Final: Rays 3, Twins 2 (10): Minnesota Throws it Away in Extras

[Ted Schwerzler]

Looking to win their seventh straight ballgame, the Minnesota Twins were one out away from taking a tie game into their half of the tenth inning. An errant throw changed the course of the game and ultimately did them in.

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (94 pitches, 66 strikes, 19 whiffs)
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (8)
Bottom 3 WPA: Max Kepler (-.312), Carlos Correa (-.283), Cole Sands (-.259)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Rays First, Twins Answer
Joe Ryan has slightly mitigated his home run issues from last season, but they remain an issue for Rocco Baldelli’s starter. After a pair of scoreless innings to open the game, it was Rays Isaac Paredes who got the Twins starter for a solo shot. His 11th of the year made it a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.

Not content with trailing, the Twins worked to quickly even the score. With traffic on the bases and Trevor Larnach stepping in, Minnesota had an opportunity. Unfortunately the left grounded into a double play, but it was enough to score Austin Martin from third base and even the score at one.

Both Martin and Royce Lewis made great defensive plays behind Ryan.

Of Course Royce Lewis
If there is anything that remains a given for the Minnesota Twins, it’s that Royce Lewis is going to come up huge. Stepping in for a fifth inning at bat, the superstar third baseman launched his eighth home run of the season. Putting the Twins up 2-1, he continues to produce at a ridiculous pace.

Cole Sands took over for Ryan in the seventh inning, but he was able to get just one outs before being lifted in favor of lefty Steven Okert. Leaving traffic on the bases for the slider pitcher, Yandy Diaz singled home Jose Caballero to even the score at two. Josh Staumont worked a scoreless eighth inning, but he walked the bases loaded and needed to leave them as such to avoid damage.

To Extras Again!
Jorge Alcala came on for the tenth inning and made his presence felt by plunking Randy Arozarena and putting runners on first and second. A wild pitch to Richie Palacios caromed off the backstop and quickly got to Christian Vazquez. The bounce allowed Minnesota's catcher a chance to nail Jose Siri at third base, and for some reason, Arozarena didn't advance and was still planted at third base. He did steal the base with two outs, and with Lewis making a throwing error for the final out of the inning, the 90 feet gave Tampa a 3-2 lead.

Stepping in with a 3-for-3 night, Lewis could immediately atone for his mistake in the bottom of the tenth inning. Manuel Margot pinch ran for Jose Miranda at second base and the Twins needed a run. Lewis grounded out to third on the first pitch though, and Max Kepler was up. The lefty struck out, and an 0-4 Carlos Correa was up needing a hit to extend his hitting streak to ten games. He flew out on the first pitch and Minnesota had to feel like they gave away a potential win.

Notes
Alex Kirilloff now understands he needs to be a better communicator. That’s all fine and well, but this isn’t the first time he’s hidden something from the Twins to the detriment of himself and the organization. It might be the last though.

Brooks Lee continues to rake for the Saints. After his grand slam last night, he had a three-hit day with all of them being doubles. The chronic back issue will probably persist forever, but he’s definitely making a quick case to earn his first big league promotion.

While it’s often David Popkins noted regarding the Twins hitting, they actually have three coaches for that area. One of them, Derek Shomon, was recently the subject of a very good story from Dan Hayes at The Athletic.

After his tough outing last night, Pablo Lopez leads the American League in runs allowed (50) and home runs surrendered (16).

Friend of Twins Daily, Jimmy Lonetti, posted an amazing picture on X (formerly Twitter) today featuring the house Willie Mays lived in while playing for the Minneapolis Millers.

What’s Next? 
Wrapping up their three game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Minnesota Twins send Simeon Woods Richardson to the bump. He’ll be opposed by old friend Zack Littell. After the matinee, Rocco Baldelli’s squad will head west for the final trip to the Oakland Coliseum.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

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[thelanges5]

See a lot of people mad at Rocco for  pulling Ryan. Doesn’t matter too much if the offense can only get two runs.

[Peter]

Umpires cost us game-robotic/AI need to be here ASAP!!! Hate hate hate how umpires always screw twins🤮💩👎within 2 years they thankfully will be gone and robotic/AI will take over for good! Time to get rid of scumbag umpires forever 💩🤮💩🤮💩🤮

[BH67]

The ending of tonight's game left me feeling like I'd eaten something Dan Aykroyd had blended in a Bass-O-Matic.

Oh well, one bad night. Win the series tomorrow, Twins.

(To those of you too young to get the reference -- it's worth knowing.)

[h2oface]

Yeah, Lewis' throw wasn't perfect, but man, I have seen a lot of first basemen dig a throw like that and make the play. I mean, it hit the base of Santana's glove.

Ryan deGrom'ed again. They just don't seem to be able to score runs for him. Bummer.

[Parfigliano]

Twins tried to give TB the game several times.  TB finally took it.

[Mark G]

I feel myself posting this thought over and over again, and I feel like it gets redundant sometimes, but I keep going back to the bullpen chart and asking myself who is going to be available tomorrow?  Alcala and Durant have both worked back to back the last 2 games, Staumont threw 32 pitches, Sands 23 pitches, and Okert 19 pitches.  That leaves Thielbar and Jax fresh, and possibly Jackson.  Assuming we don't want to over use anyone at this point in the season, does that bullpen chart make anyone else a little uneasy, especially with a day game following the night game?  We need SWR to go deep tomorrow..........geez, how many times have I said that, too?  

[Doctor Gast]

TB is a good team with good pitching, that has to play NYY & BAL more often. We won by 1 yesterday, we lost by 1 in extra innings that we could have won last night. Let's win today & go onto OAK!

[Doctor Gast]

7 hours ago, Peter said:

Umpires cost us game-robotic/AI need to be here ASAP!!! Hate hate hate how umpires always screw twins🤮💩👎within 2 years they thankfully will be gone and robotic/AI will take over for good! Time to get rid of scumbag umpires forever 💩🤮💩🤮💩🤮

I'm with you bro as far as adopting ABS. But umpires are human not necessarily scumbags. AI taking over is scary? 🙂

[Patzky]

7 hours ago, Peter said:

Umpires cost us game-robotic/AI need to be here ASAP!!! Hate hate hate how umpires always screw twins🤮💩👎within 2 years they thankfully will be gone and robotic/AI will take over for good! Time to get rid of scumbag umpires forever 💩🤮💩🤮💩🤮

Not today.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

I feel myself posting this thought over and over again, and I feel like it gets redundant sometimes, but I keep going back to the bullpen chart and asking myself who is going to be available tomorrow?  Alcala and Durant have both worked back to back the last 2 games, Staumont threw 32 pitches, Sands 23 pitches, and Okert 19 pitches.  That leaves Thielbar and Jax fresh, and possibly Jackson.  Assuming we don't want to over use anyone at this point in the season, does that bullpen chart make anyone else a little uneasy, especially with a day game following the night game?  We need SWR to go deep tomorrow..........geez, how many times have I said that, too?  

Alcala isn't somebody we want to overuse. I'm also in the camp of using long relief so we don't also overuse some in the rotation & being able to have someone *Varland) who can also come in when a SP has an off day.

[Doctor Gast]

I'm also a big fan of Ben Rortvedt. A pretty good defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole preferred catcher) who can hit when allowed & coached to be himself. I hated to see him go & advocated to bring him back. Now that TB has him, they won't give him up.

[adjacent]

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

I feel myself posting this thought over and over again, and I feel like it gets redundant sometimes, but I keep going back to the bullpen chart and asking myself who is going to be available tomorrow?  Alcala and Durant have both worked back to back the last 2 games, Staumont threw 32 pitches, Sands 23 pitches, and Okert 19 pitches.  That leaves Thielbar and Jax fresh, and possibly Jackson.  Assuming we don't want to over use anyone at this point in the season, does that bullpen chart make anyone else a little uneasy, especially with a day game following the night game?  We need SWR to go deep tomorrow..........geez, how many times have I said that, too?  

My guess is that they are going to send someone down (Sands, Staumont) and bring a fresh arm for today's game

[Bodie]

If you come up in the bottom of the 10th inning down by one run, it is NOT ACCEPTABLE WHATSOEVER for not scoring the tying run.  In Little League it is understandable.  

If you can't advance the runner from 2B with no outs, you are not a professional hitter.  Leaving a man on 3B with one out (the worst result for a professional hitter following a pro hitter in extra innings) is unacceptable for professional hitter.

 

I hate the ridiculous extra innings rule for numerous reasons,  but the Twins execution since the advent of the little league rules is even worse!!!

[umterp23]

Long season, but brutal loss last night.  The throw by Lewis was not good.  Tried to make up for by swinging at curve low away on 1st pitch for a week ground out.  Kepler getting blown away on 89 Fatballs down the middle and Correa who has been on a heater replicating Lewis at bat with soft fly to left.  Now the flip side, someone goes deep and Twins win, we celebrate, I get it.  

Fundamental baseball cost us the game in extra's.  Plain and simple

Win today, win the series and start another streak.  

[Whitey333]

Sloppy game but it happens.  Twins leaving Staumont to pitch after he walked three and hit a batter is confusing.  How he lucked out of it is also confusing.  Rocco would have been roasted if that had been the win ING run.  Things happen.  They lost, oh well.  Hope they get the game in today.

Gosh do I ever miss Cory Provus on radio.  Atteberry is so hard to follow.

[chpettit19]

59 minutes ago, Bodie said:

If you come up in the bottom of the 10th inning down by one run, it is NOT ACCEPTABLE WHATSOEVER for not scoring the tying run.  In Little League it is understandable.  

If you can't advance the runner from 2B with no outs, you are not a professional hitter.  Leaving a man on 3B with one out (the worst result for a professional hitter following a pro hitter in extra innings) is unacceptable for professional hitter.

 

I hate the ridiculous extra innings rule for numerous reasons,  but the Twins execution since the advent of the little league rules is even worse!!!

The MN Twins are 2nd in all of baseball at scoring a runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs at a 59% success rate. League average is 51.8%. As it turns out the guy on the mound is a professional pitcher, too. He's paid to not let pro hitters score those guys. 

[MinnInPa]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I'm also a big fan of Ben Rortvedt. A pretty good defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole preferred catcher) who can hit when allowed & coached to be himself. I hated to see him go & advocated to bring him back. Now that TB has him, they won't give him up.

Rortvedt cant hit at all ..worse than Vasquez

[Parfigliano]

4 minutes ago, MinnInPa said:

Rortvedt cant hit at all ..worse than Vasquez

Vasquez OPS this year .465 Rortvedt OPS this year .654

[Old Crow]

52 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

Long season, but brutal loss last night.  The throw by Lewis was not good.  Tried to make up for by swinging at curve low away on 1st pitch for a week ground out.  Kepler getting blown away on 89 Fatballs down the middle and Correa who has been on a heater replicating Lewis at bat with soft fly to left.  Now the flip side, someone goes deep and Twins win, we celebrate, I get it.  

Fundamental baseball cost us the game in extra's.  Plain and simple

Win today, win the series and start another streak.  

Fundamental baseball doesn't seem to be in voguue in today's game.

[Karbo]

Kind of looks like they only can depend on Duran, Jax,  Staumont,and Alcala at this point. Thielbar and Jackson have no business being on the roster at this point. Okert and Sands are iffy.

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Alcala isn't somebody we want to overuse. I'm also in the camp of using long relief so we don't also overuse some in the rotation & being able to have someone *Varland) who can also come in when a SP has an off day.

His control was a little wackadoo compared to normal after working the previous days.. I think it will be a little moreso today if he's needed.

You know if we have a break glass in case of emergency panel at home it's fine. But if we have a glass panel we can't even touch that takes up a roster spot.. it needs to be reconsidered.

[Patzky]

19 minutes ago, Karbo said:

Kind of looks like they only can depend on Duran, Jax,  Staumont,and Alcala at this point. Thielbar and Jackson have no business being on the roster at this point. Okert and Sands are iffy.

Okert seems to do ok if he's starting a fresh inning. But cleaning up someone else's mess.. not his forte.

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, adjacent said:

My guess is that they are going to send someone down (Sands, Staumont) and bring a fresh arm for today's game

You have the 37 year old albatross hanging around your neck who still has a roster spot somehow.. I guess they can use him up today and leave him in Minnesota when they head to the coast 

[LambchoP]

Twins definitely need to trim the fat off our bullpen. Both Theilbar and Jackson have no business being out there. Call up Funderburk to replace Theilbar at least temporarily. He's got good K stuff but too many walks. Not sure what's up with Topa or Canterino, both of whom would help our bullpen, I think we need some serious relief help at the deadline. Along with a solid starter with control. Sad to say, but right now Ryan is the only starter I'd trust in a playoff game. I think they should give Festa a spot start or two in Pablo or Paddacks place to give them some rest.

[chpettit19]

@Bodie and @Peter

I see you both disagree with my statement that the Twins are 2nd in baseball in scoring guys from third with less than 2 outs (you can go look it up here if you don't believe me) and/or that the pitcher is also a pro and paid to not let guys score. I assume your stance on the Twins not being able to score the tying run in the bottom of the 10th is reversed when the Twins are the away team? If they score 0 or 1 run in the top of the 10th you believe the other team should score 100% of the time against the Twins pitching staff in the bottom of the 10th, correct? The Twins shouldn't have any pitchers capable of stopping another team from scoring a runner from 2nd base with no outs? So all extra inning games should only be won by a team that can score at least 2 runs in an inning? Or is it just the Twins who are held to the standard of always scoring that runner when they only need 1 run?

[David Maro]

Topa is on 60 day IL and wouldn't count on him pitching until August if at all this year.

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I'm also a big fan of Ben Rortvedt. A pretty good defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole preferred catcher) who can hit when allowed & coached to be himself. I hated to see him go & advocated to bring him back. Now that TB has him, they won't give him up.

So you're saying the Yankees can't coach hitting?

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

So you're saying the Yankees can't coach hitting?

And apparently don't care that much about their ace's preferred catcher.

[MMMordabito]

11 hours ago, Peter said:

Umpires cost us game-robotic/AI need to be here ASAP!!! Hate hate hate how umpires always screw twins🤮💩👎within 2 years they thankfully will be gone and robotic/AI will take over for good! Time to get rid of scumbag umpires forever 💩🤮💩🤮💩🤮