Twins 3 White Sox 2: Twins Rally Behind Vázquez; Gray, Bullpen Impressive in Win

[Hans Birkeland]

Facing a reeling White Sox team, the Twins got a strong effort from Sonny Gray and survived a dominant outing from Chicago ace Dylan Cease, rallying against the Sox bullpen to take a late lead, with Christian Vázquez playing the role of hero in a tight victory that gave the Twins a series win.

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray: 6 IP 7 H 2 ER 1 BB 4 SO (88 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 67%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Christian Vázquez (.350), Carlos Correa (.202), Jhoan Duran (.156)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Coming off a string of starts that would have been great save for a random 20-25 pitch stretch during which he completely lost command, Sonny Gray was looking to stay consistent against a struggling White Sox team.

Gray loaded the bases in the first inning, giving up singles to Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jimenez, walking Yasmani Grandal and getting Tim Anderson to line out at 102 MPH.

The White Sox scored the first run of the game on a mental lapse from Gray, Vazquez and Edouard Julien. With one out and runners on the corners, Luis Robert got a great jump stealing second. Christian Vazquez decided to try and throw him out, and Julien tried to apply the tag rather than cutting the ball off and throwing home, allowing Tim Anderson to score from third. Grandal then singled home Robert on a middle-middle changeup to make the score 2-0.

Gray settled down after that, his command of his breaking pitches improving as the game went on. He also avoided the blow-up inning, giving the Twins a quality start and keeping them in the game against an excellent mound opponent.

Dylan Cease turns the clock back to 2022
The Fox broadcast interviewed Lucas Giolito during the second inning, who was asked what Cease needs to do to pitch like he did in 2022, when he finished second in the AL Cy Young voting. Giolito said all Cease had to do was command his fastball, and his slider would become unhittable. That statement did prove somewhat prophetic. In the third inning, Cease threw a fastball right down the middle that Vazquez cracked for an opposite field double, and allowed a run-scoring double to Carlos Correa on a fat knuckle-curve, his third pitch and one he generally uses to get hitters to not sit on his slider. He then struck out the Twins’ best hitters of late, Julien and Alex Kirilloff on filthy breaking pitches (after getting ahead with the fastball) to escape the jam.

He too settled in, relying more on his slider, spotting his fastball and dominating at-bats. He allowed a leadoff walk to Correa in the sixth, but retired Julien on a painted fastball 3-2, got Kirilloff to pop out on the first pitch, and though Max Kepler had a couple of long fly balls against Cease, he flied out weakly to left field, ending whatever threat there was.

Seventh Inning goes quite well
After Jordan Balazovic pitched an effective top of the seventh, the Twins went to work against Keynan Middleton, a scrap heap pickup who has, with the help of a dominant changeup, pitched himself into being traded to a contender in the next week or so. Buxton drew a walk, stole second, and then Kyle Farmer got a swinging bunt single to bring up Vázquez with two men on and one out, knocking Middleton out of the game. Facing ground ball specialist Gregory Santos, Vazquez jumped on the first pitch, a 99 MPH sinker, and nearly hit a three run home run, the ball bouncing off the top of the padding in left center field, resulting in a double and scoring Buxton to tie the game. Michael A. Taylor followed with an excellent at-bat against Santos, trying to bunt with the count 2-1, and fouling off pitches until he got a center cut sinker at 101 MPH that he drove up the middle for a single that gave the Twins the lead.

Jax Bends, does not Break
Griffin Jax got the eighth inning, and immediately put himself into trouble, giving up a leadoff double to Luis Robert, who fought off a fastball up and in and was rewarded with a 68 mph double. After a walk, Jax was able to settle in, getting a grounder from Grandal and a jam-shot pop-up from Jake Burger. He then struck out pinch hitter Gavin Sheets on a gorgeous sweeper to end the inning. Manager Rocco Baldelli made the curious decision to sub Donovan Solano for Edouard Julien to start the eighth, a minor defensive improvement, but one that left the Twins with Max Kepler and Matt Wallner leading off the bottom of the eighth against lefty buzz saw reliever Aaron Bummer, who set down the two lefty hitters easily before retiring Byron Buxton.

Duran shuts the Door
The ninth inning started ominously, with rookie Oscar Colas hitting a chopper up the middle off of Jhoan Duran, a do-or-die play that Correa mishandled. Duran rebounded to strike out Carlos Perez and Benintendi, before allowing a perfectly placed infield single to Tim Anderson. That brought up Robert who struck out on a high fastball to end the game.

What’s Next:
Bailey Ober (6-4, 2.74 ERA) faces off against Lucas Giolito (6-6, 3.96) as the Twins look to take the sweep. Ober has been the Twins' most consistent starter this year, if not the best, and looks to continue that run of success. Giolito has had a couple of clunkers this year, but overall the changeup specialist has rebounded from a tough 2022 to become a sought-after trade chip for the south siders. A sweep would be the first non-Athletics/Royals sweep of the year for the Twins.

Postgame Interviews:

(Coming soon)

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Durán	0	20	0	0	21	41
Pagán	8	11	0	15	0	34
Jax	0	15	0	0	16	31
J. López	0	0	28	0	0	28
Morán	0	0	0	22	0	22
Balazovic	15	0	0	0	7	22
Sands	17	0	3	0	0	20
Ortega	0	0	18	0	0	18

 

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[Melissa]

A real nail biter! I missed the local announcers.

Felt sure that Julien would get the big hit one of those times, but maybe he’s saving it up -

Taking my father in law to tomorrow’s game - Ober vs. Giolito, let’s go Bailey, let’s go Twins!

[Matt Braun]

Yet again, having Jhoan Duran to melt faces proves to be unimaginably valuable.

[pierre75275]

Before the all star break this game is not winnable for this team.

Happy they pulled it out. It is beyond me how anybody makes contact on Duran.

[stringer bell]

11 minutes ago, pierre75275 said:

Before the all star break this game is not winnable for this team.

Happy they pulled it out. It is beyond me how anybody makes contact on Duran.

Why? The heroes today were Vázquez, Taylor, Buxton, Correa and the pitchers. All of them were playing since before the All-Star break. 

[DocBauer]

So many thoughts about tonight's game:

1] Gray is just snakebit. He pitched more than well enough, yet again, to earn the W but didn't get it. What's most important is the Twins winning, but he's deserved the W in so many games.

2] I put the double steal scoring play on Vazquez, not Julien. The experienced Vazquez should have known, IMO, the play that was on and should have held the ball. I think Julien did the right thing, keep the ball in front of him. 

3] Speaking of Vazquez, I loved his signing for defense, game calling, being about league average as a hitter...better as a catcher...and a tutor to the still young, improving, and potential filled Jeffers, similar to Castro and Garver a few years ago. In case nobody has noticed, Jeffers is having a very good year in every way possible. He's earned a 50/50 split these days, and probably deserves more. But Vazquez has lifted his SLG % lately, and was definitely key to the win tonight. 

4] I'm not ready to say Buxton is out of his amazingly poor slump after Friday's performance...one game...but he battled to earn a key walk in the game. He's still willing and able, at times, to use his speed. And that resulted in a key SB. For those that doubt his injuries and abilities to "just trot out to the OF" notice how long it took him to recover after taking a knee for a moment to recover from the effort. I just some people still don't understand how hard he's trying to adapt and contribute these days.

5] I know we are all disappointed by the troublesome knee that plagued Balazovic last year at St Paul. And some of us are still perplexed why he wasn't shut down for a time to "get right" despite his late season better performance. Goodness knows his early appearance for ST didn't turn out well after the "incident". And I can only speak for myself when I really questioned the Twins INSISTENCE on adapting him to a pen role. My goodness, why wouldn't you continue to ramp up a former top 100 SP prospect back in to his SP role? Who cares if he needs the whole season to ramp up for 2024? He wasn't always great in his BP days with the Saints, but there were flashes. And now he's part of the pen due to injuries. And I know it's a SSS so far, 10 games and 13IP, but the ERA and WHIP are there so far, even if the K % isn't. Are we witnessing a conversion that might pay big dividends in the future?

6] Jax is a stud. And he has been since last year. He had a lot of crazy crap happen to him early this season. The other night, he allowed his first HR since 2022. He gives up a slow rolling double tonight and gets out of the inning with great stuff and a handful of solid plays and a K. 

7] Duran is only human. That's just a reminder for those who want perfection. He was awesome again tonight.

8] Beating the Dirty Sox is ALWAYS a good thing.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The White Sox have been in Target Field. Break out the brooms. Target Field needs a cleansing  tomorrow.

[IndianaTwin]

13 hours ago, DocBauer said:

So many thoughts about tonight's game:

1] Gray is just snakebit. He pitched more than well enough, yet again, to earn the W but didn't get it. What's most important is the Twins winning, but he's deserved the W in so many games.

2] I put the double steal scoring play on Vazquez, not Julien. The experienced Vazquez should have known, IMO, the play that was on and should have held the ball. I think Julien did the right thing, keep the ball in front of him. 

3] Speaking of Vazquez, I loved his signing for defense, game calling, being about league average as a hitter...better as a catcher...and a tutor to the still young, improving, and potential filled Jeffers, similar to Castro and Garver a few years ago. In case nobody has noticed, Jeffers is having a very good year in every way possible. He's earned a 50/50 split these days, and probably deserves more. But Vazquez has lifted his SLG % lately, and was definitely key to the win tonight. 

4] I'm not ready to say Buxton is out of his amazingly poor slump after Friday's performance...one game...but he battled to earn a key walk in the game. He's still willing and able, at times, to use his speed. And that resulted in a key SB. For those that doubt his injuries and abilities to "just trot out to the OF" notice how long it took him to recover after taking a knee for a moment to recover from the effort. I just some people still don't understand how hard he's trying to adapt and contribute these days.

5] I know we are all disappointed by the troublesome knee that plagued Balazovic last year at St Paul. And some of us are still perplexed why he wasn't shut down for a time to "get right" despite his late season better performance. Goodness knows his early appearance for ST didn't turn out well after the "incident". And I can only speak for myself when I really questioned the Twins INSISTENCE on adapting him to a pen role. My goodness, why wouldn't you continue to ramp up a former top 100 SP prospect back in to his SP role? Who cares if he needs the whole season to ramp up for 2024? He wasn't always great in his BP days with the Saints, but there were flashes. And now he's part of the pen due to injuries. And I know it's a SSS so far, 10 games and 13IP, but the ERA and WHIP are there so far, even if the K % isn't. Are we witnessing a conversion that might pay big dividends in the future?

6] Jax is a stud. And he has been since last year. He had a lot of crazy crap happen to him early this season. The other night, he allowed his first HR since 2022. He gives up a slow rolling double tonight and gets out of the inning with great stuff and a handful of solid plays and a K. 

7] Duran is only human. That's just a reminder for those who want perfection. He was awesome again tonight.

8] Beating the Dirty Sox is ALWAYS a good thing.

2) Agreed it was on Vazquez. Dugout could have also helped out by yelling to hold the ball when they saw the size of the jump. 

4) Agreed on Buxton. Also saw the amount of time for him to get up after the steal. Even on the last strikeout, he had battled back well to a full count and then I think he just guessed wrong on the pitch call and was frozen. 

5) When I looked at Balazovic’s minor league game logs, what stands out is very high pitch counts. He has had six games when he threw at least 70 pitches and in none of them did he get past 4.0 innings. For the season, he has averaged nearly 19 pitches per inning. I wonder if the team looked at that and said it’s not sustainable for him to be a starter.

8) And in winning last night and tonight, it pretty much puts them out of their misery. Had they come in and swept, they cut the lead to six and start to think they have a chance. I think we’ve effectively made this a two-team race. 

[NotAboutWinning]

Gray is the poster boy for why Ws & Ls don't make any more sense for starting pitchers than they do for relief pitchers given the way starters are currently managed.

[Doctor Wu]

I was  pleasantly surprised to see that Buxton stole a base in the game. I didn't see that play or any of the game, only read the box score, so it was interesting/enlightening to read the comments about how long it took him to get up after the steal. Hmm. If he really is having problems with the legs, I'm not sure he needs to be risking further injury with slides like that. What do others think? Obviously, Buxton is healthy enough to hit as a DH and run the bases, but are these stolen base attempts a good idea or not?

[Peter]

What a rally!!! Nervous whole game until 7th inning where twins got lead-buxton started rally with walk then Vázquez hits near home run for double and Taylor comes up with clutch base hit for lead! Jax gets out of jam with runners on second and third!Duran was on fire 🔥!!! What a nerve racking win!!! Let’s get a sweep today!!!

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

I'm not sure he needs to be risking further injury with slides like that. What do others think?

What wasn't mentioned above is that the throw from the catcher also nailed him on one bounce.

[mikelink45]

These are the victories a first place team needs to have.  I am starting to believe in them again.  Is that good or bad?

Buxton's one game 2 HR barrage was great, but is it an anomaly?  I am really curious about his future. 

[Melissa]

Good to win when our young studs go hitless. But both Julien and Kiriloff nonetheless looked good at the plate, to my eye at least. And the less heralded hitters came through with just enough. Thought Vásquez’s hit off the top of the padding was a sure home run - another few inches and the lead was a lot safer.

The intro shtick for Duran is a bit much, but wow is he electric to watch!

[Linus]

Sure glad they didn’t lose the game because of that double steal. With Julien s arm I can’t believe they even set the play to throw through. Vasquez should have held the ball as he could see the jump the runner got and Julien need to take two steps in cut the throw and mail the guy at home. On the bright side the Twins are making fewer of these types of plays compared to earlier in the year. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Just when I thought I was out, they reeled me back in.

[IaBeanCounter]

On the double steal I don't think EJ could return the ball to get Anderson.  Has a catcher ever thrown hard, but back to the pitcher?   That's the only way I see they get an out.

[jmlease1]

Gray looked pretty wobbly at the start, great work by him to limit the damage and settle down into a quality start again.

Julien had a tough night at the plate; it'll be interesting to see if this is a blip or if MLB has started to find a way to pitch to him and he'll need to make real adjustments. I think he'll be fine, but how young players react to games like this tells you some things about them.

Correa has been so consistent since moving into the leadoff spot. He's been making a big impact. (can't bang on him for not making the play in the 9th; that was a really tough one, a highlight reel play if he somehow pulls it off)

While some of our best relievers have made it a little nervvy out there lately, they've come through in the end. Good job by the pen last night.

And how many times is that now this season that the Twins have had a ball bounce off the top of the padding?!? It's got to be at least 3 now in that exact same spot. Crazy.

[Whitey333]

 Nice win Twins.  Let's sweep them today.  Buxton looked back to normal yesterday.  0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.  Hopefully he starts at least hitting better in the days and weeks to come.  Go Twins

[Whitey333]

Oops my bad.  Buxton was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.  Go Buck.  Go Twins

[MABB1959]

3 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

I was  pleasantly surprised to see that Buxton stole a base in the game. I didn't see that play or any of the game, only read the box score, so it was interesting/enlightening to read the comments about how long it took him to get up after the steal. Hmm. If he really is having problems with the legs, I'm not sure he needs to be risking further injury with slides like that. What do others think? Obviously, Buxton is healthy enough to hit as a DH and run the bases, but are these stolen base attempts a good idea or not?

It pretty much helped with the win.  But I didn’t think he was getting back up.  The slide didn’t look bad or dangerous and that was depressing in so many ways.  What is use of him getting on base if can’t make it home. 

[terrydactyls]

14 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Oops my bad.  Buxton was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.  Go Buck.  Go Twins

It was just a day or two ago people were proclaiming that Buxton had broken out of his slump. 

[Old Twins Hat]

4 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

I was  pleasantly surprised to see that Buxton stole a base in the game. I didn't see that play or any of the game, only read the box score, so it was interesting/enlightening to read the comments about how long it took him to get up after the steal. Hmm. If he really is having problems with the legs, I'm not sure he needs to be risking further injury with slides like that. What do others think? Obviously, Buxton is healthy enough to hit as a DH and run the bases, but are these stolen base attempts a good idea or not?

If you watch carefully , the fielder missed the short  hop throw and the ball hits Buxton in the side of the face.  He took a shot and got up slowly but it was the ball.

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

What wasn't mentioned above is that the throw from the catcher also nailed him on one bounce.

Who knows... well... Byron I guess would know but who knows if he was slow getting up because of his physical issues or if he was slow to get up because the throw looked like it hit him in the face or neck area. 

[wabene]

We still have one of the easiest remaining schedules. I think it's 2nd easiest right now. Many very winnable series sprinkled in with some nice challenges like Seattle, Arizona, Milwaukee and Texas. The starters have regressed a little and the hitters have in the opposite direction. Hopefully the bullpen will get some pieces back plus an addition from outside. Lewis, please come back and make it to the finish line.

Now is the time for this squad to round into a more balanced form and fulfill it's potential. Now is the time to go on a run. 

[wabene]

After their worst month of the season, the bats have come alive. Their runs scored by month have been 4.6, 4.5, 3.5 and 4.9 this month with 6 a game the last 9. The month plus from late May through June saw the worst production and poor play as they crept below 500. Score 5 runs a game and I like our chances. 

[scottsilvi]

Was at the game a few rows up from the 3B bag. After buxtons steal, there was a pitching change. Buxton walked over to 3rd and spent time chatting with Watkins and the ump. I watched him like a hawk for three minutes, and there was no apparent discussion with Watkins about anything injury related. He was relaxed and happy. Wasn’t flexing muscles or stretching or anything.

So I’d chalk it up to the ball hitting him.