Day Games vs. Night/Evening Games

Well it's been a little while since the last post, but I figured it was necessary to get back on here again to address an issue that has become repetitive the last couple years. Last year on August 17, the Twins were 7 games above .500 in night games (41-34) and 12 games below .500 in day games (15-27). This year the Twins are 13 games above .500 in night games (35-22) compared to 6 games under .500 in day games (10-16). This pattern has killed the Twins the past two seasons, keeping them from winning the division in the regular season and forcing them to play an extra game - 163 - which the team is 1-1 in.

Now what is causing this change? Some people say that it is a change in routine that is causing players to not perform well, but the opposing teams also have to change their routine. It seems pretty obvious that Gardenhire usually rests his players on the day game after a night game, which sometimes makes sense, but not when you do it every single time. Is there really any difference resting a player the night game before a day game instead? Or how about a night game between two night games?

With a team that has the depth this team does, Gardy should be able to rest one player a night/day throughout the week. Sure some of the players (Span, Cuddyer, Young, Hudson, etc.) may just have their scheduled off day once every two weeks, but it still would allow the team to put out a lineup everyday that can produce solid offense. One of Gardy's reasons in the past for not hitting Mauer 2nd in the order was that he didn't want to put a Tolbert or Punto at the bottom of the order and having 2-3 non productive offensive players in a row - really? What about the lineup where Punto was leading off, Tolbert was hitting 2nd, Harris was hitting 8th, and Butera was hitting 9th? Yes - this was a day game lineup. Anyways, back to my point, if you rest Mauer on the night game before this day game, then the Twins are able to have Mauer in the game when they are resting a different player.

Now in some of these cases, where the Twins trot out their "B" lineup and don't score any runs, the starter gives up 4, 5, 6 runs or so and then Gardy uses the pitching as an out. Well these guys are human and if they see the Butera's, Punto's, Tolbert's, and before being sent down Harris in the lineup, I think that they would feel the pressure put on them, that they need to shut down the opponent to even have a chance at winning the game.

It just seems like Gardy is giving away these day games and just hoping they can scrap together a win, instead of spreading out the days these guys get days off. It is something I hope changes before they are headed towards another game 163.