Tigers 4, Twins 0: Listless Twins Limp to Defeat in Detroit

[Jamie Cameron]

The Twins looked limp and lifeless on Tuesday night, falling 4-0 to Detroit in the second game of their double-header. Cole Sands struggled, and the offense no-showed.

 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Sands 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO
Homeruns: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Sands -.249, Miranda -.055, Gordon -.051
Bottom Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

On Tuesday night, the Twins were out to try and capitalize on a victory in the first game of the double-header against the Tigers. Here’s how they lined up in game two.

 

Cole Sands started for Minnesota as the 27th man for the double-header. In no secret that the roster is hurting. The rotation has been one of the hardest hit areas. Chris Paddack is out for the season, Josh Winder is on the IL. Joe Ryan on the COVID IL and Sonny Gray possibly heading on the IL on Wednesday has left the Twins almost impossibly short-handed. There is no amount of pitching depth that can overcome losing four of your top six starting pitchers.

The bullpen was relatively available after only Griffin Jax pitched to back up another outstanding Devin Smeltzer effort in game one. After the Tigers came out the gate hot (and lucky), this game almost felt like a throwaway for the Twins.

Cole Sands surrendered a two-run home run to Jonathan Schoop in the first inning on a slider down and in that Schoop hammered into the left-field seats. A Schoop single in the bottom of the second inning took a wicked hop, spinning past Jorge Polanco at second base and scoring two more to increase the Detroit lead to 4-0.

The Twins meanwhile, had very little to offer offensively, putting together a putrid series of at bats. Through four innings, Jermaine Palacios had the Twins lone hit, and left-handed starting pitcher Joey Wentz, who had struggled mightily coming into the game, had thrown just 51 pitches.

 

 

Sands recovered well in the third and fourth innings, holding the Tigers scoreless in back-to-back frames, Unlike Wentz however, he was inefficient, walking four and throwing 91 pitches (just 54 strikes) through four innings. It’s been obvious in his limited opportunities in the big leagues that Cole Sands could use more seasoning at AAA. The Twins injury crisis, both offensively and on the pitching staff, a crowded schedule, and players unable to travel to Canada to play Toronto in the coming days could not have coincided at a worse time for Minnesota.

Wentz, perhaps mercifully for the Twins, was pulled with an injury at the top of the fifth inning, being relieved by Wily Peralta. Walks issued to Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers with one out gave the Twins their first legitimate threat of the game (in the fifth inning), but Jermaine Palacios grounded out to end the threat.

Juan Minaya gave the Twins two innings of scoreless, quality relief, striking out two. After a Trevor Larnach double (he continues to mash) was wasted by the Twins, Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran pitched a scoreless inning each, sending the game to the top of the ninth with the Twins still trailing 4-0. Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless ninth inning for Detroit, capping what was arguably the Twins worst offensive showing of the season.

The Twins are entering an incredibly tricky stretch in their season. Tomorrow night, they face Tarik Skubal, who is second in MLB in fWAR (2.0). After finishing their series in Detroit on Thursday, they play three games in Toronto. Next they head home for six against the Yankees and Rays. All this without Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Gilberto Celestino, Joe Ryan, Josh Winder, (possibly) Sonny Gray, and any Twins who chose not to get vaccinated and can’t play in Canada. It’s a brutal confluence of challenges facing a team that has been largely without them in 2022. How they handle the next ten days will tell us a lot about this year’s Twins.

 

Bullpen Usage Chart

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Megill	26	0	0	34	0	60
Minaya	0	31	0	0	26	57
Jax	0	0	20	0	33	53
Moran	0	34	0	0	12	46
Smith	18	0	0	16	0	34
Thielbar	1	0	22	0	11	34
Duffey	0	20	0	0	0	20
Duran	19	0	0	0	0	19
Pagán	3	0	12	0	0	15

Next Up

On Wednesday, the Twins will continue their series against Detroit. Bailey Ober starts for Minnesota, against the outstanding Tarik Skubal of the Tigers. First pitch is 6:10 CT.

Postgame Interviews

 

 

View full article

[wsnydes]

3 

F'ing

Hits

[wsnydes]

I'm not usually too disappointed with splitting a double header, but this one sucks.  They really can't afford to leave wins on the table.  They need to beat up on teams like the Tigers.

[Jamie Cameron]

7 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

I'm not usually too disappointed with splitting a double header, but this one sucks.  They really can't afford to leave wins on the table.  They need to beat up on teams like the Tigers.

I just thought the at-bats were appalling. Terrible showing from the bats.

[wsnydes]

1 minute ago, Jamie Cameron said:

I just thought the at-bats were appalling. Terrible showing from the bats.

I was listening on the radio, but they didn't seem too competitive.

[darwin22]

 

Would like to insert my Harry Doyle comment here (from film 'Major League') but don't want to get banned by the TD censors.  3 hits....really? 3 ----------- hits?

Other than Chafin and Fulmer------has anyone heard or known much of anything from the 3 DET pitchers that shut the door on our pathetic hitters?

Yes, I realize we're in a long stretch of games.  Yes, I realize that both Kepler and Sanchez are only a few days removed from nursing injuries.  Saying that, was it really NECESSARY for Rocco to bench BOTH after that duo combined for 6 RBI in Game 1?

Also, have to ask if Sands was the ONLY OPTION at SP to get the call to start tonight?  Very obvious that Sands is NOT READY (will he ever be) to pitch at this level.

Posted on earlier Game 1 thread.......but when will Baldelli move Polanco down in the lineup?  Over last 10 games---primarily in 4-hole, Polanco is 8-40 (.200 avg) with 1 extra basehit.  Need his defense at 2B with all the injuries, but he needs to get dropped down to at least the 6 or 7 hole.

 

 

[FlyingFinn]

9 hours ago, darwin22 said:

.but when will Baldelli move Polanco down in the lineup?  Over last 10 games---primarily in 4-hole, Polanco is 8-40 (.200 avg) with 1 extra basehit.  Need his defense at 2B with all the injuries, but he needs to get dropped down to at least the 6 or 7 hole.

Polanco didn't seem too interested in playing this game. His defense cost us at least two runs. If he's injured, let's get Steer up here and put him on the IL. Steer is murdering AAA pitching again tonight. (edit - I guess he's also killing our own baserunners with his line drives!)

[Danchat]

And to put the cherry on top, it sounds like Wentz developed a shoulder strain and was pulled early, yet we could do nothing to him. Reminds me of our 2020/21 squads getting crushed by mediocre lefties...

[TheLeviathan]

With Cole Sands pitching I didn't think the reason we lost was going to be a totally inept offensive showing.

The pitching was pretty damn good today and we were just pathetic offensively.  After Wentz left, Peralta couldn't throw strikes and we kept bailing him out swinging at bad pitches.  

[darwin22]

I'd really like to know what our TEAM BATTING stats are against LH pitching this season.  They've got to be absolutely horrible.  I'd guess Twins rank in the bottom 10 in batting average, slug %, and  OPS--as well as many other categories.

With Skubal going tomorrow night------it wouldn't shock me that that our hitters have a worse---that is possible--- performance.

 

[GNess]

This recent streak of mediocrity is a concern. It is also attributable to the number of injuries keeping players from regular at bats or innings with some of the pitchers.

For the Twins to ascend to a more competitive footing with the top of the AL they likely need some strong combination of the following: 

1. Correa and Arraez in the line up regularly.

2. Buxton and Polanco to hit and hit consistently. Along with solid performances building on recent trends from Sanchez, Urshela and Kepler.

3. One or more of the young guns to step up:: (Larnach, Kirilloff, Lewis, Miranda)

4. A healthy Ryan, Ober and Gray giving  a lot of quality starts. 

5. A few impactful deadline additions to the pitching staff. Internal and/or external.

Not sure if all five will occur, but none of them are unthinkable and are each possible/probable.

[h2oface]

I guess we are finding out this week how close and just how good of teammates this team really has. Are they didicated to the team, or themselves?

[mikelink45]

I was struck by how many times a team splits a DH no matter the opposition.  This answer is a little old, but I think still is valid.  What it does not tell us is how often a team wins when it becomes listless or when the manager benches two of his hottest bats: "How often does a team win both games of a doubleheader? For the length of this study, out of 357 doubleheaders, 45% have been splits, 32% have been home sweeps, and 23% have been away sweeps.Jul 7, 2016"

 

This was a pathetic game.  we are 4 - 5 against KC and Det in the last nine games.  Has anyone told the team we are in first place and they are in last?

 

So what is our rotation now?  Who starts?  With this BP I do not want a BP game.  But Ober, Smeltzer, Bundy, Archer...does not seem like a championship rotation.   I am concerned.  

[Riverbrian]

9 hours ago, wsnydes said:

They need to beat up on teams like the Tigers.

 

22 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

 

we are 4 - 5 against KC and Det in the last nine games.  Has anyone told the team we are in first place and they are in last?

 

This type of thinking is only going to drive you crazy.

The Pirates beat the Dodgers last night... again! The Pirates win the season series between the two clubs 5-2.  

Good teams average 6 wins every 10 games. 

Average Teams average 5 wins every 10 games

Bad Teams average 4 wins every 10 games. 

The bad teams are beating somebody and it isn't just the other bad teams that they collect their W's against. 

In baseball... the sun never shines bright enough for hay making. 

[wsnydes]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

 

This type of thinking is only going to drive you crazy.

The Pirates beat the Dodgers last night... again! The Pirates win the season series between the two clubs 5-2.  

Good teams average 6 wins every 10 games. 

Average Teams average 5 wins every 10 games

Bad Teams average 4 wins every 10 games. 

The bad teams are beating somebody and it isn't just the other bad teams they collect W's against. 

In baseball... the sun never shines bright enough for hay making. 

Oh, definitely.  In more than one way.

For me though, it's how they lost.  I'm always fine with just getting beat by a better team that day.  It happens.  It's quite another to beat yourself.  Even on the radio, they seemed non-competitive.  That's the problem for me.

Which, admittedly, I didn't articulate well in that post.

[TwinsDr2021]

I said they needed to end the month 14 -6, if they win today it will be 13 - 7, which is decent enough, and doing it with hand or two tied behind their back (injuries/covid) is good.

If they can go 11 - 10 in the next 21 days and get healthier that IMO should be considered a success, and set them up for a good end of season run.

 

As for the game did anybody really think the Twins were going to win this game with Sands pitching and lineup that included Miranda, Jeffers, Palacios, Gordon, and Garlick? I didn't!

[bighat]

Buxton and Polanco are really hurting this team. Aside from the hot April from Buxton, we really haven't seen much contribution from either player. Correa's been injured or sick for 50% of the campaign and he's getting "rest days" 2x per week.

In short, the Twins' key players aren't playing much and when they are, they're not playing well.

I really don't see how this team wins more than 2 games against Toronto, NYY, Tampa and Seattle on the upcoming menu. Twins should be back to .500 by June 15th. And that's OK. We just have to really adjust our expectations now, because it's going to be a very bumpy ride and it might help one to prepare for it.

[Riverbrian]

5 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Oh, definitely.  In more than one way.

For me though, it's how they lost.  I'm always fine with just getting beat by a better team that day.  It happens.  It's quite another to beat yourself.  Even on the radio, they seemed non-competitive.  That's the problem for me.

Which, admittedly, I didn't articulate well in that post.

They seemed non-competitive on Television as well. ?

[wsnydes]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

They seemed non-competitive on Television as well. ?

Glad that my ears weren't deceiving me! 

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

 

This type of thinking is only going to drive you crazy.

The Pirates beat the Dodgers last night... again! The Pirates win the season series between the two clubs 5-2.  

Good teams average 6 wins every 10 games. 

Average Teams average 5 wins every 10 games

Bad Teams average 4 wins every 10 games. 

The bad teams are beating somebody and it isn't just the other bad teams that they collect their W's against. 

In baseball... the sun never shines bright enough for hay making. 

I am okay with one series, but I do not want to see a trend.  With our depleted lineup we have to win against these teams. 

[Whitey333]

The second game was one of several throw away games Baldelli has had this year.  You know where he figures we are going to lose so let's help that thought process along.  I think his computer needs to be rebooted.

[ashbury]

10 hours ago, darwin22 said:

I'd really like to know what our TEAM BATTING stats are against LH pitching this season.  They've got to be absolutely horrible.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=MIN&year=2022#all_plato

Twins team OPS versus righties is .721, and against lefties it's .726.  These are higher than AL numbers as a whole (.684 and .690 respectively).

[KFEY93]

10 hours ago, GNess said:

This recent streak of mediocrity is a concern. It is also attributable to the number of injuries keeping players from regular at bats or innings with some of the pitchers.

For the Twins to ascend to a more competitive footing with the top of the AL they likely need some strong combination of the following: 

1. Correa and Arraez in the line up regularly.

2. Buxton and Polanco to hit and hit consistently. Along with solid performances building on recent trends from Sanchez, Urshela and Kepler.

3. One or more of the young guns to step up:: (Larnach, Kirilloff, Lewis, Miranda)

4. A healthy Ryan, Ober and Gray giving  a lot of quality starts. 

5. A few impactful deadline additions to the pitching staff. Internal and/or external.

Not sure if all five will occur, but none of them are unthinkable and are each possible/probable.

Each are also very unlikely to happen if history is anything to go by. And all 5 happening at the same time is astronomically unrealistic. 

[stringer bell]

The Twins finished 18-12 for May. I was hoping for 20 wins in the month, so it is a minor disappointment. The next month will tell a tale, but it's a long season and players not on the horizon might play a role in future months.

[KFEY93]

24 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

The second game was one of several throw away games Baldelli has had this year.  You know where he figures we are going to lose so let's help that thought process along.  I think his computer needs to be rebooted.

I think he needs to be booted, out the door. 

[TheLeviathan]

7 minutes ago, KFEY93 said:

I think he needs to be booted, out the door. 

These takes are just so bizarre.  A decimated squad has a bad game of ABs and we rush to complain about Baldelli?  The hell?

[TwinsDr2021]

1 minute ago, TheLeviathan said:

These takes are just so bizarre.  A decimated squad has a bad game of ABs and we rush to complain about Baldelli?  The hell?

based on one game, one series, one month this is a bizarre take, I 100% agree, basing it on the whole of his time here isn't bizarre, might not be the same take as others, but it isn't completely off the wall since quite a few people have the same take.

[KFEY93]

Just now, TheLeviathan said:

These takes are just so bizarre.  A decimated squad has a bad game of ABs and we rush to complain about Baldelli?  The hell?

What has he done or shown besides mismanaging lineups, creating zero consistency in the roster and mismanaging pitchers mid game? The only thing holding him up is the 2019 season in which he lucked into having every player have a career year on offense with a juiced ball. I could have managed that team to 100 wins. As time goes on its showing more and more to be the aberration and 2020, 2021 are the real face of this team. And that will be the case until we have a legit ace, proven BP arms and a manager that doesn't rely on excel spread sheets to manage a game. The blind support for mediocrity is what's so bizarre about Minnesota sports fans. 

[KFEY93]

26 minutes ago, ashbury said:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=MIN&year=2022#all_plato

Twins team OPS versus righties is .721, and against lefties it's .726.  These are higher than AL numbers as a whole (.684 and .690 respectively).

Take Garlic out of those numbers...where do we sit? 

[KFEY93]

3 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

based on one game, one series, one month this is a bizarre take, I 100% agree, basing it on the whole of his time here isn't bizarre, might not be the same take as others, but it isn't completely off the wall since quite a few people have the same take.

Correct. This isnt a reaction to one game. Its a reaction to his entire time here. Its the same argument I have for the homers who think Kirk Cousins is going to take the Vikings to the super bowl. They're delusional and are afraid of being great and would rather cling to .500. Much like Rocco. Its an assessment if his entire tenure. And 2019 is loooong gone.