Final: Phillies 3, Twins 0 - Minnesota Misses the Mark on a Great Start

[Ted Schwerzler]

A great Simeon Woods Richardson start was wasted on Tuesday night as the rough version of Jhoan Duran showed up again. Evening the series against the best team in baseball, Minnesota will look to take the rubber match on Wednesday night.

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (88 pitches, 57 strikes)
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.599), Willi Castro (-.138), Austin Martin (-.110)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Defense Does it Early
In the first inning, as the first batter of the game, Kyle Schwarber stepped in against Simeon Woods Richardson. He clobbered a ball that would have been a home run in Philadelphia, but the Target Field dimensions are different and Max Kepler exists. Carlos Santana wasn’t ready to be upstaged, and his diving catch in the second inning robbed Nick Castellanos of a drive to right.

 

Woods Richardson cruised through six innings, and his final frame was punctuated by a Matt Wallner cannon. Trea Turner is incredibly fast, and he steals a lot of bases, but he tested the wrong outfielder and the Forest Lake native told him he shouldn’t have found out. A liner off the wall was met with a howitzer to second and Minnesota turned the frame over.

 

Late Game Meltdown
Griffin Jax worked a scoreless eighth inning for Minnesota, and the Twins then squared off against Jeff Hoffman. The reliever that was jettisoned following a great camp in 2023, and wound up facing Willi Castro in the All-Star Game, was getting a shot at Target Field. The Phillies reliever got the Minnesota All-Star on strikes this time, and after walking Christian Vazquez to kick off the inning, had his first out. Byron Buxton came on as a pinch runner and swiped second base, so Baldelli’s club had the tying run 180 feet from home. Getting Santana on strikes, Hoffman gave way to Gregory Soto for the final out. Facing Max Kepler, Soto there a pair of balls before uncorking a wild pitch allowing the runners to move up. On the next pitch he walked the bases loaded and Ryan Jeffers stepped in for Edouard Julien. After working a 3-1 count, Jeffers grounded out to Alec Bohm and it was Jhoan Duran time.

The Twins closer came on and got an out before giving up an opposite field double to Bryce Harper. After walking Bohm and J.T. Realmuto, the bases were loaded with just a single out and Minnesota was in a tough spot. Brandon Marsh lofted a fly ball to Wallner in left, scoring Harper, and the scoreless tie had finally been broken. Duran struggled to find velocity again this evening, topping out at 101.7 mph, and Castellanos’ double brought home a pair to make it 3-0. The Twins closer’s up and down season continued, and this was certainly not a highlight. After leaving the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Minnesota watched their arm get got in the ninth inning. Duran was lifted for Ronny Henriquez.

Matt Strahm was called upon for the ninth inning and was looking to wrap things up for the Phillies. Starting Brooks Lee off with a pair of balls, he came back with three straight strikes to punch him out. Manuel Margot took over for Wallner and quickly grounded out to make Austin Martin the final hope. Minnesota’s center fielder struck out on the fifth pitch of his at bat and Philadelphia knotted the series at one.

Notes
Royce Lewis kicked off a rehab assignment with St. Paul on Tuesday night. Batting second and playing third, it was the second time with Toby Gardenhire’s squad this season. He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. The hope would be that he could be ready to join Minnesota on Friday in Detroit.

Jose Miranda is also closing in on a return to action, and he could play for the Saints on Wednesday. If Minnesota wants to infuse their roster with some big additions before the weekend series, Miranda would get just Wednesday’s day game prior to his activation.

Brock Stewart, who has been out since May 1st, is expected to be activated from the injured listed on Wednesday. His return to the roster likely is bad news for Ronny Henriquez, who would be an easy arm to option.

Reliever Justin Topa, who was acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade and has yet to pitch for the Twins, was assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on a rehab assignment. He will need to build back up before being a possibility for the big league club. In his 2024 debut, he worked a single inning with a walk and strikeout.

National reporter Lauren Shehadi has been in town for the Phillies series. Today she shared a cool story about her beginnings in Minot, ND. That also happens to be the hometown of Marney Gellner, who recently called a series of Twins games.

What’s Next? 
Wrapping up a series with the best team in baseball, Minnesota will oppose Aaron Nola on Thursday afternoon. Needing a starter to take Chris Paddack's spot, they'll counter with a bullpen game. Steven Okert is set to start, and David Festa will be promoted to work as the bulk man. Despite Randy Dobnak looking strong the last two months at Triple-A, Minnesota couldn't find room on the 40-man.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[thelanges5]

Was hoping Julien would make who to send idown a tough decision when people start coming back. He looks just as lost as he did when he went down the first time.  

[BH67]

Simeon Woods Richardson matched Zack Wheeler for six innings. Magnificent performance.

I welcome your collective thoughts on Jhoan Duran's pitch selection tonight. Not nearly enough fastballs thrown, and curves routinely missing the strike zone. Not his best mix.

[bean5302]

Duran 

7 minutes ago, BH67 said:

...I welcome your collective thoughts on Jhoan Duran's pitch selection tonight. Not nearly enough fastballs thrown, and curves routinely missing the strike zone. Not his best mix.

I was talking about it with fans at the game. Splitter, splitter, splitter, curve. Splitter, splitter, splitter, curve. Splitter, splitter, splitter, curve.

[thelanges5]

Heard today that we are 6th in runs scored and 18th in runs allowed. Sure hope Mr Pohlad allows Falvine to address this in the next 7 days. Stewart and Topa should help but we need a starter and possibly a lefty we can trust in the pen. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

58 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Was hoping Julien would make who to send idown a tough decision when people start coming back. He looks just as lost as he did when he went down the first time.  

I suspect he'll go back down when Lewis or Miranda come off the IL, whichever one is the first to return.

Or maybe Diego A. Castillo is first?

[thelanges5]

2-4 since Correa and Miranda went on the IL. All 4 were winnable which sounds good but doesn’t help the win column ⚾️

Edited July 24, 2024 by thelanges5

[Rosterman]

All the great fielding moments but the Twins still made two errors. Duran, forget the breaking ball sometimes and just throw heat!

[thelanges5]

Bullpen game tomorrow?

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

Was hoping Julien would make who to send idown a tough decision when people start coming back. He looks just as lost as he did when he went down the first time.  

Its easy to find his bat because its glued to his shoulder.

[Mark G]

3 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Bullpen game tomorrow?

I was thinking the same thing.  We used the better part of the pen tonight, so I assume they will be pretty limited in a day game after a night game.  That leaves us with the bottom part of the pen pitching the majority of the innings, or at least that would be a logical guess.  Stay tuned........🫣

[Peter]

Wasted effort last night😡🤮😤🤬👎no chance today-it’s definitely throw way game.  Need to get everyone back at full health and start winning again and take back division from Cleveland!!!

[LewFordLives]

They really need Correa, Lewis, and Miranda back. The current lineup is not gonna scare anyone.

[Patzky]

6 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

I suspect he'll go back down when Lewis or Miranda come off the IL, whichever one is the first to return.

Or maybe Diego A. Castillo is first?

I find Camargo use-less (as in not used, not the conventional sense.of the word) but Camargo Julien and Castillo will soon become Miranda, Lewis, and Probably Festa .

[bighat]

Meanwhile, in a parallel start tonight, Jose Berrios went four innings, gave up 3 runs and walked 6 in a home loss to the Rays. After an incredible start Berrios has a 6.41 ERA over the past month and has looked more and more like a guy who's running on fumes. Could the Blue Jays be hoping to trade him? 

 

[Karbo]

7 hours ago, Rosterman said:

All the great fielding moments but the Twins still made two errors. Duran, forget the breaking ball sometimes and just throw heat!

It seems obvious to me that Castro is not a starting caliber ss. Good for a fill in or spot start there but I would put Lee there for a few games and let Willi play 3rd until Lewis comes back. I assume Julian will be sent out when all are healthy so then Castro can split some time at 2nd with Lee. Of course things can change if Julian can start hitting, but what are the odds of that?

[Colbeh]

Just absolutely sucks to see Julien struggle this badly. I could watch that dude swing at pitches all day everyday. Lets hope he gets this figured out by September/next year

[mikelink45]

Castillo is first to go, but then it is more difficult.  Julien seems obvious, but so does Camargo.  If all three return than those are the three I demote.  Festa's time depends on how he does today.  Can he turn it around and show his potential?  If not he goes down when one of the RP return.

My biggest concern is Duran.  We need him to be consistent.  I would turn off or turn down the entrance display until he earns it again. 

I am still not impressed with Martin - I hope we see him putting things together soon.  On BR he has a -0.6 war and 86 OPS+.  Not enough to make him valuable. 

I also see Okert going down if one of the RP returns.  I am not impressed with his performances -0.1 WAR, 4.40 era, 1.4 WHIP.  Just because he is left handed I do not see his value.  Hope he starts great tonight.   Of course Caleb Thielbar is -0.7 with 5.79 era and a whip of 1.757 so if any lefty is dropped it looks like the feel good story is coming to an end.

[umterp23]

Duran maybe threw one fastball for a strike in the outing and he appeared to shake off Jeffers multiple times to go with an 80's curveball.  When you can't locate the heat, you have a poor outing.  

SWR looked really good, kind of surprised he didn't get the 7th to see what would happen.  

[Whitey333]

Tough game last night.  I don't see much of a chance today with a bullpen game against the Phillies Nola.  Looks like a throw away game.  Twins continue to lose to teams with better records than them and in general to teams with winning records.  Not impressive.  So out of these 5 games with Brewers and Phillies it looks like we will end up 1-4.  But I'm so happy we have the injuries to blame.

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

Duran gave up all 3 runs on a fastball, 1 to Marsh for the long flyout and the other 2 on the Castellanos double. Nothing was working for him tonight but that pitch gave up the damage. A 50% strike rate isn't exactly inspiring for a fastball. 

[Doctor Gast]

Social media didn't give SWR much of a chance to succeed this season & they are probably still waiting for him to fall because many look at past stats & not the person. SWR surprised everyone with a stellar performance last night against the league's most successful team. 6 scoreless innings, He had only 5Ks but it seemed like more because he always got those SOs when it really mattered.

I've been impressed by Wallner's defense ever since he returned. Martin & Vazquez were the only RHHs that faced the CY candidate RHSP Wheeler. While (RHH) Margot has been pretty limited to LHPs, (RHH) Martin has been used exclusively & sporadically against tough RHPs, it seems like they setting him up to fail. Martin has been impactful on the field & on base paths but has been criticized about his hitting. Quit babying Margot, who is gone next season & give his ABs to Martin so he can break out. Martin is a good hitter & a OB machine,  Finally give him the chance to get the feel at the plate, get on base & raise havoc on the base path, while honing his skill in the OF.

[madtowntwin]

"Simmerin' Simeon" was filthy....I keep waiting for the wheels to fall off as his innings mount, but the young man just keeps impressing. Down 3 key players the offense struggles though everyone plays hard and there's been some defensive "Short-Comings" as well. The bullpen has taken turns scuffling. Julien's next call up needs to be in 2025. Today's game seems a bit daunting....Win Twins!

[David Maro]

SWR pitched his best game yet.It is to bad the offense let him down.

Why Jeffers swung on 3-1 count with bases loaded is beyond me.Soto couldn't find the zone and needed to make 2 good pitches.

With Wednesdays game now being a BP game it looks more like another loss.

[TwinsDr2021]

SWR was amazing and threw some filth up there, when a pitcher is dealing like that it isn't a surprise to have great plays made behind you.

I will say with the lineup the Twins put out there last night against Wheeler, I was surprised they even had a chance, which is to give SWR more credit for what he did last night.

I am hopeful Schwarber doesn't break out of his slump today.

[DJL44]

A wasted opportunity to give Wallner a chance to face a lefty with nothing on the line. Instead they bring in Margot for another failed pinch hit.

[DJL44]

Great job by the starting pitchers. Nothing from the offense these last two games.

[Mortimerkenny21]

Sorry everyone, I saw this game was scoreless in the 9th and turned on the TV when I got home just in time to see the first double from Philly. It only got worse after that. Should have just left it off, I won't let it happen again. My apologies. 😉

[Blyleven2011]

Enjoyed the game for 8 innings , a pitchers duel and good defense,  Castro is not a shortstop  , move Lee there and try a new experiment ...

Duran worries me ....

[DJL44]

I think we can call the Berrios trade. MN wins the trade with this great rookie season from SWR.