Twins 0, Tigers 3: Twins Offense Fails to Show up in Detroit Series Finale

[Sherry Cerny]

The Twins rollercoaster continues to be one wild ride. After a dominating sweep of the Diamondbacks, they lost two in a row in this series to the Tigers. This game was more than just a chance to not be swept, it was a chance to show that the Twins have the tenacity and bounce back to move forward. Maeda kept things as clean as he could, but once again the Twins offense failed to show up.

Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski USA Today

 

Box Score
SP: Kenta Maeda 6 IP, 3 H,  1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (89 pitches, 58 strikes (65%)
Home Runs:   -0-
Top 3 WPA: Kenta Maeda .146, Christian Vazquez .051, Carlos Correa .023 
Bottom 3 WPA: Dylan Floro -.139, Edouard Julien -.137, Willi Castro -.083

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Kenta Maeda has had a great past few games. While he has given up nine earned runs, the Twins have won four in the five games he has started. His success has come with getting run support from the offense. But that would be different for Maeda this time. The Twins' offense started slow, and Maeda came onto the mound with no run support to begin his first inning, allowing a few hitters to get on base, but he got out with no damage and a clean first inning. 

Multiple times throughout the game, the Twins' offense looked like it would give Maeda support, but pitcher Reese Olson from the Tigers pitched six scoreless innings and kept the Twins from doing anything to get on the board. 

The Twins looked like they would get something going in the fourth inning. Jorge Polanco got a single to start the inning. Then Carlos Correa ripped a ball into center field off a two-seam fastball, almost taking out pitcher Olson on the return for a single. Now Correa and Polanco would be in scoring position with no outs. 

Correa has been turning a corner since the All-Star Break. In his past five appearances, he has made contact with the ball in every game and got four runs in three, but he was responsible for eight RBIs. He also continues to make outstanding defensive plays. 

After the Tigers visited a mound, Olson locked in and quickly struck out Max Kepler and Ryan Jeffers. Matt Wallner battled at the plate but just got under the ball for a pop-out and was the third out of the inning, stranding Correa and Polanco. 

Joey Gallo was walked in the fifth, and the most unexpected thing happened with Christian Vazquez at the plate. As Vazquez was mid-swing, Gallo took off from first base. As the ball whizzed by Gallo as he rounded second, he continued to third. Vazquez's single put runners on the corners to start the inning and, once again, the hope of offensive production. But once again, the Twins came up empty, leaving the inning after two strikeouts from Edouard Julien and Polanco. 

Meada's struggle with strikes started around the bottom of the fourth, and even though he didn't allow any runs, by the bottom of the sixth inning, he was grimacing on his release. His pitches loaded up quickly as the Tigers lineup started to swing and foul off pitches until an 81 mph slider to lefty Riley Greene ended in a solo home run to get the Tigers on the board 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Dylan Floro came out of the bullpen to relieve Maeda, and it was not pretty. After the first out, the Tigers got three straight singles to load up the bases, and pitching coach Pete Maki came out to hopefully talk Floro down off whatever ledge he was on and pitch out of the inning. It didn't happen that easily, not before another single deep to center would score two runs to get the Tigers up 3-0. 

Jhoan Duran came into the game in the bottom of the eighth. He has yet to have a hitless outing in quite a while, and right away, Greene hit a slap to left field on pitch one to get a double to start the bottom of the eighth. Duran and the defense kept the Tigers from any runs or further damage, and the Twins would have one more chance to come back with Correa leading off in the ninth. 

But the Twins couldn't battle back. The Twins were swept in Detroit and lost the season series to Detroit 7-4. The Twins must fight a surging Phillies team to keep the Guardians from catching up. 

What's Next? 

The Twins continue their road series with a trip to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies, who are coming off some hot games, including their 14th no-hitter by former Tigers pitcher Michael Lorenzen. 

Friday 6:05 pm CDT: LHP Dallas Keuchel (6-6, 1.80 ERA) vs. LHP Christopher Sanchez (0-3, 3.44 ERA)
Saturday 5:05 pm CDT: RHP Pablo Lopez (7-6, 3.81 ERA) vs. Taijuan Walker (13-4, 3.98 ERA)
Sunday 12:35 pm CDT: RHP Sonny Gray (5-5, 3.18 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (9-5, 3.74 ERA)

 

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[Hubie29]

It sure is nice to just check the score after the game is over. Sure beats watching the whole game including this sad team.  No way do they deserve to be a playoff team

[LA Vikes Fan]

Hard to watch. Having said that, it's hard to be consistent on offense when 3 of your top 6 hitters likely in the 3, 4, and 5 spots (Kirilloff, Buxton, Lewis) aren't playing. My view is get Lewis on a plane to Philly and get him in the lineup Friday night. He can DH for a couple of games to lessen the potential for re-injury. This team cannot score enough if we have to rely on Julien, Wallner, Kepler, and Castro to consistently deliver. They are either young and/or complimentary pieces - they can't be the engines.  Add to that playing Gallo and Taylor most nights and Vasquez half the games and it's a recipe for stinkers like today. We can't bring back guys that are hurt but we can bring back guys who are playing. Bring back Lewis. 

[Blyleven2011]

I need a dictionary  ...

I'll just go with what's in my head at the moment  ....

PATHETIC , PITIFUL  , PISS-POOR , PUKIE ,  PIRANHA PU - -IES ( FILL  BLANKS  ) unexceptable  Twins baseball  ...

2 hits today , 2 shutouts in a 4 game series against Detroit  and not against their best pitchers .... 

The Twins have no shame  , This shouldn't be happen but reality is telling us this is who the Twins are , RE-READ STATEMENT ABOVE ...

 

Maeda did not deserve the outcome  ...

[JD-TWINS]

11 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Hard to watch. Having said that, it's hard to be consistent on offense when 3 of your top 6 hitters likely in the 3, 4, and 5 spots (Kirilloff, Buxton, Lewis) aren't playing. My view is get Lewis on a plane to Philly and get him in the lineup Friday night. He can DH for a couple of games to lessen the potential for re-injury. This team cannot score enough if we have to rely on Julien, Wallner, Kepler, and Castro to consistently deliver. They are either young and/or complimentary pieces - they can't be the engines.  Add to that playing Gallo and Taylor most nights and Vasquez half the games and it's a recipe for stinkers like today. We can't bring back guys that are hurt but we can bring back guys who are playing. Bring back Lewis. 

Assuming the twisting & torque generated with an at bat is the most high risk. Lewis will be ready when they come home I assume.

You’re exactly correct, today they looked like a team that had been constructed to look a certain way with a certain group and we were missing the 3 core guys or at least “arguably” the 3 core guys.

An offense that’s a shell of itself.

Was calling for Kepler to be DFA’d or given away at deadline all of June - the guy has turned the corner relative to solid contact. He hit 3 balls to the wall today……410ft dead center ………395ft to center………370ft to left center. Tough luck this afternoon.

Haven't seen a reason all season not to bunt next time we get first 2 guys on base (1st & 2nd)…….with our K rate and our double play propensities, we almost need to play for the lead and hope it blooms into a big inning.

Seems hoping a Buxton comes back is counterintuitive but what’s up with a Kirilloff??? Need him!

[jkcarew]

35 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Having said that, it's hard to be consistent on offense when 3 of your top 6 hitters likely in the 3, 4, and 5 spots (Kirilloff, Buxton, Lewis) aren't playing.

Still...if you're counting on a streaky, barely league-average hitter in Buxton, and two rookies to carry your offense...there's a very good chance your offense isn't going to be consistent, period.

[Eris]

Maybe the Twins should try bunting with runners on third and less than 2 out. At 40% success rate, they would be in a better position to score runs. Jeffers as done this a few times. 

[jorgenswest]

Jeffers and Julien had the two key at bats with runners on third and less than two outs. Both had their least competitive at bats that I have seen in a while. Learn from it and be better in the next opportunity.

[MMMordabito]

The Twins this year are Minnie Highland and Paul Fenland. They don't like each other much, so only one of them gets to hangout in the clubhouse each week, it seems.

[h2oface]

“The Twins were swept in Detroit and lost the season series to Detroit 7-4.”

Maybe Ms. Cerny missed the first game in Detroit? Still, ugly ugly ugly losing 3 out of 4 to the Tigers and getting swept by KC. Playoff material? That could get ugly, too. 

[mikelink45]

Well we had only 9 Ks - Gallo and Jeffers had 5, but wow, we were under double figures.  But, of course, we also did not have double figures in hits either.  What the Hell?  I am just besides myself trying to figure out this team.  Do we have an upper limit of games above 500 that we are allowed?  Hello Cleveland can you trade away more of your pitchers and hitters so we have a chance to stay ahead of you?

Of course we were playing Detroit. who are only 12th in the American League.  

We hit, the pitching is bad, We pitch, the hitting is bad. 

And Duran cannot get a clean inning now so our BP Saviour is human and flawed.  
We need help. 

[rwilfong86]

Glad I was at work and didn't have the chance to watch this debacle. 

[Galen]

Are these hitters just guessing every pitch, and guessing wrong?

[Patzky]

19 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

Glad I was at work and didn't have the chance to watch this debacle. 

I peeked and like a bad accident, couldn't stop watching. :(

[LastOnePicked]

These boys of summer are really testing my patience. 

[William K Johnson]

Sure glad we swung that trade deadline deal.

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

……Do we have an upper limit of games above 500 that we are allowed? 

Yes. It appears to be 6

[Castinofan]

Why was Duran pitching in a certain loss?  He will be unavailable for at least one Phillies Game 

[BH67]

As with last August, we have reached the dispiriting reality that a Magic 8 Ball is more likely to predict a Twins outcome correctly than are advanced statistics.

[AceWrigley]

Maybe we should start paying hitters that can put the ball in play. I'm getting to the point that I'm just gonna laugh when a Twins hitter strikes out with men on base, I'm guaranteed a lot of laughs.

[insagt1]

getting runners in scoring position with no outs and then striking out with reckless abandon seems to be what the Twins have perfected this season. And everyone is guilty. Even when a guy like Correa starts to heat up, he still has an awful AB to end the game with sacks juiced on Wednesday, with a chance to really be a hero. Kepler and Jeffers fanning at the worst possible times isn't helping either.

Getting swept by KC and shortly after losing 3 of 4 to Detroit is not inspiring confidence. But this is a broken record this season.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

How 'bout that Maeda guy, ain't he somethin'?

[Winston Smith]

7 hours ago, Castinofan said:

Why was Duran pitching in a certain loss?  He will be unavailable for at least one Phillies Game 

Does he ever pitch three days in a row? I don't recall him doing that so he'd only pitch in two at most anyway.

[TWTwinsFan]

grab tight, the ship is going south soon.

[Doctor Wu]

Swept by the Tigers? Yes, pitiful is the word for it. Or maybe discouraging is more accurate. We start to look good, and then we can't score any runs. On the bright side, with so few hits, we were less likely to hit into more double plays!

[Peter]

2 hits won’t win any games at all!!! How the f—k does Detroit take 3 of 4? Unreal/unacceptable!!! We have 3.5 game lead. As I said before all that matters is winning division. Also please do turn this into Facebook-twins chat room there is sooo negative/awful/horrible. They are scum bags . Don’t let this become like Facebook!!!

[wabene]

5 hours ago, Winston Smith said:

Does he ever pitch three days in a row? I don't recall him doing that so he'd only pitch in two at most anyway.

Both Jax and Duran pitched 3 days in a row a week or two ago. It did seem to effect their performance negatively IMO. 

[insagt1]

Remember the day when Earl Weaver used to fine guys for not bringing home a runner at 3rd with less than 2 outs! For years there has been debates about 'clutch hitting' and how there really statistically is no such thing. The reality though is that hitting under pressure is difficult. Some can do it and others crumble more often than not. Its not reasonable to assume that you can just plug anyone into a situation where runners are in scoring position and say that given enough chances they will all produce about the same number of RBI.

Twins have an entire team of players this year that struggle under the pressure of delivering runners, especially with bases loaded. Do they try too hard? Are they all swinging for the fences? Why do they rack up so many k's? Do they fail to adjust? You don't succeed all the time, but you should get the job done more than they are doing, if you want to win a division, or a playoff series.

Was watching how the hated Astros adjusted to the near unhittable Felix Bautista this week. Up to this series he had allowed only 5 earned runs...all season! In two outings they nicked him for 5 runs! They didn't try to do too much. So many of their hits were to the opposite field...rather than trying to pull his nasty stuff. They beat him once, and nearly did it again yesterday. It was frustrating to watch and I keep wondering when Twins hitters will adjust their approach to score runs in games that they clearly could win.

[chpettit19]

6 hours ago, Winston Smith said:

Does he ever pitch three days in a row? I don't recall him doing that so he'd only pitch in two at most anyway.

He's done it once (July 14, 15, 16). But, yeah, he wasn't going to pitch in every game of that series. He hadn't pitched in nearly a week. Just needed to get an inning.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, insagt1 said:

Remember the day when Earl Weaver used to fine guys for not bringing home a runner at 3rd with less than 2 outs! For years there has been debates about 'clutch hitting' and how there really statistically is no such thing. The reality though is that hitting under pressure is difficult. Some can do it and others crumble more often than not. Its not reasonable to assume that you can just plug anyone into a situation where runners are in scoring position and say that given enough chances they will all produce about the same number of RBI.

Twins have an entire team of players this year that struggle under the pressure of delivering runners, especially with bases loaded. Do they try too hard? Are they all swinging for the fences? Why do they rack up so many k's? Do they fail to adjust? You don't succeed all the time, but you should get the job done more than they are doing, if you want to win a division, or a playoff series.

Was watching how the hated Astros adjusted to the near unhittable Felix Bautista this week. Up to this series he had allowed only 5 earned runs...all season! In two outings they nicked him for 5 runs! They didn't try to do too much. So many of their hits were to the opposite field...rather than trying to pull his nasty stuff. They beat him once, and nearly did it again yesterday. It was frustrating to watch and I keep wondering when Twins hitters will adjust their approach to score runs in games that they clearly could win.

The argument against "clutch hitting" isn't that everyone would perform the same with a large enough sample size, it's that they perform to their "non-clutch" norms. Basically guys who are good without runners on are still good with them on (assuming a large enough sample size). The Twins just don't have a very talented lineup. Especially when Correa and Buxton are this bad.

The Astros hit a grand slam to beat Bautista. The game they beat him they went Singleton Walk-Altuve Pulled Single (soft contact, though)- Bregman Strike Out- Alvarez Missile up the middle-Tucker pulled grand slam- Diaz strike out. So 2 of the 3 balls in play were pulled, including 1 for a home run, and the other one went up the middle at 102 MPH. That isn't going to the opposite field and not pulling. They pulled the ball, struck out, but hit a homer. Pretty much exactly what people complain about the Twins doing.