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The Wednesday Takeaway

It has been a depressing season for the Minnesota Twins. As of spring training, they were among the short list of teams expected to contend for a spot in the wild card game. That has… not been the case. PECOTA says the Twins have about a 0.5 percent chance of holding down the wild card. Byron Buxton has been more bad than good, Logan Morrison has not lived up to his free-agent pedigree, and that’s not even touching on the travesty that has been Lance Lynn‘s season. Wednesday, the Twins hosted the Milwaukee Brewers, aiming to avoid a sweep.

Milwaukee opened the scoring in the second inning, as Travis Shaw took Jose Berrios deep to right. That run held until the top of the seventh, when Jorge Polanco singled in a run, spoiling Chase Anderson‘s shot at the win. In the bottom half, Brad Miller broke the tie with a solo home run of his own—but he was to be outshined by rookie shortstop Nate Orf, who delivered his first MLB home run as his first hit, and the moment was complete, with a caravan back to the dugout:

 

Orf didn’t crush the ball. He didn’t slug a laser beam no-doubter. In fact, the home run just barely cleared the wall and just barely tucked inside the foul line. But none of that mattered. The five-year minor league veteran, the undrafted free agent who signed for $500, hit a big-league home run.

And the insurance run provided by Orf’s homer proved invaluable in the top of the ninth. Corey Knebel was pitching in his third straight game, and the wear was starting to show on him. He induced a flyout to center, which will be covered in the Defensive Play of the Day, and he conceded a no-doubter home run to Eduardo Escobar. Fortunately for the Brewers, however, Knebel was able to preserve the 3-2 victory. Of the five runs scored, only one didn’t happen on a solo home run.

Quick Hits and Wednesday Walk-Off Win-sanity

It’s not for no reason that The Sandlot includes Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez stealing home in a MLB game as a closing scene. Few athletic feats can compare to swiping home plate on the scale of audacity, athleticism, and overall coolness. Javy Baez did the seemingly impossible, and he made it look easy:

 

It’s important to note: Baez’s steal of home occurred on a pickoff play to first, it was not a purist’s accomplishment of the feat. Still, that’s not at all to detract from the play. Baez saw his shot, and he took it. Bonus points for acrobatically dancing around the catcher to ensure the “safe” call. That slide was easily a 10/10 on difficulty.

Two years ago, Carlos Gomez was the hottest name for sale at the trade deadline. This year, following two different teams giving up on him, Gomez is a part-time outfielder for the Rays. And his sub-Mendoza Line average shows only how far he’s fallen.

Gomez still demonstrated his ability to make solid contact—with the dugout water coolers:

 

The cherry on the top is the forearm shiver to the second cooler. He delivers it, uhh, way too realistically for me to buy that he’s not been planning this moment for a while. That was premeditated cooler abuse.

Rich Hill‘s Tragic Baserunning Misadventure will play like a slice of life to anyone who has ever found themselves having to cover a job they are in no way qualified to do:

 

Hill’s bunt single was, admittedly, a thing of beauty. But it was wholly accidental, and it came with no expectations. Further, the Pirates’ defensive folly made Hill run all the way to third. He looked ready to keel over, and that was before the next development: a fly ball to center.

While Hill was thrown out running home, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He’s a winner in my book.

Defensive Play of the Night

Sometimes the situation sets itself. Sometimes, it takes time to fully gel, as when Keon Broxton of the Brewers made a spectacular catch at the fence:

 

… only for, moments later, Escobar to slug a solo home run, which would have tied the score if not for Broxton’s athletic prowess moments earlier. Knebel retired the final out of the game, and the Brewers survived with a 3-2 win and a sweep. All due to Broxton’s leaping ability and glove skills.

What to Watch on Thursday

A day after a holiday which featured games for every team, 14 of the franchises will have a day off. All eight games scheduled are all at night.

Houston’s Justin Verlander will look for win number 10, against the White Sox and Carlos Rodon.

Jhoulys Chacin will try to stay hot, as the Braves and Brewers meet in a battle of surprise first-place teams. Max Fried will oppose Chacin for the Braves.

The flip side to the excellent Brewers/Braves matchup is the Twins and the Orioles. Regardless, these games do have to get played, and thus Andrew Cashner and Aaron Slegers will duel for surpremacy of… their personal matchup and not much else.

Thank you for reading

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