Blackburn has been the Twins second worse starter lately after Perkins. I think we all know what happens in the third game of this series if the Twins win the first two.

The Sox are 4-14 in Domes. They took 2 out of 3 against the Rays in Tampa earlier in the year.

(I’d forgotten about it too, until somebody corrected me.)

there was a game last night. And it sucked. And there will be a lot written about momentum, and ejections softball lineups, and stuff being thrown on the field the mentality of playing in the dome… against the Twins… in September. And not a lick of it will have any staying power as a narrative if the Sox rebound and start kicking kick ass over the final two months tomorrow.

how a management ‘team’ as intelligent as Ozzie and Kenny can be so stubborn on Griffey playing CF. It has to be the most mind-boggling decision in their (collective) tenure. I can see the case for Griffey playing over Swisher — I’d love to make an argument for Swish but he’s OPSing under .550 in his last 75 PA — but man, why not left field? I don’t know if I can recall seeing something so ridiculously absurd… seriously, was there anybody who thought Griffey could still even fake a CFer, statheads, media pundits and “experts” alike?

I also don’t want to get into the overblown hyperbole that you’re going to see everywhere, but damn if every single facet of this game was discouraging from Vazquez’ miserable performance (how many sliders did he hang in those four+ innings — 10 or more?) to the same, lethargic offense. Dye has been miserable since Q’s injury, and while Thome has stayed steady, he’s no longer the 150 OPS+ guy that can carry the team by his lonesome.

And finally — going off-tangent for a second here — listening to the Twins broadcast made this all the more painful. I want Bert Blyleven so badly to get hit in the groin. I hate having to sit through a game with those two schmucks on the mic.

at this point is just plain batshit crazy — until (and if) we clinch, I don’t need to see him in any role other than as a late inning lefty PH. The man is clearly just completely dead. Not just resting, not pining for the fjords; dead. He is an un-parrot. If he really wants to play for a World Series team, he should start by taking himself out of the lineup. Larry’s train wreck posts way back when were obviously spot-on — this is rapidly turning into Erstad-esque debacle.

Not a big point, but was anyone else kind of amazed to see Boone Logan in this game? Sure, the game was sorta out of hand (6 runs and it seemed like more), but good God, the man has sucked as hard as it is possible to suck at every level since freakin’ May, and basically laid down on the job in Yankee Stadium last week. I honestly thought we had seen the last of him in a Sox uniform.

And I’ve said it many times tonight, but I’ll say it again anyway: Javy Vazquez is an annoying, annoying man. 6 straight balls to lead off the 2nd in the biggest game of the year after your team takes the lead on the road? Nice work. No. Seriously. Nice work.

honestly, who could he mean? It’s no one on the infield. Certainly Thome’s career numbers in the dome don’t seem to indicate he’s shaking in his booties. Dye’s played on the biggest stage. The only people who stand out are Javy and Boone. Is Boone’s mental capacity really going to determine if the Sox win or not. I mean, come on.

it will be more dome time in tampa bay

Vazquez is a punk like Benson was a punk for the Bears.

Worse even because Vazquez is immensely talented but lacks the discipline to actually do anything with that talent when it matters. Ear infection. Please. How ridiculous is that shit – Q fucking broke his arm and the only thing keeping him off the field is Herm saying no.

1. sox get thome and pk on 1st and 3rd, respectively, with no outs and junior immediately hits into a dp.
this was a golden opportunity for the sox, yet it almost felt as if they hadn’t even gained the momentum upon scoring.

2. after the sox “stake” javy to a 1 run lead, he immediately walks the leadoff hitter on 4 pitches.
if there is anything to this momentum stuff, then it’s hard to kill it more quickly than javy did with the leadoff walk.

3. with runners on 1st and 3rd and 1 out for the twins, the sox field an easy ground ball to 3rd and use their infamous rundown skills to manage an out yet put runners on 2nd and 3rd.
although the sox managed to pitch out of the inning without further damage, this has just been symptomatic of a team that rarely does anything to help itself out defensively. they execute the rundown like a little league team.

4. after getting runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, the sox didn’t manage to move those runners until a 2 out single from OC, which didn’t even manage to “plate” a runner.
3rd base is the only place that we can accurately call scoring position for these sox. 2nd base is barely better than 1st or being at the plate. thank god for the homeruns, because it would take 4 singles in an inning to do any scoring.

i know i reiterated cheat on some stuff here, but i think this game is a perfect example of how the sox lose games.

But will it matter?

A heavy workload Tuesday produced the most encouraging results of Carlos Quentin’s rehabilitation from a right wrist fracture.

Although being activated for the first round of the playoffs remains a long shot, Quentin said he will have his wrist examined Friday in Chicago.

“Once it’s looked at, we’ll re-evaluate where I’m at and talk about swinging a bat and exactly what’s the best way of going about it as far as getting back in the swing,” an upbeat Quentin said.

Quentin declined to predict, however, if he could return next week.

“I’d like to throw out a percentage,” he said. "Every day I feel more optimistic about the healing process.

“If you asked me three days ago how I felt about it, I wouldn’t feel as positive. But I feel right now with what I’ve seen over the past couple of days that things are well.”

Quentin, who leads the Sox with 36 homers and 100 RBIs despite fracturing his wrist Sept. 1, said he has noticed the most improvement in his range of motion.

“There’s some pain involved, but with this type of situation, there’s going to be some,” Quentin said. "But afterward, it has bounced back well.

was the new episode of the Shield. The Sox could use a pep talk from Vic Mackey.

why the fuck did the bears release mark bradley? I know he was oft. injured but at least when healthy he was the 2nd best receiver on the team behind lloyd! Sheid is a bum who drops too many passes, and besides Sheid who else do we have? Can I see Earl Bennett stretch a field?

whats the Twins magic number?
7 or 8?

also, has anyone seen Jermaine Dye?
I havent seen him in a while.

and tell him to take his fat fucking arse with him

all i could think of -an apples and orange comparison - was Jordan in big games with that ‘just gimmee the ball’ look in the 4th quarter. the hunger, the desire and confidence…

she rides, of course, gets all A’s and is the apple of my eye. there’s a sweet little pinto at the stable and it would be my pleasure. still, giffey’s useless.

I know this is a broken freaking record, but does ANY team of announcers ladle on the bullshit like these two when talking about the Twins? These two Twinkie lovers forced me to put the game on mute.

oy vey.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/949580/

Didn’t matter. We have known for a long time that this would pretty much come down to us v. Minny. And I don’t believe when we were discussing the “stopper” person who you want out there in a “must” game anyone picked Javy, for whatever reason. Mine was MB, and he’ll either man up tonight or not. But I’ve got my guy against someone who’s been on fumes lately, and I’m OK with that.

Let’s take it one at a time. We’re still up 1.5 games. We’re not the Rays this year (up 3, playing well down the stretch against good opponents, spanking bad ones) but we’re GD in first. So strap it on for tonight – I have no girls gymnastics practice to detract from the event at hand this evening.

SO GET JACKED UP! QUIT SNIPING! FORM TESTUDO! NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE!

After the Kubel dinger, I mostly channel surfed, settling on “The Office” and “Family Guy” reruns on TBS.

When I did switch back to the game, for some reason, I kept hearing circus music in my head.

The Sox, especially Javy, looked like they didn’t want to even be in the stadium. What a suckfest (not the good kind).

What are the chances that the Royals, who have nothing to lose, and a grudge against the Sox, just sorta play like shit for the series?

Since we are such a thorn in the collective side of the Royals, it seems like that would be the one way they could harm us without actually playing us (in which we tend to harm them more anyway).

Just speculating….if this Dome series doesn’t yield a Sox win, this weekend is going to be huge for both teams, obviously.

The fact is that MN is simply a much better team right now. The wins the Sox can get at this point are when their pitching dominates and that won’t happen with MB on turf and Floyd.

That being said, any team bad and stupid enough to play Griffey in CF repeatedly doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs.

is there not any white sox bars in sf?

*He did pass Sosa on the all-time list, so I guess he’s got that going for himself.

Even if you figure we only have a 40% chance of winning each game in the series (65 win baseball over the course of a season), there’s still just 16% chance the Twins pull off the next two wins.

4/10 * 4/10 = 16/100

The Twins have swept one team at home, Cleveland, in the midst of a 10 game losing streak.

Matchup: Chicago (86-70) at Minnesota (85-72), 7:10 p.m. CT
Probable Starters: Mark Buehrle (204 2/3 IP, 4.49 RA, 1.32 WHIP, 131 K) vs. Nick Blackburn (182, 4.90, 1.35, 91)
Pythagorean Record: Chicago, 86-70 (775 RS, 693 RA); Minnesota, 87-70 (810 RS, 724 RA)
Hit List Rankings: Chicago, #7; Minnesota, #12
Likelihood of Each Team Winning: Chicago 0; Minnesota, 110
Prospectus: After yesterday’s blowout win, the Twins can pull to within just a half-game of Chicago with another victory tonight. This second game of the series might be more of a challenge, however, because Blackburn has shown real signs of tiring at the end of his rookie season: in his previous two starts, the right-hander has given up six runs in four innings followed by six in just 1 1/3. Both of those starts were on the road, however, and Blackburn has been dynamite at home: a 3.56 RA and 7-3 record, compared with 6.02 and 3-7 away from the Twin Cities. The Twins overall are 50-26 at home (.658) and 35-46 away (.432), a larger differential between the two winning percentages than any other team in baseball this year. For the season, Blackburn is charting almost an exact-average course—a 10-10 record and a 4.15 ERA, against the 4.16 AL average adjusted for the Metrodome. He has a below-average strikeout rate of 4.5 K/9, but compensates by walking fewer than 1.7 batters per nine.

Buehrle passed the 200-inning marker in his last start for the eighth straight season. He has become arguably the most dependable and durable pitcher in baseball, as he is the only one to throw at least 200 innings in all eight seasons beginning in 2001. (Teammate Javier Vazquez and Livan Hernandez are second with seven apiece.) He also leads in overall innings for that period, with 1,782 1/3, 12 more than Hernandez. Under Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox have been at or near the top of the league in innings pitched by starters every season—they were second in 2004, Guillen’s first campaign at the helm, first in 2005 and 2006, second last year, and have fallen to fourth in 2008, behind the Angels, Blue Jays, and Indians. The Sox led the majors in starters with 200-plus innings in 2005, ’06, and ’07. This year they are tied for the lead, at two (Vazquez and Buehrle), along with the Diamondacks, Giants, Blue Jays, and Royals, but are the only team that could add a third to the ranks if Gavin Floyd throws at least 5 1/3 innings in his final start.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=462319

“It’s confirmed — the Lions have fired Millen”

It probably is because Buehrle @ Blackburn is the best matchup for the Sox in this series.

If they win tonight, I would actually have some confidence in the Sox taking two of three and I think the Sox would gain this confidence as well and play much looser. If this team is down 0-2 in the series and facing a possible sweep on Thursday, I think their butt-holes will clench up so tight that you couldn’t pull a greased tee out of their behinds with a pair of pliers.