Mariners 9, Twins 7: Twins Bullpen Implodes Against the Mariners

[Steven Trefz]

The Twins scored seven runs, including four in the first inning. Pablo Lopez left the team a 6-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. And yet, the Mariners seized the victory. Here's all of the gory details from one of the most deflating games of the season.

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (94 Pitches, 63 Strikes, 67%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (2), Michael A. Taylor (12) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Oliver Ortega (-.439), Jovani Moran (-.189), Emilio Pagan (-.176)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

After surviving two consecutive extra-inning walk-off victories, the Twins looked to win the season series against the Mariners and to keep their good times rolling against right-hander George Kirby. Kirby held the Twins scoreless last week in Seattle over seven innings of work, so the task looked formidable from the start. Turns out scoring runs against Kirby was the least of the Twins' worries, as he only lasted four innings in this game. Yet the Twins still found a way to lose a virtual lock of a game.

Twins Pick Up Where They Left Off Offensively
The Twins started their offensive attack against Kirby right from the first pitch. Carlos Correa took a fastball to the opposite field for a double and the Twins didn't stop until they put a four-spot on the board. Edouard Julien worked the count full, before bashing a triple off of the left field wall, scoring Correa in the process. Max Kepler followed up a few batters later with a seeing-eye, thanks-for-not-shifting-anymore single through the hole at second.

Before Twins fans could even say "Thank goodness Max is back!" Matt Wallner stood up to the plate and torpedoed the first pitch fastball he saw, hitting it 111 mph off of a human in the right field overhang to complete the four-run first inning.

Pablo Deals, but the Mariners Hung Around
Lopez only gave up three hits over the first five innings, but unfortunately, two of those were home runs. Julio Rodriguez took Lopez deep in the top of the second, and Cade Marlowe followed in the fifth inning by crushing a no-doubter to the bullpen for his first career home run. One might argue that Lopez was pitching as if he was spotted a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but he has already given up 17 homers on the year, and is on pace to set a career-high by the time the playoff push rolls around.

Lopez ended up completing seven innings, and only surrendered the two runs. That should be the main point of the story here. It really should be. A few base runners scattered around when those homers launch, like in his July 15th start against Oakland, and the story changes dramatically. Will Lopez be able to make the necessary adjustments for the nights when the offense isn't adding on?

The Twins Add On a Little, and Strike Out Far Too Much
One of the plagues of the first half of the season for the Twins involved failing to add on to leads when opportunities presented themselves. Slamming extra base hits with runners on base continues to be an effective way to overcome that trend. Willi Castro was the first man up to get it done in the bottom of the third, when laced a triple to right and forced Kepler to run really hard all the way around the bases to make the score 5-1 at the time.

The flip side of this quality offensive outburst was the 12 strike outs that Twins batters amassed in the first five innings. 12. In the first five innings. Granted the Twitter-verse disagreed with a few of the called strike threes to Trevor Larnach, but flailing and missing accounted for eight of them, including all three of the vaunted lefties when southpaw Gabe Speier came in to relieve Kirby in the fifth.

The Twins Add On a Little, and Strike Out Far Too Much
This is a different section than the one above. I promise. Except that it isn't different. It's the same story just shared two innings later.

Willi Castro look a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth for the Twins. Then Castro stole second and third while Larnach was working a strike out. Ryan Jeffers walked, and Donovan Solano came in to pinch hit for Joey Gallo. Solano received a fortunate no-call on what should have been strike three at the knees, and hit a fly ball to right for a sacrifice fly to plate Castro and to put the Twins ahead 6-2. 

The strike outs kept piling up through the late innings, and the Twins struggled to add more baserunning threats to bolster their lead. This came back to bite them in a big way.

Pitching as Though the Twins Need to Trade for Bullpen Help
With the game time temperature of 90 degrees and no breeze to speak of, the Twins depleted bullpen faced a slight challenge, but the Twins had a 97% chance of winning when Jovani Moran got the ball in the top of the eighth with a 6-2 lead. He proceeded to walk the first two batters that he faced. Moran delivered a changeup for a strike to Cal Raleigh, but unfortunately for the Twins, the M's catcher drove that pitch to the left field gap to make the score 6-3. Moran exited stage left without recording an out, and Emilio Pagan was brought in to face the heart of the Seattle order in hopes of keeping the lead.

Thanks to Julio Rodriguez, those hopes went unfulfilled, as he went opposite field for a no-doubt, game-tying home run off of Pagan.

The Twins Strike Outs Kept on Coming
The Twins came to the plate in the eighth ready to respond, and Wallner started things off by striking out (called, not flailing) against hurler Matt Brash. Castro was next up, and he struck out. Larnach was next up, looking to avoid the golden sombrero. After getting two strikes early, Larnach managed to work a walk to keep the inning alive. Ryan Jeffers then struck out. That's 18 Twins strike outs for the game if you were keeping track.

The Bullpen Kept on Imploding
Oliver Ortega got the call to pitch the top of the ninth for the Twins, as the majority of the bullpen was unavailable for the evening. Ortega walked Marlowe, allowed a stolen base, successful bunt, and hit a batter to load the bases with nobody out. The extra innings and inability to put away teams finally came to call upon the Twins bullpen, and things looked dire.

They were dire, and Eugenio Suarez placed a double down the left field line to score two and give the Mariners into the lead at 8-6. With runners at second and third with nobody out, the Mariners continued to add on with a sacrifice fly (see sections above for why it's important to make contact when opportunities present themselves). Eventually the Twins came up for the bottom half of the ninth needing three runs to tie the game at nine.

A lead-off ninth inning homer for Michael A. Taylor gave a glimmer of hope, but the Mariners were inevitable tonight. Three up and three down followed, and the Twins were left wondering what might have been.

What’s Next:
The Mariners series wraps up with an afternoon affair to determine the season series victor. The Twins send RHP Joe Ryan (9-6, 3.88 ERA) to the mound, while Seattle counters with RHP Bryce Miller (6-3, 3.50 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm on Wednesday at Target Field.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	MON	TOT
Ortega	0	0	36	0	28	64
Pagán	15	0	11	0	19	45
Jax	0	16	8	19	0	43
Morán	22	0	0	5	14	41
Durán	0	21	16	0	0	37
J. López	0	0	9	12	0	21
Balazovic	0	7	0	12	0	19
Sands	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[Mike Sixel]

On the plus side, the offense was good and they signed Jenkins.

Then there is the bullpen, and Austin Martin hurt again. 

[BH67]

So three bad bullpen performances result in...one loss.

Statistically, I can live with that.

[gunnarthor]

They had a nice little winning streak going so I won't worry too much, can't win them all. Regroup and win tomorrow.

[Rik19753]

Why do you not use Duran in the 8th after Moran created that mess? As good as Pagan has been recently, it baffles me that you let the other guys blow a 4 run lead while Duran sat in the bullpen.

Most times, I agree with or understand the bullpen management, but that was a major head-scratcher for me.

[MMMordabito]

Bottom 3 WPA = Not on playoff roster

[Aerodeliria]

The Twins relievers walked three batters in the 8th and 9th...the most egregious was Moran walking the first two batters with a four-run lead. That's really inexecusable IMHO. I have no problem with Pagan's pitch. That's gonna happen, but the BBs are not winning baseball.

[SwainZag]

  

18 minutes ago, Rik19753 said:

Why do you not use Duran in the 8th after Moran created that mess? As good as Pagan has been recently, it baffles me that you let the other guys blow a 4 run lead while Duran sat in the bullpen.

Most times, I agree with or understand the bullpen management, but that was a major head-scratcher for me.

It's still a damn tough position for Duran to be put in.  It's more than likely at least 1 run scores and you still need someone to pitch the 9th.

I'm more surprised he didn't come out to pitch the 9th in the tie ball game instead of Ortega.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Twins were hitless for 5 straight innings at that point. 

[Jocko87]

Its not all that deflating in context of the week.  Bullpen on fumes and it finally caught up with them.

Why the bullpen is on fumes is the real question. Sands having no pitches on the usage chart is baffling. I'd probably have used him instead of Moran. He's fresh and should be able to close out a 4 run game. If not why is he here? I didn't care if it's the top of the order. If he struggles then try to put out the fire with Pagan or Moran. Bring up Headrick or something tomorrow.  Without looking I bet there was a good spot to use him earlier in the week too.

Inexcusable to have an exhausted group with one guy not pitching. It's like the old rule 5 days.

[Danchat]

1 minute ago, Jocko87 said:

Its not all that deflating in context of the week.  Bullpen on fumes and it finally caught up with them.

Why the bullpen is on fumes is the real question. Sands having no pitches on the usage chart is baffling. I'd probably have used him instead of Moran. He's fresh and should be able to close out a 4 run game. If not why is he here? I didn't care if it's the top of the order. If he struggles then try to put out the fire with Pagan or Moran. Bring up Headrick or something tomorrow.  Without looking I bet there was a good spot to use him earlier in the week too.

Inexcusable to have an exhausted group with one guy not pitching. It's like the old rule 5 days.

Seems like Sands is being treated like the mop-up guy, and doesn't have the trust to be used in any other scenario. It's unfortunate, but it's common for teams to carry a guy like this. Moran-Pagan-Ortega have not been overused and should have been able to handle this.

[Peter]

Unacceptable loss-this can’t ever happen again-win tomorrow and take series/sweep Kansas City.

[Rosterman]

All the lineup shuffling looks like genius, until you need to comeback and score runs, at times.

Moran needs to go back to St. Paul and take it easy. Bring back Headrick. Hope Thielbar is on the horizon. Better yet, trade out Ortega for Keuchel.

You are going to give up hits, but Moran couldn't throw a strike. You got a four run lead, facing the bottom of the order, and you can't throw a strike!You bring in Duran for the shutdown, and then worry about the rest of the game.

 

 

[Rik19753]

9 minutes ago, SwainZag said:

 It's still a damn tough position for Duran to be put in.  It's more than likely at least 1 run scores and you still need someone to pitch the 9th.

I'm more surprised he didn't come out to pitch the 9th in the tie ball game instead of Ortega.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Twins were hitless for 5 straight innings at that point. 

Shouldn't Duran be pitching precisely because it's a tough position to be in? You should always want your best pitcher pitching in the most important situation. The difference between giving up 1, 2 and 3 runs is huge at that point.

I'm actually fine with letting Ortega pitch the 9th. Having Duran in extras is a huge advantage and they haven't been using him in tie games in the 9th as far as I can remember. 

[curt1965]

Monday morning QB comment:

I’ve questioned Rocco’s use of the bullpen all year. It’s nice to do everything possible to win games: but that’s a double edged sword. Sooner or later, the entire bullpen is gassed, and you need your last guy to pitch a significant portion of the game. OK- you are going to lose a game or two in that scenario. But what happens when you’ve played 120 games and your entire pen is spent?

Hope I’m wrong……..

[FlyingFinn]

51 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

Hope Thielbar is on the horizon.

Funny you should say.... Thielbar pitched a scoreless inning for the Saints tonight. Now, where is Stewart?

Martin pulled early tonight in St. Paul. Don't think we are calling him up. Did we trade him for a relief pitcher? Probably not.

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Funny you should say.... Thielbar pitched a scoreless inning for the Saints tonight. Now, where is Stewart?

Martin pulled early tonight in St. Paul. Don't think we are calling him up. Did we trade him for a relief pitcher? Probably not.

As I posted above, martin is hurt again. His foot this time. 

[Boswell]

Whatever.  We have 15 games against also-rans and 13 games against playoff level teams before playing CLE on August 28.   Yep, “snatched defeat from the jaws of victory” and all that, but 9-3 since the break.  
 

Win a few.  Lose a few.  

[wabene]

Encouraging to smack around Kirby like that and Pablo was good enough. You can only ride your top pen arms so hard. If the middle of the pen falls flat you are going to lose a couple.

[wabene]

Ryan and a somewhat rested pen tomorrow. Here's hoping for a long start by Ryan. 

[rwilfong86]

Hopefully bounce back with a win today but that was the worst loss of the season

[Nine of twelve]

Twins fans look at this game and see a bullpen implosion. Mariners fans look at this game and see a gritty come-from-behind victory powered by their hitters. Monday's game was the same, except with the roles reversed. It's just baseball. Over the course of 162 games there will be many like these. And remember, in baseball winning 11 out of 20 games is good and winning 12 out of 20 is elite. You just keep playing and continue to try to do your best.

[William K Johnson]

You can't put this one on Baldelli.   The question is how much longer until Thielbar and Stewart return?   The current bullpen outside of Jax and Duran offers very little.    Moran can't throw strikes, Pagan gives up homers at the worst possible moments, whoever heard of Ortega before he showed up in the bullpen, Balazovic is still learning, Jorge Lopez is lost, and Cole Sands reminds me of Cole DeVries, who a beat writer once stated, "I am amazed every time Cole DeVries gets a major league hitter out".   Falvey stated the other day that middle relief was the main objective at the trading deadline.    Let's hope they can bring some help in at that point.

Also, would someone please get Julien a hat that fits and the play he mishandled would have been played by Polanco and most major league second baseman.   Tough play, but they are after, all major leaguers.

Lastly, I have started guessing how many pitches it will take to strike out Gallo and Larnach during each of their plate appearances.   Believe it or not, I am getting pretty good at it.

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, SwainZag said:

  

It's still a damn tough position for Duran to be put in.  It's more than likely at least 1 run scores and you still need someone to pitch the 9th.

I'm more surprised he didn't come out to pitch the 9th in the tie ball game instead of Ortega.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Twins were hitless for 5 straight innings at that point. 

Game was tied so the possibility of a 10th inning and the Manfred man on 2nd was probably a consideration for holding Duran out of the 9th. 

 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I'm soooooooooooooooooo tired of Pagan. If you give him 10 high-leverage situations, he'll implode in 9 of them. 

[MABB1959]

8 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

They had a nice little winning streak going so I won't worry too much, can't win them all. Regroup and win tomorrow.

Great month but most games were against the worst teams.  Lost too many against the Orioles to make me think they can win the ALC.  The remaining games against Cleveland are huge.  The rest of the schedule they could play .500 or better but it is going to be close if they lose the Cleveland series’s.  Finally the number of strikeouts is beyond ridiculous and going to be a factor.  

[LewFordLives]

15 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

 

Lastly, I have started guessing how many pitches it will take to strike out Gallo and Larnach during each of their plate appearances.   Believe it or not, I am getting pretty good at it.

Gallo needs to be released. There is no place on a playoff contending team for a .175 hitter.

[Riverbrian]

You can't walk the first two batters you face.

We did it in the 8th with walk walk, double and we basically did it in the 9th with walk, bunt single, HBP.

If you are member of the bullpen... your number will be called.

Coming in with no control isn't going to go well. 

Oh well... on to the next game. 

[Doctor Wu]

Well, that game definitely showed that we need more arms in the bullpen, especially healthy arms and ones that are not too tired. A tough loss, but then again Julio Rodriguez is a darn good hitter. 

[CRF]

Sure teams are going to lose a game like this once in a while, but the fact remains...that was a game we SHOULD have won. Pablo pitched another very good game, and the pen blew it. Moran was brutal, Pagan was back to his old tricks, and Ortega had no business even being in that situation. Terrible. Just a bad loss...worst one of the season so far. 

[NotAboutWinning]

44 minutes ago, LewFordLives said:

Gallo needs to be released. There is no place on a playoff contending team for a .175 hitter.

Not going to happen. He is a Boras client. Sad, but that is the spot the FO has gotten themselves into.