Friday,
October 2, 2009
STAYIN’ ALIVE!
Good Morning,
and Happy Friday to you! Fall is certainly upon us with the rain, the
temperatures are down, and it is kind of gloomy outside. However, with the
Twins 8-3 win yesterday afternoon against the Tigers, the Twins were able to
stay alive to fight another day. And hopefully the Twins were able to avoid
potential in-fighting. Jose Mijares has always been a bit of a hot-head, and it
came through again on Thursday afternoon. But the key is that the Twins won,
and that there is a chance. A small chance, mind you, but a chance
nonetheless. Yesterday I mentioned the
stat that no team in major league history had come back from three games back
with four games to go to win the division. Today, I am happy to report that
three teams in big league history have come back from two games back with three
games to go.
The White Sox are certainly
doing their part to help. They pushed Jake
Peavy back to tonight, to pitch against Edwin Jackson. Freddy Garcia will start on Saturday against young Alfredo Figaro. And on Sunday John Danks,
who has a proven record in pitching well in big games, will oppose Justin Verlander.
Of course, the Tigers would prefer to clinch earlier so that they don’t have to
pitch Verlander on Sunday and could use him in Game 1
of the playoffs. Three pitching matchups that are not bad for
the White Sox, but the Tigers can also say that they have two of their top
three guys going too.
The Twins will trot out two
rookies this weekend at the Metrodome against the
Royals in hopes that they are able to step up their games and give the Twins a
chance. Jeff Manship will get another start
tonight. He gave up just one run in 3.1 innings of relief on Sunday, so hopefully
he can gain his control and keep the Twins in the game through four or five
innings. And hopefully the Twins can jump all over Lenny DiNardo this time around. Nick Blackburn, himself becoming a Big
Game Pitcher, will throw on Saturday night opposite Zach Greinke. Again, hopefully Blackburn
can keep the Twins in the game. Also, the Twins will need to try to find a way
to make Greinke throw more pitches early in the game.
And on Sunday, Brian Duensing
will make the start against Luke Hochevar. Duensing has had
some issues the last couple of weeks, but in general has been quite solid.
So You’re Saying There’s A
Chance?!
Sure there is a chance! With
the Tigers magic number to win the division at 2, there is still a chance. And
really, there is a chance until it gets down to 0. So, here are the scenarios:
·
Tigers Sweep
White Sox – Tigers win the division.
·
Tigers Win 2 out
of 3 against White Sox. Tigers win the division.
·
Tigers Win 1 out
of 3 against the White Sox, Twins have to sweep to force a one-game playoff.
·
Tigers get swept
by White Sox. Twins would win the division with a sweep, or force a one-game
playoff if they win two out of three.
So yeah, there is still a
chance. No reason to completely give up until that magic number is zero.
Isn’t it kind of cool that
Minnesota is kind of the epicenter of sports right now? The Twins and Tigers
are the only playoff race going this weekend. And the Vikings are playing the
Packers on Monday Night Football with all kind of subplots. Maybe I’m the only
one that thought that was pretty neat.
If you have any opinions,
comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments
section.
NFL “Expert”
Picks (Week 4)
It is also time for our
panel’s footballs picks for week 4. As you can see, I’m still waiting for a few
responses, but I will update them as I get them. Be sure to check back.
I understand that posting the
picks on this main page has created a situation where the formatting of this
page is compromised. So I have posted the picks on the Archive page, which you
can see here.
WEEK 3 Picks
Alright, here are our picks for the second week of the season:
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Detroit @ Chicago |
Baltimore @ New England |
NY Giants @ Kansas City |
Tennessee @ Jacksonville |
Seattle @ Indianapolis |
Oakland @ Houston |
Cincinnati @ Cleveland |
Tampa Bay @ Washington |
NY Jets @ New Orleans |
Buffalo @ Miami |
St. Louis @ San Francisco |
Dallas @ Denver |
San Diego @ Pittsburgh |
Green Bay @ Minnesota |
|
Seth Stohs |
SethSpeaks.net |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Dan Slowey |
Blogonoscopy |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Kevin Slowey |
Twins SP |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
Rams |
Broncos |
Steelers by 10 |
Vikings |
|
Jeff Manship |
Twins SP |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Chargers |
Vikings |
|
Kyle Waldrop |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Steve Singleton |
Twins IF Prospect |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Buccs |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Alex Burnett |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
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|
Matt Fox |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Michael McCardell |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Jets |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Joe Benson |
Twins OF Prospect |
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|
Dan Osterbrock |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Steve Blevins |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Chargers |
Vikings |
|
Shooter Hunt |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Browns |
Redskins |
Jets |
Bills |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Kyle Gibson |
Twins Pitching Prospect |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Browns |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
LaVelle E.
Neal |
Twins Insider |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Howard Sinker |
A Fan's View |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Buccs |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Packers |
|
Jonathan Mayo |
MiLB.com |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Phil Mackey |
PhilMackey.com |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Doogie Wolfson |
GopherHole.com |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
John Bonnes |
TwinsGeek.com |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Nick Nelson |
Nick's Twins Blog |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Buccs |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Parker Hageman |
Over the Baggy |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Buccs |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Josh Johnson |
Josh's Thoughts |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Travis Aune |
Travis Twins Talk |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
SBG |
Stick & Ball Guy |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
John Meyer |
Twins MVB |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Buccs |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Chargers |
Vikings |
|
Brian Pietrzak |
Examiner.com Twins |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Raiders |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Andrew Kneeland |
Twins Fix |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Browns |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Chargers |
Vikings |
|
Blake Meyer |
Twins Cards |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Roger Dehring |
Twinkie Town |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Jaguars |
Colts |
Texans |
Browns |
Buccs |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Packers |
|
Jack Michaels |
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
|
Vic Quick |
KOTA-TV |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Cory Hepola |
WROC-TV |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Bills |
49ers |
Cowboys |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
Melissa Lien |
Bears |
Patriots |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
|
Michael Brasel |
|
Bears |
Ravens |
Giants |
Titans |
Colts |
Texans |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Saints |
Dolphins |
49ers |
Broncos |
Steelers |
Vikings |
|
SUMMARY |
|
Bears 33-0 |
Ravens 17-16 |
Giants 33-0 |
Titans 24-9 |
Colts 33-0 |
Texans 32-1 |
Bengals 31-2 |
Redskins 27-6 |
Saints 31-2 |
Bills 17-16 |
49ers 32-1 |
Cowboys 19-14 |
Steelers 29-4 |
Vikings 31-2 |
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