Twins 7, Brewers 5: A Twins Win to Remember!

[Steven Trefz]

The Twins entered Tuesday night's matchup with their rival Brewers limping a bit but feeling some offensive resolve after a month of silence. The Brewers came into Target Field hoping some planted Brewer fans in the seats could take the sting off of a terrible weekend. What transpired was the best Twins moment of the year, and the kind of game that can save a season!

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Pablo Lopez: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (97 Pitches, 64 Strikes, 66%)
Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (4), Michael A. Taylor (10), Carlos Correa (9)
Top 3 WPA: Donovan Solano (0.264), Julien (0.191), Correa (0.172)

Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

The Twins Fail to Cash in Early
Pablo Lopez started the night by mowing down the Brewers 1, 2, 3 in both the top of the first and the second. The Twins offense responded by getting the leadoff man on in both innings, and finding creative ways to waste the opportunities to take the first lead of the game against Corbin Burnes.

Edouard Julien led off for the Twins in the bottom of the first with a nine-iron into left field, just off of the green that you could still see etched in the outfield grass from the golf outing Target Field hosted recently. Julien achieved 28 stolen bases in 2021 between A and High-A ball, and 19 in Double-A last season. He stayed put at first base like his coaches told him to, and he stayed there all inning as the Twins failed to advance him.

Royce Lewis led off for the Twins in the bottom of the second with an eight-iron into right field, shattering the club in the process. In an attempt to steal a base on his own, Lewis tried to stretch the single into a double and got caught easily. Ill-advised? Yes. Any worse than having the scheme leave you at first anyways? No.

BREWER FANATIC PERSPECTIVE
Be sure to read the game recap over at Brewer Fanatic to get a little different perspective on how the game played out. Be kind, but leave a comment. 

And Just Like That, It's 3-0 Brewers
Lopez was on top of his game early for sure, and he started the third inning off by striking out Luis Urias. The only problem was that two of the pitches were inexplicably called balls instead of strikes, and just like that the Brewers were gifted with a lead-off runner.

Open the floodgates. Whether it rattled the veteran pitcher or not, this mystery walk was followed by a Victor Caratini single, a two-run Christian Yelich double, a Rowdy Telliz RBI "single" off of the right field fence, and the score was 3-0 bad guys. Unfortunately, this has been a common theme for Lopez in 2023, as he's given up 23 of his 36 RBIs (roughly 2/3) in the first three innings of the game.

The Golf Practice Finally Pays Off
Michael A. Taylor led off for the Twins in the bottom of the third with what appeared to be a three-wood through the hole in center. Julien followed by taking his nine-iron to left field this time, and Brewers right-fielder Joey Wiemer had the ball disappear on him right beyond the fake golf green. As the ball rolled to the wall, Taylor advanced to third and Julien to second and the comeback was on.

Donovan Solano followed with a single to right, scoring Taylor to make it 3-1. Carlos Correa followed with a high chopper that somehow stayed fair for a fielder's choice at second base, scoring Julien to cut the lead to 3-2. Strikeouts by Alex Kirilloff and Lewis ended the threat, but the Twins took the turn into the middle innings with some momentum.

All's Quiet Until the Seventh
Both Lopez and Burnes finished out the middle innings on cruise control. The bullpens got involved in the seventh, and the runs started flowing freely. Jose DeLeon found himself just about to get out of seventh unscathed until one too many changeups found Yelich's bat, and he launched an opposite-field home run to make the score 5-2. 

Burnes stayed in to face Kyle Farmer in the bottom of the seventh, and Farmer thanked him by parking a home run to left on a rope to make it 5-3. Farmer had exit velocities above 100 mph all night long, and finally found the launch angle to match it. Joey Gallo ripped a hustle double off the wall in right to keep the threat rolling with nobody out, but a Taylor strikeout failed to advance him, and he ended up stranded at third after a Solano strikeout.

So Close, and Yet...
The Twins mounted a rally in the bottom of the eighth, with Kirilloff singling, the pinch-hitting Max Kepler walking, and Farmer getting a button on his jersey nicked by a pitch. With Trevor Larnach having just missed being the home run hero by a couple of feet foul, Gallo walked up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Five pitches later, the count was full and the near sell-out crowd was on its feet, with half of them screaming "NO!" and half of them screaming "YES!"

Unfortunately for Twins fans, the Brewers faithful won this battle as Gallo watched a slow hanger land right down the middle for strike three. 

Do You Believe in Miracles?
Maybe? Taylor stood up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against the unhittable Devin Williams. And then he hit it a long ways. 425 feet to dead center field to be precise, to make the game 5-4. 

Possibly? Julien worked a walk on a full count, and Baldelli sent in Willi Castro to pinch run, and he wasted no time stealing second base. Next up was Donnie Barrels, and this time he didn't miss. Singling in Castro to tie the game against one of the toughest closers in the game. Williams had only given up one run in 21 appearances all season! 

Yes! Correa came up next with Solano on first and nobody out. On a 1-1 changeup, Correa released a whole lot of baseball angst into the baseball, sending it off of the home run porch in left for his first career walk-off home run! (The phrasing might be a little different in the opinion of Brewers fans.) 

What's Next
The Twins send RHP Bailey Ober (3-3, 2.61 ERA), loser of three of his last four outings, to the mound. He will face Brewers RHP Colin Rea (3-3, 4.47 ERA) who is coming off of a five-game stretch of success, winning four of five. The Twins look to sweep Part 1 of this mini-series, while the Brewers look to even things up before they move on with their lives.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Chart

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
De León	0	31	0	0	24	55
Durán	38	0	0	0	0	38
Winder	0	0	0	0	38	38
Jax	13	0	17	0	0	30
Morán	7	0	20	0	0	27
Stewart	24	1	0	0	0	25
Pagán	0	0	22	0	0	22
J. López	0	13	0	0	0	13

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[Matt Braun]

I'm convinced Donovan Solano could hit a line drive in his sleep

[USAFChief]

[Dantes929]

Wait a second!!!   Bullpens from other teams give up runs also?

[stringer bell]

Twins commentators say they will have the bullpen edge tomorrow. That’s right because Jorge López and Emilio Pagán are tested and ready. 😅🤪

[blindeke]

Feels good to have almost the entire Twins bullpen rested and ready for tomorrow!

[Althebum82]

I was trying to understand what Winder had accomplished in St Paul that warranted his call-up.  He was definitely the right man at the right time tonight and got rewarded for his effort with this first MLB win of the season.

[Yawn Gardenhose]

Tonight was the 5th time *in the last 14 games* that the Twins won a game in which their opponent had a 92% or higher win probability during the game. That's incredible - the difference between an angsty 34-33 and a five-alarm-fire 29-38. I'd like to think winning this way isn't sustainable, but buried in the (justified) anxiety during this current 14 game stretch is the fact that the Twins are pulling wins out of their opponents' butts and saving their season doing so. 

[FlyingFinn]

Twins hitters are hot the last 4 games. Bux, take your time to heal so you can play CF as our DH's are producing.

[GNess]

The, "Twins have no heart" takes are proving to be BS.

 

[Nashvilletwin]

Way to protect our home turf from all those visiting Cheesehead fans cheering “Let’s go Brewers” in our house. Let’s get ‘em tomorrow too. 

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Twins hitters are hot the last 4 games. Bux, take your time to heal so you can play CF as our DH's are producing.

It does feel like the quality of at bats has improved dramatically over the past week or so. Good things happen when you take good at bats.

Even the Gallo AB where he took the took the called third strike was a good one. 0-2 count worked to full with good takes. Good hitters get fooled by good pitches, it happens and I can live with it.  Light years better than some of the flailing we had 3 and 4 weeks ago.

[SwainZag]

I'm not sure anyone here understands how good Devin Williams has been.

Before today he had allowed 1 run this season.  A solo HR by Thairo Estrada in a 5 run game in early May.   Other than that, the guy had been virtually unhittable.  

8 hits in 21.2 innings.  1 ER, 1 HR, 30 K's and an ERA of 0.42. Literally in almost every sense of the word, the best reliever in the game.  

Tonight.... the Twins went 3/3, 3 hits, 1 BB,  2 HR and 0 K's.  2023 signature moment? I sure hope so.

[SwainZag]

 

[UK Twin]

For all those batting average enthusiasts: Correa only went a mediocre 1-5. Somewhat disappointing for a superstar. 🤣

For everyone else, he's hit 2 HR's and 2 doubles in his last 3 games while driving in 8 with 2 massive clutch hits. 😆

Fantastic win, such a good way to shake off a bad loss on Sunday. Really impressive to make such a good reliever like Williams look like Pagan. Taylor has already hit more homers than he did last season! We've got to look at extending him - he's been a great addition and his power is an unexpected bonus. 

[Squirrel]

4 hours ago, GNess said:

The, "Twins have no heart" takes are proving to be BS.

 

I think those takes are pretty much BS either way. We don’t know, personally, what’s in the hearts and minds of anyone. It’s just an easy go to or explanation for some when we lose or when a player does poorly or when the manager does something inexplicable to us. I get that some think it’s what they perceive, but still, it’s not a quality anyone can know unless they are personally acquainted with each member individually.

[wsnydes]

The stands were probably at least 2/3 Brewer fans.  That's a pretty sweet way to send them home unhappy for the evening.

Still one more game to dish out some disappointment for their drive back to Milwaukee!

[wornsmooth]

5 hours ago, Yawn Gardenhose said:

Tonight was the 5th time *in the last 14 games* that the Twins won a game in which their opponent had a 92% or higher win probability during the game. That's incredible - the difference between an angsty 34-33 and a five-alarm-fire 29-38. I'd like to think winning this way isn't sustainable, but buried in the (justified) anxiety during this current 14 game stretch is the fact that the Twins are pulling wins out of their opponents' asses and saving their season doing so. 

Because as a team they are beginning to hit. Taylor is hitting rockets. Kirillof and Lewis get a hit almost every game. Solano is on a roll, as is Farmer. Castro not only hits. But can run. (As can Taylor)

If a team scores runs, they win games. 

Multiple small ball innings....1 or 2 runs, adds up to just as many runs as always playing for "the big inning" by keeping baserunners in place hoping for the homeruns or 4 hits in a row.

Also, whatever happened to the hit and run? Do Twins batters strike out to often to even attempt it?

[twinssporto]

Great win! These are the type of games that can change the momentum of a team for the year. It just builds more confidence for everybody (even the fan base).

[bighat]

Nice win. A happy and engaged Carlos Correa might just be emerging after all. As he goes, so go the Twins it appears. 

Good outing from Lopez once again. 

How about Michael A. Taylor, on pace for 20 homers? And Castro sure has been a find. 

@wornsmooththe Twins did strike out quite a bit, including 3 K's in the first inning after a leadoff single. They've struck out 3 times in the 1st inning six times this year. 

[Doctor Wu]

42 minutes ago, bighat said:

Nice win. A happy and engaged Carlos Correa might just be emerging after all. As he goes, so go the Twins it appears. 

Good outing from Lopez once again. 

How about Michael A. Taylor, on pace for 20 homers? And Castro sure has been a find. 

@wornsmooththe Twins did strike out quite a bit, including 3 K's in the first inning after a leadoff single. They've struck out 3 times in the 1st inning six times this year. 

One of the nicest surprises about having Taylor on the team is the power he has shown this season. For a scrawny looking guy, he can blast the ball into the stands when he wants to, and into deep centerfield no less. And as wornsmooth said in his post, the speed that he and Castro add to the team is another huge plus. Keep it going!

[Riverbrian]

8 hours ago, Matt Braun said:

I'm convinced Donovan Solano could hit a line drive in his sleep

No he can't... but he can roll out of bed and do it before his feet hit the floor while still in his pajama's. 

[Peter]

What a game!!! 9th inning was insane!!! Michael A Taylor has been huge as well solano/Castro and C4 with walkoff. This along with grand slam in Toronto has to be his signature twins moment!!! Huge huge huge win!!! And with Cleveland losing last night 2.5 lead in division-a win like this is much needed and makes up for Sundays Toronto loss. Need to keep this going with winning home stand and push lead in division!!! Go Twins!!!

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Twins hitters are hot the last 4 games. Bux, take your time to heal so you can play CF as our DH's are producing.

Sometimes... Injuries make you better. 

[Riverbrian]

5 hours ago, SwainZag said:

I'm not sure anyone here understands how good Devin Williams has been.

Before today he had allowed 1 run this season.  A solo HR by Thairo Estrada in a 5 run game in early May.   Other than that, the guy had been virtually unhittable.  

8 hits in 21.2 innings.  1 ER, 1 HR, 30 K's and an ERA of 0.42. Literally in almost every sense of the word, the best reliever in the game.  

Tonight.... the Twins went 3/3, 3 hits, 1 BB,  2 HR and 0 K's.  2023 signature moment? I sure hope so.

 

It wasn't lost on me. 

And if I can tack on some more context. 

Home Run by a guy who wasn't supposed to be a big offensive contributor. 

Walk by a rookie

Solid single by a player who normally wouldn't play if everyone was healthy. 

Home run by a guy who is severely underpaid. 

[jmlease1]

Overheard at the end of the game last night: "Plus, we took all that Milwaukee money!" 🤣

Very fun game last night, with an ideal ending. 

Royce trying to stretch a single to a double wasn't so great; he didn't get a fast enough start out of the box to have a a chance and that ball didn't die or slice enough to really give him a chance. Glad the mistake didn't end up hurting us.

The phantom walk that Pablo Lopez issues didn't look great from the stands, much like poor Kirilloff getting rung up looked...questionable as well. Again: ready for the electronic strike zone.

Taylor and Correa's HRs were no-doubters right off the bat. Very fun celebration at the plate with Correa; they really looked like they were having fun there.

Winder got the job done, but I still am not sure about him. His fastball looks a little too straight and 95mph doesn't play like it used to. The curve was good, but the slider didn't move enough. Changeup was solid and got him the swing and miss he was looking for, but I'm just not sure he's got enough stuff. It would be huge if he could be a 2 inning guy every 3 days or so, but his fastball looks hittable and he didn't seem confident in it. 

All in all, though, a pretty great win. And nice job by Castro pinch running, even if it was maybe a little more exciting than it needed to be (almost oversliding 2B, then starting his slide into home so early that from the stands it looked like he was going to Willie Mays Hayes it and come up 2 feet short. But he got it done!).

[wabene]

To all those talking about sending these interlopers back to Milwaukee without their money etc, I hate to tell you but many of them live among you right there in the Twin Cities, lol. 

[2wins87]

8 hours ago, Yawn Gardenhose said:

Tonight was the 5th time *in the last 14 games* that the Twins won a game in which their opponent had a 92% or higher win probability during the game. That's incredible - the difference between an angsty 34-33 and a five-alarm-fire 29-38. I'd like to think winning this way isn't sustainable, but buried in the (justified) anxiety during this current 14 game stretch is the fact that the Twins are pulling wins out of their opponents' butts and saving their season doing so. 

That's an interesting stat.

They've had their share of blown games this year too though. Sometimes losing like that is also unsustainable. Their pythagorean win-loss record is 38-29, which I think is a good indicator of what's sustainable. 

For last night, I think it was one of those games that probably shouldn't have gotten to 92% in favor of their opponent. In the middle innings they had a bunch of hard hit line drives right at someone, they lacked timely hits, and mixed in a baserunning mistake. Then there was Larnach's barely foul drive in the 8th.

After the first trip through the order the at bats against Burnes were generally really good. They eventually got 3 runs off him but could have had more. The good ABs continued against the relievers and finally they broke through.

It was a surprising win but not a lucky one to me.

[Jeff D.]

While I do not think this is a consistent enough team to win our very poor division, this could be the most important Twins win this year. There was tenacity and poise in this game that has been rare the entire year. This seemed to be a game that was contributed by just about everyone. Lopez does give me pause for concern and Morneau, in his assessing him during the broadcast hit the nail on the head commenting on our pitcher. 

Let's hope this ignites the team. They need it. GO TWINS!

Twins Geezer....out!

[wabene]

5 minutes ago, Jeff D. said:

While I do not think this is a consistent enough team to win our very poor division, this could be the most important Twins win this year. There was tenacity and poise in this game that has been rare the entire year. This seemed to be a game that was contributed by just about everyone. Lopez does give me pause for concern and Morneau, in his assessing him during the broadcast hit the nail on the head commenting on our pitcher. 

Let's hope this ignites the team. They need it. GO TWINS!

Twins Geezer....out!

What did Morneau say?