MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Friday, September 1, 2017
MSF DAILY: 9/1/17
Twins WIN vs White Sox to complete SWEEP:
It is the last day of August and we are still cheering for the Twins as they race for the playoffs. That’s right. We only have 1 month left of regular season baseball and the Twins hold a playoff spot. What a year. What a month.
Bartolo Colon took the mound Thursday as the Twins tried to complete the sweep against a really shitty White Sox team.
Things moved along smoothly for both pitchers through the first inning, but Colon ran into some problems in the 2nd. He gave up 4 hits and the Sox rallied for 2 runs.
But, the Twins hitters would do what they have done all season long: Pick up their pitchers. The Twins got a run back when Granite singled to score Escobar and Gimenez.
2-1 Sox After 2
The Sox would get another run in the 4th with a Sanchez single. That guy has been quite the pain-in-the-ass in this series.
3-1 Sox After 4
The 5th inning would be for the Twins. Dozier led off with a double TO THE OPPOSITE FIELD. Polanco came to the plate. That was bad news for the White Sox. He scored Dozier on a double.
Jorge Polanco despacha doble hacia el campo derecho, para empujar a Brian D.. ?https://t.co/QyfmHiEX4B
Vía MLB pic.twitter.com/O7D8BhaKbO— Platano Power RD (@PlatanoPowerDO) August 31, 2017
Kepler came to the plate next. He liked what Polanco did and decided he would do the same.
3-3 Tie After 5
It became a pitching dual after that. Colon went 6 innings and was relieved by Alan Busenitz, who dominated. He struck out 2 in 2 innings and didn’t give up a run.
Belisle relieved him in the top of the 9th but couldn’t hold the lead. He surrendered a home run to Hanson and the Twins would need the hitters to come through again.
So they did. Adrianza started with a base hit. Granite popped up a bunt after that and things were looking grim. But then Minaya got wild and walked Dozier to put Adrianza (the tying run) on 2nd base.
Rosario came to the plate and did what he has all year. Come up BIG. He singled to score Adrianza and the game was tied at 4.
Mauer then walked to load the bases with 1 out. Polanco came up and it felt like it was over. Polanco has been one of the best hitters in the league all month. Then he lined out to Minaya and there were two outs in the inning. Kepler came to the plate and here is how the game ended:
The Twins are now 70-63. Remember when the talk was how badly the Twins played at home. How terrible their home record was… They are now 34-35 at Target Field and can pull to .500 if they can beat the Royals Friday night.
The Twins will roll out Dillon Gee to see if he can make up for his poor performance last time around. He went 4 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits. He will face off against Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.76 ERA).
Gophers WIN vs Buffalo in mediocre fashion:
Today’s game against Buffalo showed us a couple of things. First, this season may be a struggle. It will depend on how quickly they can improve. The poor schedule on the front end will help.
They did not play their best game. They did win. That is most important.
Second, Tyler Johnson is going to be THE GUY no matter who the quarterback is. Johnson ripped off 141 yards and 1 TD, receiving. His longest was his TD catch, courtesy of Conor Rhoda.
Third, the Gopher defense was stout. Granted, it was against a MAC team, but they looked pretty good. The gave up a total of 262 yards and forced one turnover. This one:
You could say @GopherFootball‘s Jacob Huff read this throw the whole way. pic.twitter.com/RGndydjx3Y
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) September 1, 2017
The Gophers finished the game 17-7.
Next on the docket for the Gophers are the Oregon State Beavers. They will face off on September 9th at 8 PM.
Vikings get asses kicked in last preseason game:
The big question coming into Thursday was whether Mike Zimmer would play his starters at all in the last preseason game. He didn’t. In fact, he didn’t really play anyone. 3rd stringers and lower were the only personnel to see the field.
Mitch Leidner threw the ball better than Taylor Heinicke so that was interesting. Leidner was 14/19 for 129 yards while Heinicke was just 9/20 and just 93 yards.
Someone named Cayleb Jones jumped off the stat sheet. He reeled in 9 receptions for 127 yards and 1 TD.
The Vikings will open their season on Monday Night Football next week vs the Saints. Adrian Peterson will make his Saints debut in U.S. Bank Stadium.
Gophers Sophomore Big, Eric Curry, blows out knee; out for season:
It was a bad day for the Gophers’ Basketball Team. They lost one of their most promising young talents for the season. Eric Curry had a nice rookie season. He was overshadowed slightly by Amir Coffey but still faired well on his own, averaging 20 minutes, 5.5 points, and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Here is the full story from the Star Tribune:
Gophers’ Eric Curry suffers major knee injury, will miss basketball season https://t.co/M4wi39nDFj pic.twitter.com/BVlb1z9j13
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) August 31, 2017
Byron Buxton back soon; Miguel Sano… not so sure:
It was scary for a little while this afternoon when rumors started swirling about what was going on with Byron Buxton’s hand. LaVelle Neal III really had us nervous when he tweeted this:
Brace for the worst with Buxton. Haven’t covered a hamate injury that was not broken. https://t.co/9cB7K6zkP4
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) August 31, 2017
I threw a temper tantrum.
I want to throw a children’s tantrum over this Buxton injury.
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) August 31, 2017
#MNTwins Fans right now. pic.twitter.com/SnLamoWB8z
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) August 31, 2017
Just when Buxton starts taking off. AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH #CURSED pic.twitter.com/zkG0pfI8F2
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) August 31, 2017
But then, Mark Rosen made everything ok again.
Derek Falvey says Buxton has just a bone contusion, nothing serious, could be used on bases or defense if needed later today
— Mark Rosen (@WCCORosen) August 31, 2017
Sano’s status, on the other hand, is much more unsure. He cannot seem to heal from his shin injury. It is making many nervous.
#MNTwins 3B Miguel Sano to undergo further testing on injured shin, has yet to resume baseball-related activities https://t.co/fpoVtSeqdP
— FanRag Sports MLB (@FanRagMLB) August 31, 2017
MSF Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan
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