Twins win thriller in Anaheim

I have to admit, I quit watching after the 4th or 5th inning. Not that the Twins were playing poorly, but it got so late that I decided to go to bed. But I continued to get the text updates, saying that all the innings had ended in a tie. Until the 12th. I get a message saying that the Twins had scored a run in the 12th, and I assumed Joe Nathan would come in later in the bottom of the inning…which he did, and he successfully recorded his 35th save of the year. In fact, look at this interesting note about closers, ERA, saves, and the last 50 years of baseball.

Lowest ERA and 35+ Saves Last 50 Seasons:

 

Year	Player	ERA	Saves
1990	Dennis Eckersley	0.61	48
2006	Jonathan Papelbon	0.92	35
2008	Joe Nathan	0.98	35
2003	John Smoltz	1.12	35

 

 

I only hope Joe can keep up this pace and move into second all-time. I have a feeling that a 0.61 is impossible to surpass.

 

Nick Punto hit a triple in the 12th inning, and the ball apparently went off Torii Hunter‘s gold glove. “I expect to catch that ball. I’ve got to catch that,” said Hunter, of Punto’s deep drive. It proved to be the winning run when Denard Span hit a liner down the right-field line for an RBI single.

 

Scott Baker pitched outstanding, going eight innings and allowing just four hits with one run. He walked two and struck out six, but Jesse Crain was the pitcher of record for Minnesota, notching his 5th win of the year.

 

Matt Guerrier pitched in a clutch situation, going two innings and only giving up one hit. Although he did walk two and only struck out one, the important thing is that he didn’t give up any runs that would’ve lost the game. He needs to do anything to improve his confidence at this point of the season.

 

Carlos Gomez had a key RBI single in the 5th inning that tied the game. He, like Guerrier, needs anything to boost his confidence. And Gomez was all smiles when he got the hit, hopefully that means he will start playing a little looser and be able to just have fun out there.

 

Tonight’s game starts at 9 PM again so expect a later blog post tomorrow.

 

Twins crush Rangers 11-2

Even though the team scored 11 runs, there really isn’t an offensive MVP. Nobody had more than 2 RBI (Alexi Casilla, Delmon Young, and Mike Lamb) and Joe Mauer was the only player with more than 2 hits. Mauer, along with Delmon and Jason Kubel, scored 2 runs as well.

 

Carlos Gomez hit his third triple of the year while Delmon recorded his 4th triple of the year. Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, and Kubel all had doubles.

 

Maybe the MVP should be Glen Perkins, who had a shutout going into the 7th. He ran into some trouble that included loading the bases with no outs, and ended up recording just an out before being pulled. His final line was 6 and 1/3 innings pitched, 2 earned runs (3 total), 6 hits, no walks, and 3 strikeouts. It was good enough to get him his first ML win. So, congratulations to you, Glen Perkins. Brian Bass pitched the rest of the way, giving up 5 hits but just 1 run in 2 and 2/3 innings. And he was on the mound when one of Perkins’ runners scored, but they still charge that to Glen, not Bass.

 

Gomez looks a lot more patient at the plate. He’s taking more pitches, not swinging at sliders low and away (Torii Hunter?) and in general seems to be learning at a fairly quickly rate. In April he had 1 walk to just 24 strikeouts and so far in May he has 4 walks to 19 strikeouts. What’s kind of surprising is that he hasn’t stolen a base (or even attempted to) since the Boston series, which was May 9th-12th. I wonder if there’s concern for his wrist injury still.

 

In some injury news, Matt Tolbert needs surgery on his hand and could miss up to two months. I’m sure this means Howie Clark will be up here for some time still. Denard Span also broke a finger getting hit by a pitch and will miss about one month.

 

Santana trade, Hunter, Silva

I wanted to change things up a bit so in this post I intend to show everyone how our ex-Twins are doing (Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, and Carlos Silva) but also show how the players we got in return are doing (you saw Carlos Gomez yesterday so it’s just Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra.)

 

The great Johan Santana. This picture still probably gives some fans nightmares. He had an un-Johan like April, posting a 3.24 ERA in 5 starts. Although his record stands at 3-2, he’s struck out 39 batters in 40 and 1/3 innings with just 8 walks. He’s also given up 7 homers in 6 starts, which became a habit of his last season.

 

Hunter has been pretty good, hitting above the “mean”, I’d say. See, I’m in a statistics class for math right now and we’re learning all about how the more you do something, the more what should happen, does. Hopefully that made sense. Basically, if Jason Tyner had 3 homers and 5 doubles in the month of April, he’d be playing above the mean, or what is normal for him. That’s why players who are slumping usually come around and players on a hot streak come down to earth. Torii’s batting 317 (his career high is .289 from 2002) with 4 homers and 16 RBI, but he also has 9 doubles and 16 runs scored. Using those numbers, he’s on pace for a career high in doubles and runs scored and pretty close to career high in homers and RBI. Yes, he could have a career year in 2008 in nearly every offensive category, but is it very likely? I don’t think so.

 

Silva is another player who is playing above what is expected. In fact, his 2.79 ERA is lower than Santana’s and Carlos has also pitched more innings in the same amount of starts. In fact, all 6 of Silva’s starts thus far have been quality ones (at least 6 innings pitched with no more than 3 earned runs allowed.) Of course his ground ball outs and strikeout numbers are normal (way more than his air outs and not that many, respectively) and he’s walked 9 in 42 innings. He’s definitely worth the money through the first month, but people were willing to hand the Cy Young award to Livan Hernandez after his first 3 starts too.

 

Let’s take a look at who we got in return for Santana:

 

Humber, coming off Tommy John surgery, hasn’t been doing that great at AAA Rochester. In 5 starts (7 games total) he’s allowed 15 earned runs in 24 innings pitched for an ERA of 5.63. He’s struck out 14 but walked 11 and opponents are hitting .323 off of him. In none of his starts has he gone more than 5 innings; that clearly wouldn’t work at the ML level. This is pretty much his make-or-break year because he’s 25 and if he doesn’t show at least some improvement, he may have no future with the Twins.

 

Mulvey is a totally different story, because he’s only 22 (he’ll turn 23 on May 26th) and at the same level as Humber. Not to mention his numbers are pretty impressive so far. He’s gone a total of 28 innings in 5 starts, allowing just 10 earned runs, giving him an ERA of 3.21. He’s struck out 29 and walked 11 with opponents hitting .259 off of him. His best start came on April 17th when he went 7 innings and allowed 6 hits, 1 run, but struck out 9 and picked up the win. If he continues his success he could see a September call-up (or sooner if injuries or poor performance hit the ML staff) or possibly even win a starting job out of Spring Training next year.

 

Deolis Guerra, the professional baseball player that can barely gamble. He turned 19 the same day Mulvey struck out 9 in 7 innings (April 17th for those of you who skipped my previous paragraph). So maybe barely gamble is a bad phrase since he’s been able to do it for more than a year but that’s beside the point. The point being that he still might have the most upside out of anyone we got in that trade, and that includes the speedy Gomez. He’s made 4 starts this year (5 total appearances) and has had a couple wild games. In one 5-inning stint, he allowed 4 hits and walked 5 but nobody scored on him. And his most recent outing saw 7 runs come in on 9 hits, also in 5 innings. He’s definitely a work in progress but I’m excited to see if he will get promoted this season and how well he can perform at a higher level.

 

In other news, Adam Everett was activated from the DL with Brian Buscher being sent down in his place.

 

That about wraps it up for my review, like I said previously the team hosts Detroit now and I will be personally watching the game from an uncomfortable blue chair underneath a white roof on Saturday (in case you didn’t catch it, it means I’ll be at the game.) I plan on buying a Jason Kubel jersey; we’ll see how the endeavor turns out.

 

Losing streak hits 3

The game wasn’t televised and I was sidelined most of the day yesterday with the flu, so I only have the basics for you. Kevin Slowey suffered a strained right biceps in the 4th inning and had to leave early. He had given up 3 runs in 3 and 1/3 innings. He was replaced by Brian Bass who is either bad or is still incredibly nervous. He surrendered 2 runs in 3 and 1/3 innings, both coming from homers (including Torii Hunter‘s first jack of the year).

 

The offense showed a little life, finally, with Carlos Gomez going 2-5 and Joe Mauer going 2-3 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and a run scored batting behind Carlos. Michael Cuddyer was 0-5 in the #3 spot and I really don’t think that’s his correct spot in the batting order. We really don’t have a #3 hitter right now with Justin Morneau still hitless (although he did pick up an RBI yesterday).

 

Matt Tolbert drew a walk in his pinch-hit at-bat. Look for him to get more playing time because Gardy loves the guys that “play baseball the Twins way” and “battle their tails off” and Tolbert seems like that kind of kid.

 

My favorite, Jason Kubel, hit a solo homer in the 8th inning to cut the lead to just 1 run. It’s the first HR of the year for the team.

 

Mike Lamb was also hitless, lowering his batting average to .091. I’m not sure how many at-bats he has but I know he’s got just one hit.

 

Tonight’s game is the start of the series against the Royals, who shouldn’t be taken lightly after sweeping the division-favorite Detroit Tigers. Scott Baker gets his first start and I just hope he’s 100% healthy. Not just to give us the best chance of winning but more so that he doesn’t get hurt tonight and can give us a full year. Game starts at 7:10.

 

Ugly second game for the Twins

While Boof Bonser technically had a quality start, allowing 3 earned runs in 6 innings, he gave up 8 hits, an unearned run, and a home run and our bullpen faltered in its first major use of the year. Brian Bass pitched for the first time in his Major League career and gave up 3 hits (including a homer) in 1 and 1/3 innings for 2 unearned runs, 1 earned.

 

The team hit into 2 double plays, pitchers threw 2 wild pitches, and Adam Everett and Brendan Harris both had throwing errors. Although Everett drove in the team’s only run with 2 outs in the 5th inning.

 

Carlos Gomez only reached base once, I believe it was in the 8th, on a single to left. Joe Mauer promptly hit into a double play and that was that. Justin Morneau is still looking for his first hit of the year and Mike Lamb left 5 guys on base en route to going 0-for-4 on the night.

 

The bats just couldn’t get going against Jon Garland, who threw 96 pitches in 8 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 0 strikeouts.

 

Basically the Angels were just hitting the ball hard when Boof was in there. Although from where I sat it was difficult to judge where the ball was going, we’d typically find that it fell somewhere between Gomez and Michael Cuddyer. One time the ball bounced off the baggie with both of them right there and Gomez kind of reached above Cuddyer to snag the ball and throw it back in. It looked like Cuddyer was upset but nothing else happened to make it worse.

 

Juan Rincon, in the process of needing 27 pitches to get out of 1 inning, plunked Torii Hunter in the arm/elbow area in the 9th inning. Hunter trotted on to first base but looked a little mad, to say the least. Add in some glares towards the mound and I’m wondering if maybe Juan doesn’t like Torii too much. Then again they could be best friends and the pitch got away from him, it could be either one for all I know.

 

Nick Blackburn pitches tonight, making his first ever Major League start. He appeared in 6 games last season, giving up 10 earned runs in 11 and 2/3 innings pitched. Hopefully Bass didn’t share his jitters with Blackburn or it might be another long game.

 

I should have a few pictures up on the blog tomorrow.

 

I made a couple changes to those 3 boxes on the right-hand sidebar. After seeing Nick Punto indeed came in at third, I changed his number, but for Gomez’s box I am switching it up. The first number is his total number of bunt hits and stolen bases with the second number being games played. I added GP to Everett’s box, too. It makes it easier for me to keep track and it’s probably better for you all when you’re reading them. I might add GP to Punto’s later, I’m not quite sure at this point.

 

I found an interesting blog post from Stick & Ball Guy yesterday. Between amateur detective work and a curious mind, he came to the conclusion that Land O’ Lakes might be in the lead for naming rights to the new stadium. Why? Well, take a look. Thoughts on the stadium name? What would you like to see it be called? It figures to be a local company so most are thinking Best Buy, 3M, or possibly even Grain Belt. I don’t really care, all I know is that if last night’s game was played in the new stadium I definitely would not have gone. But that’s just me, I know a lot of you can’t wait for outdoor baseball in Minnesota.

 

Twins win first game of the year

You’ll hear this from everywhere today: Carlos Gomez is electrifying. He led off the game with a double and scored on a Joe Mauer single. He bunted for a base hit, stole second, and got stranded on third in his second at-bat. He led off the 5th inning with a walk and another steal, and was later driven in by Michael Cuddyer. He struck out in his last at-bat. As exciting as he was to watch, I have to keep reminding myself that he won’t be able to go 2-for-3 with 2 stolen bases every night. He was horrible in the Majors last season and in my opinion, a .280 average would exceed expectations. On the flip side, I think he has a realistic chance of stealing 60 bases. Although he was great at the plate last night, I think eventually he will have to learn to become more patient and draw more walks. Funny thing about it is, Gomez scored 2 runs while Torii Hunter was 0-for-4 and a strikeout (against Joe Nathan).

 

Livan Hernandez had a great Opening Day, pitching 7 innings and giving up just 2 runs. I wish we could realistically expect that from him every game but I just don’t see it happening. He gave up 7 hits but 6 of those were singles. Overall a pretty solid performance.

 

Other newcomers: Delmon Young collected 2 hits in his 4 at-bats while stealing a base and eventually scoring. Craig Monroe struck out and was hitless in his 3 at-bats; Jason Kubel hit for him in the 8th (and got a double). Mike Lamb drove in a run and walked, Brendan Harris had 2 hits and 2 strikeouts in his 4 at-bats, and predictably our defensive-minded shortstop Adam Everett went hitless.

 

Even Nick Punto got some work when he pinch-ran (is that a word?) for Lamb in the 8th inning.

 

Speaking of hitless, there are two new additions to the right-hand sidebar. You’ll see an Adam Everett hitless games box, in which I’ll post how many games Everett has gone hitless in. Below that is Carlos Gomez Speed Rating, which is a stat I invented just a few minutes ago. For that box I will combine Carlos’ stolen bases and bunt hits and divide them by the number of games he’s played. As long as I keep up with it, it’ll be a quick way for people to see how often he uses his speed to either get on base or advance a base. Lastly, there’s a Nick Punto Substitution box, where I will show how many times (to the best of my knowledge) Punto will be subbed in for Lamb/Harris/Everett. To qualify, though, he will need to play defense for an inning; his jaunt on the basepaths last night doesn’t count.

 

And I never did update you all on the final roster. Francisco Liriano will start in the minors with Brian Bass and Matt Tolbert beginning their season with the big club.

 

I’m lucky enough to be going to the game tonight to see Boof Bonser pitch. The new-and-improved Boof, too. I’m excited to see Gomez and hopefully Kubel make his first start of the year. Chances are we’ll have a camera so I’ll see about getting pictures up here. If I do take some, bet on them being on the blog for Thursday’s post.

 

For what it’s worth, here’s Johan Santana‘s line from last night: 7 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, 1 home run (a 2-run shot)

 

Players are finally in camp

Some more news for all of you:

 

• Add Dennys Reyes and Alexi Casilla to the “I’ll-be-late-for-camp” list (already graced with Francisco Liriano‘s name). Reyes’ passport will expire in May but apparently had 4 months to get his paperwork done. GM Bill Smith called him “careless”. Casilla, on the other hand, had a family emergency that caused him to miss his scheduled visa appointment.
• The Twins and closer Joe Nathan are still discussing a contract extension. Manager Ron Gardenhire sure is confident about something getting done. I’m still indifferent on this one. It’s like, wouldn’t you rather spend a boatload of money on a guy who will either a). play for you every day or b). face upwards of 20 batters every 5 days, instead of on a guy who will pitch 80 innings if he’s lucky? Not to mention it seems like the organization’s policy has generally been to play youngsters making close to league minimum in favor of over-payed stars (Casilla over Luis Castillo, anybody over Eric Milton, etc.). Thus, it would seem logical to trade Nathan at the deadline for prospects (it’d be plausible to get more for him than they did for Johan Santana) or even an impact player or two and try and convert one of their 462 starting pitchers currently in the system to a closer (I made that number up but you get my point).
• 3B Tommy Watkins is learning how to catch, trying to improve his chances of staying with the ML club. With Chris Heintz no longer around, you know Gardy would love a third catcher, in case the “using a catcher at their position as well as DH and one of them gets hurt” debacle ever occurs.
• I can gather two things from this article: new pitcher Livan Hernandez is overweight and should start hanging out with Boof Bonser immediately, and Gardenhire thinks he’s a comedian by telling Livan (in reference to his earrings) “We don’t wear bling-blings out on the field.” Gardy admits that he and other coaches will have to “mold” Livan into “our kind of guy”.
• Maybe you’ve heard that the Twins are planning on honoring former Twin Torii Hunter on Opening Day in the Dome. My only question is, why? He played with us for 10 years, found a great offer and left. Opening Day starts the official season of record, I’m not sure if the Twins’ brass is aware of that. I don’t believe you should “honor” a former player who is now on the opposing team, i.e. the enemy. Maybe when he retires, retire his number or do a nice little ceremony, sure. But not at the start of the season
• Something humorous from the same article the previous bullet came from: “One person who has a vested interest in this year’s U.S. presidential election is ex-Twins pitcher Johan Santana, who could be taxed an additional $6 million if the Democrats win and repeal the Tax Reduction Act.” With his new $150 million contract, I have a feeling that $6 mil. is chump change.

 

Random team notes

I’ve been reading a bunch of different news articles over the past couple days, compiling news and tidbits about the Twins. Here are some of those:

 

• Joe Mauer had some sort of surgery after the season, even though it was said he wouldn’t need any. He’s also changed his offseason routine for the 2nd or 3rd time, trying to find something that benefits him and his body the most. “I’m still trying to figure out what I need to do to get ready for a season, what worked for me. There are a lot of different approaches, and I’ve sort of tweaked it every year.”
• Boof Bonser is glad he’s lost 25+ pounds in the past 5 months but is determined to keep it off, considering the clubhouse usually brings in food that’s…well, not geared towards players trying to lose weight.

“We’ll see what they bring in here, … I know it’ll be harder, but I’d like to keep it up.”

• Pitchers and catchers had to report to Ft. Myers by yesterday, but other players such as Michael Cuddyer, Mike Redmond, Garrett Jones, and Matt Macri have shown up as well. Redmond, while going through some mail, said “Hey, a Christmas card!”
• The team seems to be trying to retain closer Joe Nathan, who becomes a free agent at season’s end. Nathan says that his agent and the team had some great initial discussion started, but things have died down since then. Still, Joe knows the team wants to keep him around and that’s a message that other players (Torii Hunter, Johan Santana) may not have received.
• There are some big questions surrounding the team, most importantly:
• Will the rotation step up?
• Will the offense improve?
• Will the rebuilt infield produce?
• Can the bullpen stalwarts rebound?

Now you know I probably wouldn’t use a word like “stalwarts”, so as you may have guessed, the answers to those questions and 6 more from the same mold can be found in La Velle E. Neal’s most recent column.

 

Stealing from Gleeman: link around

Alright, so there’s literally no news circling the Twins. Well, Jason Kubel and his wife welcomed a healthy baby boy, but…unless he’s a future Minnesota Twin, it’s irrelevant to the blog..I think. Although, I’m “using” an Aaron Gleeman blog staple and linking to random things for today, none of them regarding baseball. So Owen Michael Kubel does have relevance, for today at least.

 

Actually, there is some baseball news. The Twins were able to avoid arbitration with pitcher Matt Guerrier by signing him to a 1-year, $950,000 contract. The team had offered him $750k and Guerrier was asking for a shade over a cool $1 million. Still, our most consistent reliever (other than Pat Neshek) last year, he’ll double his salary from 2007.

 

And one more baseball bit, check out this article that talks about Kevin Slowey and his newfound friendship with almost-Hall-of-Famer Bert Blyleven.

 

-I’m gonna start off by linking to a blog maintained by one of my most-frequent commenters (not that it’s hard to hold that position), Nato. He’s only got two posts, but one is a semi-highlight of some great music released in 2007, including one of my favorites, but more on that in a bit.  

 

-I lied. Truly though, this is the last thing baseball in this post. TwinsFest is right around the corner. By that I mean, it starts tonight. I’m hopefully going tomorrow, and I’ve never been there so it should be a lot of fun. Autographs with current, future, and former Twins, as well as pictures and looks at the new stadium…it’s a great pick-me-up until Spring Training starts.

 

-I can’t believe I’m actually going to mention this, but a movie called Meet the Spartans comes out tonight. It’s a spoof on…well basically the most popular movies of 2007, although it focuses on 300. Movies like this are made bad on purpose, yet most of the time they make people laugh anyway. I must admit I’m in the laughing crowd, but I’m still undecided on whether or not I should actually see it in theaters.

 

-Ok, remember when I said that Nato’s blog included one of my favorites, but more on that in a bit? Well, it’s been a bit, so I get to explain. On July 3rd of 2007, a singer from California named Sara Bareilles released her first record, titled Little Voice, on a major label. Aaron Gleeman approved a live video version of her hit song, Love Song, on his blog back in late November. That was the first time I had heard her music, and although it’s not really my type, I kind of liked it. After listening to some more of her songs, I came to the realization that nearly every one of her songs is pretty dang good. I was, puzzled, to say the least, when I found out that she would be at a Best Buy store in Richfield, Minnesota, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (coincidentally, a day I didn’t have school). Long story short, I made the trip down there with a few friends and watched her perform two songs live, and then got to meet her and get an autograph and a couple pictures. This is all pretty cheesy, but it was my first time actually meeting someone that I consider famous. So I’d like to share the experience..first, the video that was made to highlight her stop at Best Buy: (hint…at the shot around 4:08 you can see all 3 guys that I went with, plus the guy just in front of us in line, but not me…I guess I’m too short) 

 

now, the picture that I got with her:

 

I was pretty nervous, thus the goofy smile. And lastly, the autographed CD/insert cover that I got:

 

I suggest checking out her single, Love Song, on iTunes or any other one of the million places you can hear it.

 

So yeah, I just wanted to share that and now I’ll leave you with an awesome quote that Torii Hunter said waaaay back in December 2003: (taken from sethspeaks.net)

When asked about LaTroy Hawkins signing with the Cubs (without the Twins even making him an offer!), Hunter said:

“You’d think we could have afforded that. I think we’re forgetting who we’re dealing with here. Joe Nathan is no LaTroy Hawkins. He might be a good pitcher, but LaTroy has proven himself here, and he’s a chemistry guy.”

At the time it probably wasn’t unreasonable for Torii to say that, but looking back, it’s just hilarious (thanks goes to Nick for that line).

 

Say hello to your new CF, Micha….wait, what?

Another gem from Ron Gardenhire. Delmon Young in right, Jason Kubel in left, and…Michael Cuddyer in center is a possibility. Not worrying about how the team jerked Cuddy between third base, second base, and the outfield when he was still trying to grow into an everyday player, and the fact that he’s specifically stated he likes it in right and does not want to move away, Gardy thinks this option is better than…oh, I don’t know, Cuddy in right, Delmon in left, and that CF we got in a trade who has been touted as being above-average defensively at ALL THREE outfield spots, Jason Pridie. Or signing CF Jason Tyner, who’s currently looking for a job in Japan of all places, to a tiny contract for 1 year with maybe an option for another.

 

But I don’t know which is worse. That idea, or this comment from Ron: “We’ve got Nick Punto as an option, too, and I like the heck out of him…He had a little bit of trouble offensively last year, but don’t forget what he did the year before.”

Uh, yeah, a .210 batting average in 472 at-bats. Just a little trouble there. And also, Gardy, “what he did the year before” would be considered a career year. See Hunter, Torii circa 2007.

 

 

Cuddyer, along with Matt Guerrier, are the two players on the team still up for arbitration. Cuddy is asking for $6.2 million while the team is offering $4.7 million (a much more reasonable contract). Considering he got about a $2 million raise for his 24 homer, 109 RBI performance in ’06, a nearly $3 million raise for 16 HR and 81 RBI seems ridiculous. The difference with Guerrier is much less; he’s asking for $1.15 mil while the Twins are offering $750,000.

 

If you don’t already read Aaron Gleeman’s blog on a daily basis, he answered some questions in today’s portion. Check it out, some of them are pretty wacky. That’s part 1, random questions. I’m a big fan of his usually weekly “Link-O-Rama” section, moreso than I am of his actual baseball posts. And I’m not really sure why.

 

 

If you’re a fan of football, yesterday was probably a lot of fun for you. The Patriots squeaked away from the Chargers (I felt San Diego held in there a lot longer than they should’ve) and the Giants upset my (sorry, Vikes) Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre threw an overtime interception that led to a game-winning, 47-yard field goal. It was an exciting game and as sad as it is to say, I think the Giants have a chance at beating the Pats. They only lost by 3 in week 17 when they faced off in New York. But the Giants have won 10 straight road games, and playing in Arizona would probably qualify as that.

If you’ve seen the movie I Am Legend starring Will Smith, you may remember the scene this picture is from. It’s right in the beginning when he’s watching TV: look closely at the bottom and see if you can read what it says.

 

“Giants lose to Patriots for second time this season, 23 to 7″

As I said, the Giants lost 38-35 to New England in week 17..is this a sign of things to come?