Article: TB 14, MIN 3: Well … That Just Happened

[Andrew Thares]

You could say the Twins dug themselves a little bit of a hole early in this game, but that would be sugarcoating it a bit. The truth of the matter is the Twins dug themselves a hole all the way to China, and then kept on digging. Once the dust settled in St. Petersburg, the Twins had given up 14 runs, and never really mounted any sort of a comeback with the bats.Box Score

Perez: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 63.5% strikes (40 of 63 pitches)

Home Runs: No Bomba

Multi-Hit Games: Adrianza (2 for 3); Castro (2 for 3)

WPA of +0.1: None

WPA of -0.1: Perez -.307

 

Download attachment: vs Rays 5-30-2019.PNG

 

(Chart via FanGraphs)

 

After a couple of quick innings from both Charlie Morton and Martin Perez, we looked like we were locked in for the pitchers dual that we were expecting going into the night. That came to a screeching halt in the bottom of the third when Perez was unable to get out of the inning after surrendering six earned runs, highlighted by an Austin Meadows bases-clearing double.

 

Zack Littell was able to come in and stop the bleeding, but that was short-lived as he came out in the bottom of the fourth and gave up five more runs on six hits and a walk. The inning probably would have been much worse if it weren’t for Byron Buxton making this spectacular catch to rob Daniel Robertson of a single to lead off the inning.

 

 

Littell was able to settle in through the middle innings, and looked pretty sharp until he hit a wall with two outs in the bottom of the seventh where he got lit up with an RBI double followed by a majestic home run off the bat of Ji-Man Choi. However, you could say that Little did his job by saving the bullpen for the rest of the series, as the Twins needed to get just three more outs after he came out of the ballgame.

 

The Twins were able to finally put a run on the board in the 5th when Luis Arraez hit a two-out double, followed by an RBI single from Ehrie Adrianza. They added another in the sixth thanks to a Byron Buxton lead-off triple. He eventually came in to score on an RBI groundout from Max Kepler. In the eighth, the Twins were able to get a third run thanks to a pair of singles to lead off the inning by Adrianza and Jason Castro. Adrianza came in to score that run on an RBI groundout from Byron Buxton.

 

Good news is, that still only counts as one. The Twins will be back at it tomorrow evening with Jose Berrios on the mound trying to tie up the series at a game a piece.

 

Bullpen Usage

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

 

Download attachment: 5-30-2019 vs Rays.PNG

 

Next Three Games

Fri at TB, 6:10 pm CT (Berrios-TBD)

Sat at TB, 12:10 pm CT (Gibson-TBD)

Sun at TB, 12:10 pm CT (Odorizzi-TBD)

 

Last Game

MIN 5, MIL 3: Smeltzer Shines in Emotional MLB Debut

 

Click here to view the article

[USAFChief]

I would imagine Littel's reward for eating innings tonight is a ticket back to Rochester. Hopefully anyway. The last guy in the bullpen needs to be available to have any value at all, and he's not available for a couple days now.

 

Also, I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

[Aerodeliria]

I've noticed in the past when Perez gets in trouble the pattern has worked like this: One walk + one hit = Mound Visit (followed by one or two outs). Today it was: Two walks + one hit = Mound Visit (followed by meltdown). I'm not saying that would have mattered that much, but I just noticed it.

 

Not to be argumentative, and I admit that Littell escaped the inning in which he entered, but I would hardly contend that he was effective. He gave up 10 hits and eight earned runs in just four innings. IMHO he was not effective until he had let the game get completely out of hand, and even then, he couldn't hold back the flood waters. He earned his boarding pass back to Rochester.

 

PS-It's a good day to read the minor league report...

Edited May 31, 2019 by Aerodeliria

[Aerodeliria]

 

I would imagine Littel's reward for eating innings tonight is a ticket back to Rochester. Hopefully anyway. The last guy in the bullpen needs to be available to have any value at all, and he's not available for a couple days now.

 

Also, I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

 

That is the one positive note!!

[Otto von Ballpark]

I've noticed in the past when Perez gets in trouble the pattern has worked like this: One walk + one hit = Mound Visit

How does that jingle go? "One walk, one hit, mound visit before it goes to ****..."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHtEYVmhV8

[Otto von Ballpark]

If Cruz is ready (he apparently took BP today), we could activate him and send down Littell tomorrow.

[Aerodeliria]

 

If Cruz is ready (he apparently took BP today), we could activate him and send down Littell tomorrow.

 

Yes, please.

[jimbo92107]

This didn't happen when Garver was here.

 

Heh-heh. 

[bighat]

Perez was terrible. In defense of Perez, the defense behind him tonight was also terrible. How he got hung out to dry with 6 ER is beyond me.Just one game. Looking forward to a better effort tomorrow.

 

What a boost Polanco, Cruz, and Astudillo would be to this lineup tomorrow. Twins can't take TB lightly and expect to escape with easy wins. Need to, ya know, play the A team.

 

 

[MNT1996]

3 runs against Tampa is good. It wasn't our offense's fault tonight. If Perez was as sharp as we've grown accustomed to seeing him this year we win this game. 

[Linus]

Yep. If you are a reliever and pitch more than one inning for Rocco look out.

[stringer bell]

While Pérez wasn't sharp, he also didn't have any luck. A lot of poorly hit balls were hits. Regression to the mean, I guess. He's got to throw more strikes and the second time around, the Ray hitters didn't chase. Tough spot for Littell and I wouldn't be surprised if he was optioned before the next game.

[gil4]

 

Also, I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

I don't believe it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSUIQgEVDM4

 

[DocBauer]

I missed the game, so have no direct comment on anything or anyone.

 

Perez has been awesome!. One mediocre game after jetlag with the birth of his child, and then another good game.

 

He didn't have it tonight. The team didn't have it tonight. Hey, it happens. It's one bad game.

 

Next!

 

[gil4]

 

How does that jingle go? "One walk, one hit, mound visit before it goes to ****..."
 

It sounds like this was the jingle we needed tonight. (I was umpiring tonight, and two of the three games were worse than the Twins game.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ECZMvbLxg

 

[Riverbrian]

https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-tampa-bay-rays/

 

2 man Starting Rotation:  Check

11 Man Bullpen: Check

Lots of players on the disabled list: Check

No big name position players: Check

Everybody plays: Check

64 Million Dollar Payroll: Check

 

This team has everything it needs. 

 

 

[bunt_vs_the_shift]

I commend Rocco for riding out 4.1 unwatchable innings with Littell and preserving the bullpen. This particular game was out of hand, but at least we didn't burn innings from the guys that we will need in more competitive games. 

[Dman]

Perez seems to play with fire several innings every time he pitches.  Lot's of times he has been able to work himself out of it but not tonight.  Hoping for a better approach from him in the future. It is a tough way to start the series as you hate to just give a game away but it happens to all teams at some point.  I hope we can compete with these guys at some point.  If we can't beat the teams in the East then it doesn't really matter what our record is as we will be out in the first round.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Dman

[terrydactyls]

I've been a Minnesota fan since I saw Elgin Baylor play in his rookie season, so I definitely have a true Minnesota sports fan mentality.  Every since I've started tracking and posting the Twins home runs for the season, they haven't hit a single one.  I realize it's only been one game, but I'm afraid I've cursed them.  Oh well, here's today's update.

 

Yesterday was Thursday, May 30 and it was the 55th game of the year.  The Twins are now 34%  of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team ranks 48th on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season with a total of 106.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

 

I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

 

 

That is the one positive note!!

 

If not "positive" it's at least "standings-neutral." Chicago kept Cleveland at .500 with a 10-4 victory last night, their fourth in a row. Carrasco gave up 6 runs. Now the Pale Hose are 27-29. Another Sox victory at Guaranteed Rate Field tonight means that Cleveland and Chicago would be tied for 2nd behind the Twins, who still still enjoy a 9.5 game lead in the division on THE LAST DAY OF MAY! Pinch me.

[puckstopper1]

 

I commend Rocco for riding out 4.1 unwatchable innings with Littell and preserving the bullpen. This particular game was out of hand, but at least we didn't burn innings from the guys that we will need in more competitive games. 

 

Totally agree Bunt! Our pen looks to be in great shape going into tonight's tilt.  That is an accomplishment given that the Rays put up two touchdowns on the Twins yesterday.

[Mike Sixel]

They signed all that offense this off season, and only managed a field goal. Of course, unlike the Vikings, they made the field goal....

[Tomj14]

In defense of Perez in the 3rd the walks to Garcia and Pham were a tough strike zone. 5 of the 8 balls could have went for strikes based on the ESPN gamecast strike box (or whatever it is called) and watching it on TV.

 

I will give Rocco credit for only using three pitchers in this game, how many times have we been blowing out a team and they run through relief pitchers.

[jctwins]

 

I would imagine Littel's reward for eating innings tonight is a ticket back to Rochester. Hopefully anyway. The last guy in the bullpen needs to be available to have any value at all, and he's not available for a couple days now.

 

Also, I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

 

If I recall correctly, though, losses early in the season don't count as much as they do later in the season.

 

 

[FargoTwinsFan]

Technically true, as the 4th tie-breaker for Home Field advantage is the winning percentage in the second half of games.

 

If I recall correctly, though, losses early in the season don't count as much as they do later in the season.

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Technically true, as the 4th tie-breaker for Home Field advantage is the winning percentage in the second half of games.

Third tiebreaker is a steel cage fight to the death, though, so odds are they never get to the 4th tiebreaker.

[USAFChief]

 

Third tiebreaker is a steel cage fight to the death, though, so odds are they never get to the 4th tiebreaker.

 

No, not to the death, to the PAIN!

[spanman2]

I think we all know out of 162 you are going to have some clunkers...Twins get back on track tonight and overall split the 4 game series against the Rays...that is a very good baseball team over there (copyright Gardy)...a split on the road in a 4 game set should be deemed successful.  Tampa is going to compete for the division in the East and certainly a wild card berth.  Win 2 in Tampa and take care of business in Cleveland and Detroit...6-4 road trip is .600 ball...I would take that right now!

[KFEY93]

 

Perez was terrible. In defense of Perez, the defense behind him tonight was also terrible. How he got hung out to dry with 6 ER is beyond me.Just one game. Looking forward to a better effort tomorrow.

 

What a boost Polanco, Cruz, and Astudillo would be to this lineup tomorrow. Twins can't take TB lightly and expect to escape with easy wins. Need to, ya know, play the A team.

Austidilo is no boost. He's a meme and hits ground outs like crazy. He is a liability in this line up and I pray once Garver comes back he is sent down or is sentenced to the bench where he belongs. Guy has been hitting .200 since his first 3 games. Thats not good. 

[h2oface]

Humbling. I missed the game and have to admit a bit of a shock when I checked in. 

 

I really don't see the faith in Littell at all. And there was even an attempt at making his performance sound acceptable in the article.

 

Maybe Berrios can finally pitch well against Tampa Bay and win his first game against them tonight. Time for the Twins to redeem themselves by winning 3 in a row and take the 4 game series. We are only 9-10 against teams with records >.500. Time for that to start changing.