Gardy, you don't need to sacrifice Gomez to 2nd..

Exactly what I was thinking while I was reading the Twins gameview thingy on Sportsline... what the hell is Brendan Harris doing sacrificing Carlos Gomez to second for?!?! Gardenhire... ugh... you know... he's a nice guy. Good for him.

BUT I WANT TO WIN SOMETHING BIG!

I am frustrated with him, because he can only luck his way into the playoffs and then once into the second round of the playoffs. Justin Morneau blasts a ground rule double to save the day.

Is he done with the Brendan Harris batting second experiment yet? C'mon!

Z

It worked because he had two outs to work with?

You have Toby Hall behind the plate. How's his arm? Better than A.J. Pierzinskis? I'm not sure. Even still, you have a coach in the dugout with a clock on how fast the pitcher is to home. You have Ron White with a clock on how fast the pitcher is to home as well. You mean after one pitch, they couldn't decide if they should steal Gomez? Maybe they did and said, it's too close. Then I'll give a nod.

Otherwise, this was a play for anyone else on the basepaths, not Carlos Gomez. You're right, it's not automatic, but in the 8th inning... tie ball game, this is where you still have a chance to be aggressive. So what happens if he steals... safe. Then Brendan Harris bunts. We're sitting with a guy at 3rd with 1 out... better situation.

I coach baseball. 9 times out of 10, you're absolutely right, this is the right play. It got the job done today. 9 time out of 10, with a player like Gomez at first base with second open, should be a steal opportunity, not a bunt opportunity. With one out, you would have seen that steal with Harris at the plate. The difference was an out, an unnecessary one. With the way the team was hitting today... you need to realize the aggression and where it's needed. You get a deep count ground rule double from Justin Morneau's bat. Even Gardenhire was breathing heavy after Joe Mauer struck out. Sometimes the ball finds the head of the bat well.

one more... 9 times out of 10, Gardenhire has been outcoached in the playoffs. Luckily, he almost always outcoaches Guillen.

You can argue both points, but I think in this circumstance Gardy did it right. Instead of risking that Gomez gets thrown out (most likely by a pitch out) he sacrificed him over. Mauer had an 11 game hitting streak and was due, so Gardy liked his chances with Mauer and Morneau coming up. I did think the same thing when watching the game, but in retrospect I think Gardy did it right. Especially since the game was tied, late in the game and at home. On the road you might be more aggressive. At home the rule is that it's okay to go into extra innings. On the road you want to win it in 9 if at all possible. Isn't it amazing that the Central Division is basically tied top to bottom and starting over after one month of play? Not bad for the Twins who basically used this first month as extended Spring Training to figure out exactly what they have in Gomez and Liriano and Harris and Lamb and Everett, etc.

Not bad for the Twins who basically used this first month as extended Spring Training to figure out exactly what they have in Gomez and Liriano and Harris and Lamb and Everett, etc.

That is a great point.  I will not pretend that the Twins are contenders but at least this bodes well for them being a factor in the division race.  As for the original premise of this thread, I feel that Ron Gardenhire made the right call. 

A SB is no guarantee and I would much rather see him on second with one out than see no one on base with one out.  Harris strikes out about one every four at bats and hits every other ball on the ground (58% at home).  By sacrificing Carlos Gomez to second, you eliminated the DP ball and given Harris' relatively low contact ratio, a hit and run wasn't a great option either.  Overall, those advocating for the stolen base are missing the point, Morneau DID get a hit and Gomez DID score from second.  Gardy played the odds and was right - period.

It's the strike out possibility that i'm talking about... and Joe Mauer proved it to be accurate. Tom Kelly called this kid automatic runs. Justin Morneau is hitting .481 with runners in scoring position. So this plays out well for the Twins. Gardenhire got it right. I said, 9 times out of 10, this IS the right play. But it was also a chance to completely change the batting approach to Mauer. It was a chance for Mauer to not go for a certain kind of hit, and instead, play the sacrifice fly.

Regardless, we won, I'm happy. I just look at aggression and it's never been one of Gardy's strong suits. He's not an aggressive runner. He plays the percentages, just as you brought up. Well, I'm curious what the percentage is, of Carlos Gomez making it from 1st to 2nd on a steal? Then I'm also curious of the percentage that Brendan Harris pops up a bunt.

I think the real reason Gardenhire didn't do it, is because he didn't trust Gomez after his 2 previous baserunning gaffs in the game. Nothing more.

Z