Twins' loss to Detroit gets ugly in a hurry

The fight for the American League Central Division title turned ugly Friday night at Comerica Park.

[RUKiddingme]

Can't hide from this anymore, we are going nowhere...I thought it was all just a bad dream. Well, at least the White Sox can't win either...Detriot definitely looks like the ones that will represent the AL Central. C'mon Twins learn how to pitch!!!!!!

[Max]

How much longer will Gardy remain at the helm of this team? The wheels have come off -- will he survive the offseason? Will the front office want a fresh start when Target Field opens in 2010?

[WALGAG TOKYO]

Even after Swarzak's nightmare first inning we still had a chance to win this game because Detroits pitching was shakey and because Denard Span and Joe Mauer kept hitting and hitting and hitting. However our efforts were sabatogued by Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer who repeatedly ended rallies with grounouts, popups and harmless fly balls. August is when good players have to produce, not go on worthless streaks of failure and ineptitude like happened last September.
The starting pitching is bad enough, but lets not place all the blame on a group of minor leaguers who are clearly in over their heads.

[hank]

Morneau's a fraud. When was the last time he got a hit that meant something? Sure he's got many HR's and RBI, but hardly any of them have come at times when the team really needed him to hit. Trade him for a pitcher; now while you can get something for him.

[Joe]

Not to dwell on umpires bad calls but I have never seen so many in one game. The replays certainly show what the umpires didn't see and if the chief says they were 1oo% correct on the two missed tags then repaly is certainly needed because with the benefit of them the tag plays were definetly wrong. Twins didn't play that well either. Hunter better hunt for another job.

[Tom Kelly]

That is so silly how these managers act so childish. Some how people thing this is normal when a grown up throws a tantrum like a five year old. If you get mad at a coworker and argue like that you will be fired. Baseball should be the same way as there is not place for this nonsense.

[Phillip Ml]

Bye bye Gardy.

[Beijing23]

Paul Molitor - GM; Rod Carew - Manager; Tony Oliva - Bench Coach; Bert Blyleven - Pitching Coach... loosen up the pocket book (Pohlad's) and let these men do their thing.

[Jay Anderson]

Morneau defintly needs to go and take Cuddyer with him. Morneau is playing on his mvp reputation. Neither player can step up when it really counts. The Twins have so many poor players, the whole works need to be cleaned out and a new team put on the field. Much like the Indians have done. A new stadium is not going to make these guys play any differnt, they just don't have it.

[oxboro]

Gardenhire's act is wearing thin, he has lost control of the team, he was alousy 3rd base coach and a lousy manager too

[Big G]

Managers and ejections are just part of the game. Mediocrity breeds this kind of behavior. If the team were flying high, Gardy wouldn't be carping so much.

[mangers]

I guess I respectfully disagree with a couple of the posts---I don't think Gardenhire was way out of line. He was frustrated with poor officiating and an arrogant umpire. I agree that we may be better served going a different direction with the manager's position next year.

[Ken-on Kent-Johnson]

when an umpire refuses to "man up" they need to be suspended for 10 games and then not allowed to call game with the team he had a run in with for 10 years. That will force umpires to be honest and fair. We all already know wrestling is real, baseball, football , basketball & hockey are all fixed. They already know who will win 2009 & 2010 championships.

[Ken-on Kent-Johnson]

Jay, before you post you need to let mommy & daddy see what you are saying.

Jay Anderson wrote:

Morneau defintly needs to go and take Cuddyer with him. Morneau is playing on his mvp reputation. Neither player can step up when it really counts. The Twins have so many poor players, the whole works need to be cleaned out and a new team put on the field. Much like the Indians have done. A new stadium is not going to make these guys play any differnt, they just don't have it.

[CrackerJack]

Stevie Wonder could have gotten some of those calls right.
You might need to go back to your umpire school Hunter Wendelstadt. I hear they've even made rule books in braille specifically for you.

Hunter will never be half the umpire his old man Harvey was. Harvey had class, Hunter's an a$$.

[Dennis Green]

They need to restructure this team for next year. Get rid of the coaching staff, the front office and find some better players. They will never win a world series with Gardenhire, who has taken the team as far as he can. Football coaches do not last this long with little success in the playoffs. Get rid of him now that he is behaving like a five-year old and acting out temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. That is uncalled for and completely unprofessional. There is no place for that in sports and shows a complete lack of sportsmanship!!

[Fire Gardy Guy]

All season long I've been harping on letting this
manager go, not because he wasn't a baseball manager
and didn't do his job before, but because he has at the
helm for far too long (8 yrs and counting).

We as fans should see this side and demand change
there too, not just players going in and out yearly
with the same result.

I would not harp soo much if we didn't have MVPs,
Batting Champ,Great Closers, once Cy young,once
Gold Clover..........All that and we still got
nowhere near the World Series or playoffs??

Did Ozzie have them?? Joe Torre?? Tom Kelly??
Gardy must go and not at his own time....which
will be 10 years from now when we are at the
bottom looking up.

[More of The Same]

Dennis Green wrote:

They need to restructure this team for next year. Get rid of the coaching staff, the front office and find some better players. They will never win a world series with Gardenhire, who has taken the team as far as he can. Football coaches do not last this long with little success in the playoffs. Get rid of him now that he is behaving like a five-year old and acting out temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. That is uncalled for and completely unprofessional. There is no place for that in sports and shows a complete lack of sportsmanship!!

Championship teams always have a leader with a cool
and calm demeanor..........Tom Kelly.....Joe Torre.

I'm sorry but Gardy's lost it for me when he goes
out and gets kicked out, showing his players the
manager is erradic.....same as he runs the
Twins..........erradic, up & down....win some lose
alot!

[brachiosaurus]

Morneau is having a rough time, but it's easy to remember when Mauer was the guy not hitting in the clutch last season though his numbers looked good and people were calling for Mauer to be traded. Morneau could probably use a DH stint. Cuddyer would have to play first, and Kubel could go into left. Span has been an excellent lead-off hitter for the Twins. The Twins have some bright spots. Crede is the guy who hasn't done much at the plate since after the all-star break, and certainly nothing with runners on base. He has been good in the field, but the Twins could use some timely hitting from him. Early in the season, teams were afraid to pitch to him, but not anymore.

The Twins managed eight runs, however. Bad calls obviously undermined the team, but the failure of a starter, plain and simple, is the real reason for the loss. But as someone said, probably Walgag, a kid like Swarzak is in way over his head. The Twins needed a top notch starting pitcher and never acquired one. Tonight's game is really the decider. If Perkins wins, the Twins could still take the series here. If he loses, the Twins lose the series and it's time to start planning for 2010.

Someone also ruled out Chicago. That was hasty. Peavy will soon be joining Chicago's already solid pitching rotation for the stretch run. For my part, if the Twins aren't going to make it, I'll always pull for the Central Division winner. Nothing is worse than seeing Boston or New York in the World Series. I love it when they spend a mint but don't win.

[More of The Same]

Big G wrote:

Managers and ejections are just part of the game. Mediocrity breeds this kind of behavior. If the team were flying high, Gardy wouldn't be carping so much.

DISAGREE only THIS Coach!!!

Gardenhire is a very active and aggressive manager, frequently exiting the dugout to argue with the umpire, leading some to joke that "Gardy" gets ejected more times in a season than Kelly did in his entire career (as of July 18, 2009, Gardenhire has been ejected 45 times). An early 2006 television commercial for the Twins pokes fun at this, showing Gardenhire arguing with a (presumably Twin Cities area) office worker planning to go home after work rather than go to the Twins game.