Mets 15, Twins 2: That's Why They Call It Flushing

[Nate Palmer]

The Minnesota Twins lost a game that they will want to flush and forget. Nothing went well, but we did get to see Matt Wallner showcase his mid-40s slider. 

Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (81 pitches, 52 strikes (64.2%))
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (15)
Bottom 3 WPA: Woods Richardson (-0.365), Royce Lewis (-0.072), Willi Castro (-0.064)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Monday evening, the Minnesota Twins looked to continue climbing to catch the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. Trade deadline rumors and deals had been flying around all day, and the Twins lineup would look to settle in against Mets left-handed starter José Quintana. 

Margot and Buxton combine early
The Twins have been very successful against left-handed pitching this season, sporting a .778 OPS, the third-best in Major League Baseball. That success flashed early, as Manuel Margot led off the game with a double off of Quintana. Byron Buxton followed him, hitting a single to the outfield, giving Margot enough time to round third and score the game's first run. This put the Twins up 1-0 before an out was recorded. 

That 1-0 score held for some time, too, as Quintana and Simeon Woods Richardson battled each other half-inning after half-inning. Woods Richardson didn’t start completely clean in his first inning of work, but he did put up a scoreless frame, thanks in big part to strikeouts of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. 

Alonso brings the ice.
The pitching duel quickly lost that feel in the fourth inning. With Alonso at the plate again, the right-handed hitter took a Woods Richardson fastball for an upper-deck ride to right field. The home run was the Polar Bear's 22nd of the season, and it left the field with a 105.6 mph exit velocity.

That home run now looks like it was the beginning of the end for Woods Richardson. Instead of big, impressive hits like Alonso’s home run, the rest of the inning was a collection of primarily walks and singles that kept runners moving and scoring. 

It wouldn’t be until the eighth batter, Brandon Nimmo, came to the plate that Woods Richardson recorded the first out of the inning. It was a sacrifice fly that made the score 5-1. That would be the only out Woods Richardson would record in the fourth, before he was taken out of the game in favor of Cole Sands. By the end of the inning, it was 6-1, and the Twins' bats were looking at a large deficit to overcome.

With the game largely out of hand in the fourth, it was turned over to the bullpen. Sands was the first arm out, and did a decent job trying to slow and stop the scoring. He did allow some inherited runners but was able to stop the bleeding for the moment. 

After Sands, Josh Staumont, Steven Okert, and Brock Stewart had a series of rough outings. Stewart is maybe the hardest to see hit for runs, as the Twins desperately need him to be his old self for the stretch run.

The game got far enough out of hand (14-1 Mets lead) that fans were treated to a position player pitching in the seventh inning. Matt Wallner came on to close out the frame. It makes some sense as Wallner was nearly a pitching prospect instead of a hitting prospect. I don’t think teams were enthralled by the 42-47 mph slider Wallner threw Monday evening. 

To their credit, the Twins have never been a team to make irrational, knee-jerk reactions. With the trade deadline looming, the front office may use Woods-Richardson's rough start and the bullpen's rough performance as motivation to strike a deal before time runs out. 

Ryan Jeffers Homers
It may feel strange to celebrate a ninth-inning home run that makes the score 15-2. Ryan Jeffers needed something positive to happen at the plate. After being robbed of that moment in the sixth, Jeffers connected for his 15th home run as the game was winding down. A jolt in Jeffers's bat would be similar to acquiring a thumping right-handed bat via trade. 

What’s Next?
The Twins will send David Festa to the mound once again on Tuesday. We will have to see if the rookie can continue to build on his strong 4.1 inning and seven-strikeout outing against the Phillies this past Wednesday. The Twins bats will look to get rolling against Sean Manaea, who has pitched 106 innings for a 3.74 ERA in 2024. 

Postgame Interviews

Coming Soon

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Staumont	0	17	21	0	35	73
Stewart	0	0	18	0	24	42
Thielbar	0	16	0	25	0	41
Okert	0	0	21	0	13	34
Sands	0	0	0	0	23	23
Durán	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jax	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alcalá	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[Colbeh]

I can't tell if this is a good or bad outcome for the deadline tomorrow..

[bean5302]

Pretty concerning about Brock Stewart. Looks like he's down about 2mph and it's showing in his results. Seems like Woods Richardson might just be getting a correction to his 3.27 ERA / 3.56 FIP to be more in line with his 4.18 SIERA and 4.22 xFIP entering the game.

[Patzky]

Bobby Witt. Good God. At least something is fun to watch tonight.

[USAFChief]

That bullpen usage chart looks pretty ominous with Festa going Tuesday. 

I'd say it's unlikely Festa goes even 5 full. Lotta outs to get after that. 

 

 

[thelanges5]

Tigers and Sox aren’t going to help us fend off the Guardos and Royals this week. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Always enjoy your writing Nate. Thanks! 

[Blyleven2011]

I don't know what to say about tonight's game ...

What an  _ss whooping  ...

OUCH ...

[tony&rodney]

36 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Bobby Witt. Good God. At least something is fun to watch tonight.

Isn't Witt Jr. something? The defense, speed, power, average .... he is right there with Judge and Soto. I find myself constantly switching to watch Kansas City in hopes to catch his at bats. That grand slam tonight was crazy.

[Parfigliano]

Ugly game. Mets usually dont score 15 in a series so I expect them back to scoring 3-4 a game for rest of series.

[mikelink45]

Well there is not much to write home about.  I am on the snake river and we had a fire come right down to the waters edge - smoke filled the sky, planes were flying in and grabbing water.  More excitement than the Twins provided.  Let's hope the fire is out and the Twins play like contenders tomorrow. 

[h2oface]

There goes our run differential. 
 

Best pen in MLB. 
 

I thought we got rid of Jackson. Maybe just changed name to Stewart? 
 

 

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, Colbeh said:

I can't tell if this is a good or bad outcome for the deadline tomorrow..

Out of curiosity, why would the outcome of one game alter their thinking? 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

That's Why They Call It Flushing

Next stop for Nate - the Catskills!

 

[Doctor Gast]

NYM were on the sweeper. Quintana's curveball was outside all nite that clipped the strike zone behind the plate to where the catcher could easily steal it for a strike. He was throwing it all nite & the ump called it a strike all nite. When the hitters didn't watch it for a KL they whiffed at it because they couldn't reach it. Can't wait for the robo-ump to get rid of the human error. The Twins should have really mashed against Quintana.

[William K Johnson]

7 hours ago, Patzky said:

Bobby Witt. Good God. At least something is fun to watch tonight.

Happen to catch the eighth and ninth innings of their game last night.   What an incredible series of plays by an incredible player.

[Doctor Wu]

Brutal game, Our bullpen needs help ASAP!

[Karbo]

Stewart and Staumont looked terrible.

[chinmusic]

6 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Out of curiosity, why would the outcome of one game alter their thinking?

Here's what Nate said in this article: "To their credit, the Twins have never been a team to make irrational, knee-jerk reactions. With the trade deadline looming, the front office may use Woods-Richardson's rough start and the bullpen's rough performance as motivation to strike a deal before time runs out. "

I think both Nate and the poster in this thread were just musing.

Other contenders are making moves. I sure hope the Twins do too. Complacency could be lethal.

[Riverbrian]

Tomorrow is a new day

[CRF]

With Festa going tonight, last nights bullpen usage could be real problematic. He needs to somehow keep us in the game and give us 5 or 6 decent innings. 

[Linus]

SWRs outing was, in a way, a reminder that the guy has pitched pretty darn well. Just a couple of clunkers like last night which will happen to all pitchers. His expected numbers are higher but still pretty good. 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, William K Johnson said:

Happen to catch the eighth and ninth innings of their game last night.   What an incredible series of plays by an incredible player.

He is fun to watch. You just knew either 1) he would find a way to get them to win or 2) the White Sox would find another excruciating way to lose.

Check and check 

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

NYM were on the sweeper. Quintana's curveball was outside all nite that clipped the strike zone behind the plate to where the catcher could easily steal it for a strike. He was throwing it all nite & the ump called it a strike all nite. When the hitters didn't watch it for a KL they whiffed at it because they couldn't reach it. Can't wait for the robo-ump to get rid of the human error. The Twins should have really mashed against Quintana.

Twins hitters got screwed and never got kissed ...

[Colbeh]

8 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Out of curiosity, why would the outcome of one game alter their thinking? 

Im being a little pessimistic after that beating last night.

Curious to know how the FO feels about the rotation and bullpen going into the playoffs.

I like the idea of our 4th playoff starter being a combination of SWR/Festa/Paddack/Varland instead of a pricey rental.

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, chinmusic said:

Here's what Nate said in this article: "To their credit, the Twins have never been a team to make irrational, knee-jerk reactions. With the trade deadline looming, the front office may use Woods-Richardson's rough start and the bullpen's rough performance as motivation to strike a deal before time runs out. "

I think both Nate and the poster in this thread were just musing.

Other contenders are making moves. I sure hope the Twins do too. Complacency could be lethal.

It would certainly not be a knee jerk reaction to improve the bullpen…

[Patzky]

11 hours ago, USAFChief said:

That bullpen usage chart looks pretty ominous with Festa going Tuesday. 

I'd say it's unlikely Festa goes even 5 full. Lotta outs to get after that. 

 

 

Thought they might fly Henriquez out or even Bowman. Maybe Staumont is 'hurt'.. 

[David Maro]

You don't win any games walking 7 hitters.Umpire had two different zones that didn't help SWR.The lineup didn't help by swinging at pitches way out of the zone.This will be a long series if they don't stop helping the pitcher.

[LambchoP]

Pretty sure Twins won't be able to land a SP, at least an impact one. Heck, it's looking like we might not do anything at all. If we hope to even make the playoffs, let alone do well in them, I think it's pretty obvious we need bullpen help. Some good lefties would be nice. Last time I mention this, but Puk would have been the perfect trade for us.

[Mark G]

I agree with the posts about the bullpen usage, and how it means we need a good start today.

What I really don't get is why our 3 best bullpen arms combined haven't thrown a pitch in at least 5 days?  I wonder if that has been wise.