Mariners 7, Twins 6: Sonny Gray Boils Down

[Ted Schwerzler]

In his first start after the All-Star Game, Sonny Gray couldn't separate from his previous outing, and despite cruising through four, melted down late. The Minnesota Twins made it interesting in the ninth inning, but wound up a run short.

Image courtesy of Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Sonny Gray: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
Home Runs: Joey Gallo (17), Max Kepler (13)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.128), Edouard Julien (.079), Joey Gallo (.044)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

The Minnesota Twins traveled up the coast on Monday after sweeping the Oakland Athletics over the weekend. It wasn’t pretty, but a three-game winning streak is nothing to scoff about. Looking to tie their longest positive run since April 11, the fighting Rocco Baldelli’s needed to best Logan Gilbert and the Seattle Mariners.

After the Twins forced Gilbert to throw 26 pitches during the first inning, Sonny Gray took the mound for the first time since his third all-star appearance. He shut them down on just 11 pitches, punching out two, and both teams were ready to settle in.

Minnesota and Seattle came into this series as very similar foes. With substantial strikeout issues on both sides, the Twins advantage can be seen in the longball. Byron Buxton found out hitting the ball to dead center against the wind wasn’t going to work tonight, and after Carlos Correa combined with Edouard Julien for a double play in the second inning, Ty France tallied the Mariners third strikeout of the night.

Correa broke open the scoring during the third inning after watching Michael A. Taylor open with a leadoff double. He went the opposite way down the right field line and traded spots with Minnesota’s centerfielder making it 1-0.

Byron Buxton continues to look befuddled at the dish. Coming up with first and third, no outs in the third inning, he failed to put the bat on the ball and went down swinging. His struggles have again resulted in a valley, and continuing to bat third hasn’t proven fruitful for Minnesota. Quite the opposite, Alex Kirilloff continues to have great at bats. After a close hit was called foul, he lifted a sacrifice fly scoring Correa and making it a 2-0 game.

Max Kepler led off the fourth inning with a double aided by his ballet background, but the Twins couldn’t bring him across the plate. Dick Bremer dubbed it, “An adventurous trip to second base,” because of course he did.

In the fifth inning, Gray decided to bury virtually every breaking ball he threw. France was begging to strike out down 0-2, Mike Ford was hit on the back foot by a bender, and then Jose Caballero drove in Teoscar Hernandez for Seattle’s first run after getting down 0-2. Despite being in command all night, he seemingly forgot how to pitch when getting up for the inning. It took catcher Ryan Jeffers blocking eight pitches in the inning to keep runners from trotting around the bags. Instead, Gray issued a bases loaded walk to Julio Rodriguez and Minnesota’s lead was gone.

Jarred Kelenic pushed a doinker to left field scoring two runs, and Gray’s nitpicking came back to burn him in a big way. Seattle grabbed a 4-2 lead, and Baldelli’s starter had completely gone off the rails.

The Twins lineup quickly made two outs against reliever Gabe Speier after Gray’s bad inning, and it looked as though they would make it a quick inning. Instead Joey Gallo went big fly on a 109.2 mph bomb to dead center for 422 feet. The “absolute bomb” as Justin Morneau called it, brought the Twins back within one.

Gray walked Cal Raleigh to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, and then allowed him to cross the plate on yet another spiked breaking ball. Command was non-existent on the pitch over his final two innings, and the nibbling was responsible for each of the five runs that Seattle gained against him.

Minnesota created a threat in the seventh inning after Correa walked, Kirilloff singled, and Solano walked to load the bases. Despite Andres Munoz walking Solano, Max Kepler pounded a first pitch into the ground for a routine out to second base. As well as it came together, the Twins wound up with nothing.

Oliver Ortega provided the Twins with a couple of nice strikeouts, and was within an out of ending the seventh still down just 5-3, but Eugenio Suarez sent a ball into orbit with Kelenic on. The two-run blast made it a 7-3 game, and Minnesota’s squandered opportunities continued to loom large. The Twins had gone just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position to this point, and they had already left nine on base.

The Twins haven’t been able to find a spot for Matt Wallner to make an appearance since his recall, but did with the four-run deficit as a pinch hitter for Taylor. He faced Munoz’s 99 mph heat and went down on three pitches.

Despite Julien leading off the ninth inning with the Twins needing four runs, Buxton went down on strikes for the third time in the game, and Kirilloff couldn’t reach. Solano singled to reach base in his second straight at-bat, and that brought up Kepler needing to reach for the tying run to have a chance.

Why not, the German lefty smashed a three-run bomb, making it a 7-6 game and the Mariners brought in closer Paul Sewald to face Jeffers. Forcing Seattle to use their closer in a game they had in hand is a big win for Minnesota during a four-game series, but that was as moral as it got tonight. Jeffers punched out, and that’s how Monday’s tilt ended.

Notes:
Edouard Julien has a five-game hitting streak in which he has gone 10-for-15.

Carlos Correa extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

Playing third base, the least used position of his season, Donovan Solano made a pair of great fielding plays.

Byron Buxton is now riding an 0-for-22 streak with a 14/1 K/BB.

What’s Next? 
The Minnesota Twins are playing their first four-game series since mid-June when they played the Boston Red Sox. Baldelli’s club is in the Pacific Northwest through Thursday, and they’ll face a handful of good pitching matchups.

Tuesday 7/18 Bailey Ober vs Bryan Woo (8:40pm)
Wednesday 7/19 Kenta Maeda vs Luis Castillo (8:40pm)
Thursday 7/20 Pablo Lopez vs George Kirby (2:40pm)

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[VivaBomboRivera!]

All post-meeting numbers moving in the right direction since 30 June, even strikeout rate in spite of today's 14 Ks.  It is probably time Byron Buxton got a day (or two) off.

I think many of us wish that Rocco had shown a quicker hook today.

[TWTwinsFan]

no more Buxton, please

[wabene]

There has to be an explanation for the absolutely horrid batting stats put up by the 100 million dollar man. It has got to be embarrassing. Will they just stay the course? It is hard to watch.

This was a very winnable game. 

[USAFChief]

How bad does Buxton have to be before he's, if not out of the lineup, at least not hitting 3rd?

I thought this management team was supposed to be analytical.

[wabene]

Righty on the mound tomorrow. Wallner at DH, Buxton to the bench. Likely? SMH

[wabene]

CES went 0 for 2 in his debut at DH for the big red machine in a game suspended by rain. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

At what point does Buxton do the right thing by the team, and ask out of the lineup for a couple days, at a minimum?  It’s one thing to stay in the lineup hitting like this when elite defense is The tradeoff.  But right now, Buxton is nothing but an anchor.

 

Also, if forcing the Mariners to use Sewald for 5 pitches tonight is a moral victory, then surely having to use Duran for 3 straight games against one of the worst teams of all time is an even bigger moral defeat.

[mikelink45]

Buxton is going to continue to be a story until Rocco starts putting him in the lineup in a place where he's going to do less damage. Batting third has meant that we have an automatic out before Kiriloff can get to bat.  

Gray must have been reading the twins daily debates on whether he should be treated or not. Right now he's pushing his trade value way down.

Julien needs to stay in the lineup even when polanco is back. 

[William K Johnson]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Buxton is going to continue to be a story until Rocco starts putting him in the lineup in a place where he's going to do less damage. Batting third has met that we have an automatic out before Kiriloff can get to bat.  

Gray must have been reading the twins daily debates on whether he should be treated or not. Right now he's pushing his trade value way down.

Julien needs to stay in the lineup even when polanco is back. 

We need Julien's bat but not his glove or arm.

[weitz41]

Tough loss. Just keep scoring 6 runs and the rest will work itself out. Sorry Bux I can't even take you off the bench on my fantasy team right now. How about a 10-day breather?

[insagt1]

Kepler redeemed himself slightly. His weak ground out with sacks loaded has been typical of the streaky hitter. The 3 run HR in the 9th was sort of cruel. Resulted in a 1 run loss instead of a 4 run loss. Twins were striking out with reckless abandon last night so the final out being a 'k' was predictable.

Buxton is simply having a miserable season. His AB's are weaker than ever and he just isn't making contact at all anymore. Is he hurt more than we know? Its hard to picture him this bad. He needs to sit. Twins lead trimmed to 1.5 games as Guards romped over Bucs.

[Doctor Wu]

5 hours ago, wabene said:

There has to be an explanation for the absolutely horrid batting stats put up by the 100 million dollar man. It has got to be embarrassing. Will they just stay the course? It is hard to watch.

This was a very winnable game. 

The Twins certainly had enough hits, just couldn't bring those runners home. And some sharper pitching would have helped too!

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, William K Johnson said:

We need Julien's bat but not his glove or arm.

Julian at DH would seem to be a great fit ... however, there is that elephant in the room. 

[CRF]

Gray has a real bad habit of pitching great for 4-5 innings...then completely losing it for 1 inning. I won't even go into Buxton...we all know what he's not doing. This was a game we should've won. 

[Peter]

Upsetting loss!!! Sonny imploded with another bad inning-when you have batter down 0-2 you must must must get him out!!! I think we need to get rid of him. He cost us win last night-as far as buxton-he needs to be benched. Horrible horrible horrible slump. You have to think he’s due to break out but-strikes our way to many times with bat on shoulder. Still in first which is what matters along with winning division. Must win today.

[jmlease1]

Disappointing game last night. Very frustrating to see Gray spiking a pitch like that and not being able to command the zone; the walks really hurt and he let Seattle into that game when he had them on the ropes.

Ed Julien looks like the hitter we hoped he would be, which is terrific. But my goodness he's got a terrible arm. I haven't seen throws at 2B so bad since later period Chuck Knoblauch (who got banished to the OF for it) or when Steve Sax had the yips. And he's not exactly smooth in the field either. Oof.

6 runs should be enough to win the game with this pitching staff.

[Einheri]

Byron, Byron, Bux, please, go on the IL and get yourself healthy.  Twins will need you hitting and not fighting a lingering injury if they reach the post season.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I'm over Sonny Gray. He's good one time through the line-up and then the wheels come off. Ironic that the guy barking loudest about pitching deep into games can't manage to do so even with Rocco having a different philosophy than last season.

[wabene]

1 minute ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

I'm over Sonny Gray. He's good one time through the line-up and then the wheels come off. Ironic that the guy barking loudest about pitching deep into games can't manage to do so even with Rocco having a different philosophy than last season.

I agree with you except I don't think Rocco has a different philosophy, he just has better pitchers. 

[wabene]

When Polanco comes back how about Julien at DH against rightys (and second against leftys) then can give Buxton the short side DH role to save face 😂. 

[chinmusic]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

however, there is that elephant in the room.

The pachyderm needs to sit for a spell. Seriously, it's getting ridiculous.

[Nashvilletwin]

Not very impressed with Rocco’s choice on how to reintroduce Wallner to the big leagues: call him up, sit him for three straight games, then feed him to the wolves by having him PH cold late against their flamethrower and then putting him in LF.  What a great way to manage your young players. And fans wonder why our producing prospects can’t transition to the majors upon being called up.

Geez, if that’s how Rocco intends to use him, he’d be better off in the St. Paul.  Honestly, assuming Rocco and Co. stay, they should just trade Wallner, and probably Larnach too; neither is being considered as a core OFer of the future.

[Blyleven2011]

Grays one bad inning has been a trade mark of his this year , seems like the fifth or sixth inning he gives up a crooked number  ...

Buxton chewing gum during his at bat's looks like he's chewing his cud like a cow  , no adjustments in his swing , that upper cut has been his downfall  the past couple of seasons , His swings needs to level out to make contact better  ....

No comments on whether it was a winnable game or not  ....

My comment is the twins just can't seem to put together a long winning streak  ...

[Blyleven2011]

1 hour ago, insagt1 said:

Kepler redeemed himself slightly. His weak ground out with sacks loaded has been typical of the streaky hitter. The 3 run HR in the 9th was sort of cruel. Resulted in a 1 run loss instead of a 4 run loss. Twins were striking out with reckless abandon last night so the final out being a 'k' was predictable.

Buxton is simply having a miserable season. His AB's are weaker than ever and he just isn't making contact at all anymore. Is he hurt more than we know? Its hard to picture him this bad. He needs to sit. Twins lead trimmed to 1.5 games as Guards romped over Bucs.

The final at bat was jeffers and he never swung the bat , went down looking , no killer instinct  after keplers 3 run homer ...

[Unwinder]

Another disappointing start, another 5+ run game. We really just need the starting pitching to return to normal 2023 levels without the offense going back to normal 2023 levels. You can complain all you want about Buxton (and he'll deserve it) but offense was overall good again.

[Linus]

I love Juliens bat almost as much as I hate his arm. Let’s see….positives….Jeffers blocked about 238 balls in the dirt. Solano looked great at 3rd. He had two really smooth short hop plays. 
Negatives…..too many to choose from but I NEVER want to hear another Gray quote about pitching deep into games. I’m worried about Buck because he is not catching up to fastballs that are pretty fat. If he can’t hit those he’s cooked. I have never liked his stance with his hands held so high. Too much motion and distance for the bat to travel. 

[David Maro]

Can't watch a manager just give a game away anymore. Gray lost control of his off speed pitches in the 5th inning and Rocco does nothing. We had Gilbert on the run in the 1st,but with Buxton batting 3rd is automatic out. Julien can't be on the field,hit him at DH and Buxton to IL for 15 days. 

[JD-TWINS]

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Buxton is going to continue to be a story until Rocco starts putting him in the lineup in a place where he's going to do less damage. Batting third has meant that we have an automatic out before Kiriloff can get to bat.  

Gray must have been reading the twins daily debates on whether he should be treated or not. Right now he's pushing his trade value way down.

Julien needs to stay in the lineup even when polanco is back. 

4.35 ERA since May 1. He’s league average because he can’t seem to elevate his slider to start knee/thigh high and then break down from there. Jeffers had 8 blocked pitches in one inning - zero command. …….get him a run and back in 6th, score to 4-3 & in 6th he walks lead-off and then spikes one in the ground to score the guy from 3rd.

Been skeptical of Julien because of the strikeout history & defense…..that’s gone. Gotta ride him in the line-up 5 of 6 days per week!! Polanco can fit in as needed. Some DH from him works v. RH pitching.

Batting Buxton down in order is just moving the out in the line-up…….Please IL him for 3-4 weeks to see if 2 full weeks off & a couple re-hab weeks help him become average.

[Whitey333]

People said after winning 3 ugly games in Oakland that a win is a win.  True.  But a loss is a loss as well.  Buxtons lack of performance and Baldellis insistence of keeping in the lineup and batting him third is just a part of this team's mess. .I've maintained for quite a while that they treat their developing players very poorly.  What they are doing to Wallner is very unprofessional.  They've done that with Gordon and others.  But they stick by their underperformed veterans.  I'm starting to worry just a little about our starting pitching.  It hasn't been very sharp the past several games.  Hopefully it's just a blip and it gets back to mormal. If our starting pitching goes south we are in big trouble.  Where would this team be if the starting pitching hadn't been so great?  10-15 games under 500?  Go Twins