#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2). Easy choice for top spot. They finished 4-2 on the Week. Starting Pitching continues to impress, the youngsters in the lineup are hitting (especially Royce Lewis ... who promptly was sent back down to AAA St. Paul once Carlos Correa was ready to come off the Injured List), and the relievers have been able to shut the door, getting three Saves this screening Week. They maintain their lead in the A. L. Central. Bad news: SP Chris Paddack, for whom the Twins traded Taylor Rodgers to San Diego just before the season began, had Tommy John surgery and is gone for the Year.
They finish up a three-Game series at Kansas City tonight/Saturday night and tomorrow/Sunday afternoon. Minnesota then entertains Detroit at Target for three starting on Monday, followed by a rematch with the Royals (albeit as a four-Game set) beginning on Thursday.
#-2: Gopher softball (Re-Entry!). Honestly, I though this squad's season ended back on the 11th, when they got blanked by Wisconsin, 2-0, in the First Round of the Big Ten Tournament. (I didn't write their #-Infinity obituary last Week because I wanted to rag on the Wild for several paragraphs. This team's season was over anyway, so why couldn't I just wait a Week to get around to slagging them?) They finished ninth in the conference, they didn't win a single Game in the conference tourney, they finished below .500 in the league (11-12), and they finished with an overall record of 26-25-1. I did see one softball bracketologist -- before the field of 64 was set, mind you -- predict that the U. was a team under consideration of making the NCAA Tournament. But they were still out, like, the fifth-last team out. The Gophers didn't have a case ... right?
Well, touch me in the morning and then just walk away, they did! And they got into the tournament -- and as a three-Seed! Apparently I didn't look deep enough and/or did not check projections back on Sunday, the day the field was released, because I now see a couple of websites that predicted Minnesota would be in. And apparently it was the club's RPI of 38 (which got that high thanks to a rigorous out-of-conference schedule and Wins over Arizona St. and Central Florida, two ballclubs whose RPIs are in the top 20) that powered them into the postseason. Frankly, I don't agree with it, and if there was some chatter over reaches and snubs in this tourney on Sunday, the Gophers rightly would be singled out as one of the former.
But that's academic now. They began their tournament journey yesterday/Friday afternoon in the Normal Regional against the 2-Seed, Texas A&M ... and they lost, 5-1. So today/Saturday they face an Elimination Game vs. Prairie View, and assuming the Gophers win, they probably will have a rematch with the Aggies later on in the day. It doesn't really matter, though; the 1-Seed in this Region, host Oklahoma, is the #1 overall Seed in the NCAAs, the proverbial Queens Of The Hill. I am pleasantly surprised by Minnesota's inclusion in the tournament, but really, they're done this weekend.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1). Split a Doubleheader Sunday (created because the Saturday Game was postponed) at Indiana to avoid a sweep, then lost at home to Nebraska-Omaha on Tuesday, 10-7 in 11 Innings -- how emblematic of a disaster of a season this was -- then have split the first two Games of their regular season-ending series versus Northwestern at Siebert. They were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament (let alone the NCAA Tournament) Weeks ago, but last/Friday night's 11-9 Loss to the Wildcats ensured that the U. would finish in last place in the conference for the second straight Year. Has that ever happened before, let alone in the John Anderson Era?
Like I pointed out in my previous blog post, I am planning on going to Siebert this/Saturday afternoon for the regular season finale. Siebert Field is a neat ballpark, and I always intend on going to a contest there at least once a Year, and the Game today is the last chance to do it. I pray that they won't embarrass themselves because it is Senior Day.
#-4: Lynx (Last Week: -4). Well, at least they won for the first time this season, beating the Sparks in Los Angeles Tuesday by 3. And the two Losses this screening Week, at home to Chicago and at Las Vegas, were at least competitive -- 4 vs. the Sky and six versus the Aces. I won't say In Reeve I Trust, but the squad overcame a bad start last Year to finish with the third-best record in the WNBA. I don't think they'll be able to turn this around, but they're only six Games into the season, so they do have the time to pull off such a miracle.
This Week is light. They visit The Bastard Detroit-By-Way-Of Tulsa Shock this/Saturday evening, then host New York Tuesday. They then don't have a contest until Sunday.
#-5: United FC (Last Week: -3). This Side's inability to finish scoring continues to haunt them. On Sunday they went to Seattle and, like at Allianz Field, got worked over by the tune of 3-1. They then host the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday and, shades of their defeat to FC Cincinnati at home on the 7th creeping over the crowd, the Loons had the run of play at many junctions of the Match and couldn't put the goddamn ball where it should have gone. The Galaxy did in the Second Half, however, courtesy of a Penalty Kick given after the ref reviewed a play in MNUFC's defensive box at least a few Minutes after that infraction presumably happened.
Thank God, then, for a Finnish finish courtesy of Robin Lod:
Robin Lod! @MNUFC find their equalizer with minutes to go! pic.twitter.com/hvvml9C3qx
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2022
I still remember Lod totally sucking his first Year with the XI. I was ready to send him out of town along with all the other high-priced, fly-by-night foreigners United FC have brought (and continue to bring) in. But Lod, with that Goal, has 21 for Minnesota, and that ties him with Christian Ramirez, Darwin Quintero, and Kevin Molino for most Goals for this franchise since it graduated to top-flight American men's soccer. Adrian Heath still sometimes shifts Lod to the Wing when he has been more than adequate as a False 9. But make no mistake: Not only is Lod the only Striker worth his salt right now, there is no Offense at all if he and Emmanuel Reynoso are bottled up. This team needs depth so a Defense doesn't just key on those two players and shut down the Loons' attack. With that said, United FC managed a Point with that 1-all Draw with the Galaxy. However, the ballclub's winless streak in league play now is at four, and they sit just outside of a playoff spot.
Tomorrow/Sunday evening they visit FC Dallas. There then is an Eighth-Final U. S. Open Cup showdown vs. Union Omaha Wednesday. I might go to that Game ... if Minnesota is able to march into Big D and come out with a Win over a very robust Hoops squad a few Days prior.
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