shot with the Diamondbacks down in the series, 0-2, and facing elimination. They needed their newly-acquired and highly-paid ace to give them hope. Instead, he gave them mediocre.

Playoff Greinke Was Better With the Dodgers

While Zack Greinke has struggled in his most recent playoff appearances, he does have a history of being pretty damn good, too. You just have to go back to his days with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2013-2015.

In that time, Greinke appeared in 6 playoff games and 41.2 playoff innings. He posted a 2.38 ERA and opponents hit a pathetic .186 off him, with an OPS of just .527. He struck out 41 playoff hitters and gave up just 3 home runs. Playoff Zack was pretty much dominant, while in a Dodgers uniform.

But, that was 5 years and 2 teams ago, for Greinke. He’s now 36 years old and coming off only his second regular season since 2011, with an ERA over 4.00. The Minnesota Twins can definitely get to this Zack Greinke but that doesn’t mean he’s washed up. ERA doesn’t tell his entire 2020 story.

Greinke also posted his best FIP since 2015, when he went to the all-star game and came up 2nd in Cy Young voting. He’s been striking out hitters at his highest pace since 2017 too, at 9 guys per 9 innings.

How About Kenta Maeda?

Kenta Maeda burst onto the Major League Baseball scene back in 2016 and immediately hit the ground running. He started 32 regular season games that season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, posting a 3.48 ERA in 175.2 innings and coming in 3rd for rookie of the year voting.

Unfortunately, his first playoff appearances didn’t go as well. Maeda pitched in three postseason games for the Dodgers that season, posting a 6.75 ERA in 10.2 innings and allowing an .896 OPS. He would never start another playoff game for LA, though he would appear for them in 21 more postseason games.

Over the next three seasons, he was relegated to the playoff bullpen, where he was absolutely dominant.

Now, Maeda is coming off his best regular season of his short MLB career. Can he combine that, with his playoff dominance from the bullpen, and come out with a game-1 gem for the Twins? Hopefully… but they may not even need it, if Greinke brings the same playoff stuff he has recently.

See you Tuesday!

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan