Make It Official! Twins 3, White Sox 2: Clutch Kepler, Steely Thielbar Slam Door on Sox

[Nate Palmer]

With the win streak at seven, the Twins grinded out a win to extend the string to eight. It took a Santana home run, Kepler RBI single, and big relief appearances from Jax and Thielbar to secure the win. 

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (86 pitches, 59 strikes (68.6%)
Home Runs: Carlos Santana (4)
Top 3 WPA: Caleb Thielbar (0.164), Joe Ryan (0.164), Max Kepler (0.122)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Riding a seven-game win streak, the Minnesota Twins received good news as Carlos Correa was activated and started the game Monday. Of course, one player's good news often results in the opposite for someone else. That someone was Austin Martin, who was sent back to St. Paul to make room for Correa.

The Twins faced off against Garret Crochet once again, whom they were only allowed to go 4.0 innings and scored five runs against back on April 24th. The Crochet that came out Monday didn’t look like that version of the left-hander. Instead, he looked much more like the version that opened the season. Included in Crochet's opening few starts were 7.0 IP, 1 ER, and 8 K’s against the dangerous Atlanta Braves. 

In a puzzling move, the White Sox did pull Crochet early. This was a welcome sight for Twins batters, as he pitched five innings and struck out seven. 

The White Sox offense also looked much different early in the game. Chicago has been struggling with fastballs and got to Joe Ryan’s fastball early and often. Nicky Lopez singled sharply up the middle, setting up an Andrew Vaugn RBI double. Before the end of the inning, Vaughn would score on a double-play ball that would put the Sox up early 2-0. 

Carlos Slamtana with Sausage Power
That White Sox lead held just until the second inning. The Twins roared back as Manual Margot took a walk, setting the stage for Carlos Santana to hit his fourth home run in five days. And yes, the sausage made another appearance, flying out of the Twin's dugout into Santana's hands. 

Unlikely Stolen Base Duo
The Twins were moving on the bases Monday evening. Willi Castro was the first to swipe a bag in the second inning. We are used to Castro swiping bags, but it is the next guy who we  need to get used to being involved in the running part of the running game. Christian Vazquez also stole second on a close play in the seventh inning. That puts Castro and Vazquez in a four-way tie with Austin Martin and Kyle Farmer for the team stolen base lead at two. 

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Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on.

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The Twins and White Sox would stay tied at two from the second inning until the ninth. It was then that two long-time outfield mates got the offense going again for the Twins. Byron Buxton finally got a hold of a ball and ripped it to left field for a double. Max Kepler followed him up with an RBI single to right field, which gave Buxton plenty of time to score and go up 3-2.  

On a night when it seemed Joe Ryan wasn’t at his best, he still gave the Twins a great outing. Only allowing two runs put his team in a position to win as long as the offense could do its job. Ryan also helped produce nine swings and misses against White Sox batters. 

The Twins could then work through their bullpen with Brock Stewart into Griffin Jax into Caleb Thielbar to close the win. Jax especially had to find a way through a tough inning and a tough stretch of the White Sox lineup and did so successfully. 

The Twins now own an eight-game win streak and are 8-0 against under .500 teams. It is one more successful step as the Twins climb back up the division ladder after their rough start. 

What’s Next?
The newest fixture in the Twins rotation, Simeon Woods Richardson, will take his turn on Tuesday. Wood Richardson will look to put together a third strong start for his young season. The Twins will see Mike Soroka start again. He was strong against the Twins initially, but their bats eventually got him. Twins hitters would undoubtedly like to get to him earlier on Tuesday. 

Postgame Interviews

 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	19
Sands	13	0	0	35	0	48
Okert	10	0	0	29	0	39
Funderburk	0	0	38	0	0	38
Jax	9	0	0	6	22	37
Bowman	0	35	0	0	0	35
Stewart	20	0	0	0	15	35
Jackson	0	0	29	0	0	29
Thielbar	13	7	0	0	0	20

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[big dog]

I apologize for saying I thought the Twins needed to replace Santana. Unless he reads TD and wanted to prove me wrong. In which case, Carlos you are still a washed-up bum. You have to hit 3 more HRs this week to convince me.

[jimbo92107]

I can hardly wait for the Twins to win the division with 100 games, and the RBI Sausage to be turning interesting shades of green and blue!

[Mike Sixel]

It's good when they win 

[darwin22]

Nice win especially with the offense going pretty stagnant for the majority of the game.  Great to see leadoff double by Buxton in 9th and then Kepler coming up clutch with go ahead line drive RBI single.

Can't agree with headline, ' Thielbar slams the door in 9th' as he allowed a 1-out walk and then a single to Grossman on an 0-2 count to move things to indigestion time.  Glad to see he finished off their rookie catcher relying on his curveball.

Will be feeling much better when Duran (hopefully this weekend) is back as our closer.  Adding Topa to the bullpen mix will make for some interesting decisions.  

My 2 cents with looming additions of Duran and Topa:

1.  Funderburk to SP:  Tough call as he's performed significantly better than Okert.  He has options remaining, wheras I don't believe Okert does.  If either Okert or Thielbar need an IL stint, Funderburk will quickly be back as I'm sure Baldelli wants a second LHP in the pen.

2.  DFA Jay Jackson:  Nothing against Jackson, but imo, Bowman has pitched better and is four years younger.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jocko87]

I struggle with Ryan and Thielbar having the same WPA in this game.  Any tough situations Caleb gets credit for he would also get the blame for.  You can't pitch yourself into a save situation.

Joe doesn't get appropriate credit for 6 innings of loss avoidance. 

Duran, on the other hand.  All the WPA tomorrow.

[jorgenswest]

12 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

I struggle with Ryan and Thielbar having the same WPA in this game.  Any tough situations Caleb gets credit for he would also get the blame for.  You can't pitch yourself into a save situation.

Joe doesn't get appropriate credit for 6 innings of loss avoidance. 

Duran, on the other hand.  All the WPA tomorrow.

Would his WPA be the same if he had struck out the side? Is it the difference between the time he entered and the time he left?

[Danchat]

Thielbar doesn't have any pitches in the bullpen tracker. Speaking of which, last I read the bullpen is 3rd in ERA and getting Duran and Topa back this week... this is a really good unit. Legitimate depth too with having to keep Alcala in AAA. A great problem to have!

[D.C Twins]

Can't complain about managing a win with 3 runs on 4 hits while giving up only 2 runs on 8 hits. 

[D.C Twins]

Manuel Mar-got-to-stay-out-of-the-line-up-for-the-foreseeable-future

[Jocko87]

39 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Would his WPA be the same if he had struck out the side? Is it the difference between the time he entered and the time he left?

I'm not sure, I'm going to dig into the math tomorrow.  Walking a guy and giving up a hit increased the leverage index which is part of the equation.  Seems like a closer that's always a wild ride would be off the charts WPA.  

[RpR]

[GNess]

Pitching + Defense is a way to win too. Scoring runs like the Twins were the past week, while fun to watch just isn't sustainable over the long haul. Need to win a lot 3-2 type games to be a real contender typically.

[hitterscount]

Didn’t think they had this in them. When Correa and Lewis went down was hoping to hang around.500. They looked like sh** with their plate approaches and weren’t playing fundamental ball. Winning 8 in a row and going over .500, albeit against really bad teams, has them back in the hunt. The schedule stiffens again the next two weeks and will show if this team is for real.

[AlwaysinModeration]

There were eight golden pitches last night; the two to Pham, three to Grossman, and three to Lee.  Once Mendick walked, the game could have ended in a win or a loss on any of those pitches.

[UK Twin]

The good thing about this 8 game winning streak is that there have been all kinds of different wins. The blow out wins are good for the heart rate but it's those narrow one run wins that really show what you're made of. 

Thielbar hasn't got the stuff to be a closer really, especially in a one run game but mixed his pitches enough to get the job done. Thankfully Duran is now back so we have our closer back. 

Correa is going to make such a difference defensively. When he was out Castro did a decent job at SS but there were some plays he didn't make that I think Correa would have done. Nothing on Castro, it just makes me appreciate just how good a SS Correa is and how lucky we are to have him. 

[CRF]

Nice win, but why is Thielbar closing games? 

[Doctor Gast]

7 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Nice win especially with the offense going pretty stagnant for the majority of the game.  Great to see leadoff double by Buxton in 9th and then Kepler coming up clutch with go ahead line drive RBI single.

Can't agree with headline, ' Thielbar slams the door in 9th' as he allowed a 1-out walk and then a single to Grossman on an 0-2 count to move things to indigestion time.  Glad to see he finished off their rookie catcher relying on his curveball.

Will be feeling much better when Duran (hopefully this weekend) is back as our closer.  Adding Topa to the bullpen mix will make for some interesting decisions.  

My 2 cents with looming additions of Duran and Topa:

1.  Funderburk to SP:  Tough call as he's performed significantly better than Okert.  He has options remaining, wheras I don't believe Okert does.  If either Okert or Thielbar need an IL stint, Funderburk will quickly be back as I'm sure Baldelli wants a second LHP in the pen.

2.  DFA Jay Jackson:  Nothing against Jackson, but imo, Bowman has pitched better and is four years younger.

There are some teams that need RPs. We have an overabundance of them. Especially if you include Varland, who I wish they would & Alcala is too good to be in AAA. We should trade some that have no options.

[Doctor Gast]

11 SOs it's a game we should lose even with a team like CWS. A win is a win. Give credit to the BP & pinstripes. Go Twins! Make it 10 in a row.

[Peter]

Close game got nervous at end but we got the win!!!

[MABB1959]

So sad to see Martin sent down.  He needs to be given time to show what he has.  Could they send down Farmer or Margot?

[Patzky]

8 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Manuel Mar-got-to-stay-out-of-the-line-up-for-the-foreseeable-future

I agree but then he scores the game's first run. 

Someone is always stepping up to the sausage and you never know who it will be.

[Karbo]

Rocco's pen management leaves Jax unavailable and Thielbar closing? Hope Duran comes back for Tue. game.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Won't lie. Serious white knuckle time watching Thielbar face the righthanded batters - especially Pham.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Not easy to beat a team 5 straight times - within a week's timeframe. We'll see if they can push it to 6 and then 7. Not going to discredit any of these wins during the streak.

[LastOnePicked]

That Saran-wrapped summer sausage seems to have salvaged the season.

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

I struggle with Ryan and Thielbar having the same WPA in this game.  Any tough situations Caleb gets credit for he would also get the blame for.  You can't pitch yourself into a save situation.

Joe doesn't get appropriate credit for 6 innings of loss avoidance. 

What you're noticing is that WPA is a really bad accounting system.

[jorgenswest]

9 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

I'm not sure, I'm going to dig into the math tomorrow.  Walking a guy and giving up a hit increased the leverage index which is part of the equation.  Seems like a closer that's always a wild ride would be off the charts WPA.  

You can see the wild ride in the part of the chart that shows the bottom of the 9th. The three outs are the down slopes and contribute positively to Thielbar’s WPA. The two baserunner’s slope up and contribute negatively to his WPA. In the end they balance out and his final WPA is the same as it would have been if he had struck out the side. The Twins probability of winning went from 83.6% to start the bottom of the 9th to 100% at the end. The difference is Thielbar’s win probability added.

WPA helps to tell the story of the game but really isn’t useful for predicting future performance or even in evaluating in game performance. 

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Karbo said:

Rocco's pen management leaves Jax unavailable and Thielbar closing? Hope Duran comes back for Tue. game.

Would you prefer to throw away last night's game in order to save pitcher's for today's game? Pretty sure Rocco gets buried for that, so guess there's no way for him to win. Jax faced the top of the lineup in the 8th and Thielbar came in with 2 lefty hitters on tap for the 9th. Seems perfectly fine usage, 

Tight game and a good win with quiet bats. Ryan came out slow but really settled down for a good outing on a night when he wasn't getting the usual levels of K's. Nice to see the team turn a couple of double plays behind him.

[Twins GFP]

You play who you play.  Beating up on two terrible teams is a necessity.  The hope is that this builds some confidence going forward.