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Twins take series in Cleveland thanks to bullpen and defense · Twin Cities Territory

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: For the first time in a month, the Minnesota Twins
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: have won a series. They took two out of three
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: against the first place Guardians in Cleveland this weekend. We'll
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: talk about that. We'll talk about brooks Lee and his
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: defense saving the day, Kendrey Rojas, Byron Buxton, and more
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: on the latest edition of Twins Cities Territory are Minnesota
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Twins podcast here on the Foul Territory Network. Zach Pearson,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Dan Hayes of the Athletic Tyler Duffy, longtime Major leaguer
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and Minnesota Twin guys that had been since April thirteenth
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: and fourteenth, I think against Boston the last time the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Twins won a series when they were in the middle
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of that hot streak. Then they finally got it done
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: this weekend in Cleveland, winning Saturday and Sunday and a
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: couple of very interesting, mail biting games. Saturday at two
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to one win and eleven innings in which they only
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: had two hits, both from Byron Buxton ten innings apart,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: but it was enough to get the win and then
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: another one run win on Sunday. Is that right, Dan?
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Ye Two in a row and shock they've been basically
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: rock bottom. The last month I said they had won
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: a series since then. They did have the one split
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: against Toronto, but no series victory since then. They go
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: into their first series of the year against the first
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: place Cleveland Guardians and get the win. Dan, you were there,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: What are your takeaways from the weekend?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was actually on April fifteenth, it was tax
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Day that the Twins won their last Thanks series. So yes,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: so the tax levied on the Twins this year has
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: been serious victories so far.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Nice. Yes, and that's all we have time for today.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, thank you. A'll be here all night. No,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: it was a really good, scrambling all over the map,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: do everything like to get it done kind of serious victory.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Saturday Night's game was absurd. They went thirty five batters
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: in between Pirro and Bucks and hits. Not it was
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: not an over thirty five, but it was like an
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: over thirty with like or maybe it was yeah, over
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: thirty with.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Like over thirty with fifteen strikeouts.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, and there were a few guys that got on
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: in that span. But to go that long and win
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: a game, and to get through it the way they did,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: getting out of some bases, loaded jams. You know, anytime
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Jose Ramirez comes up and you're facing him in a
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: key spot and you live to you know, tell about it.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: And you know, five man infields and thirty nine year
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: old journeyman relievers getting saves. That was wild. That was
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: absolutely wild. And so here's my favorite stat of all
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: this is that from twenty twenty two until last year,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: right after the trade deadline, the Twins lost fourteen straight
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: one run games in Cleveland. Do you know how much
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: trauma that is for to walk into the clubhouse afterwards
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: and it's like, oh man, we just had another shitty loss.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: This always happened. And on my end, you know, he
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: rewrites that meant over the course of those four years,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: and that doesn't count the other games where they would
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: lose by two runs because they're about eight of those
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: as well. It just feels like the Twins could not
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: pull off a close game in Cleveland forever. You know,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: they got one last year to the deadline on August
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: thirt I find that interesting that Carlos Korea never had
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: a one run win in Cleveland. He was zero to
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: fourteen from twenty twenty two to twenty twenty five. And
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: they got their first one after he was gone. But
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: to come out and get two of those and get
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: their first series victory over Cleveland and in I think
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: this was eight straight series that they had lost or
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: tied to Cleveland. That's incredible. I mean it's they needed
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: this in the worst way. And it seemed like, you know,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: especially when they presented Kendri Rojas with the game ball
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: on Sunday for his first victory, there was a lot
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: of yelling coming from the clubhouse. So they needed that
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: moment just to kind of let loose. And I know, Duck,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: you've been on those long stretches where like when you
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: finally break through, that feeling has to be pretty good.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we kind of hinted that going into Cleveland, like
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: that's it's always a big series that you kind of
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: circle on the schedule. And they went in and played
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: some tight games. You know, some games they would have
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: liked to win, you know, more handedly than they did.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: But take two of the three and go It's like
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: that's all you can ask for, you know, play some
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: tight games. Your stars showed up in Byron doing his thing,
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: you know, and they needed to. You know, Brooks is
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: coming in getting comfy, you know, making some great plays
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: things like that, Like it's it's stuff that has to happen,
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: and that's the team.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: You got to beat. And you know they took care
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: of business this weekend.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah what Wait? The one thing I wanted to did
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: it not like when you guys were watching, did and
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: not feel like they were doing every like short of
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: stabbing someone? Did it not feel like Derek Shelton was
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: doing everything he could to get them these I mean
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: the five man infields? Like how many times do you
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: remember five man not only one time in the game,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: but two consecutive innings they used the five man infield,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Like I don't I've not seen I've seen a few
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: five man infields in my career and this is twenty
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: seasons now, but like that was very unique to me,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: and they pulled it off both times.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: I got worried.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Austin caught a ball with his infield gloves still on
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: the end, Yes he did, and I was.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: Please get him as glove back.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: We had to confirm because I didn't know that was
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: a rule that you had to stick with the glove
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: once you want goe to that either I didn't, And
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: it was funny because Derek Shelton brought the glove out
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: behind his back both times walking out to the mound
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: like yeah, he was like, Hey, I'm just coming out here, guys.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: It's cool. We're just we're just out for a chat.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: And then he's like, Austin, here's your glove, like presents
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: it like but that we had to check with Austin
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: Martin because Travis Bizana smoked the ball directly at him
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: right and he kind of the had the shorter glow
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: and he did say yes, but he didn't think about it.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: He just knew he had to make the catch. Good thing.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: He's a first rounder and a very you know, athletic
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: good defender, because that was a yeah, that was that
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: was tricky right after coming to business.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Every time you think you have a narrative about this team,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: another game happens and kind of shakes things up. The
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: bullpen has been a major topic of conversation obviously all
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: year long, but kind of the reason they won this
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: series this weekend. They basically Sunday was an entire bullpen
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: game after TODJ. Bradley had to be had to be
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: scratched as he headed to the edit to the I
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: L four runs and it's not terrible. And then, of
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: course the Saturday game five innings after Joe Ryan threw
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: out another great start, six innings, pitch, two hits, one run,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: They didn't allow a run in five innings as the
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Twins got the win. But Dan, how are the vibes
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: around around the bullpen after after the consecutive pretty solid day.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're definitely tired, there are. I'm not even sure
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: they know each other. Like j Anders Gomez showed up
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: on Friday, you know, like he's brand new, and he
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: pitched all three games he pitched. He got one out
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: on Friday, one hour and Saturday and got to say
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: yesterday Luis Garcia still relatively new to this team. We're
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: talking like two weeks that he's been there. It's been
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: you know, it's been a challenge just because they've had
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: so many things going on there and that group, you know,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: you can tell, like you know, Derek Shelton's searching there
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: in La Troy Hawkins. They're searching for guys to be trusted.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: And we saw some signs that we'll talk about Andrew
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Morris a little bit later. We saw some good signs
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: from him this weekend but it's gonna be patchwork all year.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And that's where I was like, Shelton did everything short
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: of stabbing a guy because he like was like pulling
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: every lever possible. Eric Orsey had some some big outs
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: on Saturday, did a good job, but there's just so
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: many untrusted guys in that group right now. Like it's
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: it's mix and match and mix and match and do
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: what you can to find out. And it was successful
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: for a long, you know, period of the weekend. And
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: the one thing I will say is Cleveland. I think
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: that was a great matchup. Aside from having to face Ramiers,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: they ran into Patrick Bailey, Austray, They got some big
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: outs there. There's there's Cleveland's not the best offense. Cleveland's
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: a pretty bad offense, and that was that was helpful.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: I think it helped Henry Rojas get through a challenging
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: day for him. And we'll talk about that a little
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: bit more, but you know, this is a put it
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: all together and they did it, and they just they
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: needed it in the worst way and they were able
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: to come out of it with the two wins.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: We talked a bit on Friday about Royce Lewis's recent
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: comments made in the previous series against Washington about being
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: concerned about his future. He had a couple of days
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: off and on Sunday got a nice RBI double was it?
• 9:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah?
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Double the left yes in the fifth inning helped the
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Twins get out to that that early lead. Tyler, you
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: had a lot to say about just how how important
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: a reset can be for a player, And obviously one
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: hit may not prove that that's the case yet for Royce,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: but certainly a good start.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, it's one, especially when you do something like that,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: like there's that proverbial, you know, gorillas on your back.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: You know, it's you want to go out and do something,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: and you know he he did. He got some hits.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: You know, he played, but we're not talking about him
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: doing anything wrong this weekend. You know, that's the big
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: step forward. I guess, you know, it's just one of
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: the it's a growing pain, you know, it is what
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: it is. He's been around, but you know, you're still
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: there's still so much to learn about being a big leaguer,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: and you know it takes guys. You know, I remember
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Eddie Gordado vividly tell talking to me in the bullpen
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: once you know, it took him four years to finally
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: be comfortable with who he was in the major leagues,
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: and like we keep talking about, Royce has had a
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: lot of injury stuff and this and that, and it's
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: like he's finally here, and he's here, you know, and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: now it's time to hit stride and be who he
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: knows he can and uh, you know, it's just maybe
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: saying that was the release he needed. You know, he
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: needed to get it off of his chest and good,
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: bad and different.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: It just had to happen.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: And you know, like I said, in a month from
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: now and he's tearing the cover off the ball and
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: nobody said think twice about it.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: He had that laser on Friday, first pinch one ten
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: off the bat and it got caught. But it was like, okay,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: maybe there's something here. And it wasn't a perfect weekend.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: He did get picked off Saturday night after a walk. Yeah,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: but there were good signs everywhere, like that defensive play
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: he made in the eighth inning yesterday to uh Bazana hit.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: You know, anytime a left he's up and hits a
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: ground or a third. It was a weird short hop
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: and Royce picked it nice and clean and tagged the
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: bag for the final hour or no threw across and
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: bazan is fast found that out real quick this.
• 11:00
  Speaker 7: Weekend train that in the double like it was a
• 11:04
  Speaker 7: good Sunday and he had the hit also on Friday night,
• 11:07
  Speaker 7: So good signs for sure and absolutely much needed because
• 11:11
  Speaker 7: it was a topic in the clubhouse.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Oh boy, we'll talk more about that maybe brooks Lee,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Kendri Rojas and more when we come back on Twin
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Cities Territory.
• 11:24
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• 11:50
  Speaker 6: me one repeat meal. There's so many to choose from,
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: and they can make it easy for me.
• 11:54
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• 12:29
  Speaker 1: All right, We're back twins now eighteen and twenty three,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: two and a half games out of first in the Central.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: All the more reason that weekend was was pretty big, guys,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: because it could have gotten as high as six and
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: a half out of Cleveland had won both Saturday and Sunday.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: We mentioned Byron Buxton providing the only two hits in
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Saturday's win, but equally important Dan was Brooksley's defense in
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: that game.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Oh. I said it to him on Sunday morning. I
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: was like, have you ever seen the matrix? And then
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: and he said no.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I was like, I said no, probably he said no,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, nineteen ninety nine.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Man, He's only like twenty. He's only twenty five. I
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: think he was born after it. But he is familiar
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: with the memes and the gifts, so he knew the bullets.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: But I was thinking more of the one where Neo
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: like kind of flies through the air and dodges all
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the bullets and like that. Whatever he did to catch
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: that line drive with the bases loaded and infield in
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: and the five man infield, like he he did some
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: contortioning with his body and U like, that was an
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: incredible catch. But then honestly, you know that one, like,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: I think he can make that catch. Last year, the
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: play after was the one and I wrote about it
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: in spring training. How he did some like he did
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: different training this offseason. He weightlifted, he did a lot
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: of explosive training, and it was basically like he knew
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: the limitations that he had going into the year. You know,
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: he's not the best athlete. He's he's one of like
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: slower guys in baseball percentile wide, I think he's like
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: top twenty. He is. He's worked on that first step
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: and look, it definitely paid off. He did not think
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: he would have got to the ball that he did
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: to end the game otherwise last year and he got
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: to it, he slid, but then he made a great
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: throw and a fast runner again, and you know, I
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: think it was Rokio to end the game on Saturday.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: All I know is Cleveland has like four fast guys,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: like exceptionally fast guys. And that's what's crazy is that
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Jose Ramirez has sixteen Stonlee bases and he's not exactly
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: one of those fast guys. He's just a pretty quick
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: guy who knows when to steal a base. And he
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: already sixteen stone bases so far. That's incredible. Anyways, back
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: to Brooksley, that play to end the game was was
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: really just outstanding and in the moment it was huge.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: And I asked him later. I was like, you know,
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: you had the game winning hit against Detroit about a
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: month ago where you singled into and broke the tie
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: in the eighth inning. Then you guys won. It's like
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: what feels better? And he said, probably the defensive play.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: You know, this is a guy that's been a really
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: good hitter for his whole life, and he's been a
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: solid defender. But I think just to get that play
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: and the confidence will help him, you know, build that
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: he can do this well enough, he's not gonna be
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: dynamic at shortstop, but it's about making the plays you're
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: supposed to make and then occasionally making the plays like this,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: And that was really huge for him, and I'm sure
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: it was huge for them because brooks Lee is minus
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: four defensive runs saved so far according to Sports Info Solutions.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: He was minus five about two weeks into the season,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: so he's sort of stabilized. But when you're minus five
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: and you're among store shortstops, that's something the teams look
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: at and you better be hitting to counteract, you know,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: activate that or whatever, and it's it's It was good
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: a bunch of developments for him, and it feels like
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: he's been better defensively, probably since going back to New
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: York Tampa a couple of weeks back, where he's making
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: some plays on some hot shots. But yeah, this was
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: that was huge.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: If you didn't if you didn't see the play, bottom
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: of the eleventh, Twins up to one, two outs, run around third.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Obviously runner started on second to begin the inning, and
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: it was a grounder up the middle that you know,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: back in back in twelve thirteen year old rec League
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: baseball days would have been a sure single up the middle,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: but makes a sliding stop, gets to his feet, spins,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: throws one hop to Cody Clemens, by the way, shout
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: out to the first basement for the pick as well.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, great pick.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: And just for a team that has struggled defensively, Tyler
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: that's got that's got to bring a jolt to have
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: a play like that seal off a big win.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's one.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: To Dan's point, you know, he's been playing better defense
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: and things like that. It's one of those things. You're
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: a major league shortstop, you know there's thirty of those, period,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: and that value has to be had for a team.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: You know, you ask a lot of pitchers. You know,
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna speak for the room, but maybe not, maybe
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: I'm wrong, but guys want the guy that can pick
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: it over the guy that hits any day. You want
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: the guy that when they hit the ball to shortstop,
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: there's an out at first or second base, whatever the
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: play is, no matter what. And you know, like when
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: Buck would go through his little ups and downs, you'll
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: learn in the league, nobody cared within our staff because
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: it's like that man is playing center field, period and
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: at the end of the day, you know, those primary
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: defensive spots. If you make those plays like that, I'm
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: sure Lee's confidence is up because he's like, I am
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: the big league shortstop for the Minnesota Twins, Like that's
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: my job, that's my role, and you know he can
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: solidify it by doing these little things like that you
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: make that big play to save the game, like that stuff,
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: you know, and Drelton Simmons would do, or Carlos would do,
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: or you know, I don't hope to throw it back
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: pedro Florimon used to do kind of things.
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: You know.
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: It's like there's some plays sometimes you see and it's
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: like there it was. And so I guarantee that's a
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: confidence boose for the whole team, not just Brooks. And
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: you know, especially to finish a game like that, that's
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: that's huge.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: With with the amount of swing and miss that the
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: pitching staff doesn't have a lot of balls in play,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: so all having a secure shortstop, like having someone they
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: trust if that ground ball is there, is a big deal.
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Danny wrote the other day about I cannot believe he
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: hasn't seen the matrix.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: That's just I'm sure I'm still Roger used to give
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: rookies homework because so many guys like somehow just don't
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: watch movies anymore, I guess, and guys would haven't you know,
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: picked the movie that should be watched by everyone they
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: haven't seen, and so I'm sure I give him some
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: homework real quick.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: There's the homework that is my favorite assignment I've heard
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: so far. It's not Rogers, it's Shelton with Connor Prelip,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: because Connor Prelip doesn't do a lot of talking and
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: he really only talks to his former teammates like Andrew
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Morris he played with him a ton. Shelton has challenged
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: him to talk to a new teammate every day and
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: been like, you have to go and start a conversation.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: And the funniest part was that the other day he
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: was talking to the bullpen catcher Frank and had a
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: long conversation and he went over to Shelton and said,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: you know, look, I was talking Frank. He's like, that
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: doesn't counting work. That's the bullpen catcher. He's like, you
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: need to talk to someone new every day. And it's
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: so funny, Like I love homework, especially when the veterans
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: or the coaches are giving it out to the young
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: guys who are so wide. It's quite an entertaining part
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: of being in the clubhouse.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: I'm having a hard time with the Like I thought
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: about this the other day, the nineteen eighties will be
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: to my children what the nineteen fifties are to me, Tyler, probably.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Why why are you gonna do that?
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: I'm a movie buff though, so I'm like an outlier,
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: like I've my mom was good about us watching all
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: those old movies. But yeah, some of them like not
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: being you haven't seen the Matrix. That's like, I don't know,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: that's a tough one.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: They're still making Matrix movies a right thing. Like I'm
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: not even done with that franchise on TV all the time. Yeah, right, right,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: that's a rainy day rain delay in the Clubhouse movie
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: or something.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Anyway, now that we wasted two minutes with that, well
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: we'll step step aside and we come back. We'll talk
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Henry Rojas and we'll tee up the Twins Dying Game
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: homestand right after.
• 20:51
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• 20:56
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• 21:02
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• 21:07
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• 21:09
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• 21:12
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• 21:58
  Speaker 1: All right, Dan, you wrote about this on the Athletic
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: this weekend, but Kendri Rojas got the win on Sunday
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: in the five to four win. That was basically a
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: bullpen game from the start. Andrew Morris pitched the first inning.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Rojas then came in pitched three in the third. Dan,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: and we saw a little bit of the good and
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: a little bit of the shaky in a in that performance.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: We lost, Dan, so oh, I got it all right,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Dan Hayes. Your thoughts on Kendrick Rojas.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Go, uh, we saw it all this weekend. You're right,
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: he's so nasty. Like the tools are absolutely there. He's
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: got a killer set of tools. Man, there's a there's
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: a fast time as a ridgement high. Let's let's see
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: brooksly seeing that anyways, Like the tools are there, like
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: the fastballs nasty, the slider and the change up are
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: swinging miss pitches. He's he's got the arsenal to work with.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: But we've we also saw the command kind of jump
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: out four pitch walk right off the bat. He had
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: three walks. He gave up five hits and three and
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: the third. You know, a good offense might have done
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: a little bit more with what Kendry Rojas gave them,
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: But like he knows how to step it up when
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: it's time. And he came back and it was it
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: was really good. You can see why the Twins are
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: excited about him. It's kind of like harnessing it. But
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: the thing is is that, you know, sometimes I remember, man,
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: I can't remember who the pitcher was early on, but
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: effectively wild was something that I remember seeing early on
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: were command wasn't sharp, but the fastball moves so much
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: guys can't really hit it even it's hard to square up.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: You can see that with Rojas, it's not. There were
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: some decent hit balls, but there was nothing smoked yesterday,
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: I thought. And he did a good job just kind
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: of dodging around and for a guy who was making
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: his second appearance, and you know, in a good crowd.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: He got New York and he got kind of a
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: pumped up Cleveland because Cleveland had some decent crowds out there.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: This weekend. There was like twenty eight on Saturday. It
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: was loud. Then yesterday is still not as big, but
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Guardians are in first place. They're drawing, and those are
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: challenging places to come in. And he did a good
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: job just because you know, the Twins needed that lift
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: and I remember saying to one of the other writers
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: that he was coming in to probably pitch three, but
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: he is the kind of guy that things can go
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: sideways with the command and man, what happens if they
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: don't get three after going eleven innings the night before.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: So for him to give them that boost was huge.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Allowed them to manage the rest of the way and
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: get through. And you know, they were up five to
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: one and they the lead kept shrinking and shrinking and shrinking,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: but they had just enough gas to get through it.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: And I think Rojas getting ten outs was just absolutely
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: critical to that.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Tyler, what is a bullpen thinking after a night like
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Saturday and then into Sunday knowing it's all on you.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's one honestly there probably think about it more
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: of the night game and extras, knowing that it's coming tomorrow,
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: and so you start looking around. You're almost like, all right,
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: who's our long guy, because he's not pitching tonight in extras,
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: you know who's doing this.
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: You know, the.
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Wheels start turning, but at that point it's just survival
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: and like, you know, get in and maybe as efficient
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: as you can, and then you know it's just you know,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: got guys going back to back for the first time.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Things like that, like it's you know, it's where you
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: learn though, it's you know, trial by fire, and sometimes
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: unfortunately guys have to learn in the big leagues. And
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: you know, if it goes well, you're better for it,
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: and if it doesn't, you have some conversations and figure
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: out how to make it work the next time out.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Twins are off today Monday the eleventh, and then they
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: are home for nine straight games. Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Houston Astros. Astros are tied for the worst record in
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the AL. Not great, Yes, that's true. Tyler Tyler's backyard team.
• 26:08
  Speaker 7: I was there.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: If not great, not great? What's what's what's the scouting report?
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: Oh man? It was the wheels kind of fell off.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Wenton? Was that on?
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: That went to the day game against the Dodgers, and
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: it was like first inning was crisp, and then just
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: by the fourth it was ten to one, I think
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: eleven to one, and I was like, okay, time.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: To go, got ugly quick.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Miami nineteen and twenty two. Milwaukee off to you good
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: start at twenty two and sixteen. But Dan obviously coming
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: home after that feel good ending to the Cleveland Series.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: The Twins have got to be hoping this is a
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: chance to get back on a hot streak, right.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're gonna have great crowds for the Milwaukee
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: Series and maybe bring the best out of you. Yeah
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: you like you said Astros at the end, and they're
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: they're struggling and it's not the Twins just needed some
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: vibes because I remember talking to somebody about it just
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: during the road trip and being like, okay, yeah, but
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Miami can still hit. And so this is one of
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: those places where you look at, oh, Miami and Houston
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: are coming in. Oh, this should be a time.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: That Houston putting up numbers too.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Right, And that is like okay, sure, but the Twins
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: are struggling. Well, to come off of this with the
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Wins and go into that is a lot better place.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: The day off is good. We still want to get
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: to Andrew Morrison second, but he uh. But but like
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: good vibes going into your day off with beatable teams
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: coming up, not saying Milwaukee is beatable, They're always good,
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: but the crowd at home will help and make it
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: like this is a chance to get healthy right here,
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: This homestand they need to they need a winning Homestand look,
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: the really good part about these two wins was if
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: they lose, you know, they're eighteen twenty three, If they're
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: sixteen twenty five right now, boy, that is ugly and
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: spiraling out of control. And at least you kept things,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: you know where it's still interesting. By winning a series
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: in Cleveland, I think it's the kind of thing that
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: catches fans attention because Cleveland's dominated them so much the
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: last couple of years. So good start. Now you've got
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: to capitalize.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: It's a good point. Tyler. Houston's problem this year has
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: not been scoring runs, that's for sure.
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: They are just pitching.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, third third or sorry second second in the American
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: League overall like tenth, A lot of high scoring teams
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: in the NL, yes, second to the Yankees, and runs
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: scored twins or third by the way, two runs behind
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: the Astros. It's been allowing runs. That's been the problem
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: their last yes in the Tide, for last and all
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: of baseball actually, with two hundred and thirty runs allowed.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: But a chance to stack up some wins for sure
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: this weekend. We wanted to end today's show on something
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: of a personal note. We announcement this more learning from
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: our athletic colleague, or I guess now former colleague Aaron Gleeman,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: who is leaving the Athletic to go start his own
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: thing to continue to cover the Minnesota Twins first and foremost.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: We wish him all the best, but I know Dan
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: has worked with him for several years, sitting next to
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: him in the press box, and we'll continue to sit
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: next to him, just not as as colleagues. Aaron came
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: to us twenty nineteen. I want to say, back when
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: when I was the editor of the Athletic Minnesota and
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Dan had joined us not long before as our beat writer,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and the two of them made a great pair.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: Is that fair to say?
• 29:37
  Speaker 7: Dan?
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, cool, okay cool?
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: So you and I, You and I put our like
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: you and I had to fight to get him on board.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: There was some skepticism throughout the company, like can this
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: rogue agent come?
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Skepticism from him as well too.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Yes, And it was like seven years like this was
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: like an exceeded expectations and it was so much fun.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Aaron's like just been a great teammate. We had a
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: rhythm worked out, it was so much fun covering with him,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: and it's it's been a tough three weeks knowing that
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: this was coming. You know, We've talked a lot in
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: that time, and like, I'm excited for him. He gets
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: to keep covering Twins. That's great. And I'm glad he's
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: gonna be in the press box to hear my shitty
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: jokes because he sits right next to me at every game.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: But you know, and it's a huge loss for us,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: and because he's got a great voice, I frankly learned
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: myself how to be not as much a beat writer
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: and do more analysis through working with him. But I
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: you know, it's it's a huge loss for us. But
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: the same time, you know, we're still gonna be on
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: the road. I'm gonna be in that clubhouse, you know,
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: seventy percent of the time, like like we have been,
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: and I.
• 30:55
  Speaker 7: Like, what.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: The possibilities for both of us. I let's it that way.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: I'm excited for Aaron because it's it's not a voice
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: that Twins fan should lose, and and it's I'm glad
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: he gets to, you know, kind of set his own path.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: But I think that it's good for all of us.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: And I'm excited. You know what, we get to continue
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: to bring it to athletic too.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: Twins coverage will continue in full force at the Athletic
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: with Dan uh and other contributors as warranted. It would
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: help if they win a few more serious probably, but
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: all the best, all the best to Erin. I'm going
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: to have to check if it's okay to swear on
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: this podcast, because you did it twice.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: Dan, I've done it like three times already. I'm in. Oh, yeah,
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I've dropped some this. Yes, this is not the first time. Look,
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it is, but I do know
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: that A. J. Pierzinski is one of the founders of this,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: and I feel confident that dropping them squere occasionally is
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: not gonna You can check with the board. I hope.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I'll check with the board.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: I can't.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: I can't believe you slipped it past me before, but
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: I guess I'm a I'm an editor the written word,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: not the audio. Yeah, Tyler's been clean. But we'll see
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: what we can do there. Twins are off today, start
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: the series against Miami on Tuesday. We will be back
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday to talk about whatever happens in that one.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Tea up the rest of the week, and as always,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: thanks so much for listening to Twin Cities Territory. If
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: you like what you heard, drop us a like, subscribe,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: leave us a comment whatever it is, and we will
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: see you next time.