Twins Do Everything Right Against Blue Jays

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins came into the postseason with nothing more important than winning a game. Looking to end the 0-for-18 streak, this team needed to do everything it could to distance itself from that history. Not only did they accomplish that reality, but it seems they could make serious noise in the games ahead.

 

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Rocco Baldelli’s squad could not have cared less about the previous ineptitude of Twins postseason teams of the past. Sure, history was reality, but Kyle Farmer stuck to the tone that it did not matter. He couldn’t have been more right in suggesting that this team was ready to turn the tide, and the American League Central Division Champions had something new in store for Twins Territory.

So, after sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays, how did Baldelli’s Twins do it? Well, they did just about everything right.

Royce Lewis
The entirety of this Minnesota Twins season, they found players who showed up when they were needed. Byron Buxton couldn’t go on Opening Day, and ultimately never got in the field, Michael A. Taylor took over in center and had his best season. Willi Castro made his presence felt all over the diamond and even at the plate. Alex Kirilloff's season started late due to cautiousness in his return from wrist surgery. Late-signing Donovan Solano stepped in and was a consistent contributor. All through the roster, players continued to step up, but no one made a greater impact than the Twins rookie class.

Lewis, Edouard Julien, and Matt Wallner were nothing short of exceptional when called upon. Lewis went on a prolific grand slam tear, and he brought Wallner along with him. The two combined for six slams during the season. They set new records. For much of the second half, it was the rookies (along with a resurgent Max Kepler) that stirred the drink. After showing ineptitude with the bases loaded to begin the year, they couldn’t have shown a greater turn as the bats came alive.

When the Twins needed it most, Lewis stepped in and delivered in the biggest way. That was certainly the case in Game 1. With only one healthy hamstring, Royce was relegated to designated hitter duties. His first postseason plate appearance was a two-run blast, and he followed that up with a solo shot the second time he stepped into the box. Despite being doubted and discredited by some along the way, Lewis has continued to rise to the challenge even in the biggest moments.

Pitching
Since the Wild Card series went just two games, Baldelli was able to use only Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray from his starting rotation, his co-Aces. Coming into the year, it was apparent that this team was going to be different. Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano were long gone. This was not a reincarnation of the Bomba Squad.

Knowing that they were built around pitching and defense, Baldelli leaned heavily on the top of his staff. Both Gray and Lopez will garner Cy Young votes, and each are deserving of the honor. Neither will best Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, but being in the conversation indicates how good they have been. Lopez pitched well in Game 1. He gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings. Gray threw five scoreless innings in Game 2, but he really had to do some work and get some help. He gave up five hits and walked two batters. He had just one perfect inning. He had at least two base runners to strand in three of those five innings. 

Toronto manager John Schneider inexplicably lifted Jose Berrios after just 47 pitches during the second game of the series, and his move was something out of a horror story. Looking to avoid what may come, he instead gave Minnesota an advantage that Toronto never came back from. Baldelli stuck by his horse, and Gray delivered as he has all season.

In the two games, the bullpen combined to give up zero runs in 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Caleb Thielbar pitched a perfect seventh inning in Game 1, and then coaxed a huge double-play to end a sixth-inning, bases-loaded threat in Game 2. Brock Stewart dominated the seventh inning in Game 2. Griffin Jax has had his ups and downs all season, but he faced the middle of the Blue Jays order in the eighth inning of both games, and he shut things down. And finally, Jhoan Duran had a save in both games. Who could ask for anything more? 

Defense
Along with the prowess on the mound, Minnesota has held themselves to a higher standard defensively than we have seen in previous seasons. Byron Buxton is not available in center field, but the acquisition of Michael A. Taylor has all but made up for it. Early in the game, Alejandro Kirk hit a soft liner to left-center. Taylor charged in and dove to make the catch.

In the sixth inning of Game 1, Matt Chapman crushed a Louie Varland pitch deep toward the wall just right of center. Taylor sprinted back and turned a difficult play for many into a routine catch to end the Blue Jays threat.

With Lewis shelved at the hot corner, both Edouard Julien and Jorge Polanco found themselves in less than ideal roles. Julien has grown as a defender, but he’s not as strong as Polanco at second base. Polanco has long been an unselfish, team-first player, but the reality is that he hasn't played a lot at the hot corner. It wasn't idea, but having Carlos Correa back at shortstop has proven invaluable. He made a couple of great plays that stood out as elite.

Twins fans are familiar with Joe Mauer’s diving play in Yankees Stadium to tag out Brett Gardner just before he reached home plate. Former Twins shortstop Roy Smalley compared it to Derek Jeter’s flip to nab the non-sliding Jeremy Giambi before he could score during a playoff series.

In Game 1 of this wild card series, it was a sprinting Carlos Correa that made the kind of play that will be talked about for decades. A bounding ball was hit toward third. It was a play where Polanco had to attempt to make a scoop and get rid of it quick, a do-or-die play. The ball got by Polanco. Bo Bichette started the play at second, but when he saw it get by Polanco, he darted toward the plate. Correa instinctually sprinted toward the loose ball, bare-handed it and in one motion threw a dart to Ryan Jeffers who tagged Bichette out to end a Blue Jays threat. The Twins shortstop showed an improbable level of perfection. 

And sometimes you need to do a little bit extra. Correa called for the pickoff move that nabbed Vlad Guerrero at second base for the third out of the fifth inning. It was arguably the biggest play of Game 2. That's a couple of veterans doing veteran things. It's baseball IQ and situational awareness.  

Now the Twins will head to Houston to take on the defending World Series champion Astros. Minnesota will need to continue to do things well, make the routine plays and occasionally make some great plays. They will obviously need more pitchers to step up in a longer series, and the offense needs to show up and provide some run support, much more than they did in the Wild Card round. This club is capable of more, and we have seen it, but they’ll need to show it on the field starting on Saturday.

 

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[ashbury]

I am still seriously hoarse this morning from yelling my lungs out the past two days.

[strumdatjag]

OK - I’m ecstatic about this series.  But not everything went right.  Hitting and defense at 3B are two issues. 
Both would be helped by a return of Royce Lewis to 3B with Polanco going to 2B (improving the defense at both positions.  
the hitting then should improve with Julien or possibly Buxton moving to DH. 
 

[DJL44]

I wouldn't necessarily say this team is built on defense. Polanco, Wallner, Julien and Kirilloff are in the starting lineup for offense. Fortunately they have someone (Castro, Farmer, Solano, Stevenson) available to replace all of them defensively if the team takes a lead.

[Aggies7]

7 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

OK - I’m ecstatic about this series.  But not everything went right.  Hitting and defense at 3B are two issues. 
Both would be helped by a return of Royce Lewis to 3B with Polanco going to 2B (improving the defense at both positions.  
the hitting then should improve with Julien or possibly Buxton moving to DH. 
 

100% agree. 
 

This series was decided on Toronto’s complete inability to get a clutch hit even more so than the over-managing and pickoff at 2B. Winning postseason games has always been about taking advantage of a limited number of chances. That’s what killed the twins over the long losing streak. Just couldn’t get the big hit.

The twins will have to hit a whole lot better in this next series. Too many stress free innings for Toronto’s pitching. 
 

I doubt you’ll see Royce at third base this entire postseason. I’m just hoping he stays healthy enough to hit. Unfortunately polanco is a complete liability at third.

[Dave Borton]

 

Quote

 Twins Do Everything Right Against Blue Jays

...and the Jays did everything wrong:

 

 

[Squirrel]

34 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I am still seriously hoarse this morning from yelling my lungs out the past two days.

I don't feel sorry for you 🙂

[jimbo92107]

I do hope Jorge Polanco spends the next couple days fielding a couple hundred grounders at third base. We all appreciate his selfless team spirit, but his glove needs some serious work. He also threw a bad ball to Kiriloff, so his arm at third could use a bunch more throws, too. 

The good news is, we've all witnessed Edouard Julien's improvements at 2nd base. Hard work does pay off. Early season Julien was pretty sketchy in the field. Now, he looks solid, though he still has room for improvement.

[DJL44]

43 minutes ago, jimbo92107 said:

I do hope Jorge Polanco spends the next couple days fielding a couple hundred grounders at third base. We all appreciate his selfless team spirit, but his glove needs some serious work. He also threw a bad ball to Kiriloff, so his arm at third could use a bunch more throws, too. 

The good news is, we've all witnessed Edouard Julien's improvements at 2nd base. Hard work does pay off. Early season Julien was pretty sketchy in the field. Now, he looks solid, though he still has room for improvement.

Even with a hundred extra grounders Polanco will still be a worse 3B option than Farmer, Castro and maybe even Solano. Julien is nearly as good as Polanco at 2B now but that's mainly because Polanco is looking washed up defensively.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I think that the Twins did lots of things right, and also plenty of things wrong -- it's the nature of a baseball game.  We don't really know exactly which decisions would have been viewed more poorly if they had lost.  However, since they won the series 2-0 none of that matters.  Soak in the victory and enjoy it!

[strumdatjag]

2 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

100% agree. 
 

This series was decided on Toronto’s complete inability to get a clutch hit even more so than the over-managing and pickoff at 2B. Winning postseason games has always been about taking advantage of a limited number of chances. That’s what killed the twins over the long losing streak. Just couldn’t get the big hit.

The twins will have to hit a whole lot better in this next series. Too many stress free innings for Toronto’s pitching. 
 

I doubt you’ll see Royce at third base this entire postseason. I’m just hoping he stays healthy enough to hit. Unfortunately polanco is a complete liability at third.

You are correct on the over-managing by Toronto.  Taking Berrios out was particularly DUMB.  

[Hubie29]

Great series win! Hopefully put the hex to rest.  Anybody else completely sick and tired of the missed calls by the home plate umps? My gawd, the umps seem to be getting worse.  Check out the home plate umps "scorecard" after doing a game.  Just Google home plate ump scorecard. It is unbelievable how MLB can allow these habitual bad umps to continue calling games. 20 or more missed pitches seems to be allowed. Did anyone notice when HP ump Fletcher didn't call strike 3 until Jeffers started to throw the ball around the horn? Then he decided to raise his right hand. Comical!

[pierre75275]

If Lewis can't play third the next series I think you will see Farmer play there and in the big moment Polonco pinch hits

[Doctor Wu]

18 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

The twins will have to hit a whole lot better in this next series. Too many stress free innings for Toronto’s pitching. 

Totally agree. Our pitching and some incredible defensive plays sealed those wins over Toronto, but other than those homers by Lewis, and some key hits by Correa, our bats weren't causing any havoc. I hope that changes with the Astros series and we score a LOT more runs!

[DJL44]

13 hours ago, pierre75275 said:

If Lewis can't play third the next series I think you will see Farmer play there and in the big moment Polonco pinch hits

I understand why Rocco does it the other way. He can guarantee Julien and Polanco both hit in the first inning. If they get a lead he can pull them quickly. If Polanco pinch hits then they need to find another player to replace him defensively and the bench starts getting thin.

[JD-TWINS]

On 10/5/2023 at 12:55 PM, strumdatjag said:

OK - I’m ecstatic about this series.  But not everything went right.  Hitting and defense at 3B are two issues. 
Both would be helped by a return of Royce Lewis to 3B with Polanco going to 2B (improving the defense at both positions.  
the hitting then should improve with Julien or possibly Buxton moving to DH. 
 

Julien - Polanco - Lewis are all in the line-up now. Best offense we can muster with our club. Polanco at 3B, while he’s made 2 poor plays (1 throwing error), keeps Lewis healthy enough to keep playing & helps us avoid opposition from picking on Lewis and forcing him to charge balls and stress his leg, via the bunt.

Buxton is hurt.