greg775

That was the pitch. 0=1 fastball, takes for strike, now 1-1

Wise can make us all happy with a single here. Man up, son. Two outs, OC pops up.

Nice bunt; OC and Wise. Man up, boys. We can shut up the crowd for a while. GO SOX.

Sweet, Uribe better not bunt. He'll pop it up.GO SOX!!

TV is making a big deal out of the dome.

I'm more mad that Wise has lost it at the plate. At one point he was pretty serviceable. Now he's like a bad hitting pitcher. I know why he's playing wise, but I still say there's something to Oz being mad at Swish for brooding. He forgave OC, but not Swish. I don't care either way except Wise needs to play like a big leaguer.

fathom it was a high pop to left; wise was playing in leftcenter made full sprint; OC was converging on ball, Wise stopped and it fell for 2B.

Welcome to the dome. Wise had to run a long way; looks like he got scared of OC at the end and stopped. Watch how Wise was in a full sprint then stopped.

You are correct. Tryin to enjoy the ride but wish we'd hit.

No excuses, but it was HIS year. Worst tradeoff in big league history Wise for CQ.

Haven't you read the papers? Oz is mad at Swish for brooding about playing time. Sun Times mentioned it again today.

Wow. Meatball.

We do miss CQ sooo much. Too bad Swish had to be such a prick Oz won't even consider playing him. DW is like having a pitcher at the plate.

It'd be nice to jump on these guys and make them start thinking. We need another nice inning from Javy then get our heads out. Offense not been brewing of late.

Geez, are we gonna get a hit? Just like twins game first time thru the lineup. Nothin.

I agree; no matter what happens and the rays are damn good, at least we held off those f***heads, the Twins.

Thanks for you all telling us what it was like at the game. But what happened after out No. 2? Were people already hugging and kissing knowing out No. 3 was comin? For me watching the game, out No. 2 was huge. It came so fast.

Wise may be useless, but since he's playing we need to hope he either a.) bunts for a hit. b.) walks. or c.) drives a single to right and of course runs the bases well. It's not likely but possible he could contribute.

Glad to see no karma deflating posts blasting the Scrubs. Their series has nothing to do with ours. GO SOX!!

Thanx as always. Think of how many people see your screensavers on our work computers all over the land! Thanx.

Thought you guys would like to read this take on the Twins making excuses. Good stuff, especially considering we won the damn coin toss. Twins had the advantages but didn’t capitalize (PHOTOS) By Patrick Reusse Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT) The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox of 1978 fielded two very powerful lineups. The Yankees chased down the Red Sox from fourth place and 14 games behind in mid-July, and the teams wound up tied at 99-63 at the top of the American League East. These were seven victories more than Kansas City had posted to win the West, yet only one team could advance to play the Royals in the ALCS. The Yankees had won six of seven from the Red Sox in September to finish with an 8-5 advantage in the season series. No matter. A coin flip in mid-September determined if there was need for a one-game playoff it would be in Fenway Park. Did the Yankees and Bob Lemon, their third manager of the season, complain about this? Did Yankees fans make excuses beforehand because the Red Sox had a home park advantage? Not that anyone can recall. The Yankees knew for a couple of weeks what the result of a first-place tie would be. They went to Fenway and won 5-4, with Bucky Dent’s infamous three-run home run wiping out a 2-0 Boston lead. Thirty years later, this attempt to make it seem as if the Twins were treated unfairly because they were required to play Tuesday night’s sudden-death game in Chicago is nauseating. Roy Smalley and Ron Coomer, the brains and the brawn of FSN North’s postgame show, embraced this angle after Tuesday’s loss. Clearly, this pandering toward the Twins and the viewing public was suggested by a producer, because Smalley and Coomer played and they understand that any ballclub that needs its home field to win a single game doesn’t deserve a postseason chance. This is especially true in the case of the 2008 Twins, a team that won 14 of its last 34 on the regular schedule. A team that plays at a .412 pace over the final five weeks should get on its knees and thank the baseball gods for the chance to play one game any time, any place that would allow it to continue into October. The Twins got that opportunity, and how did they seize it? By getting two hits — two lousy hits — and allowing lefty John Danks and closer Bobby Jenks to face two hitters over the minimum. The Twins and the White Sox were in close competition in the final weeks of the season, even with the Whities missing Carlos Quentin, a newly arrived slugger who would’ve led the league in home runs and probably locked up the MVP award. The White Sox also played the closing weeks without third baseman Joe Crede, more of a loss to them than was Michael Cuddyer’s absence with the Twins. The Twins had every advantage against the White Sox. They had better health and younger legs, and yet they played pathetic baseball against Seattle, Oakland, Toronto, Cleveland and finally Kansas City, and refused to take advantage of Chicago’s mediocrity. The Twins were fortunate to back into a one-game playoff on the wings of .412 baseball, and they responded with two hits, and their TV partners and multitudes of fans want to hand them an excuse? Excuse me while I wretch. When you’re as overmatched as the Twins were by Danks on Tuesday, there’s not an artificial turf in the world with enough cheap hits to allow a lineup to get a run. Danks was outstanding. The Twins were helpless. End of story. To no one’s surprise, the players now have gone from muffled complaints about a coin flip to adopting the excuse. Joe Nathan said Wednesday that he was going to approach the players association about getting rid of coin flips. Guess what? If Nathan, the $12 million closer, had thrown more fastballs rather than getting behind in the count trying to fool hitters, he wouldn’t have had four horrendous blown saves down the stretch and a mid-September coin flip would’ve been meaningless. Playing .412 baseball for five weeks, and then needing two runs and settling for two hits — the Twins wound up with exactly what they deserved, which was a restful October. Do yourselves a favor, media apologists, hardcore fans and now uniformed personnel? Grow up. Stop whining about a coin flip. And don’t start up again next month, when Justin Morneau rightfully finishes behind Boston’s Dustin Pedroia — and maybe others — for the MVP award. ——— © 2008, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

I don't see how that would be wise at all. Javy is a well paid big league pitcher who has been in the rotation all year and capable of a good outing. He's not hurt or anything. It's not like Richard is some certain star in the making who deserves the ball. He's just Richard. This makes perfect sense to go with Javy. Hopefully the third time's the charm (since Oz calling him out).

This might be a dumb question by why were they chanting Paulie when Thome homered? Cause he was up next and might go back to back?

Very good points. Another way to look at it is the Cubs and Angels had it wrapped up early and tonight's losses will shock them back into reality and they'll be fine in the long run. We shall see.

The silence in the crowd was eerie. I wonder what it was like to be there. Seems to me after the grand slam it was a morgue there. They'll be OK obviously if they win tomorrow, but if Zambrano is off and grooves a couple early? Yikes.