Article: MIN 6, CHW 4: Twins Slug Four Homers in Victory

[Tom Froemming]

Eduardo Escobar slugged two homers and a double while Brian Dozier was a double shy of the cycle to lead the Twins to victory in a nice night for the bats. Jose Berrios still didn’t look his best, but managed to pitch six innings, and Fernando Rodney nailed down the save.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Download attachment: Snapshot54.png Download attachment: WinEx54.png

It was home run derby early on at Guaranteed Rate Field (yuck), as the Twins slugged four home runs in the first three innings. Logan Morrison joined Escobar and Dozier in the tater parade.

Dozier, who had been in a terrible slump, was moved down to second in the order. Phil Miller of the Star Tribune reported it was the first time Dozier didn’t hit leadoff since July 30, 2016. Seems like it was just what the doctor ordered.

 

On the pitching side, Berrios gave up four runs on six hits and two walks, but managed to complete six innings. Jose struggled in his previous start as well, but was pulled after just three innings.

 

It was a concerning to see Berrios give up as many home runs as he had strikeouts, two, but being able to eat some innings was beneficial. Zach Duke, Ryan Pressly, Trevor Hildenberger and Fernando Rodney combined to log three shutout innings out of the bullpen.

 

Hildenberger had a poor spring that carried over into some stumbles to start the season, but he’s turned things around of late. With Addison Reed having pitched the previous three ballgames, someone was going to have to step into a setup role, and Hildy answered the call. Rodney is also looking more sturdy, as he’s now pitched 1-2-3 innings in back-to-back appearances.

 

OK, let’s talk about bunting.

 

It’s been awhile. For those of you who don’t remember this feature of the game recaps from last year, that basically means I’m going to ramble on about what ended up being an inconsequential bunt in an otherwise nice win for the Twins. Just a heads up if that kind of thing isn’t up your alley.

 

Chicago lefty Aaron Bummer entered this game with two outs in the fourth inning. Max Kepler hit a single off him, but Jason Castro was thrown out at home to end the inning. Bummer stayed in for the fifth and was greeted by back-to-back doubles from Eddie Rosario and Escobar. Then Logan Morrison grounded out, advancing Escobar to third.

 

So despite the fact that Bummer was struggling (single, double, double, groundout) and that Ehire Adrianza is a career .276/.319/.408 (.727 OPS) hitter against southpaws, the Twins put on a suicide squeeze. It didn’t work, as Adrianza got a tough pitch to bunt on, and Escobar was tagged out.

I personally don’t like that play. Ever. There’s just too much that can go wrong. The only time I’d be okay with it is if you’re facing some kind of a juggernaut pitcher and had a terrible hitter, but good bunter at the plate.

 

Bummer entered the night with a 4.70 ERA over 30 2/3 career innings. He’s also thrown three wild pitches in 8 2/3 innings so far in 2018. Also, White Sox catcher Omar Narvaez committed his league-leading sixth passed ball earlier in the game. Even if you didn’t feel great about the chances that Adrianza or Castro could plate Escobar, there was a chance Chicago was going to gift that run from third anyway.

 

All in all, it was a really nice victory for the Twins. They even picked up three hits with runners in scoring position, which has been a real struggle for them so far in 2018.

 

Postgame With Escobar

Bullpen Usage

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

Download attachment: Bullpen54.png

Next Three Games

Sat at CHW, 6:10 pm CT

Sun at CHW, 1:10 pm CT

Mon at STL, 7:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

CHW 6, MIN 5: Twins Blow 5-1 Lead

MIN 4, TOR 0: Fernandomania!

TOR 7, MIN 4: WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?

 

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[rghrbek]

It was a weird game, I felt like there was a lot of chances for the Twins to blow it up, but after recent events I was waiting for bad things to happen when they the sox had so many runners on base.

 

Who cares?  Twins win!

[Twodogs]

Twins starting pitching has seemed to be doing their job, with the exception of Lynn so far and obviously Hughes who appears to be out, but even when they aren't their best they have been seemingly able to hold the team in the games. The bullpen, different story. However, if the Twins bats wake up, and they can get Sano and Buxton back in the everyday lineup I think the twins can definitely come back and compete for something this year. As far as bunting goes, I feel it's a useful tool, but you have to have players that are good at it in order to use it. I mean a ban saw is also a very useful tool, but I wouldn't want someone trying to make **** with it if they never practice with it? You just end up losing some fingers. If I had Rod Carew on my team I would have him bunt into the MLB shifts every single at bat. But he obviously practiced bunting, a lot, and because of it, no team in their right mind would ever dare put a shift on him, which would open up the whole field for him again. The problem is that for the most part not many MLB players practice bunting enough to be able to effectively use that tool. Suicide squeeze plays are a rarity but if you put that play on you need to be 100 percent sure your guy can get that bunt down.

[Eris]

Ryan Pressly has appeared in 16 of 28 games the Twins have played. He is tracking towards 92 appearances for the year. (Early season snow outs make the prediction less reliable). Nonetheless, I think Ryan Pressly is being over used and at the current rate will lose his effectiveness.

 

The most appearances by a reliever last year was 79. Addison Reed had 77.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=rel&lg=all&qual=10&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=6,d

[mikelink45]

When I look at the bullpen chart I keep seeing Magill and Hughes and then see the large usage at the top.  Can we afford to have two mop up only relievers?

 

I like bunts, I just wish they could work at perfecting them in practice.

 

Now we just need a little streak and the Chisox could be the catapult - lets hope - for a turn around. 

[rv78]

It's always good to win one once in a while.

[wabene]

I'm glad were seeing some changes to the way they do things such as a relatively quick hook out of the rotation for Hughes. That being said the guy is owed a ridiculous amount of money and if they actually did the right thing and cut bait i would be shocked, but super happy. Maybe then Molitor would have another option out of the pen, because yes the way he is riding Pressly is not sustainable. I do understand with the horrible losing how hard it would be not to ride the hot hand when you have a chance at a W

[terrydactyls]

That pitch would ebe tough for even the best bunters. It was breaking down and in, and almost hit him in the foot. While I can agree that a passed ball or wild pitch might be a strong possibility, I also think a fast ball down the middle (and easy to bunt) was also highly likely. Baseball is somewhat of a guessing game and I guess the Twins just guessed wrong.

[jorgenswest]

When I look at the bullpen chart I keep seeing Magill and Hughes and then see the large usage at the top.  Can we afford to have two mop up only relievers?

 

I like bunts, I just wish they could work at perfecting them in practice.

 

Now we just need a little streak and the Chisox could be the catapult - lets hope - for a turn around.

 

I would prefer another bat over the extra mop up reliever. Hopefully one of them is removed when Buxton returns

[Shaitan]

I'm glad about the win, but this victory has the same issue many of the season's early win's had: all the runs are coming on HRs. They need to start hitting with runners on base.

[Shaitan]

 

When I look at the bullpen chart I keep seeing Magill and Hughes and then see the large usage at the top.  Can we afford to have two mop up only relievers?

 

I like bunts, I just wish they could work at perfecting them in practice.

 

Now we just need a little streak and the Chisox could be the catapult - lets hope - for a turn around. 

 

I agree with everything you say here.

 

Unfortunately, that 10 days of mediocre to bad starts from the rotation put them in this position. When you don't get quality starts it creates a cycle of roster moves like this. I think we're stuck with two mop-up pitchers until an injury or recovery forces another move.

[jtkoupal]

Another cardiac game for the Twins. They have had trouble in every win since the Puerto Rico series.

 

Molitor's decision to leave Berrios in was gutsy, but it paid off this time.

 

I don't think I'm being short sided when I express the concern for the rotation, though. There just hasn't been a lot of clean starts since the Berrios gem in Puerto Rico. I believe that Gibson in NY and Odorizzi vs CIN are the only 2 quality starts we have gotten since that day.

 

Either way, the offense is coming alive, sort of. Still need to see them cash in on RISP opportunities a little more though. Can't be getting complacent with 4 or 5 runs on the board given what's happened with the pitching lately. 

 

Finally, I liked the move to flip Mauer and Dozier in the lineup. I've been saying that Mauer should lead off since 2014. It's amazing that it has taken 4 years for them to figure that out. Also, all the speculation about Dozier's "mental thing" about hitting leadoff should be thrown out the window after almost hitting for the cycle in the #2 hole yesterday.

 

Enjoy this one and let's go get another one tonight agains our old friend Hector Santiago!

[Twins33]

Finally, I liked the move to flip Mauer and Dozier in the lineup. I've been saying that Mauer should lead off since 2014. It's amazing that it has taken 4 years for them to figure that out. Also, all the speculation about Dozier's "mental thing" about hitting leadoff should be thrown out the window after almost hitting for the cycle in the #2 hole yesterday

i don't think "figure it out" is the right phrase for it because I would hope they aren't that dumb. We all know Dozier prefers to lead off/bat 1. And I could swear Joe at minimum has said in the past that he prefers to hit third (it was many years ago as he hits two mostly now) or doesn't like to hit lead off but I can't find anything to back that up. I could be misremembering.

 

Anyway, if I'm not wrong, it's more like Molitor is letting a few players control his lineup card over what makes sense. And it wouldn't surprise me if Molitor went with a vets preference over what makes sense. That's Molitor's thing.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Twins33