Twins 4, Brewers 2: Ober, Correa, Finish the Crew Early

[Thiéres Rabelo]

Wrapping up the first chapter of this season’s Border Battle, the Twins completed the sweep of the two-game series against the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon. Bailey Ober gave up back-to-back homers early, but he settled down nicely, and the offense brought the Twins back right away.

Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (93 pitches, 68 strikes, 73.1%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.199), Trevor Larnach (.160), Bailey Ober (.086)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Similarly to Tuesday night’s epic game, the Brewers jumped in front early. Bailey Ober had a hard time against the Brewers lineup from the get-go, having to pitch around two singles he gave up in the top of the first inning. After retiring the leadoff man in the second, Ober was stung by back-to-back home runs from Brian Anderson and Luis Urías. Before he could get out of that inning, Christian Yelich hit a two-out double. Only three other times before today’s game had Ober given up five or more hits in a game.

Differently from last night’s game, though, Twins fans didn’t have to wait until the ninth inning to see them snatch the lead from the cheese-headed visitors. Minnesota ambushed Brewers starter Colin Rea, putting together a four-run third inning on four hits. Édouard Julien hit a double and was followed by a Donovan Solano walk. Julien moved to third on an Alex Kirilloff flyout , bringing Carlos Correa to the plate with two outs. C4 stepped up once again and tied the game with a triple.

The Twins took the lead after a brilliant eight-pitch at-bat from Trevor Larnach which resulted in a rocket of a double hit off the right field wall to drive in Correa. Before the inning was over, Joey Gallo popped up to shallow right in what should’ve been a routine play, but Owen Miller lost it, and the ball dropped. Larnach scored easily, and Gallo was initially called safe at second, but the call got overturned after a Milwaukee challenge. Fortunately, the run scored before the tag was applied to Gallo, and the Twins took a 4-2 lead.

Ober settles down nicely, and the bullpen holds on
The 2023 Brewers are not known for their ability to rally. Very few times this year have they won games when trailing in the fourth inning. Ober gave up a leadoff walk in the fourth today, but he managed to pitch around that with the help of a groundball double play. He went on to retire five of the final six batters he faced to complete six innings in yet another solid start. In ten starts this season, Ober has delivered more than five innings in eight of them and has allowed two or fewer runs in seven total starts this year. His season ERA now sits at 2.65, the second-best of the team. The Twins currently have three starters with a sub-three ERA for the season.

After pushing the four runs across in the third, the offense got freezing cold. They went 1-for-14 for the rest of the game, though they did draw five walks in that span. It was up to the bullpen to secure the win against an equally uninspired Brewers offense, and they managed to succeed. Brock Stewart struck out the side on 14 pitches to get through the seventh, while flame-throwing Jhoan Durán also threw a 1-2-3 eighth with ease. Neither of them had pitched since last Saturday. Then, Griffin Jax came in to close out, and he retired the side on 11 pitches, making it nine Milwaukee batters retired in a row.

Minnesota delivers Milwaukee’s season-worst sixth consecutive loss while also securing its first series sweep since the opening series of the season against the Royals in Kansas City. The Twins are back to two games above .500 and hold a three-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians atop the American League Central.

Postgame interview

What’s Next?
The Twins continue their ten-game homestand on Thursday (6/15) as they begin a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, whom they’ll face for the first time this season. Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) is set to make the start for Minnesota in game one, with Detroit’s starter yet to be determined. The first pitch of Thursday’s game is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
De León	31	0	0	24	0	55
Winder	0	0	0	38	0	38
Jax	0	17	0	0	11	28
Pagán	0	22	0	0	0	22
Morán	0	20	0	0	0	20
Stewart	1	0	0	0	14	15
J. López	13	0	0	0	0	13
Durán	0	0	0	0	12	12

View full article

[wsnydes]

Well pitched game with some timely hitting.  Nice win, nicer series win!

Keep up the momentum with Detroit!

[Matt Braun]

That’s about as clean as a win you can ask for. Even the bullpen barely broke a sweat. 

[jmlease1]

I love the fact that Duran pitched the 8th and took down the 1-3 hitters in the MKE lineup.

Team was very willing to take a walk today, and 7 free passes really piles up. Correa is definitely on a bit of a heater right now, and it's just what the team needs.

I worry a little when Ober gives up the long balls, but he settled down nicely. Very nice win.

[stringer bell]

Only five hits, but seven walks and only seven strikeouts. How many games have the Twins won this year when they hit zero homers and their opponents hit two or more?

[UK Twin]

Another day, another clutch hit from Correa. Love the fact he drove the ball to the opposite field. Great job from Ober after a couple of shaky innings. Hardly any base runners from the 3rd inning onwards. 

Now a 4 game set against a slumping Detroit. Have to cash in with at least 3 wins while Cleveland have SD and Arizona. 

Twins getting healthier, Correa's bat heating up in a hurry, what have you got Cleveland?

[ashbury]

1 minute ago, UK Twin said:

what have you got Cleveland?

[jimbo92107]

Bailey Ober continues to show that he belongs. Resilient after coughing up a couple homers, he stopped the damage, then put up a bunch more zeroes. So nice to have five starters that can each do this on a given day.

[darwin22]

Echoing a few of the comments on today's W:

1.  As long as Ober can limit HR damage to solo shots while having excellent command (only 1 walk), he's looking like a dependable rotation piece for years to come.

2.  Next 4 home games against DET are crucial!  Need to win 3 of 4.  DET pitching "should be" gassed with a dh this afternoon.  My understanding is that they plan to throw 2 LH SP's (Boyd and Wentz) with the other 2 being "bullpen" games.  With Gray, Ryan and Lopez lined up to pitch tomorrow, Friday and Sunday---I like our chances.

3. What is the status of Varland getting the start Saturday?  He's had 2 rough starts in a row.  Is Maeda lined up to get recalled to start Saturday?  

4.  Will say this very quietly----Its nice to see Correa's bat start to wake up!  If we have ANY hope of playing meaningful games in September and possibly into October-------WE NEED CORREA to produce!

8 RBI by C4 in his last 5 games.   It took Correa 18 games to produce 8 RBI (May 11 thr June 7th)

5.  See previous point----very quietly, its nice/wonderful seeing Griffin Jax return to his form of 2022! 10 scoreless appearances since May 9th.  9.2 IP over that span with zero walks and 12K's.  Keep it going Griffin!

6.  Finally, just asking:  Any projection of Buxton's return date from IL?  As with Correa------we NEED Buxton producing (starting up would be welcome) if we hope to win this division.

[D.C Twins]

I'm Ober-ly optimistic about his future!

[D.C Twins]

Further proof that if Correa (and eventually Buck), as our stars, provide even their average career production, this team is faaaaaaaar more competitive. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

If this is the real Correa, and he keeps it up, then the pennant race this year is going to be lacking in drama. 🙂

[IaBeanCounter]

"The Twins continue their ten-game homestand on Thursday (6/15) as they begin a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, whom they’ll face for the first time this season. Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) is set to make the start for Minnesota in game one,"

Are they giving Gray an additional day off?  The rotation has been Gray/Ryan/Varland?/Lopez/Ober.

[FlyingFinn]

35 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Varland getting the start Saturday?  He's had 2 rough starts in a row.

He was out of the 5th inning with a double play grounder, giving up only 1 run. But the infield botched the double play, which would have ended the inning, and 3 runs score. Keep Varland in the rotation, let Maeda build up to enter the pen, and cut Pagan.

[Doctor Gast]

Reggie Jackson was known as  Mr. October because he was so so during the season but turned it on whenever the bright lights came on. This spring Correa was not only poor but stunk, it's hard to take a leadership role when you're that bad. Correa normally has a good June & even better September going into & during the post season. Hopefully everyone healthy & Correa turns it on again in the Fall, which can take our team to the level they are capable of. 

[Beast]

Correa might finally be coming around.  He’s stacking up the extra base hits over the past week.  The importance of that can’t be overstated.

It’s almost like this team has been given a second chance at life being in such a bad division.  Get Buxton healthy and back in the lineup.  Get Wallner another shot and find a way to keep Julien up here.  Quit giving Pagan and Lopez innings that have even a modicum of leverage.  Quit screwing around, get your best players and pitchers on the field, and stop throwing games by getting cute with all this lineup and bullpen shenanigans.

They need to find a way to use this run of success as a springboard to separate from the rest of the division.

[Mortimerkenny21]

43 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

3. What is the status of Varland getting the start Saturday?  He's had 2 rough starts in a row.  Is Maeda lined up to get recalled to start Saturday?  

One of those rough starts was against Tampa Bay, other than that I think he has held his own really well. I would much rather see him in the rotation than Meada. Hope Meada will have some value in the bullpen. 

[rwilfong86]

Nice to see Correa's bat starting to heat up, he's been an extra base hit machine for the past weekish

[tony&rodney]

Ober and Varland should be locked into the rotation with how they have pitched this year. Positives for the bats is starting to happen, which is really good news.

[mnfireman]

38 minutes ago, Mortimerkenny21 said:

One of those rough starts was against Tampa Bay, other than that I think he has held his own really well. I would much rather see him in the rotation than Meada. Hope Meada will have some value in the bullpen. 

Per MLB.com:

 Maeda will make another rehab start for Triple-A St. Paul on June 16 in Louisville, after which the Twins will have to make a determination on next steps. He threw four scoreless innings in his last rehab start on June 10, when he struck out five without issuing a walk while throwing 60 pitches (37 strikes). Maeda said he has taken the time to address some mechanical misalignments that held back the quality of his pitches when he was last in the Majors.

[Jocko87]

49 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Reggie Jackson was known as  Mr. October because he was so so during the season but turned it on whenever the bright lights came on. This spring Correa was not only poor but stunk, it's hard to take a leadership role when you're that bad. Correa normally has a good June & even better September going into & during the post season. Hopefully everyone healthy & Correa turns it on again in the Fall, which can take our team to the level they are capable of. 

Two straight off-seasons where he couldn’t do his normal work.  Coming off this last one with all the drama a slow start does make sense. Even a guy like him has to be affected by all the noise. I’ll be watching next year for a slow start but I don’t expect him to be bad into June again. Now that he’s settled in hopefully he can stay there. He has also stated many times that it’s all about peaking at the end of the year. 

[roger]

Saw Larnach was optioned to St Paul after the game..  Assume that means Buxton will be back tomorrow.

Does anyone know the details of the trade with the Brewers?  Twins got an A+ ball pitcher.  Who is he and wha t did they give up?

[RickOShea]

8 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Two straight off-seasons where he couldn’t do his normal work.  Coming off this last one with all the drama a slow start does make sense. Even a guy like him has to be affected by all the noise. I’ll be watching next year for a slow start but I don’t expect him to be bad into June again. Now that he’s settled in hopefully he can stay there. He has also stated many times that it’s all about peaking at the end of the year. 

I would only edit the first sentence of  Dr Gast's post. ."Reggie Jackson was known as  Mr. October because he was so so during the season but turned it on whenever the bright lights came on".

So-so?  

[Jocko87]

31 minutes ago, RickOShea said:

I would only edit the first sentence of  Dr Gast's post. ."Reggie Jackson was known as  Mr. October because he was so so during the season but turned it on whenever the bright lights came on".

So-so?  

.846 career ops, 139 ops+ in the regular season. Correa .829 and 127. 

So-so so good. I saw that but it wasn’t related to my point. 

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Only five hits, but seven walks and only seven strikeouts. How many games have the Twins won this year when they hit zero homers and their opponents hit two or more?

Nice sequencing. 

[Dman]

59 minutes ago, roger said:

Saw Larnach was optioned to St Paul after the game..  Assume that means Buxton will be back tomorrow.

Does anyone know the details of the trade with the Brewers?  Twins got an A+ ball pitcher.  Who is he and wha t did they give up?

Sounds like Taylor Floyd completes the Megill player to named later trade.

[ashbury]

5 minutes ago, Dman said:

Sounds like Taylor Floyd completes the Megill player to named later trade.

10th rounder from 2019 who's 25 now and mowing 'em down in high-A.  Oh joy.

[Dman]

10 minutes ago, ashbury said:

10th rounder from 2019 who's 25 now and mowing 'em down in high-A.  Oh joy.

Yeah reading fangraphs Twins are banking on a rebound for the change of pace submariner who gets a lot of ground balls.  If he works out at least they can use him as an up and down guy as he will have three option years left. 

It looks like the Twins assigned him to AA so I guess we will see if he has better luck this year at that level because last year he was horrible.  Could be a diamond in the rough find if you are looking at the positive side.  Could be nothing as well but Megill wasn't going to make it back on the 40 man and his control issues really bothered me.  He is doing OK so far for Milwaukee but still giving up his fair share of walks.  I think the Twins will be better off with this deal hard to say though I guess time will tell.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, roger said:

Saw Larnach was optioned to St Paul after the game..  Assume that means Buxton will be back tomorrow.

huh? That seems just weird to continue jerking around Larnach like that.

Anyway, yeah I heard Gladden say that Buxton was running full sprints before the game, max effort, and expected Buxton to be activated in the next day or two.

[jkcarew]

I approve of the recent Duran usage.

(I post this under the supposition that Rocco reads comments of each TD game recap looking for affirmation and ideas. Who wouldn’t?)