This was a tough loss for the Twins but Zito flat out pitched Santana. Even though the A's took this one this series is far from over. The Twins lineup of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Hunter can still put up lots of offense. Even though they don't have Liriano the rest of the starters behind Santana are decent and the bullpen, especially Nathan are very good. Santana will probably get more one more start and even with today's performance I would still take Santana in a game 5 at the Dome.
Anyone watching the As-Twins today witnessed one of the biggest & dumbest defensive f-ups of all time by Torii Hunter.
Anyone watching the Dodgers-Mets just witnessed one of the worst baserunning f-ups of all-time. What were J.D. Drew and the third base coach thinking? I don't understand it. That might be worth taking a chance on at home and if the pitcher isn't right behind home plate. But as it was, the entire crowd and the pitcher are telling Lo Duca to turn around, and Drew is dead.
Tie game in the 7th (or 8th?), TWO OUTS, man on 1st. Line drive to center, instead of playing it on a bounce & holding the runner at 3rd, Hunter inexplicably decides at the last second to dive for the ball. Misses it by 3 feet, rolls to the wall, inside the park homerun, 4-2 A's. Cat, I have never, ever, heard of 2 guys getting thrown out at home on the same play. Crazy.
I remember a game in the 80's between the Yankees and the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. 2 Yankees were thrown out at home on the same play (it seemed like one was Oscar Gamble but I may be wrong). I remember it because Carlton Fisk was the White Sox catcher. As for the Twins, they are in some deep doodoo. Things are looking to fall into place very nicely for the damn Yankees.
Me either. And what made it worse is that there were no outs! Maybe it's worth taking the chance (if you're the second runner) if there's going to be two outs and the pitcher coming up. But as it was, even with Kent getting thrown out (and I'm not sure how he managed that being on second and it being a double off the wall), you still would've had a runner on third and only 1 out. As it stands now, that run is the difference in the game.
Wow Manny... awesome memory. August 2, 1985... Sox and Yanks... they just showed the highlight on ESPN. Two guys thrown out at the plate. That one was slightly different, though... the guy rounding second tripped and the second runner was right on his heels. This one, Drew came a full 5-6 seconds later. Bizarre.
Congratulations to the Oakland A's for advancing to the ALCS. They have the momentum. They are in control of this series. The Twins are demoralized. There is no way they can recover from this. This is a set back. That's it for the them. They are done. They are so yesterday. It's like the song goes, too little too late for them to come back. You Astros fans have it good. You don't have to go through this kind of grief like Twins fans do. Like I said, the Twins were delaying the inevitable when they came back and won the division.
Nice psychological ploy as I have used it many times in the past myself, including most recently in the 2004 ALCS.
Yeah that was painful but I've seen Torii Hunter make that very play several times. It wasn't the smartest play but it is one that he does make. The Twins backs are against the wall but they're resilient whereas the A's in recent years have shown a propensity to snap defeat from the jaws of victory. GO TWINS!
unless i heard it wrong, the A's last inside the park homerun in the playoffs was in 2002, also against the twins, also on a ball torii hunter dove after and missed. crazy. a gold glove CF allowing 2 inside the park homeruns in the playoffs to the same team. and apparently the 2 dodgers being thrown out at home is the first time it ever happened in postseason history.
The Twins could only delay the inevitable. Their season was already over back in May. The Twins were in a no-win situation going into the post season. Did not mattered who they played, they were going to get swept. Look on the bright side. They won a new ballpark.
The Yankees losing to the Tigers will almost make up for the Astros not making the postseason. God I hate that franchise.
