Tigers 8, Twins 4 : Twins Lick Their Wounds After a Tiger Attack

[Steven Trefz]

The Tigers were trending towards "miserable," and the Twins were trending towards "playoffs." After Sonny Gray lost his way, and Matthew Boyd found his, the battle of the bullpens easily went the Tigers' way in one of the more deflating Twins efforts of the season. Here's how it all went down on T-Pain night at Target Field.

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (79 Pitches, 45 Strikes, 57%)
Home Runs: Donovan Solano (2), 
Bottom 3 WPA: Jovani Moran (-0.360), Carlos Correa (-0.122), Alex Kirilloff (-0.091)

Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

The Tigers Bite First, in the Second
Sonny Gray has struggled over his past seven outings, going 0-1 with 3.65 ERA. The Twins haven't provided him much run support, but Gray has also struggled with high pitch counts which led to him exiting the games too soon to succeed. After a quick first inning, Gray was cruising along in the second until he wasn't. The hottest hitters in the Tigers lineup, all with an OPS over 1.0 in June, struck with two outs to cash in the games first run.

Andy Ibanez staved off a strikeout, and worked a walk. The ageless Miguel Cabrera continued his hot streak of late, lacing a single up the middle. Then Matt Vierling, yes Matt Vierling, followed up with an RBI single to right and it was 1-0. Gray still had work to do, and managed to strike out Jake Rogers to end the threat.

The Twins Bite Back, with a Vengeance
Matthew Boyd allowed a one-out double to Carlos Correa in the first, but escaped without any damage. Boyd's second inning also started innocently enough, allowing a single to Royce Lewis and getting two outs. Then the Twins' new offensive game plan began to emerge yet again. Ryan Jeffers laced a single to left. Former Tiger, Willi Castro, choked up on the bat and shanked a run-scoring single to right with two strikes. Now with the score 1-1, and two on, Donovan Solano stepped to the plate and fell behind 0-2, worked the count to 2-2, and then did the opposite of flaring the ball to right to make the score 4-1.

So Many Pitches...So Few Innings
Gray worked through the top of the third on six pitches. The top of the fourth took him 35 pitches.

Javier Baez singled on the sixth pitch, and stole second on a delayed attempt. Gray then walked Nick Maton and Ibanez on six pitches each, loading the bases with nobody out for Cabrera. Twins fans closed their eyes, and because of that they missed an impressive 5-6-3 double play started by the quick hands of Lewis. Baez scored on the play to make it 4-2, but that was way better than the feared 5-4 outcome.

Gray responded to this great play behind him by...walking Vierling on six pitches. Rogers came up again with a chance to do some serious damage, and it took seven pitches but he did strike out to end yet another threat. Rocco Baldelli and Gray had a series of words in the dugout during the inning and following the inning, and Gray's night was done much to his dismay. The line closes at four innings, 79 pitches, and a 57% strike rate.

There Are Tiger Tooth Marks All Over Moran
Jovani Moran entered the game to put out the fire, and four batters later the game was tied. A single, an errant throw by Lewis on a brilliant diving stop, and then a Baez delivered his own version of T-Pain. Baez reached beyond the strike zone to triple to burn Michael A. Taylor in left-center, evening the game at 4-4 with only one out. The camera chose not to locate Gray in the dugout again.

The Tigers made a move to the bench, placing right-hander Eric Haase in for Maton. Haase's cue ball gound out to second base brought in Baez to put the Tigers ahead 5-4.

Do the Twins Bite Back, or Just Lick Their Wounds?
In the fifth and sixth innings, they mostly whimped at the plate. A Solano walk was immediately erased by a Correa double play in the fifth. Byron Buxton looked lost, flailing wildly at 92 mph fastballs in the sixth. Boyd settled in, going six innings and handing the ball off to the bullpen with a one run lead. It only look Tigers RHP reliever Will Vest to take out pinch hitters Edouard Julien and Joey Gallo, along with Castro, 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.

Luckily for the Twins, while their bats might not have responded to the Tigers' challenge, the much maligned Emilio Pagan did. Pagan mowed through the sixth and seventh innings facing the minimum batters, continuing his trend of dominating when pitching without the lead.

To the Eighth We Go
Jorge Lopez took the mound to start the eighth inning, and proceeded to get three outs by inducing two ground balls. The Twins pinch hit Max Kepler for the only person to hit a home run today, Donnie Barrels, to start the bottom of the eighth. Kepler rewarded his manager by grounding out to first base. Correa struck out looking, and Kirilloff dribbled the ball to the pitcher to wrap up a horrible inning.

Can We Get Another Ninth Inning Miracle this Week???
Nope. And the suspense didn't last long either. Lopez stayed in to face the bottom of the Tigers lineup, and he got hit around to the tune of three more runs. Spencer Torkelson and Zach Short each crushed doubles to left with two outs, driving the nails into the Twins bullpen's coffin.

The Twins caught a break when Torkelson couldn't dig out the throw on Buxton's ground out, placing the lead off runner in the bottom of the ninth on base. A Kyle Farmer lazy fly ball, a Lewis swinging strike out, and a Christian Vasquez lazy fly ball later and the Twins were meat.

What's Next
The Twins will send RHP Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) to the mound on Friday night in hopes of righting the ship, to face a Tigers bullpen squad with the vaunted "TBD" scheduled to get the first inning. On paper it looks like the Tigers already conceded this one a week ago, but if tonight's game taught us anything its: "That's why you play the games!" First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Chart

SUN MON TUE WED THU TOT Pagán 22 0 0 0 24 46 Morán 20 0 0 0 22 42 Winder 0 0 38 0 0 38 J. López 0 0 0 0 32 32 Jax 17 0 0 11 0 28 De León 0 0 24 0 0 24 Stewart 0 0 0 14 0 14 Durán 0 0 0 12 0 12

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[mikelink45]

I don't blame gray. A starter should be allowed to work through the challenges. 

[Aggies7]

Gray can’t wait to get out of here and play for some other manager 

[Blyleven2011]

It just amazes me how BAD we play against BAD teams ...

Twins found some runs early but Detroit  scores 7 unanswered runs  ...

Sonny pulled after 4 innings , did he have another inning left in him , maybe so , I for sure would have brought him back for the 5th  , he's a veteran  and he wouldn't lie to his manager that he was good to go ...

Pinch hitting  , Kepler for Solano  , why , Solano can hit right-handed pitching  , his bat is hot lately  and is pinch hit for  ...

Defense wasn't what is expected of a contending team  ...

I guess we put it behind us and tomorrow is another chance at a win ,  CHANCE is the key word ...

Detroit wins 8-4 , man are we BAD ..

[Rik19753]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't mind the decision to pull Gray after 4. He only gave up 2 runs, but if the sequencing was worse it could easily have been 4. Moran's implosion makes it look bad, but Gray was probably only going to pitch 1 more inning even if he'd stayed in.

It's astounding how different Pagan looks when he's put in the game when the Twins are trailing. It's a shame that he can't be that calm and collected when we have the lead. I would bet my house(if I had one) that he would have botched the throw to 2nd when the runner took off if the Twins were winning.

[Althebum82]

While technically not mop-up duty when he came into the game, Jorge Lopez turned it into a mop-up appearance before he left the field.  After teasing us with a great start to the season, he has now not just supplanted Pagan as a bullpen liability, he has actually exceeded Pagan's ineptitude.

[ashbury]

Gray had more self-criticism than critique for the decision to take him out.  I might be unaware of some nuance in his words, either to the manager's ears or to the rest of the clubhouse, but to me Sonny Gray showed class in his interview (soliloquy, more like).

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

No opinion tonight on whether Gray should have stayed in the game tonight, but Rocco has given him a quick hook plenty of times in the past. Rocco needs to set aside whatever personal differences he has with Gray and work him like a rented mule, squeeze out every possible inning and save the pen. This is Gray’s last season in Minnesota either way. 

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

No opinion tonight on whether Gray should have stayed in the game tonight, but Rocco has given him a quick hook plenty of times in the past. Rocco needs to set aside whatever personal differences he has with Gray and work him like a rented mule, squeeze out every possible inning and save the pen. This is Gray’s last season in Minnesota either way. 

Rocco, or Pete Maki?  Of course Rocco makes the decision, but if Maki's input is always different regarding Gray than for the other starters ....

[wabene]

Losing the first game in a four game set to the Kitties is less than ideal.

I have other mini complaints but choose to focus on something else for the duration of this evening, good night

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Will the real version of the 2023 Minnesota Twins please stand up?

[jorgenswest]

It seems wise to pull a pitcher after a 35 pitch fourth inning. It is a long season and starting pitching depth is thin with Mahle out on Maeda a question mark. Yo pitches even,y split after 4 innings isn’t as stressful as when the 4th of those innings is 35.

The solution is an easy one. Gray needs to pitch better and he needs to be dominant against the teams with losing records. This is on Gray. 

[Aggies7]

Last year’s trade deadline acquisitions have been a disaster by and large. Mahle - hurt, Michael Fulmer - era near 6 with the cubs, and Lopez looks cooked.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

6 minutes ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Will the real version of the 2023 Minnesota Twins please stand up?

I fully expect the Twins to take 3 of 4 still, and a split wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

24 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Rocco, or Pete Maki?  Of course Rocco makes the decision, but if Maki's input is always different regarding Gray than for the other starters ....

Good question and not sure. We don’t hear from Maki enough( maybe he likes it that way). 

The tension between Gray and Baldelli is palpable. Whatever, raise a toast to competitors.., 🥂🥃

[VivaBomboRivera!]

3 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I fully expect the Twins to take 3 of 4 still

We can certainly hope!

4 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

and a split wouldn’t be the end of the world

Yeah, but it certainly doesn't indicate any kind of positive direction or maturation. There is so much to be hopeful for in this squad, and it is maddening to see brilliance one day, mediocrity the next, and a train wreck the day after that.

[jorgenswest]

32 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Rocco, or Pete Maki?  Of course Rocco makes the decision, but if Maki's input is always different regarding Gray than for the other starters ....

Are there instances of the other starters with a mid game 30+ pitch inning where they went back out at around 80 pitches? I think Gray has a few of these recently.

I suppose Gray’s three trips to the IL last year might also be a factor in the decision.

Easy solution. Gray needs to be better.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I don't blame gray. A starter should be allowed to work through the challenges. 

He worked through challenges pretty much every inning, as he acknowledges in this press conference. He had bases loaded an nobody out. Yes, he got out of it a couple of times and limited the damage, but he clearly wasn't on tonight. 

Love the competitiveness. Love the self-evaluation. Love that he wants to keep going. 

Love more that Rocco didn't back down. Gray is getting his innings in this year. He's got really nothing to complain about. This will - or at least should - be over by tomorrow. 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

... he's a veteran  and he wouldn't lie to his manager that he was good to go ...

Umm... because he's so competitive, he absolutely would lie to his manager, and he's going to say that he's good to go. That's why I like Gray. Love the competitiveness. He gets it. 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Gray had more self-criticism than critique for the decision to take him out.  I might be unaware of some nuance in his words, either to the manager's ears or to the rest of the clubhouse, but to me Sonny Gray showed class in his interview (soliloquy, more like).

I watched it thinking that if he listens back to it, he's going to really realize why Rocco took him out. 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

No opinion tonight on whether Gray should have stayed in the game tonight, but Rocco has given him a quick hook plenty of times in the past. Rocco needs to set aside whatever personal differences he has with Gray and work him like a rented mule, squeeze out every possible inning and save the pen. This is Gray’s last season in Minnesota either way. 

Why would or should he do that? 

And last year, he got pulled early several times, but he was coming off an IL stint about 3 times and he admittedly wasn't ready when the season started. 

This year, as we knew, pitchers would have longer leashes. There have been several times for each of the starters that they let them go out for an extra inning. 

[Rosterman]

If Madea does come back, I see Gray being dangled in trade.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

No opinion tonight on whether Gray should have stayed in the game tonight, but Rocco has given him a quick hook plenty of times in the past. Rocco needs to set aside whatever personal differences he has with Gray and work him like a rented mule, squeeze out every possible inning and save the pen. This is Gray’s last season in Minnesota either way. 

So now Rocco has personal differences and that’s why he pulled Gray and not for Gray’s own performance? I mean, that sounds a tad invented to suit a narrative

[D.C Twins]

Mor-ain't supposed to be pitching for an MLB team with post season aspirations. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

3 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

So now Rocco has personal differences and that’s why he pulled Gray and not for Gray’s own performance? I mean, that sounds a tad invented to suit a narrative

Please stop following me around, nitpicking posts you don’t like, and accusing me of having agendas or narratives. Please. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

31 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

If Madea does come back, I see Gray being dangled in trade.

[Squirrel]

21 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Please stop following me around, nitpicking posts you don’t like, and accusing me of having agendas or narratives. Please. 

You stated:

2 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Rocco needs to set aside whatever personal differences he has with Gray

What does this mean, he has personal differences? Explain it then so I’m not misinterpreting. It sounds like you are saying he is pulling Gray over personal differences so I’m questioning what that means? I’m sorry you think I’m nitpicking, but I just find it odd, so help me out, please, and explain what you mean?

[Whitey333]

What a pitiful performance by the Twins.  Detroit had played a double header the previous day and lost two to Atlanta.  They were the team that had to travel, not the Twins.  Tigers only had won one game thus whole month.  Yet they outplayed and out managed the Twins.  They had more energy and drive.  The Twins led 4-1 and had no offense after the fourth innings.  This is exactly why you can't take this Twins team as a serious contender.  They are too inconsistent and fundamentally flawed.  Yes they may win the division, maybe not. And winning 3 of 4 against the tigers is the only acceptable outcome in this series.  Splitting the series is palpable but not good.  Anything less is disastorous.

  

[glunn]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

You stated:

What does this mean, he has personal differences? Explain it then so I’m not misinterpreting. It sounds like you are saying he is pulling Gray over personal differences so I’m questioning what that means? I’m sorry you think I’m nitpicking, but I just find it odd, so help me out, please, and explain what you mean?

I think that the disconnect may be that he said "whatever" personal differences. That's not the same as saying "his" personal differences. I think Hosken was leaving open the possibility that there may be no personal differences.

I also think that the nature of their relationship is fair game, although as is often the case we don't have enough inside information to do more than speculate.

Personally, I would have let him go out for the 4th. From Rocco's perspective, either Gray would perform (which would have been great for the team and the fans) or not perform (which would help in the future by reducing Gray's repeated unhappiness when Gray feels that he was pulled too early).

Drama between people who are on the same team tends to fester..

 

 

 

 

 

[RickOShea]

Baseball has a way,  for the best (divisionally or league-wise) finishing at the top, most of the time. That's the intrigue of a 162 game schedule.  Streaks, winning ones or losing ones, skew our perceptions and expectations.  After the last Milwaukee game, we were world beaters in some people's minds.  After this Detroit loss, we're scum.  The point is, IMO, that most seasons are like a roller coaster, in performance and emotions.  We need to let this play out a bit more.

However, part of the attraction of baseball, is it provides an opportunity for us to ride this roller coaster and experience all of its ups, downs, twists and turns.  So, if you're passionate about this game or a specific team, you're going to look at small sections of a season and critique, accordingly.  That's the beauty of it.  You can be right one day and wrong the next in your assessments.  Let's tolerate the assessments.  Let them be a reflection of one's passion for the game.