There were plenty of things to gripe about in Game Two. Mike Pelfrey was awful, the first base ump missed a call and the replay umps let it stand in a lengthy display of incompetence, Phil Hughes was (I'll be charitable) too ill to cover first base, the hitters didn't get anything going until the game was out of hand ...
But Ricky Nolasco pitched. This impresses me. It would have been easy for him to shut down his season after his foot surgery. Instead, he pushed his rehab and got back on the hill. Nolasco has said a few things the past couple of years that gave some the impression that he doesn't care. Getting back this year says otherwise.
He threw two innings of mopup work, allowed two hits, granted an intentional walk and struck out five. Not bad, all things considered, even with the three-run homer.
But ... his, and the Twins', reaction to that homer was tired (to borrow the description from Bryce Harper).
The Twins were down 7-1, and Paul Molitor had Nolasco walk Jason Kipnis intentionally. The next hitter, Jose Ramirez, homered, and flipped his bat rather epically.
Nolasco wasn't happy with Ramirez's bat flip. But didn't see it until he watched it on computer after outing: "He’ll get his. Don’t worry.”— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) October 1, 2015
My tweeted reaction to the Twins' evident displeasure with the bat flip:
Aw, did Ramirez hurt the Twins feelings? Make your pitches and he's got nothing to flip his bat over.— Edward Thoma (@bboutsider) October 1, 2015
Seriously. The Twins spent eight innings embarrassing themselves with sloppy play and they're worked up over a guy celebrating a homer after they walked the man in front of him? Grow up. No team with Torii Hunter on the roster has any right to gripe about bat flipping.
And if they spend any pitches Thursday throwing at Ramirez in retaliation, they don't deserve a playoff berth.
"No team with Torii Hunter on the roster has any right to gripe about bat flipping." That perfectly sums it up.
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