Twins 5, Rangers 1: Trio of Late Blasts Carry Minnesota to Victory

[Matt Braun]

Sometimes, it's Jordan Luplow and Christian Vázquez carrying the squad. 

Image courtesy of Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Home Runs: Jordan Luplow (2), Christian Vázquez (5), Jorge Polanco (11)
Top 3 WPA: Jordan Luplow (.356), Joe Ryan (.172), Christian Vázquez (.085)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

It was Joe Ryan vs Max Scherzer, again. The two matched up last Saturday in Minnesota, resulting in a Texas win after the Rangers jumped on the Twins bullpen in the 9th inning. It was their only win of the series.

Friday was more of the same; the two starters were on their game, earning whiffs and frustrated looks from hitters as they confounded and dazzled all day. 

Scherzer had his vintage form. Every pitch worked. When hitters expected the fastball, he snuck in a breaker. And vice versa. The Twins pushed a runner to second base on a few separate occasions, but it never really mattered; Scherzer always clamped down on the potential rally, making hitters prefer the un-embarrassing fortress of the dugout rather than the mockery-inducing batter’s box.

Ryan matched him. There’s less of a guessing game with him—you’re getting a fastball; good luck hitting it—but Rangers batters looked silly nonetheless. He diced through an elite Texas lineup, earning seven strikeouts with only three hits allowed.

But, naturally, one of those hits was a homer. Corey Seager—always Corey Seager—correctly predicted one of those rising fastballs was on the way, and he blistered the offering deep into the night to give Texas a slim 1-0 lead. It was the only run Ryan allowed. He had some help from Andrew Stevenson. 

It was at least a little surprising that Bruce Bochy ended Scherzer’s night after just six frames. The ace to end all aces in modern times threw only 88 pitches; surely, he had more in him. (Edit: Scherzer exited with forearm tightness.)The lefty Brock Burke took the mound. He allowed a floppy single to Carlos Correa before Rocco Baldelli sent Jordan Luplow out to hit for Matt Wallner. The move worked brilliantly. Luplow took a mighty hack at a heater on the outside corner, cracking a fly ball deep into the right field bleachers that—seemingly impossibly—stayed fair. Christian Vázquez followed suit with an eerily similar shot.

Yet again, as if they were fueled by Texas’ infamous bullpen, the Twins blasted another homer—this one a two-run shot by Jorge Polanco to give the team a 5-1 advantage. 

So, now, the onus was on Minnesota's bullpen to not screw up royally, at least in comparison to Texas' blunders. Griffin Jax didn't. Neither did Caleb Thielbar. With the weight of Ryan's excellent start, and the pressure from Cleveland's earlier victory against the Rays on his mind, Baldelli went with the overkill option, handing the ball to Jhoan Duran in a non-save situation. The stud reliever needed to get back on the horse. He certainly wasn't dominant, but he earned three clean outs, ending the game without drama or stress.

Notes:
Andrew Stevenson earned his first major-league hit since October 2nd, 2021. He also stole two bases.

Joe Ryan has allowed two earned runs over 11 innings since coming off the IL.

Jorge Polanco has homered three times in his last six games. 

Ryan Jeffers is 5-for-6 when pinch-hitting in 2023. 
Updated Standings

Post-Game Interview:

 

 

What's Next:
The Twins and Rangers will play the second game of their series on Saturday, with first pitch coming at 6:15 P.M. A pair of lefties named after Southern cities, Dallas Keuchel and Jordan Montgomery, will face off against each other. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

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[jkcarew]

Rocco with the hot hand with the pinch-hitters.

Nice win. Two very encouraging starts from Ryan. The time off seems to have served him well.

[NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin]

The team responded very well after the debacle on Wednesday. Good for the 'pen to go 9 up, 9 down. Good for the lineup to score runs in bunches. Good for Rocco to make a bunch of smart moves. Lots of good to go around tonight. 

[jorgenswest]

Really nice response after the Cleveland series compounded by the waiver loss. Glad that Luplow was on the team today. Great pitching by Ryan and the bullpen. 

[Jocko87]

There is more than one way to beat an ace.  In this case, make him work in the heat and a couple extra pitches an inning adds up.  I'm sure he would have liked to keep going but consistent pressure works.

Also, if this is the game where opposite field hitting was discovered, we will look back very fondly on today.

[minman1982]

25 minutes ago, NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin said:

The team responded very well after the debacle on Wednesday. Good for the 'pen to go 9 up, 9 down. Good for the lineup to score runs in bunches. Good for Rocco to make a bunch of smart moves. Lots of good to go around tonight. 

Took only 28 pitches to do it. I would call that a successful showing by the pen.

[akmanak]

This team is such a head scratcher.  What a great win tonight and games like this really give me hope that we can break the playoff curse. 

[FlyingFinn]

Scherzer left with the dreaded "forearm tightness."

[BH67]

Didn't seem like a situation to use Duran, but then I noticed he was facing 1-2-3 in the Rangers' lineup. That should be a confidence booster for him. Thanks to Ryan, the Twins had a real chance once Scherzer's night was over, and the bats delivered. Magic number 23.

By the way, the Twins' final nine games are home against the post-waiver Angels, home against the A's, and on the road against the Rockies.

[Nine of twelve]

7 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Scherzer left with the dreaded "forearm tightness."

😬

[Karbo]

I didn't hear about the forearm tightness, so I couldn't help but wonder how the reaction would be on this site if say Gray or Lopez were pulled like that. I was a little surprised they didn't try to get another inning out of Ryan, but I guess they are trying to keep his innings and workload down after coming off the DL. No more of seeing guys throwing well over 200 innings like the good old days!

[Peter]

Great bounce back after Cleveland fiasco!!! Huge huge huge win!!!! Let’s get a win today!!

[DJL44]

8 hours ago, BH67 said:

By the way, the Twins' final nine games are home against the post-waiver Angels, home against the A's, and on the road against the Rockies.

I still hope it's over before then and those games are meaningless for both teams.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, BH67 said:

Didn't seem like a situation to use Duran, but then I noticed he was facing 1-2-3 in the Rangers' lineup. That should be a confidence booster for him. Thanks to Ryan, the Twins had a real chance once Scherzer's night was over, and the bats delivered. Magic number 23.

By the way, the Twins' final nine games are home against the post-waiver Angels, home against the A's, and on the road against the Rockies.

Sure would expect a minimum of 5-4 through those 9. Can we go 10-8 in the other remaining  games? That would get us to 85 wins……sure hope that’s our minimum.

Good news is, with our stater depth on the staff, even if we dial a couple guys back, we’ll still have quality on the mound each day in the last few series.

[GCTF]

The only comment I have on this game is WTF are the Rangers wearing? Was there a keg stationed at 1st and 3rd?

[Blyleven2011]

Polanco  is leading the veterans  , he looks good with the bat since returning from IL list ...

Ryan  had a nice  game with control  , missed a few locations but got away with them ...

Two opposite field homeruns in 1 inning is unusual  but nice to see some hits going to the opposite field  ...

Bullpen did a nice job and could be used again today if need be ( all 3 pitchers only threw a handful of pitches )  , let's hope it's a blow out  and we can give them rest  today  ....

[madtowntwin]

I had not even considered Stevenson for the September roster....He did impact the game with both his glove and his legs. Is there any way the roster could include he & Castro? "Piranha Lyte" on the bases and two strong defensive replacements. How many runs could those 2 steal the next 4 weeks?? Win Twins. 

[Patzky]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I still hope it's over before then and those games are meaningless for both teams.

In another twist the Marlins cut Jorge Lopez and the Orioles just reacquainted themselves with him.

[David Maro]

The lineup was over matched with Scherzer on the mound. The only way they win was Scherzer leaving after 6 with forearm tightness. Isn't it amazing if they pitch you up and away you go opposite field. Only took 130+ games to figure that out. With any luck they will use the same approach tonight. They really need Tampa to show up tonight and tomorrow. 

[stringer bell]

52 minutes ago, David Maro said:

The lineup was over matched with Scherzer on the mound. The only way they win was Scherzer leaving after 6 with forearm tightness. Isn't it amazing if they pitch you up and away you go opposite field. Only took 130+ games to figure that out. With any luck they will use the same approach tonight. They really need Tampa to show up tonight and tomorrow. 

Disagree. The Twins just need to take care of business and they’ll be fine. I’d much rather the Twins came into post-season playing well than counting on others to beat their rivals. The Twins have already had plenty of help in that regard. 

[joefish]

How many wins in a row do we need before we can call it a streak?

I can't remember any more.