Article: Cleveland 8, Twins 1: AL Central Lead Dwindles

[Tom Froemming]

The Twins got beat up in what was the first of a huge four-game series with Cleveland, who are hot on their heels in the AL Central. After the game a couple of bullpen moves were announced, though full details have yet to be released.Cleveland 8, Twins 1

Box Score

 

Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs)

Download attachment: WE616.png

Nik Turley got rocked, giving up eight runs over 4.2 innings. Cleveland tallied nine hits and drew four walks off the lefty. The big blow was a mammoth three-run homer off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion.

 

By taking a quick look at the charts, I wonder if maybe home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had each of these pitchers’ reputations in mind while calling balls and strikes. He certainly seemed to give Carlos Carrasco a more favorable strike zone. Here’s a breakdown of Turley’s pitches, notice all the blue inside the zone:

Download attachment: TurleyZone.png

And here's Carrasco’s below. Hmmm, no blue inside the zone for him.

Download attachment: CarrascoZone.png

I’m not trying to suggest the umpire made a seven-run difference in this game, but the information above speaks for itself. By my count, there are five clear strikes from Turley that were called balls, and it’s not like you can find any makeup calls on Carrasco’s chart.

 

Even if Turley had pitched a gem it may not have mattered much, as the offense wasn’t able to muster much against Carrasco. Joe Mauer entered this game with some incredible numbers against Carrasco, but he had his worst day at the plate of the season, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

On the bright side, the Twins are still one of only three teams to not have been shutout this season. The team’s only run came on a Eddie Rosario homer, which was one of only four hits on the night.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good for Rosario. With the Twins trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the third, Rosario drew a leadoff walk. He tried to tag up and advance to second on a Brian Dozier fly out to left field. It was a high risk, low reward move that did not pay off for the ever-aggressive Rosario, as he was thrown out (as pictured above).

 

The bullpen was solid, as Craig Breslow and Ryan Pressly combined for 5.1 innings of one-hit ball, striking out five batters in the process. Reinforcements are on the way.

Alan Busenitz, who will be making his major league debut, was acquired in last year’s Hector Santiago trade. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 2.15 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over 29.1 innings for the Red Wings. Wimmers, who had just been sent down Tuesday, is already on the 40-man roster, but Busenitz and Adam Wilk, who is starting tomorrow afternoon, will need to be added.

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Pen616New.png

UPDATE: Ryan Pressly has been optioned to Rochester.

Saturday

Twins (Adam Wilk, 6.75 ERA), vs. Cleveland (Ryan Merritt), 1:10 pm CT

Twins (Adlaberto Mejia, 5.75 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Mike Clevinger, 4.09 ERA), 7:10 pm CT

 

AL Central Standings

Twins 34-30

Cleveland 33-31 (-1)

Detroit 32-34 (-3)

Kansas City 31-34 (-3.5)

Chicago 30-36 (-5)

 

Be sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which recaps how the Chattanooga Lookouts locked up a playoff spot.

 

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[Pardon My Dinger]

The Twins have not been shut out yet? Sha-whaaaaat?

[ToddlerHarmon]

Yup. Consistently scoring at least a few runs is one of the sustainable elements of the Twins' success so far. They have stayed top 10 in OBP all year.

[mikelink45]

When I look at our team entering a four game series with Cleveland - the team we are fighting for first place and the rotation is Turley, Wilks, Mejia, and Gibson I am frustrated.  When you only have two good starters - Berrios and Santana - they cannot go in every series, but this is no way to tackle the potentially best team in the division.  I am hoping for standout performances far above their norms because we need a split from this series. 

[Old Twins Cap]

Who are they sending down or DFA'ing?

 

1.  Turley

2.  26th man brought up

[diehardtwinsfan]

Wimmers is the 26th man....  not sure who is getting the DFA. 

[carlito_b]

Any chance Gonsalves or Romero end up getting an emergency call up this summer.. This series starting pitching lineup is depressing.. They are really reaching this is already nine starters used this season

[Darius]

I'm going to enjoy first place this morning while it lasts. I'll be surprised if this team manages 1 of 4 in the series.

[jimbo92107]

I watched some of that game yesterday. Turley's pitching chart couldn't possibly have looked like that in the minors, or he wouldn't have gotten the call. We have to cut rookie pitchers some slack for elevated heart rate. Turley clearly was nervous, flinging balls all around the zone. 

 

Cleveland has a good hitting team. A nervous pitcher getting himself in trouble with counts is not going to do well against them. Let's hope Mejia has a bit more control today than the other newbie.

[Rhino and Compass]

Holy spit, the Twins are still in first? - Me, every single time

[akmanak]

Given the current games coming up this was the last time you will see the Twins in first place. Maybe the management along with the fans will realize you cant build a team around medicore pitching.

[70charger]

 

 

By taking a quick look at the charts, I wonder if maybe home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had each of these pitchers’ reputations in mind while calling balls and strikes. He certainly seemed to give Carlos Carrasco a more favorable strike zone. Here’s a breakdown of Turley’s pitches, notice all the blue inside the zone:

Download attachment: TurleyZone.png

And here's Carrasco’s below. Hmmm, no blue inside the zone for him.

Download attachment: CarrascoZone.png

I’m not trying to suggest the umpire made a seven-run difference in this game, but the information above speaks for itself. By my count, there are five clear strikes from Turley that were called balls, and it’s not like you can find any makeup calls on Carrasco’s chart.

 

You should do this again for the day game from today. The umpiring in the first two games has me ready for robo-umps.