Gardenhire incites Twins’ meltdown
With the Twins taking a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning, one would figure that they would have this win in the bag. It did not happen as things feel apart as the Mariners scored 10 runs in the seventh inning to give them a 11-6 victory Monday night at Safeco Field.
Whenever a team blows that lead, there is always going to be analysis about what happened. It’s only natural for anyone to wonder.
This loss has to be on Ron Gardenhire. Sure the pitchers did not do their job, but Gardenhire did not put them in a position to succeed.
Perkins did well until the sixth inning, which he labored to get three outs. He survived in that inning because of Jose Vidro’s double play and the fly out by Bryan LaHair. When a pitcher survives to finish the sixth or seventh inning, it’s a sign that he is done for the night.
It’s understandable that Gardenhire wants Perkins to learn to go deep in games, but with the Twins in the pennant race, this is not the time to start experimenting guys. Every game at this time of the year is important, and Gardy of all people should realize this.
Gardy should have at least had a reliever warm up in the seventh inning in case Perkins lost it. For some reason, the Twins manager did not. He felt he would try his luck with his starter again, and it burned him.
Perkins gave up couple of hits. He should have been gone by then, but the problem is no one warmed up so Perkins had to keep pitching, which put the Twins in a bind.
Perkins never had a chance when Raul Ibanez was at the plate. Ibanez hit a grand slam to cut the deficit to 6-5. By then, Perkins hit the showers. Gardy compounded another mistake by using Brian Bass, who has been horrible this season.
Was Dennys Reyes or Jesse Crain available? This is normally their spot so it’s a wonder why Bass is pitching. Predictably, Bass failed by giving up two hits to the two batters that he faced. As a result, the game was tied at 6.
Bass was pulled after Jose Lopez’s single tied the game at 6. This outing should be the end of Bass. He has proven that he can’t get it done so there is no reason for him to pitch for the Twins this season.
With one out in the seventh inning, it was up to Craig Breslow to keep the game at 6. He got the second out, but he walked light-hitting Miguel Cairo, which ended his night.
Gardy was so desperate to keep the game tied that he used Guerrier, who should have been used to start the seventh inning, to get the last out. That did not happen as the Mariners got three hits and three runs off Guerrier to put a bowtie on this meltdown.
After the game, the Twins manager bemoaned about how the bullpen could not get any outs. Maybe if he put the right guys in there, there would have been some outs.
No manager in his right mind would use two rarely used relievers to keep this lead afloat. Yes, Gardy wants to see if Breslow and Bass can handle it, but they have proven they can’t. Why go on?
It’s just amazing how he makes decisions that are easy for fans to second-guess. This game should have been winnable one if the right decisions was made.
It was simply a rough night for Gardy.
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4 Responses to “Gardenhire incites Twins’ meltdown”
August 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am
From what I heard, Dennys Reyes was back at the hotel with food poisoning. He is day-to-day.
The only reason that I can think of that Bass came in is that he was warming up prior to the grand slam and he was the only reliever ready. Breslow stood up once the bases got loaded, but I think he might have been rushed, which might have been why he wasn’t so hot. He’s also been battling some back stiffness since mid-June. I think he would have hit the DL had there been someone in AAA that was MLB-ready.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am
All that said, I have the same feelings of disbelief that you do. Gardy can do better than this.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Perkins gave up couple of hits. He should have been gone by then
Perkins gave up a couple of hits multiple times throughout the game, and came through fine. It was looking like he was going to go 7 or even 8 innings just fine. How can you suggest that Gardenhire is responsible for Twins pitching imploding and giving up 10 runs in an inning? People bitch about who gets brought into games, but Crain and Gurrier can’t always come into the game in the 7th. They’re already showing signs of wearing down, and Crain is coming off a serious injury. Too much second guessing, not enough critical thinking of the considerations that go into decisions. The bullpen is bad right now. End of story.
August 6th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Thanks for reading and responding, Eric and joe.
I am a MLB.TV subscriber, and I never get the Twins feed when they are on the road. The Mariners announcers never talked about the Twins much in Monday’s telecast. I never knew that Dennys was sick until I read from you, Eric. Thanks for letting me know.
Outside of Joe Nathan, I trust no one, joe. The pen is just horrible away from the Metrodome. Tonight, the pen fell apart again. It’s a concern, and this could be the Twins’ Achilles heel when all is said and done. As for Perkins, he struggled to get through the sixth, and he is done after six. There was no point of using him in the seventh. When has he ever gone deep? You talk about how he survived couple of times where he struggle. Eventually when you continue to give up many hits in a game, you are going to get burned, and Perk paid the price.
Yes, Guerrier stunk last night, but he is good when he does not come in a jam. He came in a jam, and he fell apart, which he always does. I would have started Matty.
You raise a good point that Matty and Jesse can’t pitch everyday. I agree with you, but again, who do you trust? Bass should just go away. Breslow is okay. Maybe this was second guessing last night, but this was too obvious for me. I would have went with Guerrier to start the seventh and all. Losing Dennys has hurt in this series.
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