2023 ALWC: Minnesota Twins vs. Toronto Blue Jays

why did Kirk call for another fastball when he hit the first one to kingdom come?

Kay calling this game means we’re never going to be rid of him jfc

Yuck

Off to tennis, will unfortunately have to miss Davis Schneider's game-winning grand slam in the 9th.

(Honestly, I have no idea whether he's even on the roster.)

He is. Keep the dream alive.

You missed the Jays only rally of the game, including a near-HR by Chapman that would have given them the lead.

Things looking grim for the Jays.

Well at least this ending is going to be something

Stranding three lol

Cue sad trombone

duran is filthy

I thought that was a hit

Curse broken

Had the game on mute until the last out and was confused and shaken by the voice of Michael Kay.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I heard Chapman's near-HR on the radio on the way over...I haven't given up, but I've got kayaking and badminton tomorrow, so I'm working hard not to be watching if they do go down.

P surprised at the poll results

The blue jays thread consistent appearance in SNA explains it. ftr, I voted twins in 3

Does it? I would have thought most people following the team would be well aware of how badly they fall apart whenever the pressure is on.

You can kill the fan at the mouth, but never at the heart (or at the poll response)

xp they have risp disease, and the Twins are a tricky team, plus they have some legit studs in the lineup and the rotation.

Like Carlos “tuning fork” Correa’s bat has gone to hell but his arm is still golden 😮‍💨

Jays are being really aggressive vs Gray, swinging at everything.

Watched the first couple of innings in a pub with no sound--a friend just emailed to say they used Husker Du as bumper music?!

Going to assume it was "Everything Falls Apart."

i know it's must-win, but that seems awfully early to give up on berrios

I think this was a set plan, to bring in a LHP early.

I'm in the library right now, following online. Swear to god, I was just about to put a post up to the effect of "It'll be fun trying to guess the moment of maximum stupidity when Schneider decides to pull Berrios."

What happened with Berrios? I left the house for ten minutes to catch an escaped cat and he got pulled with 47 pitches?

Schneider’s pitching choices have been a constant mystery to me whenever I follow a game

Sliver of a silver lining: I think that kind of move might be enough to get Schneider out of here for next year.

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-Tuning-Forks#/Image:Use-Tuning-Forks-Step-1.jpeg

That didn’t work, it was just an illustration of a tuning fork

I think this was a set plan, to bring in a LHP early.

michael kay agrees. if so, it was probably done with the approval of the front office

I'm sure he will continue to make pitching changes--everyone except Gausman's down in the pen today, so that's the plan, use a lot of pitchers--until he finally finds the one guy who doesn't have anything today and 2-0 becomes 6-0 becomes season over.

on the bright side, i guess, is that rocco has burned two of his left-handed hitters

oh no

Reading a capsule description of a pickoff isn't, I imagine, as embarrassing or as infuriating as actually seeing it.

Kay and ARod ripped the Berrios decision throughout the next inning, they stopped once the Jays started rallying. Now with the pick off they have another two innings of content.

Clem: it was bad. The pick off was nicely timed, and they had to review it, but the bottom line is that Vlad was napping and that THIS CANNOT HAPPEN in that situation.

I try to be consistent on this: I don't think the starting pitcher--especially if he's one of your best--should be removed unless there's a compelling reason to do so, plan or no plan. Three shutout innings + one walk is not a compelling reason.

Thinking of Vlad two weeks ago when he didn't tag up on that deep fly to center field that almost cost them a game (it didn't).

feel like bo b needs to get that

design of minnesota uniforms just immaculate, you have to tip your cap imo

Off to badminton--can someone step in and pinch-whine for me?

also that walk was on a 3-2 count to the guy who hit two homers yesterday

mlb.tv is promoting “hammock pouch underwear” at me during the commercial breaks

Which teams make changes with FO sign off? I know Kap’s Giants did but are there others more weirdly known? XPs to mookieproof

Hm not sure if the Twins would run out Duran again today or if he’s available, Ryan in game 3 if it goes there & hope he goes seven? Idk

Don’t look now 🫣

chapman absolutely smoked that foul ball

Jesus Christ

Jays, how do you even? That’s some curb your enthusiasm plot writing there

god i hate michael kay

this is a frustrating watch

I have been on pitcher.JPEG’s instagram. He likes Tolkien, Ron DeSantis and is a Disney adult. He also makes the worst pizza I’ve ever seen in my life.

xps to Thermo at least it’s quick? Mariners dying after 18 scoreless innings at home last year was just unreal, both boring and agonising.

Yeah if this is emblematic of how the Jays typically play, I think they might be one of the most pain inducing teams to follow. I’m legitimately frustrated by them and I don’t even care if they win or lose

Romano in a non save situation…

Unfortunately these two games are indeed an encapsulation of the Jays' season.

I think you learn more about a team when they lose than when they win. Even in a short best of three series their weaknesses come to the fore. The Jays are who we thought they were.

chapman a bright spot at third. just a machine over there

lmao that's one way to make a play

Life in the 9th, the previous 17 innings have taught me not to trust it tho

One of the worst elimination at-bats I’ve seen

Sorry jays fans, but happy for the twins here. Can’t say they didn’t earn it.

Yep. Go Twins.

sorry jays fans

xp lol you try to hit 102 when the guy also has a wipeout 90mph curve

The Jays have now lost seven straight postseason games going back to 2016.

Price you pay for that all-time Bautista moment

I asked someone to check the score for me while at badminton: still 2-0 going into the top of the 9th. So I dropped everything and raced home to see the rally that I knew was about to transpire.

That's not true.

As pointed out above, this is who they are. They didn't choke; they were the 2023 Jays through and through. The needless pitching change worked out in the long run. They just couldn't score two runs. That's a tall order.

This season felt like the biggest waste of time I can remember. I look forward to the window of Bichette and our generational player closing, so they can dismantle his team and start over. But they'll tinker some more and field more or less the same team next year.

I think my last bit of engagement with this team will be, once it's posted online in a day or two, listening to Blair and Barker go apoplectic about pulling Berrios. I'll enjoy that.

Sorry to go on and on, but I'm just seeing the recap now, with the shot of Shapiro and Atkins (who, yes, were obviously 1000% responsible for the call on Berrios; they're the guys with the plan) after Correa's hit. God, they looked fucking stupid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylwMWpbv5Fk

tbf, the berrios decision was ultimately less important than the jays' inability to score

For sure--I think the three Jays fans here have said as much. Berrios wasn't going to win 0-0, and the Jays simply can't score runs. The Berrios decision represents something else about them, though, something harder to describe and just as annoying. They're like a caricature of a well-assembled, well-managed analytical team. They had a "plan" today, and the plan ignored that 1) Berrios was pitching great, 2) what you said, that he'd just walked a guy who hit two HR the day before on a full count (just saw the pitch--it was close to perfect situationally), 3) that Berrios was pitching against his old team in his old park and just may have had some extra incentive there, 4) pulling him cannot have a positive effect on the rest of the team (basically telling them that we need to press the panic button because you can't score anyway), and 5) bringing in Kikuchi in a unfamiliar role is not ideal. It was just colossally stupid.

otm

Price you pay for that all-time Bautista moment

i *think* this is a joke? but i'm not certain

in any case you're either terrible at jokes or simply an asshole

might suggest dialing that back?

Price you pay for touching a sacred cow. What’s got you heated bout that comment?

Moving on.

Just ran into a bloke wearing a jays shirt on the way back from work in sunny QLD (what are the odds?) and in our brief conversation he echoed basically every sentiment expressed by jays supporters in this thread. Felt the moral responsibility to cut the conversation short so I didn’t let him dwell on it any longer

As I expected, everyone they had on TV for the post-mortem, right down to former Jay Ricky Romero, was flabbergasted by Berrios. (A couple taking a few seconds to clarify that yes, it was their anemic offense that lost it for them.) I think even Merrifield said stuff after the game. Which is another argument for not making the change: unless it works out perfectly, you can look forward to a few weeks, maybe even a few months, of nasty ridicule.

Go Twins!!!

Jhoan Duran, 101mph Fastball and 98mph Splinker, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/Zk1xksXKcJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 4, 2023

filth