Live with La Velle: The sad trombone plays at Target Field
Note to readers: Columnist La Velle E. Neal III will be updating this regularly from the Target Field press box during Wednesday's Game 4. Follow along and comment, and keep a closer eye on the action with live pitch-by-pitch updates on our Star Tribune GameView.
Astros 3, Twins 2. That's all, folks.
Twins fans are booing the Astros as they take a team photo on the pitchers mound after reaching the ALCS for the seventh consecutive season.
Former Twin Ryan Pressly slammed the door on the Twins season by striking out the side. Max Kepler struck out looking to end the game then barked at home plate umpire Jansen Visconti. It was the most emotion he's shown all season.
There was potential for a dramatic moment in the eighth when No. 25 made an appearance. I couldn't see the Twins dugout at the time because fans were standing. So I didn't know why there was a sudden roar in the eighth inning. I found out when someone moved their head just enough to see Byron Buxton in the on-deck circle.
It was all hands on deck time, with the Twins trailing 3-2. And manager Rocco Baldelli fired a bullet he didn't have until Wednesday. Buxton, who hadn't played since Aug. 1, was added to the roster for the injured Alex Kirilloff. And his return to major league baseball came when the Twins needed him badly. Fans roared as he warmed up in the circle, then again as he was announced.
Pinch hitting for Michael A. Taylor, Buxton popped out to third. Couldn't have been more anticlimatic.
8:00 p.m.: Target Field or downtown library?
What's the main reason this Target Field crowd is subdued: Rocco's pitching changes, or the spell Jose Urquidy has cast over Twins hitters?
Game 4 fans want reasons to cheer but the nine men on the field aren't providing any.
I'm not a fan of playing reliever roulette unless your rotation needs a break. I call it reliever roulette because all it takes is one guy having a bad day to screw the plan up. Twins starter Joe Ryan could have started the third inning, and manager Rocco Baldelli could have let him go until he got in trouble. But Brock Stewart started the third inning as Ryan looked a little flummoxed in the dugout. Stewart got through the third, needing just 12 pitches. He deserved a second inning, but Baldelli went with Caleb Thielbar in the fourth and lefthanded hitters were due up. Problem is that Yordan Alvarez can hit lefties too. Alvarez singled. Two batters later, Jose Abreu hammered a two-run homer for a 3-1 Astros lead.
So I'm wondering if fans are too busy second-guessing Rocco's pitching changes to cheer.
It could be the offense. Since Lewis' home run, Jose Urquidy has retired 13 of 14 Twins hitters entering the sixth inning. The Twins averaged 6.25 runs a game in September but 3.2 in the postseason.
So bullpen usage plus silence at the plate has sapped energy from the announced crowd of 40,977.
... Oh, but wait — Edouard Julien just parked one in the left-field seats to pull the Twins within 3-2 in the sixth. Target Field has come alive again, and now fans are bringing it on every pitch again.
So it was the offense that turned this place into a library. The bats still need to get going.
6:51 p.m.: Sharpen your scorecard pencil
Brock Stewart is now in the game, which means: Rocco isn't messing around.
Joe Ryan looked fine, other than the center-cut pitch to Michael Brantley in the second inning. Brantley belted it, knotting the game at 1-1. Ryan was mixing his pitches well, which made his fastball more effective. He would have been back out there for the third inning under normal circumstances, but my thinking is that Rocco didn't want Ryan to face that lineup a second time.
That might be Baldelli's strategy tonight. Throw different arms and different stuff at the Astros to try to make them uncomfortable. Emilio Pagan, Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar, Louie Varland and Chris Paddack all could be lined up to pitch tonight. Bailey Ober is sitting in the bullpen too, but he pitched yesterday. Kenta Maeda threw two innings yesterday, so he's out.
Hopefully you have a lot of room on your scorecards to track all the pitching changes, because there are going to be a lot of them.
As I finish this, Caleb Thielbar starts warming up. He'll be in to pitch the top of the fourth.
On offense, that first-inning rocket from Royce Lewis is holding up — for now.
5:01 p.m.: 5 questions about Buxton
But how should we really feel about that? I'll imagine some questions you might be asking.
1. What's wrong with Alex Kirilloff? He has aggravated the shoulder injury he suffered a few weeks ago. It's been getting progressively worse and perhaps is a reason why wasn't swinging well. No, it's not related to his surgically repaired wrist, which, by the way, was stepped on during the Blue Jays series.
2. If he was injured, then why was he even on the roster in the first place? Again, he has aggravated the shoulder since the playoffs began. And manager Rocco Baldelli added that several players are playing banged up, some worse than others. I get that. The season is long and there's more wear and tear involved than many think. But if he was hitting he probably would have just fought through it.
3. Why isn't Buxton starting instead of Michael A. Taylor? Here's Rocco on that one: "Anyone that's followed our team knows what he's gone through this year. We think right now he's at a good enough spot where he can help us, I would say, probably in smaller spurts," he said. That sounds like pinch-running to me. Buxton hasn't played in a major league game since Aug. 1, so there's all kinds of rust to knock off. And he pointed out that playing for the St. Paul Saints, as Buxton did in September, doesn't prepare you for the top-level stuff hitters face in the majors. One other thing: When I had my exclusive with Buxton a few weeks ago, he wasn't sure if he was even at 70%. "Can I go out and play centerfield? I can play centerfield. Can I play centerfield the way I want to play centerfield?" then he shook his head.
4. Well, why in the heck is Buxton the choice and not someone else? (Great question, La Velle!) The Twins don't really have a clear-cut option to add to the roster. I wondered about Joey Gallo, since he can play first very well. Does anyone want to see him hit? Trevor Larnach? They have enough left-handed hitting outfielders. Nick Gordon? He last played forever ago. Jordan Luplow? Meh. So I'm not sure how deep the conversation was on whom to replace Kirilloff on the roster.
5. So is Kirilloff's shoulder a long-term issue? Here's Rocco again: "I think we're going to get through these playoffs, get him looked at, get him evaluated again, probably get him more tests before anyone knows the true answer to that. ... We're talking about yesterday during the game, him getting to a point where he really shouldn't be out there, where he shouldn't be swinging. So we're talking less than 24 hours ago we started to really contemplate taking him off the roster. It just kind of happened. ... We're going to have to figure out."
4:59 p.m.: Two scenarios
Just so we're all on the same page here: If the Twins lose tonight in Game 4, their season is over. Astros advance. If the Twins win tonight, then the Star Tribune coverage team hops on a plane for Houston to cover Game 5 there on Friday night (7:03 p.m.).
4:44 p.m.: Pregame vibes, tunes
We're not allowed in the clubhouse before playoff games. So it's hard to get a feel for the mood of the team. All we can glean comes from pre-game interviews in the Sid Hartman Press Conference Room. Caleb Thielbar and Emilio Pagan spoke to us and both wore a Joe Ryan Grateful Dead T-shirt.
"When they asked me to come in today and I knew Joe was pitching," Pagan said of his fashion choice. "We're confident in Joe every time he takes the mound. He's been one of the best pitchers in the game since he's gotten over to Minnesota. It's a really comfortable shirt, but it also seemed fitting since he was pitching today."
So it's standard operating procedure, with a wrinkle: The season is on the line.
"We know what's going on. We know our back's up against the wall right now," Thielbar said. "I think, if you walk through the clubhouse right now, you really wouldn't know what the situation is.
"Guys are having fun. Guys are loose. Guys are laughing and joking around, just like we do every other day. We know what we need to do tonight. That's the plan, go forward and accomplish what we need to do."
Sitting in the playoff press conferences through the years, it's always interesting to see how the managers explain the mood in their clubhouses when facing elimination. Predictably, Rocco had an eccentric approach for establishing the vibe as the teammates dressed for the game.
"I put on some music on my speaker in my office, so everyone that walked by would have to walk by some music on the way in the door today, when they came into the clubhouse," he said. "You want to know what was on the speaker?"
Yes, the questioner (me) replied.
"I figured you were," he said. "It was King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Everyone can go look that up now if they even care, but it was blaring, and they're good."
With that, let's get ready for Game 4.
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