Twins: 0, White Sox: 13: Arraez Ceases White Sox No-Hit Bid with Two Outs in 9th Inning

[Sherry Cerny]

After a contentious game on Friday night, the Twins and the White Sox met up for Game 2 of their three game series. Tyler Mahle returned to the Twins mound. Jermaine Palacios was added to the Twins roster too. And Dylan Cease was remarkable. 

Box Score
SP: Tyler Mahle  2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K ( 37 pitches, 22 strikes (60%))
Home Runs: absolutely no one
Bottom 3 WPA:  Tyler Mahle (-.288), Gary Sanchez (-.058), Carlos Correa (-.026)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

While the White Sox started the day three games back of the division lead, this series could certainly change that. The White Sox have had a rough season and now with manager Tony LaRussa out and interim coach Miguel Cairo in they look like they could be turning it around and making a run for the division. This is what the White Sox have been waiting for and under Cairo the Sox are 4-0. Even with the injuries they have had off and on this season, the team has been waiting to get hot, and unfortunately for the Twins, that time is now. 

After winning five out of seven games throughout the last week, the Twins looked like they were going to push for first place, but this series is proving to be difficult for the club. Tyler Mahle came back after being on the IL with shoulder fatigue when his last game his velocity dropped to 89-91. Mahle didn’t pitch in a rehab game, but completed a simulated game at Target Field on Thursday to prepare for this game. 

Mahle struggled in the first inning. He gave up four runs, three came on a home run by Eloy Jimenez. Mahle was on a pitch count, and while the Twins were hoping for some length, it was not to be. 

Mahle continued to lose velocity on his pitches. It dropped from 91-93 mph to 88-89 mph in the second inning. Manager Rocco Baldelli brought in Aaron Sanchez to start the third inning. 

In the fourth inning, Romy Gonzales hit his first career MLB homer, a three-run home run off of Aaron Sanchez. However, Sanchez was able to complete four innings. Resting the rest of the bullpen, Nick Gordon came in to pitch the eighth inning. Gordon has come in for the Twins four times this season as a relief pitcher and has recorded three earned runs in his previous three games. On Saturday night, Gordon gave up six runs including a grand-slam to Elvis Andrus to push the White Sox lead to 13-0. 

Jermaine Palacios came in from shortstop and had a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning. 

Luis Arraez is still leading the league in batting average at .318 and is fifth in the league in On Base Percentage. He works the pitchers and makes contact, but even with the league leader in the line-up, the Twins offense was kept on a tight leash by Dylan Cease, who is the White Sox best pitcher and in the race for the Cy Young. 

Cease went 8 1/3 innings with a no-hitter. The game was out of reach by the bottom of the sixth. Rocco Baldelli brought in Jermaine Palacios and Kyle Garlick to rest Carlos Correa and Max Kepler. 

The Twins remained scoreless and hitless off of Cease. The White Sox no-hitter through the eighth inning. The Twins made contact, but the White Sox defense made the plays, With two outs in the top of the ninth, Luis Arraez (who was 0-for-3 at that point) came up to the plate and drilled a ball into right field for a single. Kyle Garlick followed with a strikeout to end the game.  

The saving grace is that at least the Guardians have been on a downward slope as well. The Guardians haven’t won a game since August 30th, giving the Twins at least a chance to stay in the second place position though now the White Sox are just a game behind them. 

A highlight of the game was listening to and watching Twins radio play-by-play man Cory Provus working in the television booth covering the game for Fox along with former Twins catcher AJ Pierzynski, Even as the Twins lost, Provus continued to call an impartial, fun, and electric game. He never ceases to impress whether calling games for Twins Radio or calling college football and basketball on the Big 10 Network. 

Pitching matchup tomorrow:
On Sunday at 1:10 pm CST,  Dylan Bundy (7-6, 4.53 ERA) will hope to help the Twins avoid the sweep against White Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (10-8, 75.27 ERA) 

Postgame Interview
With the game on Fox, there is not postgame video. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Sanchez	0	0	0	0	70	70
Megill	23	14	0	0	0	37
Fulmer	13	0	0	17	0	30
Jax	8	0	0	20	0	28
Thielbar	13	0	0	13	0	26
Pagán	21	0	0	0	0	21
López	0	0	0	13	0	13
Duran	0	0	0	11	0	11

 

 

 

 

 

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[Vanimal46]

Did the Twins trade for a damaged goods pitcher again? Yikes.

Didn’t turn on the game until I got a notification on my phone that Cease had a no hitter through 8. Perfect timing to see Nick Gordon get pummeled on the mound in the 9th. No hard feelings there… I want every team in baseball to embarrass any position player pitching. 

[Squirrel]

Pathetic and embarrassing on so many fronts

[ashbury]

The league seems to have figured out Gordon and he should be removed from the bullpen.

[BH67]

With this team, I expect Nick Gordon soon to be sidelined due to Tommy John surgery.

[mikelink45]

Embarrassing. So many questionable decisions. Such poor play. These aren't the dodgers or the Astros or the Yankees.  We have an injured pitcher and the reds have a exciting rookie. We just can't keep our pitchers healthy. But tonight all phases of the game stunk including the Brain trust in The dugout. I guess the real strategy of the night was having Gordon come in so that we could make a really long half inning and hopefully make it difficult for cease to come back out and be fresh

[ashbury]

Local baseball historian, and expert on no-hitters and near-no-hitters, Stew Thornley comments today that this is the "[f]irst time the Twins have broken up a no-hitter with two out in the ninth."

If you really want to be exciting at your next cocktail party, take a look at this compilation (Stew being Stew he has updated it already) and memorize it.  https://milkeespress.com/lostninth.html

[gunnarthor]

Missed most of this turkey. Not a lot of reason for optimism.

[HerbieFan]

Other than Verlander making the lineup look like the JV, was this not the most predictable near-no hitter ever??  Who takes the blame for this mess?  Rocco or the "training" staff.  How can an organization that prioritizes the dreaded "rest and relaxation" above all else, have SO many players injured/unable to get healthy?!  Beyond frustrating.

[Seth Stohs]

49 minutes ago, BH67 said:

With this team, I expect Nick Gordon soon to be sidelined due to Tommy John surgery.

My thought when I saw him on the mound is that he should not be the mop-up arm. He's made himself too valuable. 

[Mark G]

24 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

My thought when I saw him on the mound is that he should not be the mop-up arm. He's made himself too valuable. 

Is it possible to DFA him solely as a pitcher and then re-sign him SOLELY as a utility player?    

[Mark G]

"With the game on Fox, there is not postgame video."

Thank God!  

[D.C Twins]

I am too lazy to check, but is it mathematically possible for the winner of the central division to be under 0.500 with everyone playing each other in September? 

I hope the Twins were very confident about their due diligence on Mahle, because shoulder injuries are still a HUGE worry even with modern medical/surgical capabilities and he literally had shoulder issues less than a month before the trade.

We are all guilty of Monday morning quarterbacking at times, but this would not be one of those times. 

As I've posted previously, I am dreading a future Thoracic Outlet Syndrome reveal. 

[D.C Twins]

Just checked... Yes! All three teams have enough games against other teams left that if they split the games against each other and lose the majority of their other games, we could have a Central Division winner under 0.500

It looks like there is going to be one team left out of the playoffs shaking their collective heads at the record of the Central Division "Winner"

Let's Go!!!!

[h2oface]

The boys really showed up for national exposure. 

I just love it when my team just GIVES UP! Especially with national coverage.

Good thing we saved Pagan. I hope Correa got his rest.

What a bunch of twinkies. And I never call them that. But today, they deserve it.

 

But hey.... it's right in front of them.

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

Congratulations to Dylan Cease on his near no-hitter. 

[Game7-91]

3 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Other than Verlander making the lineup look like the JV, was this not the most predictable near-no hitter ever?

Kershaw would have been perfect back in April if he could have finished. 3 near nono's in one season seems unusual.

 

2 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

As I've posted previously, I am dreading a future Thoracic Outlet Syndrome reveal

You and me both. With this staff, its believe it when I see it with injury recoveries. Predicting here Mr Mahle is done for 2022 and we'll see about surgical needs and 2023 later.

 

2 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

All three teams have enough games against other teams left that if they split the games against each other and lose the majority of their other games, we could have a Central Division winner under 0.500

If this doesnt prod MLB to reorganize into 2 divisions per league sooner than later, along wth balanced scheduling..would reduce the possibility of this happening in the future. And prep for inevitable expansion in 5 yrs.

[insagt1]

Two disasters so far against Chisox. Lopez blew the Friday game all by himself and yesterday was simply a cover your eyes and hold your nose game. And the injuries keep coming. Polanco on the IL now, looks like Jeffers and Larnach are done for the year being shipped to the 60 day IL. Mahle is probably done. Who knows what lies in store for Buxton.

Twins have looked terrible again. As for the AL Central---if the Orioles were in that division they would be in 1st place. Think about that one.

[h2oface]

28 minutes ago, insagt1 said:

Two disasters so far against Chisox. Lopez blew the Friday game all by himself and yesterday was simply a cover your eyes and hold your nose game. And the injuries keep coming. Polanco on the IL now, looks like Jeffers and Larnach are done for the year being shipped to the 60 day IL. Mahle is probably done. Who knows what lies in store for Buxton.

Twins have looked terrible again. As for the AL Central---if the Orioles were in that division they would be in 1st place. Think about that one.

The 60 day moves mean nothing except it is smart and a manuver. Larnach has already been out 60 days and can come back anytime. It just cleared a roster spot for a move. Jeffers won't be ready until the middle of September and the 60 day move doesn't change that. Both these moves just created a roster spot for the time being, and doesn't mean either player can't be back if and when they are ready.

[Whitey333]

What an embarrassing display on national TV.  It was expectedly bad enough facing Cease but letting the game become a circus by putting in and leaving Gordon in to let the "game" get out of hand was inexcusable.  We had the guy we got from Boston hasn't pitched for 6 days.  He couldn't pitch in a mop up role for one inning?  There was plenty of options for one in ing.  Gordon should not have been one of them.  The team and organization was embarrassed by Baldelli decisions.  Showing that you gave up early in the game, Twins once again displayed no life or heart on national TV.  I fully didn't expect the team to win this game anyway but their ineptitude and lack of any fire is beyond baffling .

[mikelink45]

9 hours ago, ashbury said:

Local baseball historian, and expert on no-hitters and near-no-hitters, Stew Thornley comments today that this is the "[f]irst time the Twins have broken up a no-hitter with two out in the ninth."

If you really want to be exciting at your next cocktail party, take a look at this compilation (Stew being Stew he has updated it already) and memorize it.  https://milkeespress.com/lostninth.html

 

[Bradfoot]

The article says Lucas Gioloto has a 75.27 ERA.  I expect some more offense today.

[milkytoast]

I usually don't mind Baldelli decisions too much, but to pull your best hitters out while currently being no-hit is unacceptable. He is lucky Arraez bailed him out.

[Nine of twelve]

44 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

 

A future Twin breaks up a no-hitter with two out in the ninth.

[lukeduke1980]

I know Cease was dealing but 7-0 shouldn't be considered insurmountable for a playoff contending team.  

[Nine of twelve]

9 minutes ago, milkytoast said:

I usually don't mind Baldelli decisions too much, but to pull your best hitters out while currently being no-hit is unacceptable. He is lucky Arraez bailed him out.

I'll disagree.

A manager's job in the regular season is to try to win as many games as possible. This sometimes means giving up one game to try to improve your chance of winning the next. It was obvious by the middle innings that the Twins had essentially no shot at winning this game. So it was the right move to give some of his players a bit of rest for the next day's game. The win-loss record doesn't care whether a game is a no-hitter. Whether it is or not you put it behind you and move on.

[Nine of twelve]

I made a post to this effect on the game thread but I'll say this here too.

On the broadcast AJ Pierzynski said during the ninth inning that he thought Cease should have walked Arraez. If I were Cease I wouldn't have done so. First of all, the outcome of the game was not on the line so there was no strategic reason to walk Arraez. But I'll bet he felt that it would cheapen the no-hitter to dodge the hitter with the league's best average. He went for it but Arraez got him. That's baseball. Good on both players for giving it their best shot.

[terrydactyls]

15 minutes ago, lukeduke1980 said:

I know Cease was dealing but 7-0 shouldn't be considered insurmountable for a playoff contending team.  

What team are you referring to? ??

[terrydactyls]

I wonder if Mahli pitched his simulated game against the Twins starting lineup?  That would have given him a false impression that he was ready to pitch in the major leagues.

[chinmusic]

10 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

My thought when I saw him on the mound is that he should not be the mop-up arm. He's made himself too valuable. 

Precisely! 

I've generally been a Baldelli supporter, but my goodness.

Also , why start pulling starters out in the fifth inning. Hell, why not just forfeit, if that's the mindset.

Baseball never ceases to amaze.