Article: MIN 8, CHW 4: Rosario Drives in Five

[Tom Froemming]

The Twins needed this. Not just a victory, but a blowout so the top bullpen arms could all have a night off. Lance Lynn needed this too. He’d been about as bad as anyone could have imagined in his first five starts as a Twin. And it was all thanks in large part to Eddie Rosario.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Download attachment: Snapshot55.png Download attachment: WinEx55.png

The Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Lynn did his best to make things interesting in the bottom of the inning. The White Sox scored a run on four hits, but with the bases loaded, Daniel Palka grounded into a double play.

 

That was a huge turning point for Lynn in this game, and hopefully ends up representing the turning point in his season.

 

Over the next five innings, Lynn only gave up four hits and one more run. The biggest plus sign was his control. After issuing 23 free passes in his first 23 2/3 innings, Lynn didn’t walk a single batter. He threw 71 of his 97 pitches for strikes.

The Twins offense kept pouring it on, adding three runs in the third and two more in the fourth. Rosario was a beast. He ended the night 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs. The Twins had really been struggling to pick up hits with men on base, but Rosie did it three times Saturday night.

Joe Mauer, who hit leadoff again, also had a nice night, going 2-for-3 with a couple of walks. Max Kepler drew three walks in the contest and Eduardo Escobar broke the ice in the first inning with a big RBI double.

 

The Twins were leading 8-2 when Lynn exited, allowing Matt Magill and Phil Hughes to get in some low-leverage work. Magill gave up a run in his two innings, but also struck out three batters. Hughes gave up a solo home run in his inning of work.

 

Postgame With Rosario

Bullpen Usage

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

Download attachment: Bullpen55.png

Next Three Games

Sun at CHW, 1:10 pm CT

Mon at STL, 7:10 pm CT

Tue at STL, 12:15 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

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

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

MIN 4, TOR 0: Fernandomania!

 

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[Puckett34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnVrSZHnvYY

[jokin]

Best cure for a losing streak is returning back into the Classic Lake Division.

[twinsfanstreif]

I was really impressed with Garver's defense and framing tonight, he's been sharp every time he gets a start. I really hope he takes hold of this job and doesn't give it up when Castro comes back, he provides a much better bat than Castro and without looking at any metrics his game calling and defensive ability looks to be pretty good

[glunn]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnVrSZHnvYY

Good one.

[jmlease1]

Rosario has hit one of those hot streaks and it's just what this offense needed. I'm still worried that he's regressing in his ability to control the strike zone and that it won't last. (a OBP of .299 isn't good enough for a starter in the OF, IMHO) But when he's going he's awfully fun to watch.

 

Love moving Mauer into the leadoff slot right now. He's a machine getting on base right now (rolling up plenty of hits to go with the walks) and while he's not a threat to steal at this point in his career, he still runs the bases well and intelligently. With Dozier having been in a nasty slump, Buxton on the DL, it's a smart play.

 

Good for Lance Lynn in getting the win. Hopefully this is the start to him being the pitcher we thought he was when we signed him.

[mikelink45]

We found the perfect game for using Hughes and his HR pitch.  Now I cannot complain about Hughes and Magill using up bullpen roster spots!  At least for a few days.  Lynn got through with a good line, but the gap between his good performance and typical Lynn was that bases loaded DP - thank for helping your old team Mr Palka. 

 

When I look at the lineup I see such a gap at 4.  The guys filling in the 3 - 4 - 5 spots are doing great, but with Morrison still trying to find the Mendoza line we really need Sano to give us a big bat.  Of course we need a Sano who learns to strikeout a lot less.  When I look at the Yankees big boppers you can see how it really changes the game.

​But Sano with 506 Ks in 1220 ABs wastes so many opportunities.  Judge has 294 ks in 748 ABs.  If Ks were hits Sano would have a 414 average and Judge 393.   But Judge has an OPS of 989 career and Sano 837.  Miquel has the potential, but so far he is most effective at getting on the DL rather than the bases.

[DocBauer]

Fabulous start by Lynn and needed for the team as much as himself. Despite the injuries forcing changes, I like the way Molitor has the lineup right now. Rosario is back on track and Morrison has been warming up as well. This was a really nice game for the good guys.

 

But honestly, what playoff caliber team has a toasted Hughes and a Magill/who in their bullpen? Even in a big win with a big lead they each had to allow a run.