Astros 3, Twins 2: The Season is Over

[Thiéres Rabelo]

In an incredibly well-pitched game, the Twins had hopes until the very last pitch of the game, but they couldn’t spark a rally rally. The 2023 Minnesota Twins season is officially over.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (26 pitches, 18 strikes, 69.2%)
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (4), Edouard Julien (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco (-.240), Caleb Thielbar (-.202), Max Kepler (-.117)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Teams exchange solo shots, Ryan gets pulled early
The Twins were doomed on Tuesday afternoon after a poor first inning that saw Sonny Gray give up four runs, and Minnesota was unable to bounce back. This time, though, things looked completely different in the early going as Joe Ryan breezed through the top of the first on only ten pitches. Most fans and pundits wanted the Twins not to throw a pitch to Yordan Álvarez in this series anymore, but Ryan had no trouble getting him to fly out to end the inning.

The offense was also in business early. Édouard Julien led off the home first with a long double to center. It was of no use, though, as Jorge Polanco hit a very soft liner directly at Jeremy Peña, who was able to tag out Julien quickly for a double play. Despite such a deflating play, the Twins didn’t come out empty-handed.

In the following at-bat, Royce Lewis took José Urquidy deep for a line-drive home run to left to make it 1-0 Twins. That was Lewis’ fourth home run this postseason, and he’s now tied with Kirby Puckett for most home runs in a single postseason in franchise history (1991). At four home runs, Lewis is also tied with Greg Gagne for second-most homers all-time in franchise postseason history, behind only Puckett, with five.

Ryan looked sharp again in the top of the second, recording two quick outs on only seven pitches. He got a first-pitch strike against Michael Brantley next, but on the very next pitch, Brantley tied the game with a solo home run to deep center. Chas McCormick singled next, but Ryan took care of Peña to end the inning. That’s when things took an unexpected turn. In a surprising move, Rocco Baldelli pulled Ryan from the game after two innings and only 26 pitches.

Houston takes the lead with another home run
Brock Stewart came in relief of Ryan in the third and took care of business with a 1-2-3 inning on 12 pitches. With the offense going 0-for-7 with a walk after the Lewis home run, the Twins brought lefty Caleb Thielbar in the fourth to face the southpaw trio within the heart of the Astros lineup. He managed to limit Álvarez to a single and struck out Kyle Tucker next. But when righty José Abreu stepped up to the plate, he clobbered an opposite-field two-run shot for his third home run in two days, making it 3-1 Astros.

Chris Paddack took over to get the final out of the fourth, and he went on to toss a flawless 1-2-3 fifth with ease, with a pair of punch outs. While Urquidy continued to make Twins hitters look silly by retiring seven in a row, Paddack looked just as brilliant in the sixth with another 1-2-3 effort, this time against hitters three to five. That included a strikeout against Álvarez. Fans might allow themselves to feel very excited about Paddack’s presence in the Twins rotation next year.

Twins get one back, get Urquidy out of the game
Urquidy made it eight consecutive batters retired when he got Michael A. Taylor to ground out to open the sixth. But his night was about to be over. Julien got his second hit of the night, a solo home run to left, snapping a collective 0-for-14 for the Twins offense since the first inning and cutting Houston’s lead to only one run. Jorge Polanco flied out next, but not before fighting for seven pitches and hitting a bullet (100.7 mph) to deep center.

Dusty Baker brought in Hector Neris to try to get the inning’s final out, but Lewis worked a six-pitch walk to keep the Twins rally going. Max Kepler came to the plate representing the go-ahead run, and he got ahead of Neris in the count, 2-0. But the Astros reliever settled down and, with a big help from home plate umpire Jansen Visconti, got Kepler to “strike out”, ending the inning.

It’s all about the bullpens, and the Astros hold on
Griffin Jax came in to pitch the seventh, and he retired the side, making it ten consecutive Houston batters retired in a row. Had the offense been able to make some noise in the home half, the Twins could get some momentum going. But Neris did a tremendous job tossing a 1-2-3 inning. Then, Jhoan Durán was brought in for the eighth, and he also kept the Twins’ chances alive with a scoreless frame, making it 13 consecutive Astros retired.

Target Field got loud in the bottom of the eighth when Byron Buxton walked up to the on-deck circle. Donovan Solano struck out to open the inning, and Buxton had the chance to tie the game next. His at-bat, however, was short-lived. He took the first two pitches for an even count but swung on the third one to pop out to shallow right. Julien struck out next to end the inning, making it seven consecutive Twins batters retired.

With the Twins season on the line, Durán needed to put up another zero in the top of the ninth. He handed Álvarez his second strikeout of the night on three pitches, then got Tucker to ground out, taking it to the bag himself. After an Abreu single, Brantley jumped on the first pitch for an easy lineout to center.

It was up to Polanco, Lewis, and Kepler against former Twin Ryan Pressly to save Minnesota’s season in the bottom of the ninth. Each of them worked full counts against Pressly, but he didn’t crack, and all three ended up being struck out.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Maeda	43	0	0	25	0	68
Paddack	19	0	0	0	29	48
Ober	0	0	0	38	0	38
Thielbar	18	0	0	0	17	35
Stewart	0	22	0	0	12	34
Durán	0	7	0	0	23	30
Pagán	14	0	0	14	0	28
Jax	0	0	0	9	18	27
Varland	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[AlwaysinModeration]

14 Ks.

[Aggies7]

The better team won for sure.

But I take little solace when I look at what the rangers did and what the dbacks are about to do. Arizona is 15 outs away from their 3rd NLCS appearance in 26 seasons of existence. No one would argue Arizona is a better overall team when they finished 16 games behind LA in the regular season. But they’ve gotten red hot and have largely embarrassed the dodgers.

But here we are, now at 64 seasons of championship-less ball between the twins and Vikings (who will make it 65 in a few weeks). 
 

Happy to have reset the streak(s), but when will it be our turn to win it all?

[Baumer67]

The Twins need a new hitting coach! You can't keep striking out 13-14 times and hope you are going to win!

[Vanimal46]

This team HAS to sign offense in free agency. It’s going to be very tough to replicate the pitching performance from this season. The future depends on Royce Lewis truly being a star for a full season, resolving the Buxton situation, and replacing Sonny Gray/Kenta Maeda. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

2 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

14 Ks.

To which one might add, 3 hits?  2 walks?  What's up with that?

Now we know exactly where we stand, and we also know what we need next year.

Grateful to the club for a fun season that lasted until mid-October. Lots of other teams didn't make it anywhere near as far.

Suppose it's nice in a way that they leave us hungry for more, but let us just be sad for today.

... after that, it's "Wait 'til next year!" 😎

[umterp23]

Popping out to right was very generous description of buxton popping up to 1st. 

[LewFordLives]

The really sad thing is everything was lining up well for the Twins. We owned Texas in the regular season, and that was before they lost Scherzer.

[Aggies7]

As bad as the offense has been, I’m stunned they couldn’t do more against urquidy after that first inning. I mean, the guy was on cruise control. 

[LewFordLives]

Just now, Aggies7 said:

As bad as the offense has been, I’m stunned they couldn’t do more against urquidy after that first inning. I mean, the guy was on cruise control. 

Especially when you consider he was throwing that change every other pitch. They were constantly out front and couldn't make the adjustments.

[GNess]

Enjoyed the season and especially the emergence and development of some talented young players who knowing there are almost no sure things, hopefully will continue to progress.

I have been a Twins fan since 1966, and yes its been a long stretch without a World Series, but I see the WS as possible with a few key additions and the returning core, which have some excellent pieces Lopez, Duran, Correa, Lewis, Jeffers etc.

The spirit, will and grit were there for our Twins, but in the end the Astros are a proven winner and a tough out for sure.

Easier said than done, but the Twins need to add a true middle of the order bat, a legit SP and get Buxton back in the OF for at least 80-100 games. 

I look forward to sharing the off-season and all the back and forth with the Twins Daily Community. 

Win Twins!

[LewFordLives]

I saw some earlier comments about how the Twins need more veteran hitters. Today they had only two rookies in the lineup (Julien and Lewis). Those two combined for 3 hits (including 2 hrs) and 2 walks. That was the entirety of the Twins offense. None of the veterans reached base.

[Aggies7]

In no way am I suggesting a different outcome would have occurred, but was it not curious to have waited to bring paddack in after Ryan since he had the ability to throw the longest? He basically went 3 innings and probably could have gone longer with how well he pitched 

[D.C Twins]

I am now officially all in on the robo-ump.

The ball/strike calls for the Twins in that game was an unadulterated S-Show! 

And make no mistake about it, when it became obvious to the Twins hitters that the Ump was incapable of calling close balls, they had to expand their zone for swinging/chasing. 

I very much wanted Rocco up and out EARLY confronting home umpire even if he was thrown out, because a statement HAD to be made. 

But I am D-O-N-E with umps calling balls/strikes... there is absolutely no need for it anymore. And the transition is not if but when.... so let's make that 'when' happen ASAP

 

[D.C Twins]

On a positive note, watching Paddack pitch made me VERY excited to see him as a SP next year... if he can stay healthy.

He could slide in nicely behind Lopez in the rotation when Gray leaves (and leaves us a nice draft pick from our QO)

[strumdatjag]

I’m going to exude positivity.  This was a fun season.   The future looks like this team will improve.   Correa should return without the aching foot.  Who knows - maybe Byron Buxton can find some snake oil to take to get healthy.  Royce Lewis is here healthy all year - and becoming a leader for this team for the next 5 years, at least.
The rotation will likely lose an aging Sonny Gray.  But Chris Paddack is ready  - did you see his performance tonight????Stop the bitching and moaning - The future is bright.  I’m  looking forward to pitchers and catchers reporting in February.   You will too.  I’m We still believe!!! 

[strumdatjag]

Just now, strumdatjag said:

I’m going to exude positivity.  This was a fun season.   The future looks like this team will improve.   Correa should return without the aching foot.  Who knows - maybe Byron Buxton can find some snake oil to take to get healthy.  Royce Lewis is here healthy all year - and becoming a leader for this team for the next 5 years, at least.
The rotation will likely lose an aging Sonny Gray.  But Chris Paddack is ready  - did you see his performance tonight????Stop the bitching and moaning - The future is bright.  I’m  looking forward to pitchers and catchers reporting in February.   You will too.  I’m We still believe!!! 

And one more name - Brooks Lee!!!

[knothole61]

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. -Bart Giamatti

[gunnarthor]

The Twins exceeded my expectations by a lot. I said at the beginning of the year that, if you squint, you could see a really good offense. And, despite the last few games, I think that holds true. There are certainly things to worry about for next year but take a moment and enjoy that we ended an ugly post-season streak, beat the Yankees, and won a game in Houston. Spring training will be here in no time. Hopefully, I'll be able to actually watch more games next season.

[Unwinder]

At the beginning of the season we were all saying that it would be a success if the Twins won a playoff game. They did that and more. I had a lot of fun, and I have a lot of hope for the future. Obviously I'd be even happier if they went further or if the last two games were less obviously flawed, but this is the best postseason we've had since I started watching. I'll take it, happily.

[darwin22]

11 minutes ago, GNess said:

Enjoyed the season and especially the emergence and development of some talented young players who knowing there are almost no sure things, hopefully will continue to progress.

I have been a Twins fan since 1966, and yes its been a long stretch without a World Series, but I see the WS as possible with a few key additions and the returning core, which have some excellent pieces Lopez, Duran, Correa, Lewis, Jeffers etc.

The spirit, will and grit were there for our Twins, but in the end the Astros are a proven winner and a tough out for sure.

Easier said than done, but the Twins need to add a true middle of the order bat, a legit SP and get Buxton back in the OF for at least 80-100 games. 

I look forward to sharing the off-season and all the back and forth with the Twins Daily Community. 

Win Twins!

Like you, I will focus my comments on the POSITIVES from this season rather than concentrating on the improvements/upgrades that need to happen next season.

The positives:

1.  Winning not only our 1st playoff game in 18 seasons, but winning a series while recording 3 playoff wins.

Sitting under .500 at the ASB (45-46) after getting swept by Baltimore at home---how many fans predicted this result?  Not me.

2.  Having the best pitching staff--top to bottom---in Twins history.  Yes, thats a pretty bold statement, but the facts prove it to be true.  

MLB ranks for 2023 regular season:

Quality Starts:  1st (76)

K's:  1st  (1560)

WHIP:  4th (1.20)

Fewest BB allowed:  4th (443)

ERA:  6th (3.87)

Opponents batting avg:  6th  (.236)

3.  Getting key contributions from role players-----Farmer, Solano, Taylor & Castro  as well as from numerous rookies---Lewis, Wallner and Julien.

4.  A bullpen that showed significant production after the ASB.  Pagan was probably the least likely, but was very good the last 2 months.  Varland--a possible starter next season, was excellent in his bullpen role.  Stewart, although very late return, showed he can be a trusted late inning RP next season.

Nice to see the raucous environment at Target Field over the last two weeks.  Just beyond frustrating to see the offense only produce 3 runs the last two days.

 

[rv78]

1 hour ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

To which one might add, 3 hits?  2 walks?  What's up with that?

Now we know exactly where we stand, and we also know what we need next year.

Grateful to the club for a fun season that lasted until mid-October. Lots of other teams didn't make it anywhere near as far.

Suppose it's nice in a way that they leave us hungry for more, but let us just be sad for today.

... after that, it's "Wait 'til next year!" 😎

Really? Now we Know? You didn't see that before? Which Twins team have you been watching all season? The all or nothing approach didn't work in 2019, last year, this year, and it never will. Why are they still trying to make it happen? The philosphy of this FO and Manager to swing for the fences will never win a Championship. They got past Toronto due to pitching, not hitting. It takes BOTH to win Championships. Urquidy had an ERA over 5 and the Twins got 1 hit today against him in 5 2/3 innings that wasn't a HR. That "all or nothing" has been "nothing" almost all the time. The great Rocco managed his team into the playoffs and Yes they ended the losing streak, only to be embarrassed at home by striking out 28 times in the last 2 games scoring a grand total of 3 runs on 6 hits against the other teams #3 and #4 pitchers. Even in Game 3 when Rocco had 7 walks to go with the 3 hits he managed to sacrifice zero times, steal zero bases, and manufacture zero runs. Thats great managing there folks. And then he pulls his Game 4 starter after 2 innings and 26 pitches where 18 of them were strikes. Hardly a vote of confidence there going forward. It's no wonder these young players play with their tails between their legs. Even their Manager doesn't believe in them. 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

A pretty good game, despite the result. Pulling Joe Ryan was probably the right move. But as someone said, if that’s the amount of confidence you have in your #3 guy, you are in a tough spot. Jax got outs and didn’t seem overwhelmed by the moment. Thielbar not so much. I’m not sure what the Buxton thing was all about. The crowd was already amped up enough, didn’t need an out there. Maybe someone who was at the game will chime in. The bottom half of the order unfortunately did not show up at all. 

But overall, a very good game. The better team won. The Twins have a long way to go to get to Houston’s level. 

[jimbo92107]

First, congratulations to everybody in the Twins organization. This is the first season in a long time that the team did not look overmatched heading into the playoffs. 

Second, the future really does look bright for the organization. Even if a few veteran starters do depart, look at the prospect list: SWR, David Festa, Matt Canterino are set to emerge in 2024, along with Brooks Lee, Austin Martin, and maybe Yunior Severino. 

Third, the Twins appear to have an emerging superstar in Royce Lewis, a surprise star in Edouard Julien, and maybe a healthy Chris Paddack as a starter. 

The window for this young team is just starting to open. Let's hope they stay healthy and hungry. 

Go Twins!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

And a shoutout to the home crowd! 

[Aggies7]

13 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

A pretty good game, despite the result. Pulling Joe Ryan was probably the right move. But as someone said, if that’s the amount of confidence you have in your #3 guy, you are in a tough spot. Jax got outs and didn’t seem overwhelmed by the moment. Thielbar not so much. I’m not sure what the Buxton thing was all about. The crowd was already amped up enough, didn’t need an out there. Maybe someone who was at the game will chime in. The bottom half of the order unfortunately did not show up at all. 

But overall, a very good game. The better team won. The Twins have a long way to go to get to Houston’s level. 

The buxton thing was wild. Expecting to catch lightning in a bottle going against a guy who hadn’t allowed a run since July. I mean what were the odds that was going to work? I guess they figured the odds were better than letting MAT hit, which doesn’t say very much at all for him

[SwainZag]

8 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

A pretty good game, despite the result. Pulling Joe Ryan was probably the right move. But as someone said, if that’s the amount of confidence you have in your #3 guy, you are in a tough spot. Jax got outs and didn’t seem overwhelmed by the moment. Thielbar not so much. I’m not sure what the Buxton thing was all about. The crowd was already amped up enough, didn’t need an out there. Maybe someone who was at the game will chime in. The bottom half of the order unfortunately did not show up at all. 

But overall, a very good game. The better team won. The Twins have a long way to go to get to Houston’s level. 

After the fact you can nitpick everything. 

The bullpen was incredible.   Thielbar threw one bad pitch to Abreu. Other than that the own was lights out for 7 innings.  You couldn't have asked for much more.

The Twins batters had 7 innings to score 2 runs to tie. 

Tayor was 2-13, 2 singles with 5 K's in the playoffs, I like the play with Buck, unfortunately he got jammed.

I like the Twins future.  They made it this far with a very inexperienced club.   They got beat by a better team. 

[Rosterman]

The swings and misses, combined with just looking at too many pitches. Something has to be done.

Bullpen exceptional. Whole different game if Thielbar had not served up that homer ball, sadly.

At least Buxton didn't strike out.

Did Castro forget how to bunt for a hit? Make something happen, man. Every guy looked like they were waiting for a pitch to hit for a home run.

Ryan did fine. Could he have gone 3-4-5 innings? We will never know. My biggest worry, suddenly an extra inning game and who pitches for the Twins.

[DocBauer]

I'm very proud of this team, despite what happened the last 2 games. And I say that as a fanatic. I mean, did they choke at home with momentum on their side going in to games 3 and 4? Yes. But after a .500 1st half underachieving and a better 2nd half and showing real promise after sweeping the 1st round and a LOT of potential on this team and what's still to be and coming up, find myself pleased. 

• The various streaks of 0-18 are gone. No playoff wins are gone. We can now just recognize the fact that we are a good team with a good future in front of us.
• Got a lot of young talent as a basis. And I do believe there is a learning curve or preparation for that next step. 

Next step is the offseason. 

And we're going to have months to talk about that. There's a lot to like about this team going forward!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

12 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

The buxton thing was wild. Expecting to catch lightning in a bottle going against a guy who hadn’t allowed a run since July. I mean what were the odds that was going to work? I guess they figured the odds were better than letting MAT hit, which doesn’t say very much at all for him

It’s gotta hurt if you are Taylor there, a veteran center fielder who played his guts out for you all season, and at least had half a chance to run into one and go yard. It felt like Buxton was a 100-1 shot to do anything there, like you said.