Royals 5, Twins 0: Ragans and Royals Shut Out Twins in First Game of Key Series

[Sherry Cerny]

The Twins are jockeying for wild-card position with the Kansas City Royals, who have outplayed both Minnesota and Cleveland since the All-Star break, setting this weekend series at Kauffman up as a big one. The Royals set an emphatic tone in the opener.

Image courtesy of Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (89 pitches, 60 strikes (67%)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (-.122), Carlos Santana (-.064), Austin Martin (-.064)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

The Twins and the Royals have met 11 times this season, starting with the first series out of spring training. The Twins have won all three series heading into this final showdown of the season, with the two teams neck-and-neck for second place in the division and the race for the wild card. 

This was rookie Zebby Matthews' second time facing the Royals. His first meeting was his major-league debut, and he got the win. Matthews outlasted Royals pitcher Seth Lugo, staying on the mound for five innings, throwing 77 pitches, only two earned runs, no walks, and five strikeouts. However, Matthews' most recent start against Toronto was a very rough one.

Tonight, he looked to bounce back against veteran Royals All-Star pitcher Cole Ragans. The offense was going to be challenged to put up some runs to help the rookie out like they did the last time against KC. 

Minnesota's lineup could not get on the board early on in the game. They mounted a threat against Ragans in the first but couldn't capitalize. Twins hitters spent the next six innings chasing pitches and striking out against Ragans, who was dominant.

The Twins' best threat to score came in the fourth. Kyle Farmer was on first when Austin Martin hit a ball deep into the left field corner. Tommy Watkins the third base coach waved Farmer around, and the relay from Bobby Witt Jr. made it to catcher Salvador Perez who easily tagged Farmer out to end the inning. The sends from Watkins have been questionable lately and have created some frustrating outcomes for the players. 

The Royals struck first on an RBI double from Tommy Pham, bringing home Kyle Isbel, who was Matthews's only walk of the game. The defense and Matthews' pitching kept the Royals to one run until Michael Massey hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth for a 2-0 lead. Kansas City tacked on two more in the fifth, and Matthews exited down 4-0. 

Ronny Henriquez came in for the sixth and seventh innings and not only had two clean outings on 13 pitches but was assisted by a fantastic catch from Martin to rob MJ Melendez of continuing the inning. Caleb Thielbar handled the eighth and gave up a run.

The Twins never really had a chance in this one. The bats were dead on arrival, leading to their ninth shutout of the season.

With the Royals now a half-game ahead of the Twins, these next two games are vital to the club if they want to stay in front of Kansas City in the playoff pecking order.

What’s Next?
The Twins continue with the Royals in this critical series. Bailey Ober (12-6; 3.95 ERA) taking the bump against Alec Marsh (7-8; 4.70 ERA) at 6:15PM CST. Both pitchers have been crucial to their teams, so it will be a battle. 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

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[BH67]

Being offensive by being inoffensive.

[tony&rodney]

Sometimes one should tip their hat to the pitcher. Ragans was very good. . Matthews was ok, just inexperienced and pitching in front of a shaky defense (didn't hurt tonight). KC pitching quieted the Twins bats. 

Tomorrow should be much better for Minnesota. 

On a side note, I think the Twins need to make a decision on Correa and Buxton. If they are out for the year, the team has some knowledge of the challenges ahead. If they cannot play due to their injuries, send them to Ft. Myers for treatment and massages. There really isn't any reason to hold them until late September. 

[howeda7]

After his "resurgence" Christian Vazquez is now 3 for his last 32. Perhaps we can stop worrying about "saving" Jeffers and actually let him catch two games in a row?

[DJL44]

The Royals' pitchers didn't leave very many pitches in the middle of the plate. They got outpitched tonight.

[DJL44]

Ronny Henriquez has had a nice season split between St. Paul and Minnesota.

[Parfigliano]

Glad I missed it.

[Galen]

Farmer hitting 5th?

Martin hitting 6th?

Really?

[IndyTwinsFan]

13 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Glad I missed it.

I second that thought. 

[jorgenswest]

19 minutes ago, Galen said:

Farmer hitting 5th?

Martin hitting 6th?

Really?

Not very many good options. Those two did end up with half of the hits.

[Parfigliano]

Good news.  Packers lost.

[Aggies7]

25 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Good news.  Packers lost.

And Love limped off…not saying that’s a good thing. Their backup is Malik Willis 😳Could certainly change things in the NFC north 

[harmlessharmon]

30 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Good news.  Packers lost.

Vikes can back into the playoffs MN sports style if everyone in the North goes winless.  

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Galen said:

Farmer hitting 5th?

Martin hitting 6th?

Really?

Nothing says contender like "batting 5th, Kyle Farmer."

[David HK]

Thank you, Apple TV, for ensuring that I missed this one, even though mlb.tv has my money once again this year.  

FWIW, 3rd wild card is an advantageous position this year.   I'd much rather have a first round series in Houston than face the Yanks or O's out of the gate.  Careful, though, boys- if this 💩 baseball continues, we'll be looking up at the Tigers or M's in a couple more weeks.   I don't think our 1 trade-deadline prize is going to be enough to save us.  Oh, wait, he's in St. Paul...

[h2oface]

Watkins guessed wrong again.. Farmer was toast. 

[mikelink45]

8 hours ago, Galen said:

Farmer hitting 5th?

Martin hitting 6th?

Really?

That was my first reaction too!  What analytics created that lineup?

[tony&rodney]

The Royals were the better team last night.

Judging from the comments my hunch that many people on TD are primarily football fans is apparent. 

Baldelli will need to rally his clubhouse to find their focus in these last few weeks. 

Ober is up today and has an opportunity to erase his two prior debacles versus Kansas City. 

 

[SarasotaBill]

I thought the line-up was poor:

5. Farmer RHB

6. Martin RHB

7. Vazquez RHB

8. Larnach LHB

9. Julian LHB

Two points:

- Weak hitters in the middle of the line-up

- (3) RHB in a row and then (2) LHB

Then KC brings a RHP to face the (3) RHB and Baldelli doesn't do a thing down by 4 in the 7th.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, h2oface said:

Watkins guessed wrong again.. Farmer was toast. 

It was a lose/lose decision. The Twins are not hitting which means Ragans just retires the next batter and Witt Jr. is super quick with a total power arm that is uber accurate. Can't win there unless something very unusual happens. So it goes. Seems like it was worth a try.

[Karbo]

Can't really expect too much with 3 rookie starters. SWR has held his own well, but he had plenty of experience in the high minors. Mathews starts the season in the low minors and finishes the season in the majors? Festa at least got some time in AA and AAA before making the jump. They look like they can be pretty good pitchers in time. Putting 3 rookie starters in the rotation during a pennant chase is asking alot.

[David Maro]

This team is now pushing for October golf reservations.When you have a rookie pitchers going you need to score 4 or more to help.Rocco didn't help either with the score 2-0 and Zebby getting into trouble in the the 5th.It was time to pull him,but no let's him pitch to Renfoe and now 4-0.

Now they have to hope that Ober has figured out what the Royals have on him Saturday night.And someone on the team has to step up and do something.If they don't the Cleveland series will mean nothing.

[LambchoP]

A lineup consisting of one or maybe two of Farmer, Martin and Vasquez is ok, but all three in one lineup? In a real important game? This lineup is really bottom of the barrel. No Buxton, no Correa, Lewis playing hurt and slumping, 3 or 4 AAA players filling in for starters, and that's just the offense. 3 rookies in a rotation is going to really stress a bullpen and put a lot of pressure on a lineup. And when both the bullpen and lineup are being held together with spit and glue, losses happen. Maybe we scrape enough wins together for the last wildcard spot. If we do, I expect an embarrassing sweep. Here's to next year :)

[Doctor Gast]

Royals were the better team last night. We have some great rookies but we are depending far too much on them. We have 3 rookie SP who we have put a heavy load on them. Martin has done very well for a rookie that's learning a new position. We have put him in the fire & a heavy load on him. We depend on him & Lewis for firing up the troops especially when Correa & Buxton are down. But Martin put in this situation is hard for him to maintain his production much less create that fire.

Fire is what we desperately need on this team right now. They have it into their heads that Lewis has to play 2B, when Lewis doesn't feel comfortable playing there. For some time they have pressured him to play there. How can Lewis produce on the field & that fire that we desperately need when he's unhappy & uncomfortable? This FO has weird ideas for putting players in certain positions & how to go about doing it at the detriment of the team. It would have been much better to coach Lewis better at 3B in how to improve his throwing than have him learn a different position he's not comfortable with in the middle of the season.

I applaud the team for trying to compete with other teams by improving their baserunning. But Watkin has no feel on how to coach that at 3B. The only thing he was good for before was to slap the players on the butt after hitting a HR.

[Whitey333]

The Twins are 6-12 in their last 18 games.  They are 37-49 against teams with winning records.  Too many injuries and too many players not picking up even a little bit of the slack.  Many of the remaining veterans in the batting order are simply stinking it up. Way too many lifeless performances the past month.  Truth is they will probably make the playoffs.  The other truth is they really don't deserve it.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, Karbo said:

Can't really expect too much with 3 rookie starters. 

It would really help the rookie pitchers (and the bullpen) if the defense played better. They miss Correa and Buxton defensively at least as much as they do on offense.

[DJL44]

12 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

The Twins are 6-12 in their last 18 games.  They are 37-49 against teams with winning records.  Too many injuries and too many players not picking up even a little bit of the slack.  Many of the remaining veterans in the batting order are simply stinking it up. Way too many lifeless performances the past month.  Truth is they will probably make the playoffs.  The other truth is they really don't deserve it.

I have no problem rooting for the underdog. It would be so much fun to see this team go in with no expectations and knock the Yankees out of the playoffs.

[D.C Twins]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

That was my first reaction too!  What analytics created that lineup?

Same analytics that spits out putting Margot as lead  off not infrequently 🙄

[MMMordabito]

I'm glad I went to see 91-yo Willie Nelson last night - a guy who keeps showing up for his fans even at an outdoor show on an unseasonably cool summer night at 48 degrees.  I could tell as he walked off the stage that he certainly had some hip discomfort.

People one-third his age should take notice.

[AKTwinsFan]

Ronny Henriquez hasn't given up a run in a while. I like him as a starter for future games. It's no surprise WATKINs made yet another bad send. What's new.