Red Sox 9, Twins 2: Streak Ends Amid Physical and Mental Mistakes

[Hans Birkeland]

The Twins looked primed to extend their winning streak Sunday, applying ample early pressure on offense. But some bad at-bats in key situations, mental lapses and Angel Hernandez ensured that the streak would go no further than 12.

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins have had a difficult time losing of late. They haven't dominated teams offensively, Atlanta Braves-style, where they come out bashing the opposing starting pitcher into oblivion. In fact, they have been shut down offensively for the first half of many games during the streak. They haven't allowed 20 total runs in 21 starting pitching outings, a la the Seattle Mariners. They've just been hanging around until the sixth, seventh, or eighth inning and finding a way to win. Would that be the case again today?

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB 5 K (95 Pitches, 62 Strikes, 65.2%)
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (6)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (-.194), Willi Castro (-.151), Manuel Margot (-.097)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Joe Ryan has been the team's best starter thus far, so the timing was right for the Twins to make this a 13-gamer, especially with the Red Sox sporting a getaway day lineup with Rafael Devers at DH and team home run leader Tyler O'Neill getting the day off.

Ryan was sharp early, conscious of the approach the White Sox took in his last turn in which they jumped on the first fastball they saw. That seemed to be on leadoff hitter Jarren Duran's mind, but the fastball he got was well off the plate, and Duran popped out weakly. Ryan then dominated the at-bat against all-world hitter Devers, who was fortunate to stay alive against a 1-2 splitter below the zone, and then got locked up on a painted 4-seamer down and in.

Boston started Cooper Criswell, whom they signed as a minor-league free agent this offseason after he was cut loose by the Rays. Generally, if the Rays can't squeeze any value out of you, it might be time to hang 'em up, but Criswell has had a strong start to the year and continues that trend today. His arsenal doesn't jump off the page, as he topped out barely above 90 MPH on his fastball, while his changeup and sweeper don't boast elite spin rates. But as old friend Tommy Milone shows us every two or three years, sometimes, that just doesn't matter for a short period.

After a quick first inning, Criswell allowed consecutive singles to Max Kepler, Carlos Correa, and Trevor Larnach to start the second. I have long lamented that Kepler is the least aggressive baserunner (proportional to his speed) in the league, and that came back to bite the Twins, as he did not attempt to score on Larnach's single--despite being around third by the time the right fielder got to the ball, I say that because Willi Castro, Carlos Santana, and Jose Miranda all got carved up by Criswell, who escaped the no-out, bases-loaded jam without a scratch.

Criswell would not be so fortunate in the third, as Ryan Jeffers jumped on a splitter below the zone for a solo home run. Criswell was genuinely surprised by that outcome, but Jeffers seems intent on making the All-Star team and guessed the pitch perfectly.

That would prove important, because Ryan ran into trouble in the fourth. After an excuse-me schtoink by the speedster Duran turned into a double, Devers advanced him to third with a grounder, and then old friend Rob Refsnyder singled sharply off of Correa's glove for Boston's first run. Ryan recovered to retire Wilyer Abreu on a short fly ball and induced a weak grounder from Vaughn Grissom.

The fifth, too, was a struggle, though initially not due to any mistakes from Ryan. After Reese McGuire was jammed, and blooped a single to center, Ryan's pickoff throw was dropped by the usually sure-handed Santana. McGuire (who was catching, mind you) then stole third base upon review after Miranda bungled the tag. Then it was Angel Hernandez's time.

Ryan was under the impression that he had an 0-2 count on the batter, Ceddanne Rafaela, but Hernandez had called the pitch that McGuire ran on a ball, despite it being a clear strike. Ryan was rattled, and he threw a few "angry" fastballs before missing his location by a foot, and the talented but free-swinging Rafaela took advantage, smoking the inside fastball 105 MPH into the left field seats, making it 3-1 Red Sox. Perhaps Anthony Edwards could give Ryan a few pointers on composure in big moments, after being the victim of a terrible call.

The Twins squandered a few scoring opportunities in the sixth and seventh, and the Red Sox made them pay in the second inning of Kody Funderburk's afternoon. Devers singled, and lefty-masher O'Neill then pinch hit and singled to left, which was played into a double via a bobble from Manuel Margot. After a walk, Grissom launched a double off the right-center field wall to drive home two and put the game out of reach.

In case that was in question, Margot, who came up short with men on base twice after pinch-hitting for Alex Kirilloff before his bobble earlier, dropped a fly ball off the bat of Dominic Smith, allowing the sixth and seventh runs to score. It was ruled a double, much to Funderburk's chagrin.

A Kepler double and Larnach single made the game 7-2 in the bottom of the eighth, but Devers unloaded on a Jay Jackson offering in the ninth with one on to officially put any thoughts of a comeback to rest.

The Good:
-Ryan's stuff was sharp, and he got through six innings.
-Jeffers will not be denied with his impressive home run and his throw to third should have resulted in an out with McGuire running in the fourth.
-Santana had some hard contact, resulting in two hits leading off innings. Unfortunately, hitting behind him was:

The Bad:
-Miranda, who looked overmatched in all his at-bats, falling behind and contributing very weak contact, outside of his strikeout in the seventh.
-Ryan's mind. We saw glimpses of this in 2022, pre-pitch clock, when batters would step out of the box repeatedly to get under Ryan's skin and upset his rhythm. He will likely look back at this start as one in which he made one bad pitch, and yet he took the loss because he was rattled for just a moment.
-Margot appears to be the Twins version of Shake Milton on the Timberwolves. His acquisition made total sense, but nothing he has done has worked for the first month and a half. Provided Byron Buxton can return, Margot's roster spot is better utilized by Austin Martin, who can do everything Margot does, and potentially better.

What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 2.45 ERA) goes against Mariners ace Luis Castillo (3-4, 3.46 ERA) as the team looks to start a new winning streak against a Seattle team that both were projected to and has, the best rotation in baseball. The series will feature the return of Jorge Polanco, the former fan favorite offloaded this offseason while the team was building its giant sinkhole to throw fan morale into.

Postgame Interviews:

Rocco Baldelli reacts following the loss to the Red Sox. #MNTwins #MLB pic.twitter.com/5sTqRUnfBr

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 5, 2024

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Jax	10	0	11	0	0	21
Funderburk	0	0	0	0	42	42
Thielbar	0	0	7	0	0	7
Durán	0	0	11	15	0	26
Sands	0	0	12	9	0	21
Alcalá	0	0	0	21	0	21
Jackson	0	0	0	0	35	35
Okert	13	0	0	14	0	27

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[CRF]

Joe deserved better, than this game turned out to be. 

[LastOnePicked]

Season over. Again.

Kidding. Try to win or split every series, fellas. Build on the momentum of the last few weeks.

[Patzky]

Really.. bases loaded nobody out.. was the game there and a flashback to darker days. 

 

Was a nice run though. Now.. Hip Hip!

[ashbury]

Thud.

I give the umpire zero blame for this fiasco.

Go get 'em tomorrow, though.

[bean5302]

Kody Funderburk in single inning appearances:
1.59 ERA, 0.68 FIP, 1.17 xFIP, 15.88 K/9, 1.59 BB/9
and in multi-inning appearances
9.00 ERA, 6.49 FIP, 4.67 xFIP, 7.9 K/9, 5.6 BB/9

Can somebody get that memo to Rocco Baldelli? It seems he has Funderburk confused with MIRP...
 

[USAFChief]

A few points:

-Angel Hernandez had absolutely nothing to do with today's loss.

-Rocco continues with the middle innings PHing. Maddening.

-Margot not only can't hit, he can't play OF either. But he ain't going anywhere, folks.

-Pretty terrible ABs today.

-I'd imagine Funderbunk finds himself in St Paul tomorrow. Over 40 pitches today.

All that said, it's one loss. Get em tomorrow. 

 

[mnfireman]

2 of 3 against Boston is a good weekend. That being said, the team lost today due to known weak spots that couldn't be overcome.

- Ryan pitched well, but "lost it" for a couple pitches and it cost him.

- Julien watching hittable/spoilable pitches for strike 3.

- Miranda. He was horrible in all aspects of the game today.

- Margot - see Miranda.

- Santana hit well today, but made what should have been scored his second error this week.

The team's approach at the plate is terrible - inexcusable to not score with bases loaded and zero outs, not advancing runners, some guys watch too many hittable pitches, and others swing at unhittable pitches.

The defensive problems that had been overcome throughout the winning streak finally caught up to them - I've seen players DFA'd after games like Margot had today, and today's game wasn't a blip on an otherwise solid year for him.

The bullpen threw too many hittable pitches, turning a close game into a relatively easy win for Boston.

And, as seems to happen more often than not, Rocco's decisions didn't play out well while the opposing managers did.

All is not lost, but with Seattle and Toronto up next with no off day until a week from tomorrow, things need to tighten up on the fly.

 

[jimbo92107]

I didn't watch the whole game today, but I saw enough to know one thing: You can't blame this one on the sausage. Its contributions to the win-streak have been nothing, if not consistent. A pet rock could do no better. 

As we all know, winning baseball is all about applying pressure, with pitching, hitting, and fielding. I used to add baserunning, but...meh...

Boston traditionally is good at applying pressure, and today they did a better job of it than did our guys. 

Can't blame that on the sausage.

[Sutter50]

Margot is not going anywhere until Buxton is back maybe

[Patzky]

54 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

A few points:

-Angel Hernandez had absolutely nothing to do with today's loss.

-Rocco continues with the middle innings PHing. Maddening.

-Margot not only can't hit, he can't play OF either. But he ain't going anywhere, folks.

-Pretty terrible ABs today.

-I'd imagine Funderbunk finds himself in St Paul tomorrow. Over 40 pitches today.

All that said, it's one loss. Get em tomorrow. 

 

Note to Margot and  selves.. Wallner has flipped the proverbial switch in St Paul again. Too soon?  

[ashbury]

32 minutes ago, Sutter50 said:

Margot is not going anywhere until Buxton is back maybe

During his career Margot has had months like this - low batting average that is close to empty - and he's bounced back.  He isn't 30 yet, but it's disturbing that it happens at the start of a season.  There's such a thing as "an old 29," especially where his reputed skill set is concerned. 

Still, there's no guarantee that an untested rookie, like Keirsey would be, would do better in the coming month than the veteran will, were that veteran to, um, "disappear."  Who else would get the nod at the moment, Wallner? E-Rod?

No guarantee Keirsey'd do worse though.  All in all, Margot's a sunk cost - how he was acquired is of no relevance - and disposing of him in favor of a 27-year old (eight days from now) with CF skills and an unproven bat would be my preference to the present train wreck.  If Keirsey becomes a different train wreck, address it at that time.

This is hard to stomach.

[Danchat]

Can't win 'em all! If we only have a clunker game like this once every 13 games, I can live with that.

Seems like Jay Jackson is in the long reliever role, but I haven't been impressed with him so far. His actual numbers are better than what it has seemed for him.

Interested to see how we fare against the Mariners, of whom is in first place surprisingly. Will the momentum from the winning streak peter out or will the winning continue?

[wabene]

Tough matchup Castillo vs SWR. GET IT

[Craig Arko]

Re-group and do better tomorrow. 

[KirbyDome89]

24 minutes ago, ashbury said:

If Keirsey becomes a different train wreck, address it at that time.

This is the key. Margot's perceived ceiling, and his role on this team, doesn't justify waiting around and hoping he bounces back. Keirsey could be a total flop, but he at least has options remaining. If the Twins can't rotate through internal candidates, they no doubt could scour the streets for a LF/RF who is average at best with the glove and provides nothing offensively.  

[D.C Twins]

 

Alas....all streaks come to an end......

[Eris]

59 minutes ago, ashbury said:

 

Still, there's no guarantee that an untested rookie, like Keirsey would be, would do better in the coming month than the veteran will, were that veteran to, um, "disappear."  Who else would get the nod at the moment, 

Hmm!  Austin Martin was on the bench. He can hit better and field better than Margot. Maybe I missed something, was there a reason Martin was unavailable. 

[mikelink45]

I hate to pile on, but Margot has given us nothing.  You know we will not resign him.  Move on - Martin, Wallner - he is not needed.  With Farmer and Santana still under the 200 line we do not need another weak hitter coming in - especially PH for a good hitter.  

The Twins were bound to lose a game, but I would have liked a crisp close loss.  But we can move on.  It is Margot that I can't move on from because the Twins won't move on.

[ashbury]

26 minutes ago, Eris said:

Hmm!  Austin Martin was on the bench. He can hit better and field better than Margot. Maybe I missed something, was there a reason Martin was unavailable. 

I've expressed myself often enough about Martin's defense.  I had assumed that Margot was obtained as a backup CF.  That is simply not what Margot's role has turned out to be, and both Martin and Castro are merely acceptable in short stints there but are not legitimate Plan B's.  Elevating Keirsey at this point would be to fill a gaping hole on defense.  The gamble would be his bat, which at the moment seems promising at AAA but could implode. 

The other choices mentioned could fill the roster spot itself if the FO moved on from Margot, but I'm really talking about the role.  CF, like SS, needs a dedicated specialist as the backup.  We had that last season in MAT, who was not exactly good as a starter but was way better than the choices we have now for extended duty.

[RpR]

Margot is not the problem, annoying yes, but not more than a zit on a fleas ass.

I do think they should bring Keirsey Jr. up for a look see and take Wallner off of he 40 man briefly.

Wallner is Mimicking Gallo, as is Julien, while Miranda and Castro fell apart today but a look see at Keirsey would be interesting.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

take Wallner off of he 40 man briefly.

Do you believe that is an achievable outcome?

If you (leading a FO) are "done" with Wallner, find the best trade offer you can get.  Because if you take him off the 40, that means passing him through waivers, and some bottom feeder team will gladly take him off your hands, leaving you no return at all.

Even "cash considerations" will be better than nothing.  It's what the Twins did in discarding Matt Bowman, as they apparently found a couple of teams interested in claiming him and gave the Diamondbacks a chance to jump the league's priority line to get him.  Wallner has more trade value than Bowman, surely.

But doing that is not "briefly."  It means washing your hands of Wallner entirely and forever.

I'm fine with anyone stating nearly any opinion about what should be done with Wallner.  Simply cut him, if that's your view and you want to defend it.  (I happen to value him more than that.)  But "removing him briefly" from the 40 man is about the same as Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously, don't you think?

[Linus]

Blaming Angel is incredibly weak. I didn’t see the pitch you are referring to but I saw innings 2-7 and it was one of the better games I’ve seen this year year. He literally didn’t miss a pitch. 

[mnfireman]

11 minutes ago, Linus said:

Blaming Angel is incredibly weak. I didn’t see the pitch you are referring to but I saw innings 2-7 and it was one of the better games I’ve seen this year year. He literally didn’t miss a pitch. 

He missed several pitches, but is not to blame for todays loss. Check out Baseball Savant, click on todays game, click on Illustrator, click on Chart Options and toggle through Pitch Result

[RpR]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Do you believe that is an achievable outcome?

If you (leading a FO) are "done" with Wallner, find the best trade offer you can get.  Because if you take him off the 40, that means passing him through waivers, and some bottom feeder team will gladly take him off your hands, leaving you no return at all.

Even "cash considerations" will be better than nothing.  It's what the Twins did in discarding Matt Bowman, as they apparently found a couple of teams interested in claiming him and gave the Diamondbacks a chance to jump the league's priority line to get him.  Wallner has more trade value than Bowman, surely.

But doing that is not "briefly."  It means washing your hands of Wallner entirely and forever.

I'm fine with anyone stating nearly any opinion about what should be done with Wallner.  Simply cut him, if that's your view and you want to defend it.  (I happen to value him more than that.)  But "removing him briefly" from the 40 man is about the same as Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously, don't you think?

Revocable waivers?

I changed it for you.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Revocable waivers?...

No longer exist after 2019. No such thing.

Wallner would be claimed by 29 teams, and watching him leave would certainly silence complaints about losing guys like Brent Rooker, LaMonte Wade and Cano.

[h2oface]

Ryan being rattled was just the announcer’s opinion, and now some are buying it. I can’t read minds, He had a right to be pissed. 6 innings and 3 earned will go down as a quality start. The runner ahead of the homer should have been caught but Castro was in center and had a terrible read and let it drop. Another run called earned was Correa’s boot of the hot shot off his glove. Ryan did just fine. 
 

Angel Hernandez has earned the recognition by a career of poor performances that it is ALWAYS his fault until MLB finally gets rid of him. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

5 hours ago, h2oface said:

Ryan being rattled was just the announcer’s opinion, and now some are buying it. I can’t read minds, He had a right to be pissed. 6 innings and 3 earned will go down as a quality start. The runner ahead of the homer should have been caught but Castro was in center and had a terrible read and let it drop. Another run called earned was Correa’s boot of the hot shot off his glove. Ryan did just fine. 
 

Angel Hernandez has earned the recognition by a career of poor performances that it is ALWAYS his fault until MLB finally gets rid of him. 

Atteberry on ‘CCO described it more like he was mad than rattled. Between the errors and a couple pitches where both the hitter and the catcher were confused as to why a pitch was called the way it was.

[wabene]

10 hours ago, ashbury said:

Do you believe that is an achievable outcome?

If you (leading a FO) are "done" with Wallner, find the best trade offer you can get.  Because if you take him off the 40, that means passing him through waivers, and some bottom feeder team will gladly take him off your hands, leaving you no return at all.

Even "cash considerations" will be better than nothing.  It's what the Twins did in discarding Matt Bowman, as they apparently found a couple of teams interested in claiming him and gave the Diamondbacks a chance to jump the league's priority line to get him.  Wallner has more trade value than Bowman, surely.

But doing that is not "briefly."  It means washing your hands of Wallner entirely and forever.

I'm fine with anyone stating nearly any opinion about what should be done with Wallner.  Simply cut him, if that's your view and you want to defend it.  (I happen to value him more than that.)  But "removing him briefly" from the 40 man is about the same as Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously, don't you think?

Maybe we could get Noam to weigh in on the state of the forum on the other thread. Might stir things up a bit.

[wabene]

Ryan had every reason to be upset, and he did appear to briefly lose focus there. All in all a good outing for him. 

Sometimes people mention when a player has a right to be mad at a teammate for a mistake that negatively impacts them and the team. And they are correct. But the best players don't look at it that way and bear down.