Twins 8, Mets 4: Two Out Hits Beat the Mets Again, Maeda Bounces Back in Win

[Hans Birkeland]

Trying to maintain momentum after a big series win in Cleveland and a strong showing in Friday's series opener against the Mets, the Twins scratched a few runs across early and bludgeoned the Mets' bullpen late. Kenta Maeda was strong over 5 1/3 innings as the Twins clinched a series win against a talented, albeit underperforming, team.

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda: 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (83 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 66%)
Home Runs: Willi Castro (6)
Top 3 WPA: Donovan Solano (.196), Max Kepler (.163), Kyle Farmer (.143), 
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

After an impressive comeback win Friday night against the bumbling Mets and their league-leading payroll, the Twins faced a deficit almost immediately on Saturday. Brandon Nimmo led the game off with an opposite field home run off a splitter from Kenta Maeda, and after a single and steal from the scrappy Jeff McNeil, Daniel "Burgers" Vogelbach drove him home with a sharp single up the middle.

The Twins mounted an immediate threat to counter, or so it seemed. After Solano was hit by a pitch leading off, Jorge Polanco singled to set the stage for Royce Lewis. Unfortunately for the Twins, sixth starter extraordinaire David Peterson was able to strike out Lewis, Carlos Correa and Jordan Luplow consecutively to extinguish the rally.

Peterson has a jumpy fastball and used it along with a sharp slider to strike out five Twins batters the first time through the order. But the Twins were not to be deterred, starting with a hard hit single from Ryan Jeffers off a fastball with one out in the second inning. Castro followed with a blistering two-out double into the left field corner and Solano drove both home with a single to left. The inning could have really gotten out of hand if Pete Alonso didn't time his jump perfectly on a Jorge Polanco liner headed for the right field corner to record the final out.

Continuing a recent trend, Maeda again struggled to spot his breaking pitches, and was fortunate on several occasions to avoid damage. His third inning, for instance, included a hit-by-pitch to Alonso while ahead in the count, a 101 MPH single from Francisco Lindor, and three warning track fly balls, resulting in zero runs. 

Another two-out rally followed in the Twins' half of the third. Luplow doubled down the right field line past a diving Alonso, and Farmer delivered a Guardians Special™ bloop single (70 MPH) to score the go-ahead run.

Maeda continued to battle and the Mets increasingly fell into his crafty-veteran trap, trying to jump on seemingly hittable pitches early in at-bats but unable to truly get the barrel to the ball. That resulted in not only outs, but quick outs, and after five innings, Maeda had thrown only 74 pitches.

After retiring Lindor to start the sixth, Maeda walked Vogelbach, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to bring in the rookie Kody Funderburk. The lefty struggled with his control but was able to retire the side with the lead intact.

Meanwhile, Peterson was settling in, hitting the corners with his fastball and secondary pitches and not allowing much hard contact. Pitching for a spot in next year's rotation, the former first round pick showed why Mets fans had high hopes for him after his 125 ERA+ during his rookie campaign in 2020.

A play that certainly helped Peterson's line came in his sixth and final inning. After Luplow reached on a swinging bunt single, Farmer singled to the gap, allowing Luplow to reach third with one out. Jeffers then attempted a safety squeeze bunt, a play he had executed well several times this year already. This time the ugly side of that strategy reared its head: Jeffers missed the bunt and Luplow had strayed too far off third in anticipation, allowing catcher Omar Narvaez to gun him down before he could scamper back.

As they did last night, the Twins went to work as soon as the Mets bullpen got involved in the proceedings. After Castro was caught stealing following a leadoff single, Alex Kirilloff drew a pinch hit walk, Lewis singled and Correa walked. Kepler then pinch hit for Luplow, worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off a few tough pitches before demolishing a Drew Smith slider for a bases clearing triple. Farmer finished off the inning with a another bloop double to score Kepler.

After a pair of solo homers against Louie Varland, Willi Castro hit the first Twins home run of the game to extend the lead back to four and allow Jhoan Duran the day off, with Dylan Floro pitching a scoreless ninth to secure the victory. Overall, seven of the Twins' runs came with two outs.

The Good:
Solano continues to terrorize opposing pitchers with his big two-run single;

Maeda got better as the game wore on, finishing his offspeed pitches better and keeping them off the barrel of Mets hitters. He only struck out two, but this start was encouraging given the middling results he has shown lately.

Kepler had been scuffling a bit (.192 batting average in September), so his big three-run triple was a welcome sight.

The Bad:
Matt Wallner struck out twice on the first six pitches he faced from Peterson and later grounded out weakly. The Twins have rotated which lefty hitter gets a shot against lefty starters between Wallner, Edouard Julien, Kirilloff and Kepler, and so far only Kepler has shown the ability to hold his own.

Louie Varland, making his second career relief appearance after three scoreless against Cleveland, left 1-2 a changeup up to Pete Alonso, who crushed it 427 feet for his 43rd home run leading off the eighth. Varland then gave up a long home run to hot-hitting D.J Stewart on a 99 MPH fastball. Home runs were an issue for Varland as a starter (14 allowed in ten starts) so this was not a positive sign.

Castro and Farmer were both caught trying to steal second in addition to Luplow's shenanigans off third base in the sixth.

What’s Next: Pablo López (10-7, 3.64 ERA) takes on Tylor Megill (8-7, 5.28 ERA), younger brother of former Twins luminary Trevor Megill, as the Twins look to sweep the series against the Mets.

Postgame Interviews:

 

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Varland	0	43	0	0	20	63
Thielbar	10	0	0	15	10	35
Funderburk	0	11	0	0	15	26
Jax	17	0	0	8	0	25
Pagán	12	0	0	11	0	23
Durán	0	0	0	14	0	14
Floro	0	0	0	0	11	11
Headrick	0	0	0	0	0	0
Winder	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[Matt Braun]

Now if only we could get some help from the corpse they call the Angels

[Melissa]

I was at the game and was a bit disappointed not to see Lewis, Julien, Kepler, or Kiriloff take the field top of the first. Royce did bat as DH, of course, and the big hits came from Solano, Farmer, Castro, and Kepler. Another win for the Front Office’s depth moves. Another really fun game! 

[stringer bell]

22 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

Now if only we could get some help from the corpse they call the Angels

The Angels have already won a game against Cleveland. Hard to expect much more from what is left in their lineup and pitching staff. They do get to hit against Giolito tonight. It will depend on whether any of their stars come back when the Twins play them later, but if their best two hitters are Grichuk and Escobar, the Twins should at least two or all three at Target Field.

[stringer bell]

This is the most optimistic I've been about the lineup. Lewis is special, Kepler is good, lots of guys can go deep. I'm not satisfied with Luplow as a lefty killer, but Farmer and Solano are competent bats, especially against left handed pitching. Correa seems to be getting more good swings and Polanco and is professional hitter. The top three starters can slow even a high-powered lineup and the bullpen is coming around with some injured talent perhaps ready to add value. Outside of Buxton, this club looks like they will have their best health at the end of the season.

[mikelink45]

Another nice win.  I am worried about Wallner and I am a fan of his.  He has to escape the K streak and start making contact.  Maeda does not look like a playoff starter right now, but he takes time to settle in which makes me worry about him in the pen for the playoffs. 

[stringer bell]

11 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Another nice win.  I am worried about Wallner and I am a fan of his.  He has to escape the K streak and start making contact.  Maeda does not look like a playoff starter right now, but he takes time to settle in which makes me worry about him in the pen for the playoffs. 

Reality is that teams very seldom have everyone going good. Rookies Julien and Wallner have cooled right now while other guys have warmed up. Aside from his batting average, Wallner's numbers look good right now, but if the slump (and the Ks) continue, he might find somebody else playing left field. 

Maeda is certainly not as sharp as he was when he returned from the IL. He is on the outside looking in to get a start in postseason, but he does have experience out of the 'pen. I hope he throws zero high leverage innings in the first round, but every inning could be important. 

[Blyleven2011]

I didn't read the article  but my thoughts are that 7 of the 8 runs scored with 2 outs ,,, 

When was the last time we had  all these 2 out rallies in same game ...

Another observation was varland coming into the game after he threw 43 pitches  on Wednesday  , he now throws harder than before and I don't think that is enough rest  between  appearances  , could be why he gave up the 2 solo homeruns and control could have been off a bit , winder is on the roster , why not him to finish out the game  ...

We won the game and the series  , let's continue  towards a killer instinct winning streak of say 10 ...

I'll go read the article  ...

[Mortimerkenny21]

Let's run up the score tomorrow, let Pablo cruise comfortable through 6 or 7 innings. Have Headrick and or Winder finish the game and let the pen rest. Keep playing strong Sept baseball Twins!

[jorgenswest]

5 hours ago, Hans Birkeland said:

Twins clinched a series win

I believe this is the first time this season where the Twins won 3 series in a row.

[stringer bell]

It looks like Herbie pictures will have to be replaced on the Magic Number Thread. Angels up 6-2, bottom of 8.

[IaBeanCounter]

4 hours ago, Matt Braun said:

Now if only we could get some help from the corpse they call the Angels

Angels up 6-2 in bottom of 8th

[BH67]

5 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

It looks like Herbie pictures will have to be replaced on the Magic Number Thread. Angels up 6-2, bottom of 8.

I asked for and received T-Rex v Ron Gant earlier today. Good stuff.

I'd love to see Mike Pagliarulo's extra-inning homer vs Toronto in the 1991 ALCS before going to bed.

[IaBeanCounter]

Angels won. Magic #13

 

[Jocko87]

Today was a good example of what this team will need to do to be effective against a lefty starting pitcher.  They will need to be better against someone like a Framber Valdez but this is the template.

The lineup was set with the most likely pinch hit spots in the 1, 5 and 6 spots and the starting lineups job is to have good at bats, work pinch count and get the starter out in the 5th or 6th.  After that the advantage can swing hard to Rocco and his very good pinch hit options.  Bullpens being RH dominant generally will present spots in the course of 3+ innings.  If they let the starter go 8 they are probably screwed but we already knew that.

It’s not so much about how much they can score on the lefty but how fast they can get him out of the game.  That also makes Kepler off the bench make more sense, at least in the regular season.  

[D.C Twins]

We should all approach life with the same passion and grit that Maeda is putting into that pitch in the picture :)

Oh, and take a look at his elbow in that picture.... surprising that any pitchers make it through the season with their pitching elbow intact! 

[Althebum82]

Oy vey, is there no limit to number of subtle Pablo Cruise references on this site?  

Some people, I guess, Don't Want to Live Without it.  But, ultimately, Whatcha Gonna Do? 

I am just glad we have him in our starting rotation.

[bighat]

A good time to be clicking and the team seems to be having fun and creating some positive moments. Would love to see this team steam towards the postseason like a runaway locomotive. No cupcakes in October. 

[jmlease1]

Winning a series is great. It's always great. It's pretty much never bad. The Mets have a very talented but seriously disappointing roster. Even after dumping a bunch of veteran contracts there's a lot of talent here, so 2 solid wins to start the series and position the team for a sweep is exactly what you want to see.

Varland giving up a couple of dingers is not what we'd like to see, but some of this may be adjustment to the bullpen: he's got to understand that even with extra velocity he can't expect to just overwhelm hitters and will still need to be a pitcher.

But it's a fine win, and it's a fantastic turnaround from September a year ago, where the Twins were throwing everyone into the OF looking for a warm body to play out there, flailing around trying to find a competent MLB lineup in the ruins of their lengthy IL. Now we're trying to find room for everyone and talking about who will be the odd-man out. We still have plenty of starting pitching. I much prefer this September.

[David Maro]

Nice win even with Maeda giving up 2 in the first. Varland is still the same he was as a SP. Pitches like he is late to dinner. Why does he feel the need to rush his pitches. Pitch clock is at 8-10 seconds when he throws the ball. Maybe he would hit his spot better by slowing down 3-4 seconds. When the playoffs start,can't have RP coming in giving up the long ball. Nice to see Kepler getting a big hit off the bench.

[Fatbat]

Great depth win! Magic#13 with 20 to play so Cleveland is toast. We need more roster experience with possible post season players. Some players my be disappointed to be left off the post season roster. My bets are buxton and gallo are off as well as several bullpen guys. Very possible Funderburk and Paddack are in the pen.