Make it Official! Twins 4, Kansas City 2: Early Runs Hold Up

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Twins got to Cole Ragans early Tuesday night, as Carlos Correa and José Miranda did some damage. Simeon Woods Richardson continued his solid work, and Jhoan Durán came in late to shut it down and make it two in a row against the Royals.

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson 5.0 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 4 K (83 pitches 53 strikes 10 whiffs)
Home Runs: N/A
Top 3 WPA: Griffin Jax 0.120, Byron Buxton 0.105, Josh Staumont 0.095

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Carlos Correa Crushes Cole Again
Cole Ragans was a nice get for the Kansas City Royals last season, and his performance earned him an Opening Day start against the Minnesota Twins. He pitched well in that tilt, but a third-inning double from the Twins' shortstop proved him human. Manuel Margot scored on the play, and Royce Lewis might have to, had he not come up lame rounding second. Lewis hasn’t played since. With the Royals scoring just a single run, that was the difference in the first contest of the year.

On Tuesday night at Target Field, the Twins threatened early again. After Margot made a nice defensive play in the top of the first inning, he opened the bottom half with a single. Correa crushed a Ragans pitch for another double, putting a pair of runners in scoring position. Following a Ryan Jeffers strikeout, José Miranda hit a ball sharply back up the middle and brought both runners in, giving Rocco Baldelli’s club a 2-0 lead.

Simeon Woods Richardson Settles In
Going up against a fireballer in Ragans, Simeon Woods Richardson was ready to show the Royals his own new stuff. After being a low-velocity starter last year amid a mechanical maladjustment, he's found a whole new vivacity this spring. While strikeouts still haven’t added up in a big way, and there is some cause for concern based on the underlying metrics, he continues to get the job done.

Through four innings against Kansas City Tuesday, facing them for the first time this season, Minnesota’s starter allowed just a single hit, while striking out four. The velocity uptick continues to play, as he struck out designated hitter Nelson Velázquez on his 65th pitch of the evening, and it registered 94.3 mph on the radar gun. Last season, across 97 total big-league pitches, Woods Richardson topped 92 mph just four times.

After a Garrett Hampson misplay on a routine fly ball from Christian Vázquez gave the Twins two free bases and an extra out, Margot doubled him home and made it a 3-0 game. Insupportably, Vázquez’s hit was ruled a double, and while it did have a .480 xBA, Hampson literally had it clank off his glove on a play that required little extra effort.

---

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 thats a promise we make good on.

---

The fifth inning was tough for Woods Richardson, as he walked Nick Loftin and gave up a double to Renfroe. Despite giving up a pair of runs, and after getting some defensive help from Correa, he capped off the inning by earning some confidence from Baldelli, who let him face Bobby Witt Jr. for a third time with the tying run 90 feet away. A lazy fly out to right ended the threat.

Bullpen Comes Out Blazing
The first reliever to swing the gate for Baldelli was the oft-jettisoned Jorge Alcalá. He came on and punched out a pair while pumping upper-90s stuff. As he has done most of the season, he looked like one of the best relievers in Minnesota’s bullpen. Then Josh Staumont got a shot to see his former employer for the first time. In the seventh game of his season for the Twins, he continued to throw up zeroes in the run column and has allowed just three hits in 7 ⅓ innings.

Griffin Jax got the eighth inning, despite recently added reliever Diego Castillo initially being up. Jax grabbed a pair of strikeouts, including the second of the night for Witt Jr., who was in major jeopardy of his ten-game hitting streak being snapped. Jhoan Duran warmed up to work the ninth inning, pitching in back-to-back days and for the fourth time in five days. Clearly Minnesota was intent on closing the gap with Kansas City.

After a Buxton walk, and a stolen base, he was at third base with just one out for Edouard Julien. Looking to grab insurance for his closer, and with the infield drawn in, Julien took a pair of hacks without anything to show for it. On a 3-2 count the Minnesota second baseman singled back up the middle, scoring Buxton, and providing a huge insurance run. It got scary on an immediate stolen base attempt that had Julien running into Witt Jr.’s butt and spike, but he remained in the game.

A ball by Royals reliever Sam Long advanced Julien and Carlos Santana to second and third base, but Christian Vazquez and his entirely worthless offensive profile wasn’t able to put a ball in play and struck out to waste the opportunity. Max Kepler grounded out and Minnesota was going with Duran in a two-run game.

Duran gave up a double to Salvador Perez and then Adam Frazier singled to put a pair of runners on. Vazquez threw out Frazier trying to steal, and then Duran gassed up M.J. Melendez. Loftin grounded out on a 103.1 mph heater and Minnesota made it two straight against Kansas City.

Notes
Not surprisingly, the move to clear space for Diego Castillo was putting Justin Topa on the 60-day injured list. Having received a platelet-rich plasma injection, he’s another month from throwing. The only hope is that the injection works and saves him from going under the knife otherwise Minnesota will have gotten nothing at the big league level from the Jorge Polanco trade in 2024.

Royce Lewis is continuing his rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints, batting second and playing third base. He was 0-for-3 in Game 1 of the doubleheader, but played all six innings in the field. Brooks Lee moved up to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels where he’ll play shortstop and bat second on Tuesday. Walker Jenkins was 1-for-3 with a run, two RBI, and a double in FCL action on Tuesday afternoon.

Angel Hernandez retired yesterday, and while that’s great news for baseball fans, here’s a Yankees take that can draw Twins ire. Aaron Boone is wrong, just wrong.

What’s Next? 
Rolling on in a four-game set, Bailey Ober starts on Wednesday for the Twins. Minnesota will see Kansas City’s Seth Lugo for the second time this season, and he brings an MLB-best 1.74 ERA along with an 8-1 record.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

View full article

[BH67]

Margot gets a single, double and RBI and scores a run. Julien drives in an insurance run in the 8th.

So apparently the complaints made here are effective. Who should the commentariat critique tonight in hopes of a huge game tomorrow?

(/s. Great win tonight.)

[D.C Twins]

Nice win. 

Miranda playing well will be a nice problem to have when Lewis returns. 

Maybe Miranda or Lewis takes 2B and Julian gets a reset? (Krilloff heating up...otherwise Miranda could have gone to first)

I'm also enjoying every game we get out of Buxton in CF.... I honestly thought he would never play in CF again at this time last year....

[Dman]

Man I don't think I have given SWR enough credit this year.  I hate to be that guy, but I kind of thought he might be due for a let down and his stuff wouldn't play. I have been waiting for failure, but he keeps producing.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Another very solid outing and he has done everything I could have hoped to help right the ship in that 5th spot.  I do hope he keeps it up.

Some clutch hitting tonight and the pen held.  Had to be interesting for Staumont and the Royals.  He didn't strike anyone out but only needed 10 pitches to get out of the inning. It still seems odd to me that they gave gave up on him with an option year left.

Happy to get the win and hopefully we find a way to take the series.

[Parfigliano]

5 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Nice win. 

Miranda playing well will be a nice problem to have when Lewis returns. 

Maybe Miranda or Lewis takes 2B and Julian gets a reset? (Krilloff heating up...otherwise Miranda could have gone to first)

I'm also enjoying every game we get out of Buxton in CF.... I honestly thought he would never play in CF again at this time last year....

I too thought he was done as a CF.  I was wrong.

[Fatbat]

With all the injuries and oddities of this season, its 1/3 done. Seems like it is flying by!! 30-24 isn’t the worst but it could have been better. 

[DJL44]

The Twins have now received more WAR from Woods Richardson (1.0) in 2024 than Toronto received from Berrios (0.9) in the 1-1/2 years the Twins traded them.

[FlyingFinn]

Vazquez can't hit a lick but he looks like one of the best defensive catchers in the league.

Ober may see 110 pitches tomorrow as I doubt Duran and Jax are available. Interesting bullpen day.

[tony&rodney]

Aaron Boone works umpires harder than any manager in the game. His statement is pure theater to somehow ingratiate himself with the very people he abuses on a regular basis. Laughable.

Nice win by the Twins. Simeon Woods Richardson, Alcala, and Staumont all pitched well in addition to our late game duo. Kansas City has a good team and these are tough games.

[darwin22]

I realize its only late May, but a huge W considering the SP matchups.

My guess is that 90+% of neutral fans would've strongly favored KC in this matchup with arguably their most talented SP (Ragans) taking on a rookie (SWR).  Both pitched 5 innings, but SWR clearly outpitched Ragans allowing only 3 hits and 2ER. Ragans had to labor through his 5 IP.  Twins hitters put up good ABs with 9 hits while running his pitch count up to 95.

Very impressive night for Alcala and Staumont!  2 clean IP with only 24 pitches combined to record 6 crucial outs.

The defense of Correa continues to impress while Vazquez continues his steady work behind the plate.

Question for the night for others to respond to:

What position player gets demoted when Lewis is deemed healthy and ready to return to the lineup?

I'm pretty certain it WILL be a hitter as I seriously doubt Rocco/front office would be willing to drop down to 12 pitchers.

Based solely on "defense/positioning," one could make the argument (not me) that Farmer could get DFA'ed.  I seriously doubt that will be the case for 2 main reasons:  His salary ($6.5m) and his veteran presence/past production as a quality bat.

 

 

 

[RpR]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

Nice win. 

Miranda playing well will be a nice problem to have when Lewis returns. 

Maybe Miranda or Lewis takes 2B and Julian gets a reset? (Krilloff heating up...otherwise Miranda could have gone to first)

I'm also enjoying every game we get out of Buxton in CF.... I honestly thought he would never play in CF again at this time last year....

Lewis is going nowhere but  to Third Base, Julien gets sent down, Farmer goes to Second Base.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Vazquez can't hit a lick but he looks like one of the best defensive catchers in the league.

Hey, 1-for-4 today with a run scored.  Baby steps, baby!  😎

[UK Twin]

Can we please now keep Alcala with the Twins? He's got great stuff and should be a fixture in the Twins bullpen. 

That tag play and caught stealing in the 9th was a thing of beauty. Such a big moment as well.

If we can take this series it will be a big win for us. KC had some serious momentum coming in and to take the first two games is big. 

[UK Twin]

4 hours ago, Fatbat said:

With all the injuries and oddities of this season, its 1/3 done. Seems like it is flying by!! 30-24 isn’t the worst but it could have been better. 

Could have been worse as well. Given we were 7-13 at one stage, I think to recover to 30-24 is outstanding - that's a record of 23-11 in that time. Especially as we've been without Lewis all season and Correa and Buxton have both been on the IL. 

[Patzky]

5 hours ago, UK Twin said:

Can we please now keep Alcala with the Twins? He's got great stuff and should be a fixture in the Twins bullpen. 

That tag play and caught stealing in the 9th was a thing of beauty. Such a big moment as well.

If we can take this series it will be a big win for us. KC had some serious momentum coming in and to take the first two games is big. 

We need to take the series and get KC mad enough to go to Cleveland with a chip..

 

Is it too early for this stuff!

[jmlease1]

A nice win. Bobby Witt Jr sure is a heck of a player. He took a big leap forward last season and looks like he's taken another one this season. KC finally has the star they need and their starting pitching has been pretty great (and is Sal Perez ever going to get old?). Did not expect them to be this good, but they have been. Is it sustainable? we'll see.

SWR keeps doing the job: give your team a chance to win. I'd like to see him get a little deeper, take a little pressure off the bullpen, but he's keeping the team in the game and I'm not sure how much more you can ask from a 5th starter.

Great Buxton game last night. hits, walks, defense, and speed. That triple is everything I love about Buck.

[wabene]

The quality of Vazquez's throw was questioned in the game thread saying Correa made the play in spite of the throw being offline. I don't agree. They must work on that exact throw, up the line, closer to home plate. This seems new to me and quite an innovation. Obviously Correa is a tagging savant. I really only watch the Twins, are other teams doing this?

[stringer bell]

The Twins are exactly one-third of the way through the regular season. They stand at 30-24, the fifth-best record in the AL, but they are third in the AL Central. Quite the change, eh? If the season ended today, they would snag the last wild card and visit the Yankees  Guardians, who (surprise, surprise) have the best record in the American League. 

The Twins have played 16 games against AL teams with better records and are 4-12 (all four wins coming against the Royals). They have played 10 games against teams that would project to lose more than 90 games and they are 10-0 (thanks White Sox and Angels). They are 4-4 in interleague play, having played two teams with better records, but have not Philadelphia or Atlanta, the other two elite NL teams. They haven't played a NL team that currently projects to lose 90 games.

They have so far put up two winning months, although if they lose the last three games in May, they would be .500 for this month. They are 15-12 at home and 15-12 on the road (who says they're not consistent? 🤪). The Twins have a very good 9-4 record in one-run games. So far, they've exceeded their Pythagorean W-L by two games. They have only played one extra-inning game and won it.

[stringer bell]

20 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

A nice win. Bobby Witt Jr sure is a heck of a player. He took a big leap forward last season and looks like he's taken another one this season. KC finally has the star they need and their starting pitching has been pretty great (and is Sal Perez ever going to get old?). Did not expect them to be this good, but they have been. Is it sustainable? we'll see.

SWR keeps doing the job: give your team a chance to win. I'd like to see him get a little deeper, take a little pressure off the bullpen, but he's keeping the team in the game and I'm not sure how much more you can ask from a 5th starter.

Great Buxton game last night. hits, walks, defense, and speed. That triple is everything I love about Buck.

Agree about Witt Jr., he oozes talent. He hasn't made a positive impact so far in this series, but it seems like it is only a matter of time. Buxton had a great game and he didn't homer. I think that is a good sign. It is also positive that other guys got the spotlight when Buck had a great game. There is more to the Twins than the big-money guys. Last night, all the pitchers did well, and there were positive contributions from Vázquez, Santana, Julien, Correa, Miranda, Castro, Buxton and Margot. I thought Castro's productive out in the eighth was huge and I don't think Julien's hit would have made the OF if the infield was back.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Vazquez can't hit a lick but he looks like one of the best defensive catchers in the league.

Ober may see 110 pitches tomorrow as I doubt Duran and Jax are available. Interesting bullpen day.

Jax & Duran & Alcala are definitely out today!!

3 guys with 4 days rest in Thielbar - Castillo - Okert ……Sands was off last night. Gotta piece it together. 

Vazquez throwing out their “base stealer” in the 9th was HUGE!!

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Correa won the game for the Twins, IMHO. Watching that sequence again, the throw from Vazquez was not going to be in time and a decent chance that it goes into the outfield. I can't think of another shortstop that makes that play. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

12 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Jax & Duran & Alcala are definitely out today!!

3 guys with 4 days rest in Thielbar - Castillo - Okert ……Sands was off last night. Gotta piece it together. 

Vazquez throwing out their “base stealer” in the 9th was HUGE!!

Curious if Staumont is available. They might want to be cautious with him, but he only threw 10 pitches last night.

[JD-TWINS]

21 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The Twins are exactly one-third of the way through the regular season. They stand at 30-24, the fifth-best record in the AL, but they are third in the AL Central. Quite the change, eh? If the season ended today, they would snag the last wild card and visit the Yankees  Guardians, who (surprise, surprise) have the best record in the American League. 

The Twins have played 16 games against AL teams with better records and are 4-12 (all four wins coming against the Royals). They have played 10 games against teams that would project to lose more than 90 games and they are 10-0 (thanks White Sox and Angels). They are 4-4 in interleague play, having played two teams with better records, but have not Philadelphia or Atlanta, the other two elite NL teams. They haven't played a NL team that currently projects to lose 90 games.

They have so far put up two winning months, although if they lose the last three games in May, they would be .500 for this month. They are 15-12 at home and 15-12 on the road (who says they're not consistent? 🤪). The Twins have a very good 9-4 record in one-run games. So far, they've exceeded their Pythagorean W-L by two games. They have only played one extra-inning game and won it.

All good! ……Pretty sure, if Team finishes as LAST Wild Card spot, they play the lowest Division winner ……I assume whoever wins the West…..Seattle now?

Top 2 Division Winners get a bye. Top 2 Wild Cards play ——- lowest Wild Card plays weakest Division Winner. Gotta beat Cleveland at some point though!

Too early to get too wound up about this…….if Cleveland goes 1 game over .500 rest of season - fathomable, they end up 91-71. Possible?? ……..Twins, without Lewis and having the DeSclafani/Varland debacle behind them, are on pace to win 90.

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Curious if Staumont is available. They might want to be cautious with him, but he only threw 10 pitches last night.

Not great to push a guy who has already been in the edge this year(caution as you say). Can’t imagine it. …….Possibly, could risk it to end an inning with 2 outs in the bag - still risky. Probably don’t want him even warming up hard.

[Karbo]

10 hours ago, BH67 said:

Margot gets a single, double and RBI and scores a run. Julien drives in an insurance run in the 8th.

So apparently the complaints made here are effective. Who should the commentariat critique tonight in hopes of a huge game tomorrow?

(/s. Great win tonight.)

Sometimes I wonder if any of the players read this stuff. It seems like quite often someone gets bashed on here and then he comes up and does well the next few days.

[UK Twin]

5 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

All good! ……Pretty sure, if Team finishes as LAST Wild Card spot, they play the lowest Division winner ……I assume whoever wins the West…..Seattle now?

Top 2 Division Winners get a bye. Top 2 Wild Cards play ——- lowest Wild Card plays weakest Division Winner. Gotta beat Cleveland at some point though!

Too early to get too wound up about this…….if Cleveland goes 1 game over .500 rest of season - fathomable, they end up 91-71. Possible?? ……..Twins, without Lewis and having the DeSclafani/Varland debacle behind them, are on pace to win 90.

Yeah, if the season ended today we'd got to Seattle with the winner playing NYY. 

[JD-TWINS]

5 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Correa won the game for the Twins, IMHO. Watching that sequence again, the throw from Vazquez was not going to be in time and a decent chance that it goes into the outfield. I can't think of another shortstop that makes that play. 

Shade on Vazquez - why? 9th inning and the guy is the tying run……,,,,It’s the Royals “base stealer” and obviously, the throw was in time. CC caught the ball……,his intuition to let himself just fall to the runner to make the quickest tag was commendable!!

Great play by both guys.

[stringer bell]

6 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

All good! ……Pretty sure, if Team finishes as LAST Wild Card spot, they play the lowest Division winner ……I assume whoever wins the West…..Seattle now?

Top 2 Division Winners get a bye. Top 2 Wild Cards play ——- lowest Wild Card plays weakest Division Winner. Gotta beat Cleveland at some point though!

Too early to get too wound up about this…….if Cleveland goes 1 game over .500 rest of season - fathomable, they end up 91-71. Possible?? ……..Twins, without Lewis and having the DeSclafani/Varland debacle behind them, are on pace to win 90.

You're right about the first round of the playoffs. I guess I had a senior moment. They would play the Guards in the second round with the current standings (and a win in the first round). 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

2 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Shade on Vazquez - why? 9th inning and the guy is the tying run……,,,,It’s the Royals “base stealer” and obviously, the throw was in time. CC caught the ball……,his intuition to let himself just fall to the runner to make the quickest tag was commendable!!

Great play by both guys.

No shade towards Vazquez. Just didn't look like a great throw. He's a very good defensive catcher, but that one particular play last night, he needed Correa to be great. No harm in it.

[JD-TWINS]

21 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Agree about Witt Jr., he oozes talent. He hasn't made a positive impact so far in this series, but it seems like it is only a matter of time. Buxton had a great game and he didn't homer. I think that is a good sign. It is also positive that other guys got the spotlight when Buck had a great game. There is more to the Twins than the big-money guys. Last night, all the pitchers did well, and there were positive contributions from Vázquez, Santana, Julien, Correa, Miranda, Castro, Buxton and Margot. I thought Castro's productive out in the eighth was huge and I don't think Julien's hit would have made the OF if the infield was back.

Farmer - Vazquez - Margot all had hits in the same inning…………some loooong odds on that ever happening!!

Buxton - 2 for 2 with a Triple & 2 walks & stolen base………. he was fantastic!!! Ooozing just like Witt.