Make it Official! Twins 10, Nationals 0: Ryan Backed by Blasts

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Buck Truck was out in full force as Byron Buxton slugged a pair of dingers to lead the Minnesota Twins to victory on Tuesday night in the nation’s capitol.

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (95 pitches, 62 strikes)
Home Runs: Byron Buxton 2(3), Willi Castro (4)
Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan 0.209, Byron Buxton 0.168, José Miranda 0.096

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Sausage Speaker Stands Up
Looking to get off the schneid, Minnesota needed to show up in a big way against Patrick Corbin on Tuesday night. Byron Buxton, the speaker for Sheboygan Sausage, smashed a dinger with the Cloverdale meat pastry in the dugout to make it a 1-0 game. Despite grounding into a double play, Carlos Santana brought Willi Castro home and Minnesota led 2-0.

Jose Miranda, who has struggled to hit the baseball hard, blasted one against Corbin in the 3rd inning and doubled the score for Rocco Baldelli’s lineup. With Manuel Margot on the basepaths, the third baseman sent a ball into the left field bleachers and the Twins were up 4-0.

Buck is Back
There are few things that the Twins have needed more than Buxton getting going. He had struggled out of the gate, and deciding which pitches to unload on is something of a problem. Tuesday night he found a pair of them, and the Buck Truck rounded the bases a second time, scoring Carlos Correa, and making it a 6-0 game in the 5th inning.

With the Nationals continuing to trot Corbin out to the mound, Minnesota continued to do damage. Santana doubled for the sixth time and scored Kyle Farmer in the process. Up 7-0 in the 6th inning, Santana came home on a wild pitch to make it 8-0. Dave Martinez left his starter in for 106 pitches in a blowout game, and Minnesota was set to end the streak.

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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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Castro Keeps It Going
In the 7th inning Willi Castro stepped in with Max Kepler on base and crushed his fourth dinger of the season. Extending the lead to 10-0, Minnesota was comfortably ahead and ready to end the losing streak. While the Guardians won again Tuesday, the Twins were going to hold serve.

Notes
Brooks Lee led off as the designated hitter for the FCL Twins today. He went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

Royce Lewis continues to make progress towards a return. He ran the bases for the first time on Monday and is nearing a point in which a rehab assignment becomes a reality. A return in two to three weeks may be a possibility.

With the win tonight, Rocco Baldelli grabbed his 400th managerial win for Minnesota.

What’s Next? 
Simeon Woods Richardson goes Wednesday afternoon for Minnesota as they wrap up the series with Washington before an off day. Jake Irvin starts for the Washington Nationals.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[D.C Twins]

This team is WS bound!!!!

Well... at least until they lose their next game... at which point.... FIRE EVERYONE.....

(unless we win the game after that....)

[bean5302]

3 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

This team is WS bound!!!!

Well... at least until they lose their next game... at which point.... FIRE EVERYONE.....

(unless we win the game after that....)

Fire Gary!!!!

[D.C Twins]

On a more serious note.... not even a 10-0 victory justifies LEADING OFF with Margot.

At no point should an MLB manager think... 'Margot is the one player on this team that I need to make sure has the most opportunities to hit in this game'

Absolute Managerial Malpractice 

 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Came to play today. Need to keep it going tomorrow.

Joe Ryan, when he's on, is a staff ace.

[wabene]

This shellacking and Lewis going on a rehab in the same day!?

 

[Patzky]

I did not see that coming .. 

[Blyleven2011]

Good pitched game from Ryan  , just what I  asked him to do yesterday  ...

Finally got to a left hander for eight runs , buxton hitting two homeruns was nice , Jeffers hitting is sliding backwards right now ...

Miranda is playing pretty good defense and hitting is okay and Castro is Castro after a slow start ...

We need a team effort from everyone and that includes our manager and coaches or someone should be held accountable  , not just the players ...

[tony&rodney]

Maybe the bats are back.

[Dlee]

I don't get excited saying Buxton is back in a blow out when the opposing pitchers did not have there stuff.

if there was a total of five hits in the game and Bucko had three of them with two homeruns, then I would say he is seeing the ball well.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I’m not sure the bullpen chart is exactly right,

Beautiful night for a shutout at Nats Park tonight.  And George Washington won the Racing Presidents race.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Exact same record last year at this time. It's not so much the Twins failing to meet expectations as it is Cleveland and Kansas City being so much better.

[wabene]

1 minute ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

I’m not sure the bullpen chart is exactly right,

Beautiful night for a shutout at Nats Park tonight.  And George Washington won the Racing Presidents race.

Has that result been verified by the Department of Redundancy Department?

[wabene]

24 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Maybe the bats are back.

Patrick Corbin thanks you for that gesture 😀

[Linus]

Was Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde the good guy?

[ashbury]

47 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Good pitched game from Ryan  , just what I  asked him to do yesterday  ...

Do you ever ask our pitchers for a not well pitched game?  If so, please stop it!  😀

Satisfying win all around.

[ashbury]

19 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

I’m not sure the bullpen chart is exactly right,

Beautiful night for a shutout at Nats Park tonight.  And George Washington won the Racing Presidents race.

Wait, were you at the game tonight?  So were my two boys!

[ashbury]

56 minutes ago, Patzky said:

I did not see that coming .. 

Fortunately Buxton did.

[BH67]

As I struggle with obesity in middle age, I save the term "morbidity" for that concern and not on an extended struggle of my favorite sports teams. And many on this site would have shrieked at calming words when anyone writing them resembled Chip Diller. I thus figured that tonight was OK for some rah-rah.

That said -- and my Twins optimism well intact -- I'm discouraged that this team en masse can flip a switch and go from dominance to exasperation, and perhaps back. I thought last September's run had put an end to that. Seeing a 22-year-old basketball star not letting the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune shift his eyes from the prize, or shift his teammates' confidence in getting there, is exemplary. These Twins should pay close attention to their neighbors and learn.

[IndianaTwin]

39 minutes ago, wabene said:

Has that result been verified by the Department of Redundancy Department?

I always heard it as the Department of Needless Redundancy Department. 

[IndianaTwin]

26 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Wait, were you at the game tonight?  So were my two boys!

Oh, gee. Here we go again. Was it Bash and Cash? Or Dash and Lash? Maybe Sash and Gash? 

[h2oface]

Joe Cool. It was about time the bats got him some runs. Just what this team needed. That, and some hits. Right that ship.

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Oh, gee. Here we go again. Was it Bash and Cash? Or Dash and Lash? Maybe Sash and Gash? 

Yash indeed.

 

Bash and Cash, the both of 'em.

[Jocko87]

2 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

On a more serious note.... not even a 10-0 victory justifies LEADING OFF with Margot.

At no point should an MLB manager think... 'Margot is the one player on this team that I need to make sure has the most opportunities to hit in this game'

Absolute Managerial Malpractice 

 

How bout this-in a close game it's an extra at bat for Kepler who probably replaces him?  Oop, dang. Zact opposite of your assumption.  But just one option off the top of my head.  Critical thinking malpractice maybe?

Seriously people, please stop acting like every Tuesday game is a game seven.  We all know Rocco will do different things in those games.  Crazy thing is, it's not those games.  

Different things matter right now and one of them is getting Margot to replacement level.  Maybe it's is actually very important that he gets reps.  His smile on the ten foot base hit was one we hadn't seen before.  Dudes been feeling the stress, obviously.

Getting the guys with no options going is incredibly important at this time of the year.  

[wabene]

3 hours ago, Dlee said:

I don't get excited saying Buxton is back in a blow out when the opposing pitchers did not have there stuff.

if there was a total of five hits in the game and Bucko had three of them with two homeruns, then I would say he is seeing the ball well.

Over his last 11 games played Buxton is hitting .323 with a .884 OPS, not too shabby, eh?

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

How bout this-in a close game it's an extra at bat for Kepler who probably replaces him?  Oop, dang. Zact opposite of your assumption.  But just one option off the top of my head.  Critical thinking malpractice maybe?

Seriously people, please stop acting like every Tuesday game is a game seven.  We all know Rocco will do different things in those games.  Crazy thing is, it's not those games.  

Different things matter right now and one of them is getting Margot to replacement level.  Maybe it's is actually very important that he gets reps.  His smile on the ten foot base hit was one we hadn't seen before.  Dudes been feeling the stress, obviously.

Getting the guys with no options going is incredibly important at this time of the year.  

So  you're saying Baldelli is not trying to win in the regular season? There is utterly no value in trying to get Margot to replacement level while the team loses games because of Margot's existence on the 26 man.

[Doctor Wu]

10 hours ago, wabene said:

This shellacking and Lewis going on a rehab in the same day!?

 

I love it! Where can I get a Fred Sandford t-shirt?

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, h2oface said:

Joe Cool. It was about time the bats got him some runs. Just what this team needed. That, and some hits. Right that ship.

Just hoping that a game like that one will help to fuel another winning streak!

[TwinsDr2021]

7 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

How bout this-in a close game it's an extra at bat for Kepler who probably replaces him?  Oop, dang. Zact opposite of your assumption.

So you bat a hitter lead off so the guy that replaces him gets more at bats? Really? You could have said he was 4 for his last 8 and people have been begging Rocco to play guys that are hot, at least there is logic to that.

The Twins did what they are supposed to do and that is bat around a not very good pitcher and the other manager said screw it why waste the pen on a day Corbin is pitching. Now go do the same to Irvin (from Bloomington).

[Doctor Gast]

13 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Good pitched game from Ryan  , just what I  asked him to do yesterday  ...

Finally got to a left hander for eight runs , buxton hitting two homeruns was nice , Jeffers hitting is sliding backwards right now ...

Miranda is playing pretty good defense and hitting is okay and Castro is Castro after a slow start ...

We need a team effort from everyone and that includes our manager and coaches or someone should be held accountable  , not just the players ...

Ryan pitched a pretty efficient game. I thought he had a chance to pitch a complete game. He had a lot of support. Without Lewis we need Buxton to at least to beat these winnable teams. Now we can focus on winning.