Make it Official! Twins 6, Athletics 2: Carlos Correa Rakes

[Matthew Taylor]

After an explosive offensive performance on Wednesday afternoon against Colorado, the Minnesota Twins kept the good vibes rolling against the Oakland Athletics, winning 6-2 and taking the first of a four-game series.

Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (78 pitches, 54 strikes)
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (6)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.253), Joe Ryan (.191), Byron Buxton  (.174)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

After trading scoreless innings in the first, the scoring began for each team in the second inning. Beginning with the Oakland Athletics who followed up a Miguel Andujar walk with a Tyler Soderstrom two-run shot to dead center to take an early 2-0 lead on the Twins.

Minnesota quickly struck back in the bottom of the second inning with two runs of their own thanks to a Byron Buxton two-run single up the middle that plated Carlos Correa and Max Kepler. The single for Buxton marked his fifth hit in the past six games, a much needed string of solid performances from the talented center fielder who had been having a tough start to the season.

The Twins were able to quickly push out to a 4-2 lead thanks to a two-out RBI single from Carlos Correa in the third inning, followed by a run-scoring ground out from freshly promoted Austin Martin in the fourth.

The game stood in the balance until the bottom of the seventh when the red hot Carlos Correa took reliever Sean Newcomb deep for a two run blast to left field for his 6th home run of the season. The homer notched a hit day for Correa, making it eight hits for the shortstop in the past two days. More importantly, the home run birthed a new home run celebration for the Minnesota Twins, courtesy of Pablo López, and it’s amazing.

Aside from allowing the home run from Soderstrom in the second inning, Joe Ryan was lights out on the mound for the Minnesota Twins tonight, tossing seven innings and only allowing three total hits on the night. The performance lowered Ryan’s ERA to 3.24 on the season, strengthening his case to become an All-Star for the first time in his career this season. The seven inning outing for Ryan was especially huge given the fact that the Twins are in the midst of playing 13 games in 13 days and the bullpen was in need of rest.

The little that was required of the bullpen was smooth sailing tonight as Griffin Jax and Jorge Alcala both finished off the game unscathed with back-to-back shutout innings to clinch a 6-2 win for the Minnesota Twins, who lower the deficit in the division to 7.5 games with Cleveland having an off-day today.

Notes
Earlier today, the Twins formally announced that they optioned Alex Kirilloff to Triple-A and recalled Austin Martin. In his first game back with the Twins, Martin went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

What’s Next
The Minnesota Twins will face the Oakland Athletics again tomorrow night at Target Field in what will be the on-field debut of their City Connect jerseys. Simeon Woods Richardson will take the mound for the Twins and face off against right handed pitcher Mitch Spence of the A’s.

Bullpen Usage Chart

 

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[Melissa]

So good to see both Buck and Carlos C. on such a tear at the plate! And Mr. Ryan dealing from the mound.

I suspect someone or other will say “But it’s only the A’s,” to which I say every win counts! Go Twins!

[Patzky]

That was a solid. Correa Buxton and Lewis are giving off great vibes right now, and others are filling in the pieces to make it work. Joe Ryan is really becoming a stopper.

 

Yes it's Oakland. Hit it where it's pitched.

[MMMordabito]

8 hits from Lewis, Correa and Buxton w/ 7 strong from Ryan.  

Let's keep doin' that.

[Dman]

I haven't been kind to Correa since the signing, but he has been amazing this past week and generally most of the year at the plate.  If he had enough at bats to qualify he would have a top 20 OPS in Baseball right now and I really enjoy his defensive play as well.

The injury got the best of him last year, but he is playing great this year.  Hope he keeps it up and the that Twins can lengthen the lineup to make it harder on opposing pitchers.

[Jocko87]

50 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Yes it's Oakland. Hit it where it's pitched.

The quality of at bat was excellent tonight, throughout the lineup.  Do that against everybody.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, Melissa said:

So good to see both Buck and Carlos C. on such a tear at the plate! And Mr. Ryan dealing from the mound.

I suspect someone or other will say “But it’s only the A’s,” to which I say every win counts! Go Twins!

Games against dogs like the A's are must win games.

[stringer bell]

47 minutes ago, Dman said:

If he had enough at bats to qualify he would have a top 20 OPS in Baseball right now and I really enjoy his defensive play as well.

The injury got the best of him last year, but he is playing great this year.  Hope he keeps it up and the that Twins can lengthen the lineup to make it harder on opposing pitchers.

Correa needs five PAs tomorrow to qualify. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Solid batting practice versus a pair of cupcake teams begins to erase the East Coast embarrassment.

I am on board with the sausage replacement.

[bean5302]

Fun game at Target Field. Didn't get there enough for the whopping 5,000 caps that were supposedly giving away. My friend 12% wanted one and we were way before game time, but no matter.

[UK Twin]

It's a lot of fun watching a fully healthy Carlos Correa play baseball. Particularly in June. I like that Rocco has split up Correa, Lewis and Buxton in the line up - it seems to be working. Buxton in particular has been getting opportunities to drive runs in and he's been delivering lately. 

[CRF]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Fun game at Target Field. Didn't get there enough for the whopping 5,000 caps that were supposedly giving away. My friend 12% wanted one and we were way before game time, but no matter.

They should've given hats away to everyone in attendance!

[Doctor Wu]

3 hours ago, UK Twin said:

It's a lot of fun watching a fully healthy Carlos Correa play baseball. Particularly in June. I like that Rocco has split up Correa, Lewis and Buxton in the line up - it seems to be working. Buxton in particular has been getting opportunities to drive runs in and he's been delivering lately. 

Fun indeed, Whether on the field or at bat, Correa is suddenly looking like the superstar we paid the money for. And that Prince tribute thing was a LOT of fun too! For the next series, we need to get him a Raspberry Beret to wear!

[CRF]

CC is definitely on a heater right now. Sure would love it to continue for a while!

[stringer bell]

Encouraging: Buxton 3-3 with a walk. Two of his hits to the middle of the diamond. Lewis--two hits. Buxton, Lewis and Correa all in the lineup. Joe Ryan had another very good outing. The Twins play the A's seven times in ten days, they need to win six of seven. 

[2wins87]

How about that sprint speed on Buxton's infield single?  I think I saw or heard 31.5 ft/s, might have been on the broadcast.

TBH, after he went on the IL with knee pain earlier this year I thought it was going to keep being a recurring issue.  He's playing quite a bit now and there are no signs of knee pain.  Maybe he just needed more time from the surgery, but he seems to be getting stronger.

Really fun to finally see this version of Buxton again.

[Doctor Gast]

Correa is MVP. Buxton is steadier, Lewis is Lewis & a good start by Martin. Ryan good start, good to see Alcala up & producing especially when Thielbar is flailing. A good game.

Twins keep this rolling against these team so when we come against really good teams with Lewis we can sustain it.

[Parfigliano]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Fun game at Target Field. Didn't get there enough for the whopping 5,000 caps that were supposedly giving away. My friend 12% wanted one and we were way before game time, but no matter.

When teams like the LAD give stuff they do like 45,000.  Got a Freddie Freeman bobble head couple years ago even though we arrived mid 1st inning.  This year got a Blue Jay high quality bucket hat cause they had 30,000 to give.

Twins promo gives are embarrassingly limited. 

[Parfigliano]

46 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Encouraging: Buxton 3-3 with a walk. Two of his hits to the middle of the diamond. Lewis--two hits. Buxton, Lewis and Correa all in the lineup. Joe Ryan had another very good outing. The Twins play the A's seven times in ten days, they need to win six of seven. 

7 of 7.

[Jeff K]

9 hours ago, Dman said:

I haven't been kind to Correa since the signing, but he has been amazing this past week and generally most of the year at the plate.  If he had enough at bats to qualify he would have a top 20 OPS in Baseball right now and I really enjoy his defensive play as well.

The injury got the best of him last year, but he is playing great this year.  Hope he keeps it up and the that Twins can lengthen the lineup to make it harder on opposing pitchers.

I think Correa and Ryan look like All-Stars.

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Encouraging: Buxton 3-3 with a walk. Two of his hits to the middle of the diamond. Lewis--two hits. Buxton, Lewis and Correa all in the lineup. Joe Ryan had another very good outing. The Twins play the A's seven times in ten days, they need to win six of seven. 

Seems like Buxton has cut down on his strikeouts in recent games too.  Getting hits and walks is a definite change for the better!

[Doctor Wu]

23 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Correa is MVP. Buxton is steadier, Lewis is Lewis & a good start by Martin. Ryan good start, good to see Alcala up & producing especially when Thielbar is flailing. A good game.

Twins keep this rolling against these team so when we come against really good teams with Lewis we can sustain it.

That will definitely be a key aspect. If we can keep up this level of play against teams like Cleveland and (dare I say it ...) the Yankees, then we can truly become excited about this team. 

[MABB1959]

10 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

8 hits from Lewis, Correa and Buxton w/ 7 strong from Ryan.  

Let's keep doin' that.

Yes!  No matter what the analytics say don't go changing the lineup or giving days off while they are on a roll.

[bighat]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

When teams like the LAD give stuff they do like 45,000.  Got a Freddie Freeman bobble head couple years ago even though we arrived mid 1st inning.  This year got a Blue Jay high quality bucket hat cause they had 30,000 to give.

Twins promo gives are embarrassingly limited. 

Remember when Dick Bremer retired the Twins gave $5000 (yes, five thousand dollars) donation to Bremer's hometown charity. 

The guy worked for the Twins for 40 years calling 160 games per year, and that's the best gesture the Twins could make. 

Not sure I'm quite over the way they treated Dick. Corey's been OK but I honestly don't see how this guy is an improvement. 

[LambchoP]

Great to see Correa on such a tear, but I think just as important is Buxton heating up. If we can keep CC, Buck and Lewis all healthy and hitting them this lineup could be pretty scary. Alcala sure looks like he's stepped up in a big way throwing 100 mph now with that nasty slider. Still think we need a leverage lefty at the deadline to replace Theilbar. Ryan should be an all star this year if he keeps pitching well 

[stringer bell]

3 hours ago, Jeff K said:

I think Correa and Ryan look like All-Stars.

It appears to me that Correa would slot in as the fourth best shortstop in the AL, behind Witt Jr. , Hendrickson and Seager. Jeffers, similarly, would be behind Rutschman, Perez and probably Raleigh. A lot of pitchers are having great starts to their season, but Ryan has been very good. 

[Blyleven2011]

4 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Correa is MVP. Buxton is steadier, Lewis is Lewis & a good start by Martin. Ryan good start, good to see Alcala up & producing especially when Thielbar is flailing. A good game.

Twins keep this rolling against these team so when we come against really good teams with Lewis we can sustain it.

The key words are really good teams and sustain it , I hope the same ....

[bean5302]

6 hours ago, CRF said:

They should've given hats away to everyone in attendance!

The giveaways have gotten very cheap. Unless you get to the game early, you wouldn't even get the fridge magnet schedule the last couple years. It's pretty embarrassing.