Article: OAK 6, MIN 5: Deja Vu

[Tom Froemming]

For the second-straight night, the Twins blew a lead and were thwarted by Oakland thanks to a walk-off homer. Yonder Alonso played the hero this time, blasting a homer off Tyler Duffey to win it in the 12th inning. This was the Twins last opportunity to make a positive impression on the front office prior to the trade deadline.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs)

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The Twins built up a 5-0 lead early but, once again, they failed to tack on. Taylor Rogers, who gave up the walk-off homer last night, came in to pitch the eighth today. He got the first two batters he faced out before issuing a four-pitch walk.

 

Oakland pinch hit Rajai Davis, who just so happened to be the guy who hit that walk-off homer off Rogers Saturday night, and he delivered a clutch single. Rogers was lifted for Ryan Pressly, who gave up a game-tying double to Matt Chapman. In a situation that clearly called for a no-doubles defense (game-tying run at first base with two outs), left fielder Eddie Rosario was inexplicably playing in.

With those two runs charged to Rogers, his ERA is now 3.79. It was 1.93 just 10 days ago. This game remained tied until Yonder Alonso hit a ball up over yonder to walk it off in the 12th.

Bartolo Colon, pitching in his old home park (I guess you could say that about a lot of places now) lasted into the seventh inning. He held Oakland to three runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings. With the Twins clearly being sellers now, one has to wonder how much longer Colon sticks around, regardless of how well he pitches.

 

Brian Dozier got the Twins off to a great start, hitting another leadoff home run. And Eduardo Escobar added a two-run shot in the first frame.

Things did not go well for Dozier from there, as he struck out in all five of the rest of his plate appearances. He was visibly upset with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, Minnesota's favorite ump, all game. Miguel Sano got called out on strikes in the 11th inning, and decided he had enough.

Taking a look at the data at Baseball Savant, a site affiliated with the MLB mind you, it’s easy to see why the Twins hitters were so fed up by the end of this one. Here is a look at all the strikes that were called on Minnesota hitters:

Download attachment: CalledStrikes.png

Lost in this mess of a game was an incredibly encouraging outing from Trevor Hildenberger, who was pitching in front of several friends and family members. The San Jose native struck out five batters in two innings of work. He worked around leadoff hits in both frames he pitched. Hopefully this means he's graduated to being trusted in high-leverage situations.

 

Postgame With Molitor

Bullpen Usage

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

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Monday

Off

 

The Twins get to spend another day off in California tomorrow. Not a bad deal. Tuesday evening they’ll open a quick two-game series at San Diego. Jose Berrios is scheduled to start against Jhoulys Chacin.

 

The big news, of course, is the upcoming trade deadline, which is Monday at 3 pm CT. Be sure to be refreshing Twins Daily often, as we’ll keep you updated on any rumors or trade news between now and then.

 

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[big dog]

Phil Cuzzi and Paul Molitor should both be on the unemployment line tomorrow.  Neither one can do his job.

[Mr. Brooks]

As far as keeping his head in the game, I just don't think Rosario will ever figure it out.

[wabene]

where the heck is Busenitz ? Hildy has poise. Seems to have an unique but versatile arsenal. Is like to see more of him. Rodgers has been rocked but he made a couple of nice pitches today. Got pulled at the right time. I really want to see more of these young guys the rest of the way now. Wins and losses are of less importance now.

[wabene]

As far as keeping his head in the game, I just don't think Rosario will ever figure it out.

one step forward then not enough back. Space case

[Aggies7]

As far as keeping his head in the game, I just don't think Rosario will ever figure it out.

Yep, caught stealing (and not sliding), apparently not knowing the count, then playing in the 3Bs back pocket with the tying run at first and two outs (to be fair, that's also on the coaching staff). This came on the heels of his performance Friday night, when he was thrown out at home after trying to score from second. Got a terrible read on the hit and then seemed to go about 80% around the bases. Let alone his penchant for throwing to the wrong bases. Dude needs to get his head out of his a**. He's hit well, but not nearly well enough to be a mental liability on the bases and in the field.

[Tom Froemming]

Another really poor baseball decision I forgot to mention originally was when Max Kepler ran into an out at third base. With the score tied and one out in the top of the ninth, Kepler was on second base when Miguel Sano sent a chopper to third. Kepler broke to third and was easily tagged out.

 

I don't know if maybe Kepler thought he could beat the third baseman to the bag or if he thought there were two outs already (he entered the game as a pinch runner) or what, but that was a terrible play on his part in a huge situation. Just a lot of bad baseball all around for the Twins of late.

[Mike Sixel]

I liked the winning more

[Han Joelo]

Deja vu to last night...or last year? Snatching defeat from the jaws of victories is so last year.

[hybridbear]

Radio broadcasters are generally pretty positive even when things aren't going well, but boy was Tony Oliva ticked off when Pressly gave up the game-tying double. After getting 2 strikes on curveballs Oliva was really upset that Pressly didn't throw any more breaking balls the rest of the at-bat until he had a full count where he threw one down the middle. He was ranting & raving about Pressly's poor pitch selection for what felt like an eternity.

 

It was strange to me because Tony Oliva usually seems to be overly optimistic about Twins players and how good they are.

[Vanimal46]

I'm getting really tired of Pressly.... 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Radio broadcasters are generally pretty positive even when things aren't going well, but boy was Tony Oliva ticked off when Pressly gave up the game-tying double. After getting 2 strikes on curveballs Oliva was really upset that Pressly didn't throw any more breaking balls the rest of the at-bat until he had a full count where he threw one down the middle. He was ranting & raving about Pressly's poor pitch selection for what felt like an eternity.

 

It was strange to me because Tony Oliva usually seems to be overly optimistic about Twins players and how good they are.

Gladden was ranting about that same thing. Interesting.

 

He also mentioned how Gimenez and Pressly were not on the same page with pitch selection. With too many shake offs and resets.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I liked the winning more

At least they substituted it with "whining" yesterday.

[Taildragger8791]

10 K's for Dozier in the series. Ouch. Does he really make the most sense as leadoff hitter at this point? He's hitting .247/.329/.438 which also happens to be almost exactly his career slash line. Looks more like a mid-lineup guy.

[Vanimal46]

 

10 K's for Dozier in the series. Ouch. Does he really make the most sense as leadoff hitter at this point? He's hitting .247/.329/.438 which also happens to be almost exactly his career slash line. Looks more like a mid-lineup guy.

 

Dozier at leadoff has never really made sense. But for some reason he prefers being in that spot, and Molitor has obliged with his request for the last 1.5+ years. I would think he's better suited in front or behind Sano in the lineup.

[Taildragger8791]

 

Dozier at leadoff has never really made sense. But for some reason he prefers being in that spot, and Molitor has obliged with his request for the last 1.5+ years. I would think he's better suited in front or behind Sano in the lineup.

 

That was my thought too. He gives a little power protection to keep pitchers honest, and even if he is a bit streaky you still have to respect it.

[bluechipper]

 

10 K's for Dozier in the series. Ouch. Does he really make the most sense as leadoff hitter at this point? He's hitting .247/.329/.438 which also happens to be almost exactly his career slash line. Looks more like a mid-lineup guy.

It's time to hit Buxton leadoff, or Granite if he stays up, and have those guys hit 1-2.

[TonyInOmaha]

I was disappointed Molitor didn't use Dozier's 11th inning strikeout looking to stick up for his players and light a spark.  Sano ended up being the one to give Cuzzi the reaction he deserved but that should have come from the manager.

[Kwak]

 

Dozier at leadoff has never really made sense. But for some reason he prefers being in that spot, and Molitor has obliged with his request for the last 1.5+ years. I would think he's better suited in front or behind Sano in the lineup.

He prefers it because pitchers are trying to "establish things" and are prone to throw fastballs over the middle.  Those are what fuels his HR binges, his contract, and future prospects.

[Dantes929]

Taylor is similar to Perkins in 2015.  HUGE reason we were in contention beginning the 2nd half and huge reason we fell out of contention in the 2nd half.