Make It Official! Twins 11, Angels 5: López Survives Home Run Barrage, Twins Outlast Halos

[Hans Birkeland]

The Twins were looking for their seventh win in a row, which would put their record above .500 for the first time since early April. Reid Detmers shut them down early, but they rallied the second and third times through the lineup, and kept it going en route to an 11-5 thumping of the struggling Angels.

Image courtesy of © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Twins fans have certainly been tempted into unsufferability lately. First, with the team underperforming to a 7-13 start, the sky appeared to be falling. Even so-called "level-headed" analysts thought so and looked for signs of organizational rot to explain such a disaster (Does David Popkins need to be drawn and quartered? Do we even know how to acquire players with plate approaches?) Well, the team won six games in a row on the backs of guys hitting .150 getting their batting average to .200. Lots of guys were hurt, and the schedule was tough. We all should know better by now, and we don't, but the upshot is that the team is now likely to finish April with a .500 or better record.

A similar concern popped up with ace Pablo López. He threw a couple of pitches at 91-92 MPH after a 40-pitch inning his last start and everyone freaked out, thinking he was hurt. I was hoping ending the playoff streak would chill everyone out a bit, but I guess not. Although, I haven't been a fan of a baseball team with recent playoff success since I was 14 so maybe this is all normal.

In any case, the Twins are (probably) fine and so is López, who sat at 93-96 MPH all afternoon.

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Pablo López: 5 IP 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (87 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 63.2%)
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Ryan Jeffers (.166), Austin Martin (.132), Alex Kirilloff (.094)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

The Twins were attempting to sweep the Angels but had to beat Reid Detmers to do so. Detmers has been a good pitcher, and is in the midst of his fourth season in the big leagues, despite being only 24. His stuff is electric from the left side, and he has a no-hitter to prove it. In past years, however, the third time through the order has been a problem for Detmers, along with some shaky command. Last year, the Twins faced Detmers on May 19th and were shut out through five innings, with absolutely no hard contact and twelve strikeouts. They mounted a rally in the sixth and drove Detmers from the game.

Today, Detmers was locked in from the start, painting change-ups and curveballs on the corners and locating his fastball (as hard as 96 MPH) up in the zone.

López was just as good to start, hitting 96 MPH with his fastball and getting whiffs on his offspeed stuff. His body language was confident and his location was sharp.

Both pitchers were perfect through three innings. Ryan Jeffers put an end to that to start the fourth, rifling a double off a hanging curveball to break up the stalemate. Byron Buxton then grounded to third, and Nolan Schanuel couldn't handle the throw, putting runners on first and second and nobody out. The broadcast was advocating for a bunt from three-hole hitter Manuel Margot, and considering Margot is hitting .173 and Detmers was dealing, I was inclined to agree with them. Instead, Margot grounded into a double play, seemingly extinguishing the rally.

Not quite, as Jose Miranda laced a single to left that scored Buxton easily.

Things got worse for Detmers in the fifth. Christian Vazquez singled on a painted slider down and in, and a Resurgent Kyle Farmer roped a double to left, bringing up Austin Martin in a pivotal at-bat. Martin worked the count to 3-2 and then singled sharply through the left side, scoring Vazquez, but also Farmer, who deked the outfielder and scored when the relay was bobbled by catcher Logan O'Hoppe, who had missed a pop-up the previous inning.

Jeffers then hit a pop-up that confused the Trout-less outfield of the Angels, with both Jo Adell and Aaron Hicks having a shot at the ball. It dropped and scored Martin, which probably prompted manager Ron Washington to wonder if he could have his old job in Atlanta back.

This may have caused Detmers to lose focus a little, as he allowed a loud sacrifice fly to Margot, and a ringing double to Miranda before finally stopping the bleeding by retiring Santana on a grounder.

However, the Angels can still hit a little, and they rallied in their half of the fifth, with all damage coming from players who had either had a misplay or error to that point in the game. After retiring the first two hitters fairly easily, López started to lose command, allowing a double to O'Hoppe and a sharp single to Adell before Rengifo launched a 94 MPH fastball from López on the inner half for a two-run homer. Schanuel then went back-to-back with Rengifo on essentially the same pitch, making it a one-run game. López got the final out, but his day was done.

The Twins got some insurance against reliever Luis Garcia in the seventh. Martin led off with a walk, Jeffers scooped a breaking ball off the dirt for a single, and Buxton walked after a lengthy battle to load the bases. Alex Kirilloff hit for Margot and worked the count to 3-1 before launching  a double the other way to score two and swing the momentum back to the Twins' side. Santana hit a grounder to score the eighth run, and Willi Castro stroked a single to right for the ninth.

The Good:
-López's velocity was fine.

-Miranda got the barrel on a couple of balls, as he looked to make the case that he shouldn't be sent down upon Carlos Correa's return. He finished 3-5 with two run-scoring hits.

-Martin also made that case, however, as his fifth-inning RBI single was crucial. He also scored three runs and stole a base.

-Jeffers takes a lot of smart at-bats and has shown an ability to find the barrel even when he expands the zone. He went 3-4, upping his OPS to .964. How long does he have to be this good before he gets an ounce of national recognition? He has a 142 OPS+ since the start of 2023.

-The interchange between LaTroy Hawkins' perspective as a pitcher and Trevor Plouffe's as a hitter is pretty good TV, and hopefully, that makes up for the late start times going forward when the Twins play on the West Coast.

The Bad:
-The Angels. I don't see what the plan is. Four or five balls were hit to their outfield this series where the fielder pulled up, possibly to avoid injury. They mix awkward and sad in equal measure; their fans deserve better.
-López lost the zone and gave up a lot of hard contact in the fifth.

Edouard Julien got looked at by trainers after an awkward swing in the ninth. It looked like he was flexing his elbow, but was allowed to continue the at-bat.

What’s Next: Joe Ryan (1-1, 3.45 ERA) goes against White Sox "ace" Garrett Crochet (1-4, 6.37 ERA) as the Twins look to continue their dominance against Chicago. Crochet has great stuff, however, and the Sox just swept Tampa Bay, so it won't be a cakewalk.

Postgame Interviews:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Jackson	0	0	0	29	0	29
Funderburk	0	0	0	38	0	38
Bowman	6	0	35	0	0	41
Sands	0	13	0	0	35	48
Stewart	11	20	0	0	0	31
Okert	0	10	0	0	29	39
Thielbar	0	13	7	0	0	20
Jax	9	9	0	0	6	24

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[JDubs]

Why not just sweep the Sox again and make it 10 in a row?

[Patzky]

The exhale about Pablo returning to 96 mph vs the inhale with Julien tightening up on a meaningless end of the game at bat.

 

Such is life in Twins town. Don't lose focus in Chicago.. they're a different team with a win streak and a Pham.

[chinmusic]

An immaculate week!  Who would've thunk it....

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

It's funny how the "worst division in baseball" has four teams above .500 and the team with the best record in the American League

[AceWrigley]

Looks like Miranda is getting his hitting confidence back.

[wabene]

Cole Sand's coming out party. Who'd a thunk it? Stretch him out as a starter? He is stretching time and space.

[AceWrigley]

Interesting that Vaske answered the question about why are the Twins hitting now and he replied guys are trying to put the ball in play, hit the hole, hit behind the runner, etc. How long have we been harping on that one around here. Great to see.

[blindeke]

Nice to see the bullpen rested and set up for the next series. Get Duran back soon I hope! And Topa.

[Eris]

Typo. Farmer, who decked the outfielder.

should be deeked 

it would be interesting to see a runner score because he decked the outfielder. The runner would probably be called out for interference or running out of the baseline or unnecessary roughness  

Thank you for the write up  it must be challenging to get a detailed game summary written shortly after the game ends  

 

 

[singlesoverwalks]

"Farmer, who decked the outfielder and scored"

Brilliant tactic - hard to throw home when you're KO'd.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_For_Life said:

It's funny how the "worst division in baseball" has four teams above .500 and the team with the best record in the American League

Baseball's a funny game, ain't it? I mean, the sorry, no-account ChiSox just swept Tampa. Which is why I don't care who we're beating as long as we're winning. A sweep is a sweep: it's awesome no matter who it's against. Heck, I'm happy any time my team wins a series on the road, because if you're doing that consistently you're probably a dang good team.

Wish Lopez could have gotten through the 5th with less damage; he does have some of those "what the hell?" innings where he's absolutely rolling and then it goes sideways. But he survived it and left with a lead. Even better, the offense responded again and piled on 4 more in the 7th.

And the offense sure was hitting today! Jeffers is just a beast right now: he's hitting everything, and getting that offense from your catcher is a huge advantage, and him being able to DH for us with guys injured is great too. (doesn't hurt that Vazquez is looking much better at the plate)

Really happy to see Farmer bust the slump. Miranda also makes not having Royce a lot easier too. Bullpen did the job too.

Keep it up!

[GNess]

Lopez is outstanding, but his "blow up" innings remind me of Berrios with the Twins who had some similar issues for a time.

[Peter]

This was must win today!!! It was very very very important to get over .500 even though it’s only 27 games into season huge huge huge win!!! Sweep the sox!!! Go Twins!!!

[Ghost of Kirby Puckett]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Baseball's a funny game, ain't it? I mean, the sorry, no-account ChiSox just swept Tampa. Which is why I don't care who we're beating as long as we're winning. A sweep is a sweep: it's awesome no matter who it's against. Heck, I'm happy any time my team wins a series on the road, because if you're doing that consistently you're probably a dang good team.

Wish Lopez could have gotten through the 5th with less damage; he does have some of those "what the hell?" innings where he's absolutely rolling and then it goes sideways. But he survived it and left with a lead. Even better, the offense responded again and piled on 4 more in the 7th.

And the offense sure was hitting today! Jeffers is just a beast right now: he's hitting everything, and getting that offense from your catcher is a huge advantage, and him being able to DH for us with guys injured is great too. (doesn't hurt that Vazquez is looking much better at the plate)

Really happy to see Farmer bust the slump. Miranda also makes not having Royce a lot easier too. Bullpen did the job too.

Keep it up!

What is Jeffers gonna cost if he keeps this up? Picked up right where he left last year, and then some! Beast mode!

[jimbo92107]

"...but also Farmer, who decked the outfielder..."

Wow, Farmer must have reeeeally long arms! 

Deked? 

[jimbo92107]

Obviously the Twins followed the advice of those that said "Good teams score six or more runs per game." Better hitting makes the pitching look pretty good. 

[Danchat]

Lopez seems to have a habit of starting the season out slowly and then pitching better as we get into the summer. I don't mind that if we can get that same version of him in September/October.

[UK Twin]

Angels are a mess. Trout deserves better. They should consider trading him and going into a full rebuild. 

Anyway, that week could not have gone any better - all hail the sausage! 🤣

Shame that Lopez couldn't convert his 4 perfect innings into a quality start but I'm not concerned. 

The AL Central has long been mocked as being very weak, but it's threatening to become really competitive. It has two of the best SS's in the game - Correa and Witt, 2 of the best 3B - Lewis and Ramirez and four teams over .500.  Oh, and two flamethrower closers in Duran and Clase. Plenty of worse divisions this year. The NL West is a one horse race, Oakland are currently 3rd in the AL West - enough said there. The NL East has Atlanta, Phillies and not a lot else. 

While KC and Detroit may not reach the play offs this year, they are both competitive and have to be seen as a threat right now. 

 

 

[Doctor Gast]

I was impressed to see when Detmers was pitching well the Twins weren't K'ing out they were putting the ball in play. That eventually they are going to fall in for hits. This gives me hope that they are transforming from SO kings to hitters. Give credit to Popkins for his work & Twins for finally waking up. Twins easily won the game w/o hitting a single HR! Maybe there is hope.

[chinmusic]

9 hours ago, GNess said:

Lopez is outstanding, but his "blow up" innings remind me of Berrios with the Twins

And Sonny Gray as well.  It's troubling, but not really that uncommon.

[Doctor Wu]

11 hours ago, Eris said:

Typo. Farmer, who decked the outfielder.

should be deeked 

I wondered about that sentence, thinking: did I miss a good fight!?

[Doctor Wu]

Hey, we all love home runs, but seeing a game like this with 17 hits and no homers, yet the Twins scoring 11 runs makes me jump for joy! More games like this would be VERY welcome!

[Linus]

Tough play but if Miranda can come up with that shot in the 5th or even knock it down Pablo might have got out of that inning. He’s making the routine plays so that’s a start. 
Martin giving a glimpse of what could be. His profile as a hitter could really round out this lineup. 

[JD-TWINS]

13 hours ago, Twins_Fan_For_Life said:

It's funny how the "worst division in baseball" has four teams above .500 and the team with the best record in the American League

Agreed, it’s not a laugher for sure! ……,the SOX 22 or so losses have helped prop up the rest of the Division a bit though. AND, I typed here yesterday that the Guardians - Tigers - Royals - Twins Strength of Schedules through Saturday were #27 - #26 - #25 - #21 respectively……..the Division may see some regression through May.

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, Danchat said:

Lopez seems to have a habit of starting the season out slowly and then pitching better as we get into the summer. I don't mind that if we can get that same version of him in September/October.

He was perfect for 4 2/3 & then started to get cute, trying to be too fine “around” the plate. After he gave up 2 hits and had thrown a first pitch ball, I see Vazquez calling/gesturing for his change-up down out of the zone - WHY? Both times he got behind more and then a couple inside fastballs, not far enough off the plate, got hit out to RF. His fastball plays and he can spot it …….get ahead and use the other pitches off the fastball…….quit routinely pitching backwards, behind in the count……….was DOMINANT & then just loses mentally with pitch choices. Catcher/bench needs to take some responsibility in the approach.

4 2/3 perfect is pretty good though & perfect doesn’t exist in baseball. Got a win!

[Craig Arko]

2 hours ago, chinmusic said:

And Sonny Gray as well.  It's troubling, but not really that uncommon.

And Brad Radke. Gotta take the tough times with the good. In balance, I expect the good will win with Lopez.

[Whitey333]

Great job Twins!  Doing what you should do.   And that is beating up on the dregs of baseball.  Now tge dreadful White Sox for 3.  I know, they just swept the Ray's.  Who saw that coming??  Anyway let's keep in mind that the Twins winning streak and sudden offensive explosion did come at the hands of those dregs.  Not to minimize it.  But it's true.  The Twins didn't fare all that well earlier this year against teams above .500.  In May we get teams like the Red Sox. Rays, Blue Jay's, Yankees. guardians, etc.  Let's see how we fare then.  Good I hope!.  With Correa and some others soon coming back from injuries, I would expect us to be ultra competitive against some of the top dogs as well.  Let's sweep Chicago again and extend the win streak to 10!  Go Twins!

[Hans Birkeland]

14 hours ago, Eris said:

Typo. Farmer, who decked the outfielder.

should be deeked 

it would be interesting to see a runner score because he decked the outfielder. The runner would probably be called out for interference or running out of the baseline or unnecessary roughness.

Maybe Farmer had a little extra aggression from hitting .050 for four weeks!

[Craig Arko]

51 minutes ago, Hans Birkeland said:

Maybe Farmer had a little extra aggression from hitting .050 for four weeks!

It was the sausage.