Talkin' baseball...

[dianeschlicht]

So now that the playoffs are near, let's talk a little baseball!

If the season was over right now, the Yankees and Red Sox would be 1 and 2 in the American League and my Twins and the A's would be tied.

My question is...
Since The Twins and A's are tied, who would be playing the Yankees and who would be playing the Sox if it was all over today? Would the Twins and A's have to have a one game play off first? I know one of us plays the winner of the East, and the other the wild card team, but I don't know what happens if we are tied.

 

[KM2004]

i'm not sure how it works. It might be that whoever owns the season series between the two teams plays the wildcard team.

But i'm not sure.

All I know is that whoever faces your team will have to face Santana twice (if it goes to 5 games)...yikes.

 

[dianeschlicht]

It will be interesting to see how Gardenhire uses Santana for his next two starts. I am quite sure he will get his start in Cleveland, but I somehow wonder if maybe he wont hold Santana back from his start in NY if it looks like we will be playing the Yankees in the playoffs the next week.

BTW, home field advantage is determined by the best records, I just wondered how it would shake out if the Twins and A's were tied at the end of the season. I know back in '87, Detroit had to have a one game playoff with Toronto to get into the playoffs, but that was before the wild card started.

 

[KM2004]

ahh, I thought you were talking about matchups and not homefield advantage...I see.

I hope gardenhire uses him agains the Yanks. It's a good barometer of how he'll do against them come October. But, Santana's got the Cy Young almost locked, and, with the Twins going into the playoffs, maybe he'll just save his ace for the yanks and that's it...rest the arm now for limited rest in the playoffs. I dunno much about the Twins, but I do know that Santana is on a tear.

How's Radke doing this year? is he your number 2 guy?

 

[jimmiej]

How 'bout them Astros!!! Rocket pitches another gem Sunday night. They may or may not make the playoffs, but they have come back from the dead to make September interesting! The upcoming series in San Fran will be very telling. Go 'stros!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Actually, I was talking matchups. I was just wondering if we were tied with the A's if we would have to have a sudden death playoff to find out who played number one and who played the wildcard team.

The reason I think Gardy would rest Santana or let him pitch only a few innings against NY, is because our final series with them is in the last 6 days of the season. If it is known that we would be playing the Yankees in the first round, I would think he wouldn't want their players to have too good a look a Santana before they would face him a few days later.

Actually, Santana was considered our number 2 guy at the begining of the season. Radke has done his usual predictable job, but he has not had a lot of run support when he has pitched, so his only 11/7 on the year.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The big problem right now is that a lot of guys are banged up! We have been playing with a lot of non-regulars lately. It's a fine line on how to manage that during these final two weeks of the season. If Gardy gets through with this winning home field advantage, I think he should get the top manager of the year position! We really only have 2 starting pitchers. Silva, Loshe and Mulholland have been less than consistant this year. Silva has been good, but keeps getting little injuries, and Loshe has not been as good as he was last year. He has picked it up a bit lately though.

 

[richiebaseball]

In your scenario I believe whoever won the regular season head-to-head matchup between the Twins and A's would get the Sox and the other would get the Yankees. It's my understanding that if both teams are already assured of playoff spots then tiebreakers and not a one game playoff will determine who plays against who.

Richard

 

[BETTYDISNEY]

One things for sure whoever wins BETTER beat those damn yankees!!!!

 

[richiebaseball]

Originally posted by BETTYDISNEY
One things for sure whoever wins BETTER beat those damn yankees!!!!

I'll second that.

Richard

 

[Jungle Skipper]

This is the playoff picture if the season ended today:

Twins at Yankees
Boston at Oakland

San Fran at St. Louis
Los Angeles at Atlanta

this is off of sportsline.com

Go Cardinals!

Jungle Josh

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by Jungle Skipper
This is the playoff picture if the season ended today:

Twins at Yankees
Boston at Oakland

San Fran at St. Louis
Los Angeles at Atlanta

this is off of sportsline.com

Go Cardinals!

Jungle Josh

That's what I thought, but I just wondered about the tie situation having any impact. Actually, I hope we get Home Field advantage, but our two losses to the O's last week were not good for that!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

I think Gardy will consider a few things when deciding when/how long Santana pitches down the stretch;

* do we need the game to stay ahead of the A's for ALDS home field advantage,

* is the opponent still in a pennant race. Tom Kelly always felt he owed it to the teams in the race (Red Sox / Yankees) to put a competitive team on the field if our opponent is still in a race, and Gardy is really a product of the Tom Kelly school of managing.

* getting Santana to 20 wins. He won't throw 150 pitches to get there, but if he needs to pitch a couple more innings to pick up a win, I bet Gardy lets him.

I have a good feeling about this Twins team. We only have two All Star caliber pitchers, Santana & Radke, but I keep thinking of '87 when we won a World Series with Les Straker as the third starter!

 

[Nickunited]

Wow - I should go by my Johan Santana Jersey then!


My Mets might be bad, but that does not mean I cant root against the Yankees!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by manchurianbrownbear
I think Gardy will consider a few things when deciding when/how long Santana pitches down the stretch;

* do we need the game to stay ahead of the A's for ALDS home field advantage,

* is the opponent still in a pennant race. Tom Kelly always felt he owed it to the teams in the race (Red Sox / Yankees) to put a competitive team on the field if our opponent is still in a race, and Gardy is really a product of the Tom Kelly school of managing.

* getting Santana to 20 wins. He won't throw 150 pitches to get there, but if he needs to pitch a couple more innings to pick up a win, I bet Gardy lets him.

I have a good feeling about this Twins team. We only have two All Star caliber pitchers, Santana & Radke, but I keep thinking of '87 when we won a World Series with Les Straker as the third starter!

LOL! DH and I were just talking about the '87 pitching staff and Straker on our way home from the game yesterday!

Folks at the game yesterday were not too happy that Gardy pulled Johann after the 8th, but I am quite sure he wont let him go much over 100 pitches here toward the end.

 

[Nickunited]

I can understand being upset because he could have notched 17 strike outs. Even though his 14 were enough to make me lose the World Series in Fantasy Baseball.

Bottom line is though. They need him. He is key to a short series. Facing him twice is lethal for any line-up in the first round.

You dont want to chance throwing his arm out at this stage. The division is all but locked up! I agreed with the move and I am an "outsider".

You need him in October!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Oh yes, I agreed with the move too, but the crowd was really wild about it! I just wish they would come out in those kind of numbers all year instead of just at "important" games.

I think some wanted him to break the Twins season strike out record at THAT game. Blyleven holds the Twins record with 258 strike outs in a season, and Santana hit 254 Yesterday.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

nickunited, we'll take you on the bandwagon whenever you're ready. Especially if you're wearing that Santana jersey!

Diane, I watched the Twins on TV yesterday (Bears beating packers during commercials ) until they took Santana out. With weather SOOOO beautiful and with confidence in our bullpen, I took the kids for a hike in the Theo Wirth woods after the 8th inning!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Sounds like that was a great thing to do yesterday! I couldn't believe how hot it was when we came out of the stadium! It was so nice when we went in, but after the game, it was VERY hot and humid!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Originally posted by jimmiej
How 'bout them Astros!!! Rocket pitches another gem Sunday night. They may or may not make the playoffs, but they have come back from the dead to make September interesting! The upcoming series in San Fran will be very telling. Go 'stros!

Anyone can pitch a gem against the Brewers...