Article: MIN 4, BOS 3: Twins Win in 17th Inning, Get First Walk-Off

[AceWrigley]

Now that was a baseball game. 487 pitches worth, whew. I'll be a zombie today (east coast time) but it was worth it.

[snotboogie]

 

My decision to go to bed after the eighth inning proved wise for my health and sanity. The east coast time zone has definite disadvantages. I figured, once Kepler entered the game, the outcome was no longer in doubt anyway.

I was at the game with my lovely bride, but we left after the 11th. She had to get up earlier than usual for work, and we had biked to the game. Got home and checked the score and Boston was up by one in the 13th.  Why tune in? Our clutch hitting has been pretty bad lately and I didn't need the disappointment.  What nice surprise this morning when I picked up the paper to read the re-cap.

[USNMCPO]

 

Great Game, congrats to the Twins bullpen. Sano was an embarrassment at the plate last night.

Sano appears to have totally recaptured his tendencies at the plate from previous years. HE IS BECOMING A RALLY KILLER ONCE AGAIN.

[USNMCPO]

 

Sano appears to have totally recaptured his tendencies at the plate from previous years. HE IS BECOMING A RALLY KILLER ONCE AGAIN.

I didn't realize I hit the caps lock button. Error on me.

[TheRealCupOfJoe]

According to the Boston Globe, David Price was removed from the game after 5 stellar innings and only 73 pitches, for "non-injury-related reasons".   WTF?   Does anyone have a clue why they would have pulled him?   I was glad they did, but wow.

 

 

[VATwinsFan]

So I turn off the game when the Sox have runners on first and third with one out in the 10th thinking that not only will the hometown 9 lose, but that this will be the start of a rather dismal run of games that let's Cleveland climb back to within 5.

 

I guess I don't win anything, do I?

 

Der Schlagmeister is der Best!!!

 

 

[bighat]

 

BTW, I finally got a chance to see some highlights. After Kepler's walk-off, the Boston manager and coaches were furious. They ran after the umpires and were yelling. Does anyone know why? Did they think Kepler's ball was foul or was it a balls and strikes thing?

 

Just sour grapes. The Sox lost the game by not capitalizing on opportunities (they had a lead in the 13th and also had a man on 3rd with no outs at some point in extras, I believe). For them to whine about Eddie's left foot touching the chalk on a bunt attempt is PATHETIC. That said, you can't blame 'em for being just super deflated losing that game.

 

Sano. We all saw it, it was talked about extensively in the game thread. Yeah it's bad and I'm guessing management is starting to worry about whether or not this guy is a liability. I wish so bad he'd just get it together.

 

Garver. As a poster earlier said, that just can't happen. The good news is that he's not broken and he'll be fine. He just made one mistake (a costly one) but that won't follow him to the plate the next time he plays.

 

Nice job by the 'pen - but they did give up 12 hits in 10 innings of work. Out of 8 relievers, only Rogers didn't give up a hit. They were tightroping it - Red Sox are a great hitting team though. Glad they got it done!

 

 

[Han Joelo]

Like many, I went to bed with the outcome in doubt.  Last year, I would have had little doubt that staying up would not be worth it.  This year, I felt there was an excellent chance I'd wake up to a recap of an exciting win.

 

The "no three-game" losing streaks is kind of a thing.  Man, if it ever finally happens, that might be bad for mojo.  If it doesn't, that would seem to bode well for a playoff series.

[TFRazor]

Apparently Eddie didn't actually break any rules on that bunt. Cora says he's sorry for whining

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/heres-rule-had-alex-cora-hopping-mad-until-he-realized-umpires-hadnt-gotten-it-wrong-after

 

 

 

[USAFChief]

According to the Boston Globe, David Price was removed from the game after 5 stellar innings and only 73 pitches, for "non-injury-related reasons". WTF? Does anyone have a clue why they would have pulled him? I was glad they did, but wow.

According to the Boston papers, they had decided beforehand to limit his innings and pitches. A "mutual decision." They're trying to maintain his health over the long season. He has a lot of innings and pitches on that arm over his career.

[IndianaTwin]

Do the Twins get more arms for tomorrow? If so, who do they send down and who do they call up? Candidates to be sent down would be Littell and Duffey (both have had their option used this year and both pitched two innings in Tuesday's game). Who would be called up? Well, not Eades or Romero, since both were optioned less than 10 days ago.

 

My assumption was that they would need to call up someone, but as I look at it, I’m not sure they need to. Everyone pitched, but no one more than 30 innings. Parker is the only guy who pitched on the last two days, and that was only a total of 34 pitches. There’s really not anyone who isn’t available for at least a couple batters.

 

Now if several guys get used for a good number of pitches tonight...

[Number3]

Twins used 9 pitchers and 11 position players in this game. How does Buxton not get into a 17 inning game? (Maybe an obvious answer that I missed.) Catch by Bradley in center was a blind squirrel/acorn example. He had his head completely off the ball facing the wall and the ball found his glove. Amazing play.) OK..win the series today. Gibson needs to go at least 7 and hopefully complete game. Agree Sano needs to sit and verdict on him is still out. Don't want him in a key defensive situation or a clutch hitting situation. Random numbers do not equal winning baseball.

[Eephus]

Said elsewhere I'm sure, but today the Twins brass look like geniuses for signing Polanco and Kepler to long term deals. In anyone's wildest dreams these two were not 3rd and 5th in AL OPS on the short sample size of June 19. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Twins used 9 pitchers and 11 position players in this game. How does Buxton not get into a 17 inning game?

He was moved to the IL a day or two ago.

[mikelink45]

Kepler was amazing and also demonstrated that sometimes is just not a night for hitters. The fact that he was the only hitter to really be on last night makes him a hero and he deserves great credit. Sometimes hitters convince one another that it's a bad night I may be at help the Kepler came off the bench and hadn't been parked of the price innings. On the other hand watching Sano was really painful. It was just obvious he was going to strike out in those key at bats. Kepler showed the value of contact with his single to tie the game.

[Puckett34]

 

[Dantes929]

 

Apparently Eddie didn't actually break any rules on that bunt. Cora says he's sorry for whining

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/heres-rule-had-alex-cora-hopping-mad-until-he-realized-umpires-hadnt-gotten-it-wrong-after

I was going to point out that Cora didn't complain when Schoop was called out on a pitch several inches outside on a key at bat but then I saw your link and I just say "Respect"

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Twenty four hour moratorium on making fun of the bullpen.

 

Reliever trust ranking:

 

Trust

Rogers

 

Basically Trust

Harper

 

Somewhat Trust

Duffey, May

 

Don’t Trust, Has Been Good So Far

Morin

 

Don’t Trust, Has Been Iffy

Parker

 

Don’t Trust, Has Been Bad

Hildenberger, Magill, Mejia

 

Want To Trust, But Too New

Littell, Eades

 

Never Want To See Pitch Ever Again

De Jong, Vasquez

[Highabove]

Sano with five strikeouts last night. One off the Major League record.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

Do the Twins get more arms for tomorrow? If so, who do they send down and who do they call up? Candidates to be sent down would be Littell and Duffey (both have had their option used this year and both pitched two innings in Tuesday's game). Who would be called up? Well, not Eades or Romero, since both were optioned less than 10 days ago.

Jake Reed

[PDX Twin]

 

Sano with five strikeouts last night. One off the Major League record.

 

He'll get it one of these days. Just needed a couple more innings.

[USAFChief]

Jake Reed

not on the 40 man, is he?

[mendozaline]

Stayed up for the whole thing, thankfully I'm in central time. Littell might be an intriguing piece, came in throwing 97. I did not know he was capable of that even out of the pen. 

[MMMordabito]

 

Sano with five strikeouts last night. One off the Major League record.

 

Tied with JD "How Do I Have More AS Votes Than Cruz" Martinez

[USAFChief]

The STrib recap says Kepler pinch hit for a "banged up" Gonzalez. I was wondering last night why he pinch hit.

 

Hopefully nothing serious.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

The STrib recap says Kepler pinch hit for a "banged up" Gonzalez. I was wondering last night why he pinch hit.

Hopefully nothing serious.

Yikes. Even given the team's depth, they kinda need Gonzalez right now with Adrianza out and Sano windmilling at the plate like a drunken ballerina.

[jorgenswest]

It obviously worked out, but why have Kepler hit for Gonzales when he could have subbed in for Sano?

Then on the center fielder's "catch", why did "Richard" keep saying he made such a great catch when it was obvious he bobbled it off the wall?  It wasn't a catch at all!

There were two outs and a runner in scoring position when Kepler pinch hit for Gonzalez. Maybe if Garver doesn’t get picked earlier and there is one out with Gonzalez up he pinch hits for Sano.

[Brock Beauchamp]

WPA of -0.1: Sano -.433

 

By the way, it should be noted that this is really hard to do as a position player. That's starting pitcher disaster start kind of WPA.

[PDX Twin]

"WPA of +0.1: Kepler .847, Littell .288, Magill .288, Duffey .288, Rosario .263, Pineda .235, Rogers .144, Parker .144

 

"WPA of -0.1: Harper -.129, Schoop -.161, Cave -.165, Cron -.228, Garver -.240, Morin -.289, Polanco -.294, Sano -.433"

 

Wow! Kepler (et al.) giveth and Sano (et al.) taketh away!

 

Here's a question for someone with more energy than I: The WPA for the whole team (in a win) adds up to 0.5, increasing from an initial 0.5 to 1.0.

 

Adding up the absolute values of just these players yields 4.142! Adding in the other players not shown here gives 4.349. This must be close to a record, but does anyone know what the record is?

[Rosterman]

I am sad to say I gave up at the top of the 13th and told my wife "The Twins lost." and went to bed. Little did I know they would get their ffirst walkoff win, probably an hour later!

 

Kudos to Garver behind-the-plate. Yes, getting picked off third was a rookie mistake (or can a coach also get some blame). Nevertheless, a wonderful game.

 

Two things, though:

Miguel Sano. All the talent in the world, but he just swings, and pitchers know where to throw the ball to get him to swing. What would happen if management forced him to NOT swing at the first two pitches...no matter what? Well, he would, at worst, be in the same hole he seems to put himself in, or he may be staring at a two ball count forcing the opposing starter to throw a real strike.

Blake Parker. Not sure how much more I can stand watching him twitch and pump. He escaped last night. But from a wonderkind, to making me wish for the return fast of Hildenberger. The Twins have a bunch of glasses waiting to break: Morin is pure situational matchup. Duffey is still a scare. Magill is not who I stand-up-and-cheer when he enters a game.

 

Kudos to Littell. Now who takes the shuttle back to Rochester, or are the Twins hoping for a GREAT start from Gibson and could use May and Harper and possibly Rogers tonight.

 

A real battle of a game. Glad the Twins won this one and the Indians are still 10 games back. I start to shake when I think of it being a 9 game lead, or 8, or 7, or 6.

 

Hey, we got a home run! Streak starts over!

 

Bench for Thursday: Garver, Schoop, Sano (or maybe one of those three switches out with Cruz).