Twins 8, Royals 4: Ryan Strikes Out Nine, Julien Homers in Twins Win

[Nate Palmer]

The game got interesting late, but a big home run from Ed Julien in the eighth inning got the Twins bats going. Paired with a good Joe Ryan start, those runs brought the Twins back into the win column. 

Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

 

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan: 60 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (94 pitches, 62 strikes (65.9%)
Home Runs: Edouard Julien (5)
Top 3 WPA: Edouard Julien (0.269), Carlos Correa (0.189), Joe Ryan (0.126)
 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

To this point in the season, the Minnesota Twins, as their offense has struggled, haven't hit any left-handers well, and their pinch-hit attempts haven't gone well either. For one night, those details reversed course. Ultimately, an eighth inning, pinch-hit home run by Edouard Julien put the Twins up for good. Here is how it went. 

First Inning Deja Vu

The game did not start on the right foot and felt like Joe Ryan's previous start in Atlanta. Only this time, Maikel Garcia, instead of Ronald Acuna Jr. took Ryan deep. One pitch into the game, and the Twins were down 1-0. 

Thankfully, the inning did not progress toward being a Home Run Derby preview. Instead, Ryan recovered, struck out the next two batters, and induced a harmless fly ball to center to prevent a crooked number from going up on the scoreboard. 

Speed Kills

The Twins were able to get themselves on the board in their half of the first inning. It was all set up by Carlos Correa, from the leadoff spot for the fourth game, hustling and legging out a double. Donovan Solano then moved Correa over to third base so that he could score on Byron Buxton's sacrifice fly. 

Then in the second inning, Willi Castro again showed off his speed by stealing second base for his 16th steal of 2023. That extra base proved crucial as it put him in a position to score off a shallow bloop single off the bat of Michael A. Taylor. Castro ended the fourth inning thinking he could get another free base but was instead picked off first. 

The Royals used speed to their advantage as well. With the Twins now up 2-1, Bobby Witt Jr. took his turn at quickly stealing second base. That put him in a position to easily score off a Nick Pratto single to right field. That allowed the Royals to even the game up 2-2. Witt would also notch a second steal in the fifth inning. 

Buxton and Correa Producing

The most significant offensive issues that the Twins faced over the first half of the season have been Buxton and Correa's missing bats. Monday night, the Twins saw production from each of their two leaders. 

Correa went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Buxton had two very well-hit balls to the outfield. Neither fell for a hit, and Buxton officially went down as 0-for-3, but he produced two runs on sacrifice flies. 

After Julien but the Twins up, it seemed the whole lineup decided to produce in the bottom of the eighth inning. While Julien's home run put the Twins ahead, the inning resulted in five total runs. As was mentioned on the television broadcast, those runs helped save Griffin Jax's arm for tomorrow or later in the week. Emilio Pagan allowed the game to become more interesting than it should have. Saving Jax is still very welcomed with a bullpen that has quickly found itself very thin. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins will face their AL Central foe in a 4th of July day game tomorrow. Kenta Maeda will take the mound to pick up his second win of the season. The Royals will send to the mound veteran Zach Greinke, who is not the same pitcher he once was but still can be tricky to figure out. 

Postgame Interviews

 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	SUN	TOT
Pagán	0	19	0	6	25	50
Durán	0	0	8	34	0	42
Morán	0	8	0	0	17	25
Jax	0	0	11	14	0	25
Balazovic	0	9	0	0	6	15
Headrick	0	0	0	0	12	12
Ortega	0	0	0	0	0	0
Winder	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[terrydactyls]

Is the strike zone box supposed to be accurate?  There were a lot of pitches tonight that were clearly outside the box that were called strikes.  Some even a full ball-width outside the box.  If he box is accurate, that was some pretty crappy umpiring.

[DocBauer]

Correa coming alive at the plate is what the Twins need.

Buxton has been better of late following his rib injury by being hit by a 96mph FB, I'd be in bed for weeks! LOL Still, he came through.

I still like a lot of what I've seen from Headrick despite the run 

To bad Ryan didn't get the W. But a win is a win. And the Twins got this one. Can they sweep before the break with good karma? 

[Blyleven2011]

Correa with a 4 hit night , if he can be the spark leading off the game  , so be it ...

I also said the same thing about the pinch hitting  , was nice to see they got 2 hits in 3ctries with a pinch hitter  , Julien ignited the eighth  with a blast , the ball off the bat was loud and I knew  it was a homerun  by the sound ...

Good game  , only 1 homer so the others runs came by walks , singles , doubles  and some stolen bases and a uncharacteristic bunt in the eighth  that scored a run , strikeouts were down so contact was made as the twins had 14 hits for their efforts ...

We need games like tonight on a consistent  basis , still would like a 10 game winning streak  before I get to serious  ...

[Melissa]

We were at the game tonight. Began with that uh-oh first pitch home run by Garcia, but then the boys came through with some clutch hits and fine defense. Michael A. Taylor and Max Kepler were especially adept.

Scoring on a bunt single was delicious.

Bottom of the eighth was FUN! Then Emilio made me sit down and close my eyes and truly wonder whether a five run lead would be enough.

Sent us home with a fireworks show!

[jkcarew]

36-42 against the league;

7-1 against the Royals

For the Twins, the Kansas City Royals remain that brief stretch of track between long tunnels. 

[stringer bell]

Only one game, but more evidence there is an effort to make contact with two strikes and to use the whole field. Seven Ks in 39 PAs is not bad. 

I wonder if they'll use Jax tomorrow after he got up to throw twice (and pitched on both Saturday and Sunday). I think everyone but Duran will pitch if needed tomorrow with Maeda taking the ball. The chances of him going as much as six innings are pretty remote.

[IndyTwinsFan]

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

Is the strike zone box supposed to be accurate?  There were a lot of pitches tonight that were clearly outside the box that were called strikes.  Some even a full ball-width outside the box.  If he box is accurate, that was some pretty crappy umpiring.

Supposedly, the strike box that home plate umpires are rated on each game is slightly larger than the strike box that is superimposed on the televised games.  Exactly how much, I'm not sure, but it's definitely the case (or so I've heard).

[wabene]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Only one game, but more evidence there is an effort to make contact with two strikes and to use the whole field. Seven Ks in 39 PAs is not bad. 

I would say that's really good at just under 18%

[UK Twin]

Even when he's got a 5 run lead Pagan can't do the job properly. Jax had to start warming up again which really should have been avoided. Need to trade for some bullpen help ASAP with Stewart and Thielbar on the IL and Lopez struggling. 

Still, a win is a win and a 4 hit game for Correa. 

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, Melissa said:

We were at the game tonight. Began with that uh-oh first pitch home run by Garcia, but then the boys came through with some clutch hits and fine defense. Michael A. Taylor and Max Kepler were especially adept.

Scoring on a bunt single was delicious.

Bottom of the eighth was FUN! Then Emilio made me sit down and close my eyes and truly wonder whether a five run lead would be enough.

Sent us home with a fireworks show!

I love those bunt singles!

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, UK Twin said:

Even when he's got a 5 run lead Pagan can't do the job properly. Jax had to start warming up again which really should have been avoided. Need to trade for some bullpen help ASAP with Stewart and Thielbar on the IL and Lopez struggling. 

Still, a win is a win and a 4 hit game for Correa. 

Obviously there is a lot of angst and distrust of Pagan. I've gone back and forth as to whether the team should keep him, but at this point I'm ready to say "enough is enough".  I do think the front office needs to make a decision before the end of July.  If it looks like this team can win the division, they certainly DO need to go out and get a more reliable reliever than Pagan. As you noted, even with a big lead he often coughs up the long ball. We need someone MUCH more reliable.

[NotAboutWinning]

13 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

Obviously there is a lot of angst and distrust of Pagan. I've gone back and forth as to whether the team should keep him, but at this point I'm ready to say "enough is enough".  I do think the front office needs to make a decision before the end of July.  If it looks like this team can win the division, they certainly DO need to go out and get a more reliable reliever than Pagan. As you noted, even with a big lead he often coughs up the long ball. We need someone MUCH more reliable.

Sadly, that is not how this FO and owners work. They have invested 3.5 million in him. He will be here for the duration 😕

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

Obviously there is a lot of angst and distrust of Pagan. I've gone back and forth as to whether the team should keep him, but at this point I'm ready to say "enough is enough".  I do think the front office needs to make a decision before the end of July.  If it looks like this team can win the division, they certainly DO need to go out and get a more reliable reliever than Pagan. As you noted, even with a big lead he often coughs up the long ball. We need someone MUCH more reliable.

I wouldn’t object to adding a major league arm or two in the bullpen, but right now with López, Thielbar and Stewart all on IL, simply dumping Pagán won’t happen.
 

It could be a bumpy ride until the All-Star break. There isn’t much help available in St. Paul and teams usually don’t make significant deals until closer to the trade deadline. 

[2wins87]

8 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Is the strike zone box supposed to be accurate?  There were a lot of pitches tonight that were clearly outside the box that were called strikes.  Some even a full ball-width outside the box.  If he box is accurate, that was some pretty crappy umpiring.

 

6 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Supposedly, the strike box that home plate umpires are rated on each game is slightly larger than the strike box that is superimposed on the televised games.  Exactly how much, I'm not sure, but it's definitely the case (or so I've heard).

I've heard that the umps have a buffer zone at the edge where neither missed balls or missed strikes count against their grading. Kind of similar to having a larger zone.

The box on the TV is definitely not always accurate, though I think it is usually pretty accurate on the sides but is often clearly wrong at the top and/or bottom. I think there is a bit of a range in where the dot for the ball crossing the plate ends up too. You can't take it for gospel.

I think the ump last night wasn't great, but I've seen a lot worse.

 

[CRF]

Nice win, but Pagan REALLY needs to hit the bricks! Anyone would be better than he is. 

[Karbo]

13 minutes ago, 2wins87 said:

 

I've heard that the umps have a buffer zone at the edge where neither missed balls or missed strikes count against their grading. Kind of similar to having a larger zone.

The box on the TV is definitely not always accurate, though I think it is usually pretty accurate on the sides but is often clearly wrong at the top and/or bottom. I think there is a bit of a range in where the dot for the ball crossing the plate ends up too. You can't take it for gospel.

I think the ump last night wasn't great, but I've seen a lot worse.

 

The league has done a lot to make sure the calls on the field are correct. Now is the time do fix the balls and strikes call. Bring on the ABS system next year! Its got to be getting harder for HP umps now that these pitchers are throwing with so much velocity.

[2wins87]

.935 OPS for Correa in his last 7 games now.  Still only a .720 OPS in his last 14 games, so he needs to sustain it a bit longer before I think it's real.

I definitely didn't think he'd been doing enough prior to being put in the leadoff spot after the players meeting. Although the upside was he could get a lot of at bats without necessarily always ending up in the most important RBI spots all the time, which he had just failed in so much in the first half.

Turns out it's worked out well. There have been a couple points earlier in the season where it seemed like maybe he was turning it on only for him to go super cold again. It does seem like he's made much more consistent contact in the last week stretch. He really needs to keep it up for the team.

[UK Twin]

25 minutes ago, 2wins87 said:

.935 OPS for Correa in his last 7 games now.  Still only a .720 OPS in his last 14 games, so he needs to sustain it a bit longer before I think it's real.

I definitely didn't think he'd been doing enough prior to being put in the leadoff spot after the players meeting. Although the upside was he could get a lot of at bats without necessarily always ending up in the most important RBI spots all the time, which he had just failed in so much in the first half.

Turns out it's worked out well. There have been a couple points earlier in the season where it seemed like maybe he was turning it on only for him to go super cold again. It does seem like he's made much more consistent contact in the last week stretch. He really needs to keep it up for the team.

All evidence suggests his BA and OPS will only go in one direction now. He'll still have ups and downs but I get the feeling things have started to click in the last couple of weeks. 

[jmlease1]

Boy, Ed Julien really got a hold of that one! That was a no-doubter from the second it came off his bat. Great timing and it ignited a great inning. Really good to see the bats pile on a bunch of runs late, that hasn't happened too much lately.

Ryan pitched pretty well, but he is going to have to be a little careful about guys jumping on him. He's been way too homer-happy lately and while the solo shots won't do too much damage, you don't want him to start getting careless about leaving balls out over the plate in places where hitters can do damage.

Great job by Correa in piling up the hits today. Love seeing a guy get a 4-hit game.

Bullpen is definitely scuffling a bit right now and they definitely could use to get some guys back from the IL. Pagan giving the Royals hope in the 9th and the fans heart palpitations was disappointing, but Headrick giving up the bomb in the 8th was worse. Not convinced he's well-suited that kind of relief role. Balazovic, on the other hand, is starting to look interesting.

[wabene]

Balazovic has gotten some good results and I'm rooting for him, but he has to keep his breaking pitches in the zone for longer. No one would offer at them and he had to resort back to the fastball. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Easily the best offensive performance by the Twins since the 9 - 4 win over the Blue Jays on 10 June. Refreshing number of hard hit balls. Appears to renew the promise that the season has started.

[stringer bell]

4 minutes ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Easily the best offensive performance by the Twins since the 9 - 4 win over the Blue Jays on 10 June. Refreshing number of hard hit balls. Appears to renew the promise that the season has started.

It doesn’t seem to matter if the Twins are facing 4A starters or All-Stars. They’ve handled Gausman and Strotman, attacked Williams and got Pressly to blow a save. They’ve been shut down by a number of no names.  
 

No team is on top of their game every day and the Twins had at best, a mediocre, inconsistent first half. If they can look like they did today in 70 of the last 77 games, they’ll be just fine. 

[Peter]

Players only meeting and Rocco going off on them seem to have worked. Got nervous and upset after game was tied going to bottom of 8th but twins came through!!! Got to sweep KC and Atlanta sweep Cleveland and have division lead going into all start break!!! 

[TNtwins85]

Correa seems to be on to something. Buxton is hitting the ball hard most AB’s. Kiriloff had some solid hits and maybe out of his “mini” slump. If the big guns (I consider Kiriloff a big gun now) can keep doing what they’re doing and the other guys stay solid we’ll be in good shape. Just having good at bats and not striking out so much is huge! Getting a guy over, putting the ball in play. As much as it pains me old school Twins baseball. It’s what we need right now.

[joefish]

I wouldn't mind it if they removed that white box from the tv screen. 

[IaBeanCounter]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

It doesn’t seem to matter if the Twins are facing 4A starters or All-Stars. They’ve handled Gausman and Strotman, attacked Williams and got Pressly to blow a save. They’ve been shut down by a number of no names.  
 

No team is on top of their game every day and the Twins had at best, a mediocre, inconsistent first half. If they can look like they did today in 70 of the last 77 games, they’ll be just fine. 

The Twins probably have a book on veteran pitchers, but just a.blank piece of paper for unknowns.