MIN 3, DET 2: Colomé Holds on for 6-Out Save
Apr 07 2021 01:58 PM |
Andrew Thares
in Minnesota Twins
Image courtesy of © Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Box ScoreMaeda: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Colomé .374, Polanco .235, Robles .114
Bottom 3 WPA: Garver -.185, Sanó -.080, Cruz -.032
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):
Baddoo Stays Hot
Akil Baddoo continued to torture his former organization in today’s game. In the bottom of the second, Baddoo got the scoring started with an RBI triple. He followed that up in the next half inning, when he made a great play and throw to nail Andrelton Simmons, who was trying to turn a single into a double, to leadoff the inning.
Matthew Boyd Controls Twins Bats Early
The Twins stacked their lineup with right-handed hitters against the lefty Matthew Boyd, but they were unable to get anything going against him through the first four innings of the game, as they mustered just two singles, with five strikeouts. It wasn’t until Byron Buxton drilled a double off the right-field wall to leadoff the fifth that the Twins even had a runner in scoring position. The Twins were able to capitalize off Buxton’s leadoff double, as he advanced to third on a groundout from Miguel Sano, and then came in to score on a sac-fly off the bat of Willians Astudillo, evening the score at one a piece.
Wilson Ramos Home Run
The game didn’t stay tied for long, thanks to Wilson Ramos who drilled a one-out home run down the line in left. Off the bat, the ball didn’t appear to be hit high enough to get out, but the ball was hit hard enough that it stayed up just enough to clear the fence, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Twins Have Big Sixth Inning
After the Tigers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Twins put together a strong sixth inning to give themselves the lead. In the top of the inning, the Twins bats put together a two out rally that started with a single from right-fielder Kyle Garlick. Nelson Cruz followed that up with an infield single, where he was initially rule out, but after a successful challenge from Rocco Baldelli the call was overturned. Jorge Polanco then came up huge, driving a double in the left-center field gap that was able to bring Cruz to score all the way from first, giving the Twins the 3-2 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, it was the defense that bailed out Kenta Maeda, who was struggling to get hitters out. First it was Andrelton Simmons, who completed a strong relay on a Miguel Cabrera double to throw out Willi Castro at home. After a Jeimer Candelario walk and a Nomar Mazara single, the bases were loaded with just one out, with Jonathan Schoop coming to the plate. Maeda was able to get Schoop to flyout to Kyle Garlick, who ended the inning with this great throw.
Kyle Garlick’s Big Start
With a lefty on the mound for the Tigers, it was not surprising that Kyle Garlick replaced Max Kepler in the lineup. However, it was surprising that he was he was hitting second in the order ahead of Nelson Cruz. Garlick proved that to be a great move, as he collected two singles to get on base in front of Cruz, which included the two-out single in the sixth that sparked the Twins rally to take the lead. Then he backed it up in the field with that throw to get Miguel Cabrera at home to preserve the Twins 3-2 lead.
Colome Secures Two Inning Save
With Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffey having pitched yesterday, and Alex Colome coming off three days rest, Rocco Baldelli turned to Colome in the eighth inning to get six outs to end the game, and that is exactly what he did. Colome allowed a single in the eighth, but that was erased with an inning ending double play. He then got the middle of the Tigers order 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game with Akil Baddoo standing in the on-deck circle.
Postgame with Maeda
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
41 Comments
solid start for what should be a good team. Can't say I love having 9 #@$^%#^%@#$# pitchers in the bullpen, though. It's just a waste.
Hard to complain too much about a team that's only lost in extra innings so far.
If he hadn't been taken, he wouldn't have even started playing yet, and the Twins would have trapped him in the low minors in some A ball all season probably, and it would have been a waste. All these so called "experts" that say a player isn't ready. Baddoo is proof that some are, and the only way you find out is to get them in the show sooner than later to see. Too bad he couldn't have stayed unhurt and played the last two years.
So speedy Polanco can't be sent from second but Cruz can from first. Looks like Diaz got a talkin' to.....
The sure thing is..... that if you don't send the runner, he definitely can't score.
Garlik's bust will be next to Baddoo's in the Hall of Fame.Seriously, we're a week in to the season and there's a lot of baseball to be played. At this moment, Garlik is contributing, as is Astudillo, the two guys who were being debated about as far as their place on the roster.
I am concerned about two Twins hitters at this early point in the season--Garver and Sanó--both seem to be getting beat on breaking pitches and fastballs. Garver's 2019 season is looking more and more like an outlier and frankly I hope he can be as productive as he was as a rookie. I don't think he as good an overall receiver as Jeffers, so he needs to hit. Sanó seems to be descending into Mark Reynolds territory. The droughts are too deep and periods of dominance are too short.
Maeda hasn't had great command in his first two starts, but I'm less worried about him. He seemed to find his groove in the middle innings today, but lost it in the sixth.
While I sometimes wish the Twins would promote guys at different rates than others Gaddoo isn't proof of anything. He was a .249 hitter in the minors. He is 5-11. Pretty much any hitter A ball and above are capable of a 5-11 stint.I might be wrong but I know there are lots of minor league players capable of hitting well for a SSS in the majors.More power to him and maybe he never looks back. You are right that he would not be on the Twins nor should he be. He did nothing with the Twins to deserve such a shot.
Watching the Yankees-Orioles game in extras. Great game ending DP by the O's as Urshela slides in at the plate and gets his face slammed by a tag on a would-be Sacrafice Fly. Love it when Yanks lose at home. Laughed kind of hard.
Just wondering, if you are the away team and you don't score in the 10th-- which the Twins did twice this week--, why the hell would you not walk the first batter in the bottom of the 10th and set up a force-at-any-base situation?
Granted, maybe you feel a match-up advantage for a hitter. But, in general, it's do or die in extras, and the defense needs every advantage. Here we have all the analytics in the world, but they can't figure out that walking the first or second batter when one run loses you the game might help the defense?
Kind of slow on the uptake.
Nicw bounceback game for the Twins. Early this season, injuries and illness have kept the lineup in flux. Betno one expected Astudillo to contribute so soon. Concern about Garver and Sano justified. I'd give Sano till the end of April tops to straighten out. Then if he doesn't, its time to try someone else. He looks a lot like Chris Davis these last two seasons.
4-2 start is fine.
I'm just happy that they didn't cough up another game with Maeken on the mound. He'll be on the news tonight for sure. He's a fighter.
I suspect that a 12 noon start had something to do with that.
It's only six games. Maybe he is the real deal, and maybe pitchers will figure out how to get him out. It's when they start changing approach we'll see whether he can also figure out how to respond - if he can, then we can pronounce him ready.
If you send him and he's out, he definitely can't score. If you don't send him, he still might score. It's a case-by-case decision.
Defense was the difference in this game.Twins got 2 outs at the plate to keep the lead.The first out was a great relay.The second out the runner should never have been sent, but still took a good throw that was made.
Also old man Cruz showing off his legs helped get the win too.
Don't you just love how his "hard hit rate" or exit velo is what we hear about?But in the first 6 games his whiff % is around 47%!!Which is scarily similar to 2020.At some point, we may have to realize that this is who he is.I thought he'd be the DH next year, assuming Cruz will not be back.But maybe Sano is the one who isn't back.