September 19, 2017

What do you think of Jaime Garcia now?

Back in July, the Twins’ Falvey & Co. traded a prospect to get starting pitcher Jaime Garcia from the Atlanta Braves, a move that appeared to make sense for a stretch run. But just as quickly he was gone after Falvey & Co. decided to trade him to the New York Yankees for more pitching prospects. In his six days with the Twins, Garcia made one start and won that game.

But what if Garcia had never left?

Twins fans, including this one, perhaps are wondering what might have been, especially after he carved up the Twins in a 2-1 victory Monday night. Garcia struck out nine in five-plus innings, then turned the ball over to the Yankees bullpen. The Twins loaded the bases in the eighth against Dellin Betances, but got nowhere after flame-thrower Aroldis Chapman entered the game. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were idle Monday, so the Twins’ lead in the American League wild card race was cut to 1.5 games.

Jose Berrios gets the ball Tuesday.

Extra innings…

-Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, a rookie (a rookie!) hit his 44th home run of the season on Monday.

-Ervin Santana, who got the start Monday for the Twins, also pitched well. He limited the Yanks to two runs over five-plus innings, but couldn’t get the win.

-Twins catchers Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez had a long night. The Yankees stole four bases and Castro was tagged with an error for catcher interference.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.