Twins 4, Padres 3 (11 innings): Thank Heavens For Alex Kirilloff

[Matthew Taylor]

The Minnesota Twins didn’t exactly find their stride at the plate on Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres, but they came through when it mattered and gave the Twins a much needed win.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Pablo López 6 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K (98 pitches, 56 strikes (57%))
Home Runs: Max Kepler (6)
Top 3 WPA: Solano .616, P. López .246, Correa .223

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

The Minnesota Twins came into Wednesday night’s game against the Padres with lots of questions surrounding  their offense. Questions were swirling about whether the Twins should regret the Luis Arraez trade or even if they would consider firing their hitting coach.

The Twins started off the game as though the offense might turn things around when Max Kepler crushed a solo home run in the first inning off of Padres starter Seth Lugo.

After hitting just nine home runs in 446 plate appearances in 2022, Kepler has already hit six blasts in 2023 in 107 plate appearances. The home run gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead, with the Twins soon ready to tack on another.

Just one night after getting booed at his home stadium, Carlos Correa gave fans something to cheer about when he crushed a double to the tune of a 108 MPH exit velocity that plated Max Kepler and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.

The Twins offense went quiet after the two early runs, though, and the story quickly flipped from the bats to the mound as Pablo López was special on the bump for the Minnesota Twins tonight. 

Against a top-tier lineup like the San Diego Padres, López pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out eight batters. Perhaps what was the most impressive part of López’s outing, though, was that he didn’t have his best command tonight. López only threw 57% of his pitches for strikes and walked a season-high four batters, but was able to avoid any major damage until the seventh inning when Juan Soto crushed a solo shot off of López to get the Padres on the board.

After Jorge López allowed the Padres to tie the game in a messy 8th inning, the Twins and Padres headed to extra innings to settle the score.

In the 10th inning, the Twins traded a pair of runs when the Padres successfully plated a suicide squeeze and "Donny Barrels" responded with an RBI single to tie the game once again.

In the 11th inning, Griffin Jax was able to hold the Padres offense scoreless and give the Minnesota Twins’ offense a chance to come through in the bottom half of the inning, and come through they did. 

After the Padres intentionally walked Carlos Correa, Alex Kirilloff made them pay when he pulled a base hit right past the diving first baseman to plate Max Kepler from second base and win the game for the Minnesota Twins, snapping their three-game losing streak and moving the Twins’ record in extra innings to 4-2.

After the Guardians lost to Tigers earlier today, the Twins are now three games ahead of Cleveland in the division, however, their closest competition right now is Detroit who is currently two-and-a-half games back of the Twins.

Other Notes
One of the most notable plays from Wednesday night’s victory for the Twins was the bizarre catch from Joey Gallo in the top of the first inning when he made a juggling catch in left field and doubled up Jake Cronenworth at first base. One of those plays that you have to see to believe.

What’s Next?
Tomorrow afternoon, the Minnesota Twins will bring Bailey Ober to the mound to face off against long-time ace Yu Darvish in a rubber match before the Chicago Cubs come to Target Field for a weekend series.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Chart

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Alcala	29	0	0	23	0	52
Pagán	0	12	0	24	0	36
Jax	0	0	0	18	17	35
Stewart	0	11	0	0	9	20
Durán	0	0	0	0	17	17
Lopez	0	0	0	0	17	17
Morán	12	0	0	0	0	12
Rodriguez	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[stringer bell]

Great win!! Glad to see AK get a big hit. 

[FlyingFinn]

Was the defense as good as it sounded on the radio. Gallo in LF, Farmer at 3B, Kirilloff at 1B seems to be much better than Larnach in LF, Miranda at 3B and Gallo at 1B, not that all of these are bad in these positions.

[tony&rodney]

The pitching has been really good day after day and Pablo Lopez was tremendous tonight against an excellent lineup. 

I was a little surprised that San Diego chose to walk Correa because Kirilloff has looked locked in at the plate, but it does make sense when you factor in reputation and the way Carlos drove the ball deep earlier in the game. The lack of runs is concerning for both teams right now, but you can see individuals working their way back to their game. Soto looks pretty good despite the average and we see some patience from Buxton. Good win for the Twins and Alex Kirilloff wants to play every day. He looks like he is swinging without any concerns which bodes well for the middle of the Twins lineup.

[tony&rodney]

3 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Was the defense as good as it sounded on the radio. Gallo in LF, Farmer at 3B, Kirilloff at 1B seems to be much better than Larnach in LF, Miranda at 3B and Gallo at 1B, not that all of these are bad in these positions.

Gallo is an accomplished outfielder and pretty athletic too. Farmer is a solid defender and makes every play look routine. Kirilloff is the best first baseman in the organization and is smooth around the bag. Larnach is a fair left fielder, Gallo plays a real decent first base, and Miranda has had some issues at third base even if those were overstated on this board. Yes, the defense is better at those three positions, which is good. It was all in play tonight

[IndianaTwin]

11 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Was the defense as good as it sounded on the radio. Gallo in LF, Farmer at 3B, Kirilloff at 1B seems to be much better than Larnach in LF, Miranda at 3B and Gallo at 1B, not that all of these are bad in these positions.

I was on the radio too, but I was struck by how much more comfortable it sounded/felt to have Farmer at 3B instead of Miranda. 

[Nashvilletwin]

Good win tonight. A pretty clean game in the field.   Makes a difference.  Farmer is a real pro.  Padres manufactured a great run in the 10th - impressive execution.  Let’s take this series tomorrow.  

[Jocko87]

Thank goodness for Max Kepler as well. He’s quietly playing very well and hitting the ball hard consistently.  .878 ops in his last 15 games. 

[GNess]

Nice to see Kirilloff deliver a big hit.

[D.C Twins]

And this is why it was who AK would replace, not if he should be called up. 

A healthy AK is a game changer in a way that can be matched by few in the organization.... if he can stay healthy... (this should be assumed at the end of all comments for at least the rest of the year)

[stringer bell]

10 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

And this is why it was who AK would replace, not if he should be called up. 

A healthy AK is a game changer in a way that can be matched by few in the organization.... if he can stay healthy... (this should be assumed at the end of all comments for at least the rest of the year)

It’s only 14 plate appearances, but he looks like far and away the best hitter on the team. He’s swinging at strikes and not fooled by breaking stuff. Five walks and only one strikeout. 

[Loops]

Kirilloff had a big hit it is true, but for all those who want Kepler gone, he is actually giving us a chance to win. While his average isn't great, it is still better than Correa and nobody ever knocks him. Could Kepler be hitting better? Yes. Is he the worst Twin on the team right now? No way.

[Castinofan]

The Padres broadcasters felt that Correa could have had a triple had he not stood in the box admiring his presumed HR to center. He then would have scored easily from third on the next single instead of being thrown out at the plate.  The game would have ended after 8.5 innings and Jax and Duran not burned out. 

Please Rocco, stop telling us how "hard" the players are working when their leader isn't running hard out of the box and you do nothing about it.  

[Linus]

3 hours ago, Castinofan said:

The Padres broadcasters felt that Correa could have had a triple had he not stood in the box admiring his presumed HR to center. He then would have scored easily from third on the next single instead of being thrown out at the plate.  The game would have ended after 8.5 innings and Jax and Duran not burned out. 

Please Rocco, stop telling us how "hard" the players are working when their leader isn't running hard out of the box and you do nothing about it.  

Yea I noticed that right away. I’m generally a Rocco fan but man his teams make a lot of mental mistakes. Another subtle play was when Gallo ends up catching the ball in left center. Because he was running towards center the runner tagged at second and gained third. The center fielder Gordon should have caught that ball and there would have no chance for the guy to advance. 

[FlyingFinn]

34 minutes ago, Linus said:

The center fielder Gordon should have caught that ball and there would have no chance for the guy to advance. 

Gordon does his best in CF but he is below average out there. There's a reason Taylor plays so much right now. When Buxton can play CF and Lewis is on the team, Gordon's value decreases quite a bit.

[bighat]

Pablo Lopez deserved better. 

Nice to get a win, but unfortunately there are no signs that this team is figuring things out offensively. It's just such a grind for them to get anyone across home plate.

Don't see them scoring more than a run off Darvish today, have to assume at this point it'll be 3 straight series losses. 

[Doctor Wu]

7 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

Thank goodness for Max Kepler as well. He’s quietly playing very well and hitting the ball hard consistently.  .878 ops in his last 15 games. 

And thank heavens for that automatic runner in that inning!

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

Yea I noticed that right away. I’m generally a Rocco fan but man his teams make a lot of mental mistakes. Another subtle play was when Gallo ends up catching the ball in left center. Because he was running towards center the runner tagged at second and gained third. The center fielder Gordon should have caught that ball and there would have no chance for the guy to advance. 

I loved that juggling act by Gallo, but on one of those replays it looked like the ball hit the ground before he caught it in his bare hand. Maybe the umps ignored that due to the theatrics of the catch!

[William K Johnson]

A couple of thoughts on the game tonight:

- We got a huge break when they decided to walk Correa and pitch to Kiriloff.   I know its early, but I sure like it when he is at the plate.

- Say what you will about Solano, he hits.   Once Buxton moves back to center, Solano should be considered for the right-handed DH role.

- Pablo Lopez did not have his best stuff but still managed to hold a pretty good hitting team to one run over seven.

- Willie Castro threw a pea to first from third.

- Baldelli seems to like Castro and Gordon as late inning defensive subs.

- Gallo is beginning to be of some concern

- As bad as our division is, if we had played anywhere near where we should, we would be leading this division by eight games

[mikelink45]

Nice win.  But I will not conclude that Farmer is going to be a long term replacement for Miranda.  I believe I heard that Gallo is now 1 for his last 30! I listened to a NY broadcaster this morning who says the Mets were really lucky to have their contract with Correa voided and that Carlos would hear a lot more boos if he was in NY.

Lopez was great last night.  Brock Stewart is a good story, but I hope we do not put too much expectation on him.

[Doctor Wu]

7 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Nice win.  But I will not conclude that Farmer is going to be a long term replacement for Miranda.  I believe I heard that Gallo is now 1 for his last 30! I listened to a NY broadcaster this morning who says the Mets were really lucky to have their contract with Correa voided and that Carlos would hear a lot more boos if he was in NY.

Lopez was great last night.  Brock Stewart is a good story, but I hope we do not put too much expectation on him.

Brock Stewart is becoming a great story!

[jmlease1]

4 hours ago, Castinofan said:

The Padres broadcasters felt that Correa could have had a triple had he not stood in the box admiring his presumed HR to center. He then would have scored easily from third on the next single instead of being thrown out at the plate.  The game would have ended after 8.5 innings and Jax and Duran not burned out. 

Please Rocco, stop telling us how "hard" the players are working when their leader isn't running hard out of the box and you do nothing about it.  

Meh. Correa missed a HR on that ball by about 3 inches. No, he didn't run hard out of the box, but presuming that he could have gotten a triple is kinda silly: Correa isn't particularly fast. He's not Buxton, and even if he'd run hard out of the box he probably just has a stand-up double, and he would have gotten buried for it if he'd tried to stretch the double into a triple. 

Lopez did a nice job holding down a really tough lineup on a night where he was fighting his command. Soto, Tatis, Bogaerts, and Machado is a tough group even they've been having some of the same problems scoring runs that the Twins have.

A little disappointing to see the bullpen struggle to hold the lead again, but the offense needs to provide a bigger margin to work with. It did look like they were taking better ABs last night. (except for Vazquez, who is in a dreadful slump. Time to give Jeffers some more ABs?) Nice to see Solano come through, always interesting to see a guy step up when the groundswell starts up to have them replaced. Hope he can keep it up, but he's definitely just a bench bat now.

defense was pretty good last night, nice to see them tighten it up after some sloppy outings. believe there was a closed door meeting, I'm guessing the sloppy play, bad approaches at the plate, and lack of focus were the topic.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

8 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Was the defense as good as it sounded on the radio. Gallo in LF, Farmer at 3B, Kirilloff at 1B seems to be much better than Larnach in LF, Miranda at 3B and Gallo at 1B, not that all of these are bad in these positions.

One of the worst plays of the night was Corea’s 5 hopper to Kiriloff at first (in the 5th????). Overall it was a pretty crisp game.

[Major League Ready]

I sure hope what we are seeing indicates Kirilloff's wrist problems are gone for good.  I thought of all of the question marks coming into this season, Kirilloff's health and return to form was the most important of those things to be answered in a positive way.  I sure would like to watch him in the middle of the line-up for the next several years.   

[Squirrel]

5 hours ago, Castinofan said:

The Padres broadcasters felt that Correa could have had a triple had he not stood in the box admiring his presumed HR to center. He then would have scored easily from third on the next single instead of being thrown out at the plate.  The game would have ended after 8.5 innings and Jax and Duran not burned out. 

Please Rocco, stop telling us how "hard" the players are working when their leader isn't running hard out of the box and you do nothing about it.  

That is a LOT of ‘I know what would have happened if’. I don’t know if Correa would have made it to third if had run on contact and neither do you and neither do the guys in the broadcast booth. He is not a fast runner and I think it would have been a close play and maybe an out. We will never know. That said, geez, RUN dammit!

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

I loved that juggling act by Gallo, but on one of those replays it looked like the ball hit the ground before he caught it in his bare hand. Maybe the umps ignored that due to the theatrics of the catch!

I don’t think they ignored it. Probably couldn’t really see it from where they were. But I do wonder if the call would have been overturned had the Padres called for a replay 

[Jeff D.]

Finally! A Twins player came up clutch. I truly am looking forward to this guy rocking the team and mlb. Glad to see Farmer back and wish him the best. Now, let's get Royce to be on the field at the same time. Maybe, just maybe we will see some baseball. GO TWINS!

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

But I will not conclude that Farmer is going to be a long term replacement for Miranda.  I

Who is concluding that? I only skimmed the article so I admit I probably missed that. If that’s the conclusion, I can’t believe that most feel that way. I think Farmer is an upgrade for right now, because Miranda was having way too much trouble there, but in no way is he a long term fix. He’s a temporary fix to give Miranda or Lewis time before one or the other gets back there.

[DocBauer]

Boy did Jax deserve that win after all the weird, crazy stuff that's been happening to him lately when on the mound.

A healthy Kirilloff is pretty easily one of the Twins top 3 players. The positive results of his last surgery seem to be growing every day. He also was very deserving of something good happening last night.

[John Belinski]

Stewart has looked good during his last 3 outings and has not given up a run this year so was a little surprised he was pulled after throwing only 9 pitches.  RP Lopez started strong, but has not pitched as well during his last 3 outings so I am getting concerned when they bring. Pagan has been pitching well his last 3 outings so it appears he is ready to help the Twins.