Pirates 7, Twins 4: Gray Perfect Through 5, Offense Squanders Opportunities

[Hans Birkeland]

After a chippy, but fairly easy win against the Pirates on Friday night, the Twins ran into a sharp Mitch Keller on Saturday. Sonny Gray was perfect through five but ran out of gas, while Jordan Balazovic gave up a key three-run home run to Andrew McCutchen in the ninth.

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray: 6 2/3 IP, 4 H 4 ER 3 BB 7 K (93 Pitches, 60 Strikes, 64.5%)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (-.212), Joey Gallo (-.174), Donovan Solano (-.162)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Sonny Gray has been sharp lately, both due to better command of his breaking pitches, and a concerted effort to challenge hitters more. His 2.78 FIP coming into the game led baseball, as did his rate of home runs allowed. With Gerrit Cole's blowup against the Red Sox (4 IP, 6 ER), a good outing would position Gray well in his quest for a first Cy Young award (though Pablo Lopez might have something to say about that). It sure started off well.

Fresh off of blanking the hot-hitting Phillies over six innings last Sunday, Gray got right to work against the struggling Pirates' lineup in the first. He struck out Ji-Hwan Bae and Bryan Reynolds on three pitches each (featuring some devastating sweepers), then got ahead of Andrew McCutchen 0-2. With the first immaculate inning in Twins history* hanging in the balance, the veteran McCutchen spoiled the fun by flying out lazily to Max Kepler.

*The Twins' broadcast mentioned that Scott Baker once threw an immaculate inning, which is not true, Baker did, however, strike out four men in one inning in 2008, which may have produced the confusion.

Opposing Gray was Mitch Keller of the Pirates, a former high draft pick (from Cedar Rapids) and top prospect who had a few lean years before appearing to break out earlier this year, pitching to a 3.31 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate in the first half. He has struggled mightily since then, with a 7.71 ERA and 20% strikeout rate.

The Twins added to his struggles in the first, starting with Jorge Polanco, who smacked a one-out single into right field and promptly stole second. With two outs, Kepler hit a grounder up the middle that would have been right at Pirates shortstop Liover Peguero... except the ball struck Keller in the foot and caromed into right field for a double and the game's first run. 

Keller recovered to strike out the streaking Royce Lewis, which would be a theme in the early innings. Keller's sinker and sweeper confounded Twins hitters and resulted in a whopping eight strikeouts through the first three innings. He finished with 12.

But at that point, Gray was untouchable. Through the first five innings, he threw only 47 pitches, eliciting weak contact and confusing an inexperienced Pittsburgh lineup with his vast assortment of pitches.

In the fifth, Richie Palacios appeared to break up the perfecto as well as the no-hitter, hitting a sharp grounder up the middle with second baseman Eduoard Julien shading towards first. But Julien ranged to his right, popped up off of a knee and delivered a strong throw to retire Palacios. It wasn't just an impressive play by Julien, but a legitimately impressive play, period.

The Twins added some insurance in the bottom of the inning. Following a rare Joey Gallo ground ball double play, Christian Vázquez delivered an opposite field double which was then followed by a soft single by Michael A. Taylor to double the lead.

After retiring his 16th straight batter of the night, Gray then induced a soft ground ball off the bat of Peguero that was fielded by Polanco at third. Polanco's throw was wide, however, and Peguero took a circuitous route to the bag, possibly interfering with first baseman Donovan Solano's glove. But the out was not recorded, and Peguero was awarded a hit, ending the possibility of any sort of history being made.

A bloop hit and a walk followed, bringing up Reynolds with the bases loaded. Gray set him down on three pitches, but threw a mistake pitch to McCutchen ahead in the count, who drove a single up the middle to tie the game 2-2. Ke'Bryan Hayes then broke the tie with a sharp single to left.

The Twins had a golden opportunity to bounce back in the bottom of the sixth. Following a Polanco leadoff walk, Correa and Kepler both singled, bringing up Lewis with the bases loaded. Perhaps expecting the sinker down 0-2, Lewis swung through a four-seamer a few inches outside for a crucial strikeout. That brought up Solano, who fell behind on a questionable strike one call and eventually struck out on a beautiful sweeper, bringing up Gallo with two strikes. He worked the count full, but succumbed to strike three on a fastball up in the zone, ending the threat. Keller was pretty electric, overall.

The fates had more misery for the Twins in the top of the seventh. After a Jack Suwinski walk, Peguero grounded to third base. Polanco threw to second , and while Julien made his relay, Suwinski interfered by continuing to charge forward, clearly altering Julien's throwing motion. The throw was high and Solano appeared to still get his foot down before Peguero's, but this was the infamous Laz Diaz's umpire crew, and not only did they not call interference, they also called Peguero safe at first. The Twins challenged both plays, and somehow were denied on both counts. You don't have to watch a lot of baseball to know that Bae then doubled home Peguero to extend the lead to 4-2.

The Good:
Vázquez had two doubles, after entering the game with 12 extra base hits all season;

Correa got on base twice more, with a sharp single and a walk. He came into the game with a 1.149 OPS over his previous ten games;

The Bad:
Gray fell into some of his old habits by walking three men, all in crucial spots late in his outing;

Lewis had a series of bad at-bats, including his bases loaded strikeout. He later swung wildly at what would have been ball four inside, resulting in a strike out to lead off the eighth inning.

Balazovic had a tough outing, giving up three hits, three runs and three walks without recording a strikeout. The smoke and mirrors success he had early on has not proven sustainable, and McCutchen's home run off of him sealed the loss tonight.

What’s Next: Dallas Keuchel (0-1, 9.45 ERA) goes for the series win against Osvaldo Bido (2-3, 5.05 ERA). Keuchel is on thin ice, having not struck out a batter over his first two outings, while Joe Ryan had a successful rehab outing on Friday.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Balazovic	0	18	0	0	36	54
Floro	14	6	0	0	27	47
Jax	0	33	0	11	0	44
Pagán	11	15	0	11	0	37
Durán	14	0	0	17	0	31
Winder	0	28	0	0	0	28
Thielbar	9	0	0	10	0	19
Sands	0	0	0	0	8	8

 

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[MABB1959]

15 strikeouts?  I want to believe but this team makes it tough. 

[ashbury]

Cleveland lost.

[MMMordabito]

Top 5 Cy Young candidate? 🤔

[USAFChief]

Cleveland lost, so it's cool.

 

[SoDakTwinsFan4]

I'm frustrated so here it goes..

It's unfortunate that Sonny Gray didn't get the run support he deserved. Lots of pathetic at bats. So many strike outs. Lewis (hat trick), Solano, Taylor, Gallo, all looked terrible in key spots, and should be called the Minnesota "Whiffs". 

Not to mention the New York screwjob with that interference that WASN'T called. I mean, how was that not runner interference? That no call changed the course of the game.

Carlos Correa needs to stop trying to pull outside pitches. Need a double play? Throw him a fastball on the outer half. 

[USAFChief]

Once again, to quote an old sage:

"There's just not enough thrust there to develop the escape velocity needed to overcome the heavy gravitational pull of .500."

[Vanimal46]

7 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Cleveland lost.

I selected the laugh reaction, because it’s better than crying. 

[Mark G]

13 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Once again, to quote an old sage:

"There's just not enough thrust there to develop the escape velocity needed to overcome the heavy gravitational pull of .500."

Aw, that was what I was going to post.  🤭

[BH67]

There was a palpable foreboding on the game comment board the moment Gray's perfecto disappeared.

And it's sad, and eerily predictable, how often the 2022 and 2023 Twins have justified such feelings.

[stringer bell]

The team's weaknesses showed up today. 1) Defense--a decent third baseman makes the play on the first hit and some first basemen catch the ball that Polanco threw. Cufoff men weren't in proper position twice (didn't cost any runs this time, one of them was Polanco). It's great that Jorge Polanco is willing to play third base, but he hurts the team over there. Julien probably turns the DP in the seventh if he comes across the bag instead of staying behind it. 2) Fifteen more strikeouts. Yeah, their starter has good stuff, but he wasn't Nolan Ryan. 3) Bullpen--Floro gives up an inherited runner when he came in with two outs and then Jordy Blaze gives up a three-spot in the ninth. Even if it is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, some changes need to be made. 

Day game tomorrow and I'll be there in the heat. I hope Wallner and Jeffers are in the lineup and Lewis is back at third base. Best wishes to Keuchel and if he gets hit hard, best wishes for his next job.

[LastOnePicked]

What a weird season. We keep getting articles about how this team is "made for the postseason. " Meanwhile, they're routinely getting beat by teams like the Pirates, Royals and Tigers in the regular season. 

[Danchat]

Feels like Gray's wheels fall off too often whenever Rocco gives him the chance to go deeper into a game. He's just not good against facing the lineup a third time through.

Really disappointing to see Balazovic flop again. We simply haven't seen any results from moving our young starting prospects to the bullpen, which is surprising given how often that works. 

[Aggies7]

13 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Feels like Gray's wheels fall off too often whenever Rocco gives him the chance to go deeper into a game. He's just not good against facing the lineup a third time through.

Really disappointing to see Balazovic flop again. We simply haven't seen any results from moving our young starting prospects to the bullpen, which is surprising given how often that works. 

He really has faltered a good bit when given the chance to go deeper into games. Last year I was with him because he was pulled early a lot. But he just has trouble avoiding the meltdown multi run inning the later he goes. Unfortunately those seem to be the games that the offense doesn’t give support.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Julien probably turns the DP in the seventh if he comes across the bag instead of staying behind it.

I had that exact play happen to me playing SS in high school. The runners head was right where I needed to throw the ball so I didn't throw it. I was only in 8th grade then and my coach said to just throw side arm at the runners head the next time and he will get out of the way. I did that several times over my high school career. Never hit anyone as they always got down as they saw me going side arm.

If Julien hits him, the umpire would have called the runner out at first. The ump should still have called interference on this play anyway. I was at the game and seated off the first base bag up a ways, right in line with the throw and telling everyone that was interference.

[Mike Sixel]

Why was Lewis at DH and polanco at third? Why is Gallo on the roster?

[rwilfong86]

9 hours ago, MABB1959 said:

15 strikeouts?  I want to believe but this team makes it tough. 

Bases loaded and nobody out, followed by 3 strikeouts. Inept. 

[Blyleven2011]

They are up to there old tricks , back to 15 strikeouts  , getting bases loaded and no outs and then nothing , 3 outs in a row,  strikeout  , strikeout  then pop up  ...

Just crappy adjustments  , and really hard to get excited  and I'm not totally blaming  the players , it's also manager , coaches and front office   and the umpires ...

 I'm sticking to my story ....

[Brazilian Twins Fan]

23 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

Bases loaded and nobody out, followed by 3 strikeouts. Inept. 

Did you expect something different?

[mikelink45]

We celebrate one day and weep the next - that is 500 ball and it is all this team is good for. 

I have decided that Gallo will not be DFA'd until we secure the strikeout record.  We like records, but look out Atlanta is after our HR record.

And the biggest news - Sands got used for 1/3 of an inning.  I think it was a familiarization trip 

[adjacent]

10 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

We celebrate one day and weep the next - that is 500 ball and it is all this team is good for. 

I have decided that Gallo will not be DFA'd until we secure the strikeout record.  We like records, but look out Atlanta is after our HR record.

And the biggest news - Sands got used for 1/3 of an inning.  I think it was a familiarization trip 

Today Keuchel pitches. Chances are, Sands will be used a lot today...

[mikelink45]

3 minutes ago, adjacent said:

Today Keuchel pitches. Chances are, Sands will be used a lot today...

Or does he have to rest now that he has appeared in a game!

[karcherd]

15 minutes ago, adjacent said:

Today Keuchel pitches. Chances are, Sands will be used a lot today...

He wasn't used last time Keuchel got lit up, so I am not sure why they have him on the roster.

 

[CRF]

We didn't lose last night because of Gray, we lost because we can't get a clutch hit with men on base. Gray was pretty much fine, until he got gassed. We just can't hit in key situations. Bases loaded? Fuhgeddaboudit! Nothing but bad, wasted AB's from several guys. Swinging at bad pitches, way outside the zone. Strike out after strike out! I don't hold out much hope for today either, with Kuechel going. We could lose the series easily. 

[beterday]

Turned on the game with Sonny throwing a no-hitter and got to watch bases loaded, three strikeouts in a row debacle.  After the three runners getting on - I love that Kepler can hit again - I told my wife that they would strikeout three times in a row here, and she told me I was a pessimist.   I have enough history to be able to make these predictions correctly and not call it pessimistic.  My hope was that Royce would be different.  More of the team molding the same kind of hitter as the rest of the team or just not gonna be that clutch guy either.

 

[Karbo]

some things from another letdown loss. 1-Dis they not go over the scouting report on Keller? He's good, but not that good. 2-The strike zone the ump called was terrible. Hitters have to know where the zone is, but it doesn't seem the umps do. 3- What happened to the two strike approach many of the Twins hitters have used lately?4-Why weren't the Twins running more? Pittsburgh has a terrible time throwing out base stealers. 5-Another bullpen meltdown. Enough has already been said about this pen. The best part of that game was Audra Martin!

[David Maro]

Polanco couldn't make the throws at Shortstop. They move him to 2nd for easier throw. Now let's put him at 3rd for a longer throw. Gray fell apart after the play Polanco couldn't make. This was a Gray problem again,he loses focus. They have to put the ball in play with bases loaded and 0 outs. They had 3 of the worst at bats all year and that's saying something. The game was over at that point,gave the Pirates momentum. Don't forget lead is not safe with 6 games against Cleveland in the next 2 weeks.

[Heiny]

1 hour ago, David Maro said:

Polanco couldn't make the throws at Shortstop. They move him to 2nd for easier throw. Now let's put him at 3rd for a longer throw. Gray fell apart after the play Polanco couldn't make. This was a Gray problem again,he loses focus. They have to put the ball in play with bases loaded and 0 outs. They had 3 of the worst at bats all year and that's saying something. The game was over at that point,gave the Pirates momentum. Don't forget lead is not safe with 6 games against Cleveland in the next 2 weeks.

In Grays' defense I believe his history after 5 innings is not good.  And it was extremely hot on the field.  But to pull him with a perfect game going would have really ticked him off.  The missed interference call (and it was obvious),  was a key turning point.  But the most disgusting was the hitting.  15 strikeouts and and not being able to score at least one with bases loaded and no outs?  Yeah, that is horrendous.  I don't care what anybody says, someone needs to lose their job to shake this team up.

[rwilfong86]

4 hours ago, Brazilian Twins Fan said:

Did you expect something different?

I had the hope they could scratch one run across but nope. Nada. 

[saviking]

14 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Once again, to quote an old sage:

"There's just not enough thrust there to develop the escape velocity needed to overcome the heavy gravitational pull of .500."

It kind of feels that way, doesn't it. When a plane is having trouble getting altitude the only way to go higher is to throw dead weight overboard. I elect Joey Gallo to be the first to go ..