Twins 12, Diamondbacks 1: Jeffers Leads Rout in Fitting Tribute to Joe Mauer, Maeda Cruises in Win

[Hans Birkeland]

After winning a nail-biter on Friday night, the Twins made it easier on themselves on Saturday by winning in a rout. Ryan Jeffers continues to mash and led the way with two home runs, while Kenta Maeda kept Arizona hitters off balance all night in an easy victory.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Trying to win back to back series following their debilitating sweep in Kansas City and subsequent egg-laying at the trade deadline, the Twins were delayed about a half hour by the festivities surrounding Joe Mauer's Twins Hall of Fame induction (check out a great tribute to Mauer here). Once underway they delivered one of their better performances of the year while their division rivals were throwing  punches at each other, pushing the division lead to 3.5 games.

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda: 6 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K (87 Pitches, 54 Strikes, 62%)
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers 2 (8), Michael A. Taylor (15), Max Kepler (17)
Top 3 WPA: Willi Castro (.180), Jeffers (.150), Matt Wallner (.110)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Maeda was sharp early, but a couple of close pitches called balls (particularly low in the zone) resulted in some hitters counts and ultimately the first run of the game, a home run off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Opposing Maeda was rookie Ryne Nelson, a second round draft pick who struck out a lot of hitters in the minors but who has struggled to get swing and miss in the majors. He relies on his 94 MPH fastball to get weak contact from hitters, and throws it over half the time. His secondary pitches don't rate very highly, and given that and that fact that Nelson throws right-handed put him right in the Twins' cross-hairs.

They went to work against Nelson in the second. Matt Wallner led off the inning with a broken bat single, and Willi Castro scorched a ground ball through the right side all the way to the warning track to score him. With Joe Mauer in the booth, Ryan Jeffers then demolished a Nelson fastball over the wall in right center field to make it a 3-1 game, part of another offensive onslaught that raised his OPS to a Mauer-like .895.

After Jorge Polanco was called out on a check swing that he truly did check in the third inning, Max Kepler drove a single up the middle and Carlos Correa ended an 0-for-17 drought with a hard single off the limestone in right field (home run in 16/30 parks). Wallner then doubled down the right field line to score Kepler and Willi Castro drove home Correa with a drive to the gap in left center field that Gurriel made a nice catch on. Jeffers then smacked a hanging slider from Nelson down the left field line for a double to score Wallner, making it a 6-1 game.

Meanwhile, Maeda was in cruise control, spotting his offspeed and sitting 91-92 MPH with his fastball. He continued to get squeezed by home plate umpire Emil Jimenez, but kept executing pitches and the slumping Diamondbacks lineup had no answer. When he struck out Arizona's superstar rookie Corbin Carroll to end the sixth (and his outing), he had set down 14 men in a row.

Not to be outdone, Jeffers added yet another home run (115.8 MPH) in the sixth, this time off of mop-up lefty (and no-hitter throwing) Tyler Gilbert. Jeffers is unconscious right now and may need some DH at-bats going forward.

The last run was delivered by newcomer Jordan Luplow, who singled off of position player Carson Kelly to score the team's 12th run.

The good:
Jeffers, who might need to play a little more. His improvements against right-handers (.310/.403/.500 entering the game) might mean he should represent the strong side of the platoon with Christian Vazquez. Didn't have that one on my bingo card to start the year.

Michael A. Taylor has homered in three straight games, adding a solo shot the other way in the fourth inning.

Kepler hit a 435 foot home run off of the lefty Gilbert.

Jhoan Duran got the night off, and the team won.

The bad:
Tomorrow's mound opponent;

Jorge Polanco struck out three times;

Jovani Moran is in a major funk;

Mauer's speech was pretty long.

What’s Next: Dallas Keuchel (First start of 2023) faces off against Arizona ace Zac Gallen (11-5, 3.41 ERA) as the Twins try to complete a perfect home stand on Sunday. Gallen has been good, but his team has been playing at a .250 clip (7-21) since early July. Keuchel faces one of the teams that cut bait on him last year as he tries to prove that his numbers with the Saints (1.13 ERA) can carry over to a major league pennant race.

Postgame Interviews:

 

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Durán	14	0	15	19	0	48
Winder	0	36	0	0	0	36
Morán	0	0	0	0	30	30
Jax	14	0	13	0	0	27
Pagán	16	0	0	11	0	27
Balazovic	0	0	0	0	26	26
Thielbar	0	11	0	12	0	23
Floro	0	0	0	19	0	19

 

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[USAFChief]

Hats off to Maeda-san.

He's really given the Twins a lift since coming off the IL.

 

[FlyingFinn]

2 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Hats off to Maeda-san.

And so many on TD wanted to get rid of Maeda at various points this year. He's looking like the Cy Young candidate from a couple years ago right now. It takes awhile for the older guys to fully recover from TJ surgery.

[Dman]

A game like that will shut me up for a bit.  Everything clicked except Moran who seems like a good candidate for AAA.  Really nice to see Maeda control that game and what a game for Jeffers, wow! 

Correa has the worst OPS in the lineup put him where he belongs in the 7, 8 or 9 spot.  I wish we could send him to AAA.  He had a big single which was nice to see but dropping him in the order would be even nicer. Even Gallo has a higher OPS than Correa.

At any rate was nice to see us batter some other teams pitcher for a change and a big thank you to the White Sox for taking down Cleveland.

[Vanimal46]

Great day all around! Always fun when so many Twins legends are at the same place on the same day. 

Rumor has it, everyone in the lineup had a 15 minute pregame session with Mauer’s Quick Swing. The results speak for them self!

 

[Jocko87]

10 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

And so many on TD wanted to get rid of Maeda at various points this year. He's looking like the Cy Young candidate from a couple years ago right now. It takes awhile for the older guys to fully recover from TJ surgery.

I was good with moving on from him earlier in the year.  Now I’m wondering if he is working back into qualifying offer territory? It may only end up being a B level but it might be worth a shot. A one year deal for next year would be an appropriate risk if he finishes strong.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

16 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Now I’m wondering if he is working back into qualifying offer territory?

Why _wouldn’t_ the team make a qualifying offer?

[Schmoeman5]

I think it's safe to say that Maeda has proved a lot of doubters wrong. His velocity was down and age isn't on his side. He has pitched way better than I expected. Commendable. Yet there is still an elephant lurking. Actually 2. Can the Twins keep running Gallo out there every night? He's right at 50% K rate. I saw a stat that his hard hit rate was 55% which ranked high. But what good is that when he doesn't make contact on 50% of his AB. And number 2 is Buxton. He will be inserted right back at DH upon his return. I know. 7 hits in his last 5 games. Idk. Maybe he can get it together with his stint on the IL. But if not. How can they move forward with 2 holes in the lineup. And a struggling Correa. And Jeffers needs to start more than every other day as well. Like 5 out of 7. Great win on Joe Mauer night. 

[Hans Birkeland]

1 hour ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Why _wouldn’t_ the team make a qualifying offer?

His age, mostly. But I will say he's making that decision tougher and tougher

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Nice to see the hitters run roughshod over the starter (inexperience notwithstanding) and roger the bullpen (save Sewald). Gallen will be a much bigger challenge tomorrow.  At least he's a righty.
Fortunately, the big arms in the 'pen got the day off - they may be needed tomorrow if Keuchel gets "snakebit."

The late innings took some of the shine off the game. The league needs a mercy rule. Painful to watch poor Carson Kelly have to throw 60mph spitwads that just added two unneeded runs.  Worse than 'garbage time' in the NBA.

Watching Moran walk 3 batters in the 9th was even more painful. Surely he was coached to just throw strikes and let the fielders collect the outs, yet he literally 'could not hit water.' Perhaps Maeda could sit down with Moran for a few days and have a conversation about the importance of location. 

Tip:  Minnesota fans will flatter Maeda if they start calling him, "Maeken (Mah-eh-ken)," for short. This was the pet name folks in Hiroshima gave him.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

13 minutes ago, Hans Birkeland said:

His age, mostly

It's easy to come up with a list of pitchers who successfully continued their careers past 35.  They share many of the qualities Maeda has in spades.

[Blyleven2011]

Tonight's game is what we have been  expecting  all season  from the team  ...

Hope there are more games like this to come ...

Can you believe it , 4 players got 3 hits each ...

Can you believe it , Gallo struck out 3 times , yes you can ....

[glunn]

I loved the Mauer induction ceremony and seeing the Twins hall of famers being introduced. And the cheering for Killebrew was moving to me -- he will always be an icon.

[Fat Calvin]

3 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Nice to see the hitters run roughshod over the starter (inexperience notwithstanding) and roger the bullpen (save Sewald). Gallen will be a much bigger challenge tomorrow.  At least he's a righty.
Fortunately, the big arms in the 'pen got the day off - they may be needed tomorrow if Keuchel gets "snakebit."

The late innings took some of the shine off the game. The league needs a mercy rule. Painful to watch poor Carson Kelly have to throw 60mph spitwads that just added two unneeded runs.  Worse than 'garbage time' in the NBA.

Watching Moran walk 3 batters in the 9th was even more painful. Surely he was coached to just throw strikes and let the fielders collect the outs, yet he literally 'could not hit water.' Perhaps Maeda could sit down with Moran for a few days and have a conversation about the importance of location. 

Tip:  Minnesota fans will flatter Maeda if they start calling him, "Maeken (Mah-eh-ken)," for short. This was the pet name folks in Hiroshima gave him.

I think it was "Maekun."  "Kun" is the suffix used for little boys in Japan.

[UK Twin]

A night that could end up being very significant in the er...."race" for the AL Central. We win, Guardians lose and will lose Ramirez and possibly Clase to suspension after that massive brawl. Ramirez could get a lengthy ban after decking Anderson. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

43 minutes ago, Fat Calvin said:

I think it was "Maekun."  "Kun" is the suffix used for little boys in Japan.

The usage of -kun suffix for boys and young men is correct, but the nickname is indeed "Maeken," as in short for Maeda Kenta (前田 健太 -> マエケン).  Japanese do this a lot - they take a few syllables out of a name for something and run words together. For example, one of my favorites is "promane" for "project management."   

[mikelink45]

A really lovely game - but let's expand the Good list. Actually Jeffers and Maeda need to be moved to the Very Good list. 

Wallner has taken over LF or DH - either way he has to play.

Julien continues to get hits and has been a wonderful addition to the team. He is doing the Arreaz imitation that we need. 

Kepler has made me and many others look bad for writing him off - good.

Michael Taylor is underrated by most fans, but has done a great job in the absence of Buxton.

The Bad

Sorry, but Gallo just frustrates me.  Can't Larnach, Farmer, Solano, Castro, Williams, Prato put on a 1B glove?   Three AB's - 3 Ks.  And his OPS is not a good measure - a bunch of early HRs and 

Good or bad - 13 Ks keeps us moving towards the record.

I agree with putting Correa lower in the order - the same with Buxton when he comes back.  Make them earn the higher positon.  

The really good - we won. 

 

[Doctor Wu]

More games like this, please!!

[Peter]

Total domination!!! We need more wins like this!!! Huge win!! Let’s finish off Arizona today with a sweep!!!!

[Doctor Wu]

Just now, Peter said:

Total domination!!! We need more wins like this!!! Huge win!! Let’s finish off Arizona today with a sweep!!!!

That would be sweet. Hoping for a good Twins debut from Keuchel. 

[Karbo]

How many other people see Gallo coming to bat and think "Another strikeout"?

[Patzky]

41 minutes ago, Karbo said:

How many other people see Gallo coming to bat and think "Another strikeout"?

I think he thinks that too at this point.

[DJL44]

Quote

The bad:

Mauer's speech was pretty long.

I thought Mauer made a good speech. It was far better than Dan Gladden's drunken ramble about his wife's chest.

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Jeffers needs to start more than every other day as well. Like 5 out of 7. 

If Jeffers catches 5 out of 7 games his offense will surely suffer.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Sorry, but Gallo just frustrates me.  Can't Larnach, Farmer, Solano, Castro, Williams, Prato put on a 1B glove?   Three AB's - 3 Ks. 

JULIEN - move the sub-par 2B to 1B!!!

[Fat Calvin]

3 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

The usage of -kun suffix for boys and young men is correct, but the nickname is indeed "Maeken," as in short for Maeda Kenta (前田 健太 -> マエケン).  Japanese do this a lot - they take a few syllables out of a name for something and run words together. For example, one of my favorites is "promane" for "project management."   

I stand corrected.  Thank you very much.  I've got to go now, my "smapho" is ringing.

 

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, Hans Birkeland said:

His age, mostly. But I will say he's making that decision tougher and tougher

Nothing stopping them from just making an offer for next two years……should be done. Maybe $12M per year?

[stringer bell]

Fifty games remaining--25 on the road, 25 at home. The Twins are 13-8 since the AS break and have gained four games on Cleveland. It appears they ran into KC at exactly the wrong time, just like Oakland, the Royals were able to put together a single winning streak this year and the Twins were in the middle of it.

With or without Gallo, the Twins are a near-lock to set the all-time strikeout record. More play from Julien and Wallner won't help in that regard, but those two are contributing positively, despite their high K rates. 

Who are the three starters for a prospective playoff series against the bottom wild card team (currently Toronto)? Maeda's ERA if one start (10 runs in three innings vs. NY) is removed is 2.86.

If Kirilloff doesn't return in a couple weeks, how should first base be covered? I'm saying not Gallo, but then what? The most convenient solution would be to move Julien there--Polanco to second and Lewis to third (assuming he's back in a week or two). 

[David Maro]

Nice win for a team that is going to be strike out prone and set the record by a lot. Had more strike outs than runs. Maeda had a another great outing and looks like 2020. I think he didn't have his legs under him when he came back earlier in the year. Need to see if they can sign him for 1 year and a option for a second year. Hopefully they can take care of business today and Chicago does them a favor as well. Can't see why you don't send Moran to St Paul. He apparently didn't understand 11 run lead,throw the ball over the plate. Joe Mauer's daughters did better.

[Vanimal46]

16 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

If Kirilloff doesn't return in a couple weeks, how should first base be covered? I'm saying not Gallo, but then what? The most convenient solution would be to move Julien there--Polanco to second and Lewis to third (assuming he's back in a week or two).

If I’m Trevor Larnach, I’m begging the coaches every day to wear a 1B glove.