Mariners 5, Twins 0: Pair of Homers Spoil Joe Ryan's Return

[David Youngs]

A few bad breaks on the bump and a dry spell at the plate plagued the Twins in a 5-0 loss to the Mariners on Tuesday night in Seattle. Here's what you need to know about game two of the series. 

 

Box Score 
SP: Joe Ryan: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (75 pitches, 45 strikes (60%))
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-0.181), Max Kepler (-0.176), Luis Arraez (-0.071)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Making his first start since May 21, Joe Ryan hoped to mow down the Mariners in a late-night game on the west coast. 

A pair of middle-inning mistakes and lack of run support stopped that from happening. 

The Twins managed a meager four hits and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in a shutout loss to Seattle in Ryan's return. Ryan had moments of brilliance early on and was far from bad, but paid for a pair of poor pitches in the fourth and fifth innings.

After 3 1/3 scoreless innings, the Mariners were able to get to Ryan. Following a double by Julio Rodriguez, Eugenio Suarez launched a 3-1 pitch over the left-field wall to put the Mariners up 2-0. Just an inning later, Ty France put a ball over the left-field wall to double Seattle's lead and end Ryan's night. 

All in all, Ryan's night was not as bad as the final score may indicate. The star rookie did an excellent job pounding the zone throughout the night, pitching to contact with an occasional strikeout. His only major blunders came on a few poor pitches in the fourth, ultimately leading to the Mariners' first four runs. Despite his velocity being down, expect Joe Cool to come back hot in his next outing as he eases his way back into the rotation as the team's ace. 

Trevor Megill was rock solid in relief, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout. It's his second consecutive scoreless appearance and Megill has only allowed two runs through four outings in the month of June. 

Jovani Moran followed Megill in the bullpen and pitched two innings of one-run ball with two strikeouts and a walk. After struggling to find the zone in the seventh Moran locked in and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. 

Celestino Hits on Anniversary
Despite the loss, center-fielder Gilberto Celestino tallied a multi-hit game on the one-year anniversary of his first MLB home run (which he hit off Mariners pitcher Marco Gonzales at T-Mobile Park). Celestino punched singles in the third and sixth innings and is now hitting .333 on the season. For a fourth outfielder that sees a fair amount of action due to Byron Buxton's frequency at DH, the 23-year-old has gone above and behind. 

Carlos Correa also notched a multi-hit game, singling in the fourth and sixth inning. Correa has hit safely in all six games that he's played in June and is now hitting .309 on the season. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins square off against the Mariners in the series finale tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 pm CST. After returning from the IL, Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.41 ERA) will make his first start since May 29, squaring off against  LHP Marco Gonzales (3-6, 3.63 ERA). 

Postgame Interview 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

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[wsnydes]

The streakiness of the bats series to series is kinda odd.  It's like a switch is flipped as they go into a new series.  Apparently they need to face better pitching in order to hit! 

[mikelink45]

Good to have Joe back, next start hopefully he is all the way back.  

Good news is Celestino and Correa, Megill and Moran.  

That's all I can say, I did not stay up to finish the game. 

[rwilfong86]

Even with their better lineups playing they get shut out, really weird to see it twice in 3 days. 

[wsnydes]

I didn't see the game, but it's good to read that Ryan looked pretty good.  The stamina will come back.  Not too much of a surprise that he got touched up as his velo dipped.

[Jeff D.]

This team has a bad habit that will hurt us more going into July and August. About every 6 games, we are shut out. The strangest characteristic for me of our beloved Twins is what I call the domino effect. When we have gone through the lineup at least one time with no noticeable threat of scoring or even hits at times, there is a great possibility of the domino of flatness cascades through the entire team. We seem to have little ability to fire up during games like this. The leader of the team in the dugout seems to just handle things exactly as any other game. Get the next guy up to the plate. Rotate a pitcher after the fourth or fifth. Etc., etc. IMHO as a geezer, I would enjoy the Professor Baldelli or some human being in a Twins uniform do SOMETHING to ignite the team, even if it fails. Try swiping a base, try getting brushed by a pitch, brush back a hitter (we actually do that unintentionally), try hit and run and so on. 

That is really one of my top peeves. Otherwise, we have a pretty good team. We cannot continue the trend of being shut out every 6-7 games. Cleveland is sneaking up! GO TWINS!

[adjacent]

What surprised me is that Rocco left Ryan there that long. It was obvious that velocity was going down, and it is known that the last thing to come after Covid is the stamina. Rocco usually is blamed for removing his starters too quickly. Not this time

[terrydactyls]

36 minutes ago, adjacent said:

What surprised me is that Rocco left Ryan there that long......... Rocco usually is blamed for removing his starters too quickly. Not this time

Your comment just proves the Baldelli cannot do anything right in the minds of some fans.

[Rosterman]

Have no idea how a decent lineup can so...shut down. Only two batters got hits. Even if Celestino wanted to, say, steal a base, it wouldn't have matter as no one could do anything.

Was Gilbert THAT good of a pitcher?

Ryan was throwing strikes, keeping HIS apce of the game for the most paart. Gald to see him back. The need for two relief pitchers was a plus. I like Moran, but wonder who the Twins are going to cut to add Gray. And who do they cut to add Garlick.

Larnach is on a slump. Do we trade him out for the moment with Kirilloff?

[MplsFan]

Some commenters after the 3-2 win two days ago (paraphrasing): “glad we won, but concerned about the offense”

other commenters response (paraphrasing): “you can’t say that!  A win’s a win!”

And then the Twins score 0.  Again.  For the league leadingth time.

I think it’s fair to be concerned about the Twins’ offense.  If Kiriloff could help (and it seems like he could), then bring him up.

 

[bighat]

Don't know how the Twins keep running Jeffers out there at this point. There's no way that swapping him out for Godoy wouldn't be an improvement.

[MMMordabito]

Lead down to 2.5 games, and now the Twins have lost more games than Cleveland.  Hopefully, the Twins will continue raking against Marco Gonzales and win this season series.

[Riverbrian]

12 hours ago, David Youngs said:

 

Celestino Hits on Anniversary
Despite the loss, center-fielder Gilberto Celestino tallied a multi-hit game on the one-year anniversary of his first MLB home run (which he hit off Mariners pitcher Marco Gonzales at T-Mobile Park). Celestino punched singles in the third and sixth innings and is now hitting .333 on the season. For a fourth outfielder that sees a fair amount of action due to Byron Buxton's frequency at DH, the 23-year-old has gone above and behind. 

 

 

 

If you consider that Celestino has out performed who I assume are the second outfielder and third outfielder this season. I wonder how long he will have to carry the often used tag of "fourth outfielder".

 

[Five minute major]

I am going to scream this for the people in the back.  This team is average at best with a subpar manager.   They are going nowhere.  The offense is the overwhelming issue with this team.   Rocco rode the back of Nelson Cruz and we are seeing what this team is like without him.  The current first place standing of this team is an illusion.    I love my Twins, but this team is simply average and not playoff worthy.