Twins 3, Diamondbacks 2: Trio of Homers Enough to Best Arizona

[Matt Braun]

Minnesota's slugging center fielder helped foster a win, just like we all expected going into the season. 

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Bailey Ober: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (6), Max Kepler (16), Michael A. Taylor (14)
Top 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (.156), Caleb Thielbar (.139), Max Kepler (.119)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

In an odd three-game homestand, the Twins play host to the Diamondbacks at Target Field for the first time sweeping the NL West team in 2017. Nik Turley appeared in one of those games; it’s been awhile. With Joe Mauer’s induction into the Twins Hall of Fame on Saturday, Minnesota looked to start a nostalgic weekend with a victory. 

Bailey Ober labored… again. Following an excruciating outing against the Royals in which the typical command wizard fired wildly inside the strike zone, Ober focused himself a little bit, but still ran into similar problems. He needed 104 pitches to get through five. Still—because this is Bailey Ober—he logged in his usual minimum statline, only allowing two while striking out three without a walk.

Those two runs were dangerous, though, because of Minnesota’s opponent: Merrill Kelly. The 34-year-old is unassuming and easy to overlook, but he’s more than held his own in the brutal NL West—and Twins hitters soon learned that scoring off him is not an easy endeavor.

Arizona struck first; Lourdes Gurriel Jr. jumped all over a changeup too far in the strike zone, smoking the pitch into left field to give his team a 1-0 advantage.

The Twins allowed the lead to hold for a bit, but Jorge Polanco soon evened the game, crushing his own screaming blast, shooting a lightning bolt to right that just barely hooked inside the foul pole. 

Because of Joe Mauer’s imminent induction into the Twins Hall of Fame on Saturday, plenty of old friends were around the ballpark, with two joining Dick Bremer and Glen Perkins in the broadcast booth. Nick Punto—perhaps a little weepy staring at an un-dived into 1st base—offered some tales from the past; Brian Dozier did the same, but with an eye on the left field fans and their distinct lack of a Twins home run ball souvenir. 

Arizona re-took the lead on a soft single, but that hardly mattered; Minnesota yet again responded with a solo homer, this time from Max Kepler, this time to right-center.

And now, there would be no see-sawing between advantages, disadvantages, and ties, as Michael A. Taylor popped a sky-scraping homer to right field, just barely able to guide the ball into the overhang to give the Twins their first lead of the game. 

Rocco Baldelli ramped up the relievers he was using. Caleb Thielbar acquired the first out of the 8th—nearly losing his head in the process—before Emilio Pagán coaxed the final two outs of the frame, acquiring a pair of groundballs rendering an earlier relinquished single harmless.

You know who pitched next. Jhoan Duran was a little worse for wear following an uncharacteristically poor road trip—and he allowed a pair of baserunners—but he locked down the save, turning a botched bunt into an easy pop up before freezing Ketel Marte on a splitter somewhere in the vicinity of the outside corner. It wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't pretty at times, but the Twins won—and winning ugly beats losing pretty every day of the week. 

Notes:

Jhoan Duran earned his 20th save of the season on Saturday.

Michael A. Taylor's 14 homers ties his 2015 rookie campaign for his second-highest home run total in a season; he's five bombs away from tying his career-high of 19 set in 2017.

Max Kepler's homer boosted his slugging % to .445, his best outside of 2019. 

Emilio Pagán has a 1.35 ERA since June 15th. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

 

What’s Next?

The Twins and Diamondbacks will play the second game of their series on Saturday; scheduled for a 6:10 PM start, first pitch will come following Joe Mauer’s ceremony, likely somewhere between 30-60 minutes after the alleged 6:10 start. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[Aggies7]

Big duran fan, but hopefully he gets it sorted soon. Been a nightly adventure

[USAFChief]

"Michael A. Taylor's 14 homers ties his 2015 rookie campaign for his second-highest home run total in a season; he's four bombs away from tying his career-high of 19 set in 2017."

 

Pro tip: never do math in public.

[GNess]

It may be the weakest division and all, but it is still a race for a postseason berth. I am going to do my best to enjoy it. I have experienced too many "playing out the season" games in August through the years to not appreciate being in the mix. 

[strumdatjag]

Twins stranded a multitude of runners again.   
But the dumbest thing on this night was the whole Harry Potter promotion.  Why????

 

[Blyleven2011]

I was at the game tonight and came down  to watch my veteran neighbor,raise the flag during national anthem ....

The twins players had some fireworks  , 3 solo Homer's were just enough to pull this game out ... 

The game was relaxing but dragged so it seems , again to many strikeouts and to many runners left on base  , got to have some clutch hitting , bases loaded and 2 outs and Castro  strikes out for 3rd out , same old  stuff different day  ....

Fireworks after the game were good but the Twins managing a win was better  ...

[bighat]

Big losing streak last week, and while the Twins are starting to right the ship, these 3-2 wins aren't exactly a great sign that they've turned things around. Watching these guys can be like watching paint dry, probably the most boring on-field product in MLB right now. A far cry from the teams that Joe Mauer played on. Speaking of Joe, big weekend for him - happy to see him being honored. 

[Peter]

This was nerve wracking!!!! Bullpen came up huge!!! Thielbar/pagan were awesome!!! Shut the door!!! Duran is😬😬😬😬but he got the job done-bit concerned about him as he makes things way to interesting/difficult. Needs to get this figured out ASAP!!  The 3 solo home runs were huge! Great win. Let’s keep this going with series and pull away from division!!! It’s time to finally get this done!

[jmlease1]

Challenging outing for Ober. He just couldn't finish guys off efficiently and you could see him fighting his command at times, missing his spots by a little, but not by a lot. Good that he was able to battle through 5, but not great that he piled up so many pitches that he couldn't get through 6.

Thielbar looked very good, and if he's back to this form it's going to be a big deal. 

Let's get a Saturday win for Joe Mauer!

[rv78]

A game for the FO and their philosophy.... Hit HR's or strikeout, pitch just good enough and get off the field with an ugly win. Sometimes it works...... sometimes a blind squirrel finds an acorn.

[terrydactyls]

I really liked the clip of MAT hitting his home run.  Because he wasn't sure whether or not the ball would clear the fence, he put his head down and ran as fast as possible until he learned it was gone.  That's the way baseball is supposed to be played.  Well done, MAT!

[LewFordLives]

I hope the Twins win again today (Saturday). Sunday is Gallen vs. Keuchel. Just sayin ...

[John Belinski]

It was one of those games where one swing of the bat would decide who would win the game and the Twins got that one swing.  Still concerned how Duran is closing games since all winning teams need a good closer, but he just seems to have a hard time closing games lately. A closer can not walk a batter every game.

[Matt Braun]

10 hours ago, USAFChief said:

"Michael A. Taylor's 14 homers ties his 2015 rookie campaign for his second-highest home run total in a season; he's four bombs away from tying his career-high of 19 set in 2017."

 

Pro tip: never do math in public.

My degree is in history, not math!

[Cap'n Piranha]

Rocco got lucky tonight.  This was Duran’s 3rd appearance in 4 games, and came after pitching the day before—that’s not a good idea, and we were fortunate it didn’t come back to bite us (that last pitch to Marte was pretty clearly outside—if that’s called correctly, the bases are loaded for Corbin Carroll).

This highlights what I’ve been saying for years about Rocco—he treats every game the Twins have a 3 run or less lead as if it’s game 7 of the WS, which means his best pen options are constantly unavailable, or on the verge.  If he lets Gray go at least one more inning on Thursday (Gray was at 77 pitches, and had just submitted an 8 pitch 7th inning), or used options other than Jax and Duran in a 3 run game, maybe you don’t need to get lucky to finish off a 1 run game.

[pierre75275]

5 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

My degree is in history, not math!

So....

In 1914 King Ferdinand was assassinated which led to WWI

By 1919 WWI was over.

How many years later was that?

(I know it was 1918 but the joke doesn't work otherwise).

[USAFChief]

9 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

My degree is in history, not math!

Me too! Seriously!

All the more reason!!

 

[NotAboutWinning]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

I really liked the clip of MAT hitting his home run.  Because he wasn't sure whether or not the ball would clear the fence, he put his head down and ran as fast as possible until he learned it was gone.  That's the way baseball is supposed to be played.  Well done, MAT!

100% love that MAT does that every time he hits the ball! Can't stand watching players stand there and admire their home run and then find out it bounced off the top of the wall!

[David Maro]

Duran looks more like F Rodney right now. Put a couple of runners on and try to pitch around that. Problem with that approach is it isn't going to work every time. Castro can't take strike 3 with bases loaded and of course Joey Strike Out striking out with bases loaded. The way the game was playing out Rocco needed to PH for him,but didn't. With Cleveland playing Chicago this weekend can't afford to lose any this weekend.

[wornsmooth]

3 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

I really liked the clip of MAT hitting his home run.  Because he wasn't sure whether or not the ball would clear the fence, he put his head down and ran as fast as possible until he learned it was gone.  That's the way baseball is supposed to be played.  Well done, MAT!

Could not agree more! When did it become normal to stand and admire flyballs, or even drives into the gap?

I see it regularly on the highlights, and I frankly don't get it. Are managers reluctant to chastise grown men about the basics of their job?

[wavedog]

One way to look at this game - the team was unable to cooperate with each other to score runs, but 3 individuals took it upon their bats and backs to plate a run.   Let's see some more cooperation with this team going forward and get some big innings.      

[AceWrigley]

3 hours ago, John Belinski said:

A closer can not walk a batter every game.

Mitch Williams would differ. Now there was an adventure in closing out games.

[AceWrigley]

2 hours ago, pierre75275 said:

So....

In 1914 King Ferdinand was assassinated which led to WWI

By 1919 WWI was over.

How many years later was that?

(I know it was 1918 but the joke doesn't work otherwise).

Some might say it ended in 1945 with a lull in between.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Comment from yet another history major - AceWrigley is right. in 1918-1939 the war just shifted to world economy, WWI never really ended.  

[pierre75275]

3 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

Some might say it ended in 1945 with a lull in between.

You missed the joke.....I think 🤔

Michael Taylor has 14 hr, his career best is 19, the author mentioned that, but then said he was 4 HR away from tying his career best. Another poster caught it and mentioned it and Mr. Braun said he was a history major. 

I was trying to give him a math problem using MAT HR totals in the equation using history to help out. It was tongue in cheek but the best I had.

 

[RpR]

5 hours ago, pierre75275 said:

So....

In 1914 King Ferdinand was assassinated which led to WWI

By 1919 WWI was over.

 

 

Don't forget the American Expeditionary Force into the Russian revolution till 1920.

[AceWrigley]

5 hours ago, pierre75275 said:

You missed the joke.....I think 🤔

Michael Taylor has 14 hr, his career best is 19, the author mentioned that, but then said he was 4 HR away from tying his career best. Another poster caught it and mentioned it and Mr. Braun said he was a history major. 

I was trying to give him a math problem using MAT HR totals in the equation using history to help out. It was tongue in cheek but the best I had.

 

I know.