great
because of the unknown. A team that is favored in any sport and then the star
of the team goes down injured only to see the team fall back.
Twins home
opener is finally here on the 2nd coldest day in Twins home opener
history. It was so good to hear Bert Blyleven and Dick Bremers’ voice on the TV again.
The circle me Bert signs were out in force. The powerful Tigers are the
opponent and to make matters worse the Twins face maybe baseball’s best pitcher
in Justin Verlander.
Is there a
better feeling as a baseball fan to say the home opener is finally here and the
season is under way?
Q. How would
rookie Aaron Hicks look when at bat against Verlander?
A. Twins
rookie center fielder Aaron Hicks did not look well at all against Verlander.
The way the first few innings went for Twins
batters I was hoping we would not see a no hitter on Opening Day against the
Twins.
Twins got a
break when Verlander left the game. The disappointment comes in leaving 12 men
on base including bases loaded and only one out only to watch out 2 and 3 come
in form of a strikeout by Twins batters. An early domination by Verlander
turned into hopes of a win with the struggling Tigers relief pitcher, Drew
Smyly. The Twins had so many chances to make Smyly become not so Smyly.
A 4-2 loss
sure there are negatives to talk about but I want to look at what I like today.
Twins starter Vance Worley had a tough first couple innings but I really like
the way he competed until he was eventually pulled. It was nice to see him not
panic and settle down getting ground balls.
I was very
impressed with 2 of the relievers with Casey Fien picking up 3 strikeouts in 1
inning of work and Josh Roenicke picking up a strikeout. The two combined for 2
1/3 innings with no hits allowed.
Tiger’s slugger
Miguel Cabrera who won the Triple Crown in 2012 was shut down and ended 0-4.
This has to be a positive for the pitching staff to shut down this monster of a
hitter.
It is hard
to believe the Twins had a chance to win after the way they started out the
game.
How about
the range that new shortstop Pedro Floriman showed? The deep ball in the hole and
throwing in time to get the out at first was a nice sight to see. Yes, it was
slow footed Cabrera but I still did like the effort by Florimon. The catch in
short left field showed more of the range also. I know he did commit an error
which is not fun to watch but I still like what he showed. His batting ending 1
for 2 is not bad way to start out either.
Mauer coming
out of the gate 2-4 is a nice way to start the year. The Twins batters get 7
hits and 3 of them go for doubles.
A loss is
never fun to watch but I will say it is so nice to have baseball back. The starting
staff has been drastically changed since 2012, a rookie center fielder are just
some of the things to watch as the 162 game season has now begun.
The Twins
and Tigers go at it again Wednesday so we will see what the team learned from
one game. We just need to be patient and support the team we all love, our
Minnesota Twins!!!
I will do
an article after each series concludes looking back at what was positive and
negative.
Thanks for
reading
Purplestick
GO
TWINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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