Tigers 7, Twins 6: It's Always Something

[Matt Braun]

And to think we had to pay 9.99 to watch it. 

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
David Festa: 4 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: Byron Buxton (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Alcalá (.-356), Mickey Gasper (-.257), Justin Topa (-.234), 
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

If you successfully navigated the litany of streaming services—searched deep for a sign-in; contacted your youngest and hippest relative—your reward for accessing Apple TV+ was so:

David Festa took the mound for the Twins. Down Pablo López, Minnesota looked to their plethora of young hurlers to carry the weight usually shouldered by their ace. Early on, their decision appeared wise: Festa navigated back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to start the game. The breakers stole strikes. The heater sizzled through the zone. 

Uncharacteristically, Minnesota’s offense looked frisky early. The 1st inning only saw a harmless Carlos Correa walk, but that was just a setup for a fruitful 2nd. Byron Buxton walked—a rare occurrence—and swiped second base—a more common one. Ty France then deemed an inside fastball an adequate vessel for action, punching the ball through the middle of the infield for a run-scoring single. 

That hit ushered in the beginning of a typical baseball pace; two innings started and concluded with no effect on the score. Men reached base. Sometimes. Maybe not. No adventure finished its cycle, and the game advanced towards a (potentially) more impactful future.

Detroit’s first run eventually arrived, perhaps ironically, mostly unrelated to Festa’s efforts. With a runner on 1st, Gleyber Torres poked a Professional Single through the right side of the infield, and as the lead runner scampered to 3rd, Matt Wallner uncorked an unwieldy shot, evidently tricky enough to evade two defenders and eventually roll into the Tigers dugout. The runner scores. Unearned, of course. Yet, they count all the same. 

The Twins answered with a fervor. A Wallner HBP begat a pair of singles, the final an RBI knock by Correa to put the team back in the lead. A pitching change couldn’t even halt the momentum: a Buxton fielder’s choice coaxed a third run in before Edouard Julien ended the offensive outbreak with an RBI double into the right-field corner. 

 

 

Tragedy is the life of all who place themselves in the hands of fortune and fate. Cruelty knows no bounds, and prior suffering does nothing to halt an inevitable force returning to strike disaster back on those already under an affliction. The game doesn’t care. The game will never care. If each out isn’t earned legitimately, through besting the other team’s hitters at least 27 times, then nothing can be guaranteed. 

Two walks and a nubbed infield single welcomed Jorge Alcalá. Zach McKinstry dumped a single into center. Just as quick as the Twins found a lead, their placement on top appeared tenuous. And so it was. Justin Topa entered the game to elicit a signature ground ball; of course, the chopper off Dillon Dingler’s bat happened to find its way into right field. Tie game. Advantage Tigers when a groundout called home a fifth score. 

It soon became a sixth score when a second unearned run touched home plate. But Buxton homered to bring the game back to its previous state.

 

Detroit scored once more. Perhaps unimportant. The game had indeed seen the importance of bonus runs, but the vigor that Minnesota had appeared to care about their deficits this year made predicting the future cloudy. It did matter. So it goes. One more 9th-inning rally plated a sixth run, but the unlikely comeback came to an impotent end when Mickey Gasper check-swung a grounder to 1st to end the game. 

Notes:

Byron Buxton's homer was his 135th in team history, good for 15th all-time. He's six away from tying Michael Cuddyer.

Buxton's steal was his 96th in team history, tying him with Matt Lawton for 9th all-time. He's two away from tying Brian Dozier.

Ty France is slashing .300/.364/.480 on the season.

Danny Coulombe appeared in his 295th career MLB game. 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Tigers play the second of their three-game series on Saturday. Chris Paddack will start opposite Jackson Jobe. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[Aerodeliria]

It's always the same things...you can list them, but I don't have the stomach for it right now...

[LastOnePicked]

It's always the same. It's just a shame. That's all.

[Vanimal46]

I’m not even mad at Mickey Gasper. It’s not his fault he’s playing on the MLB team. Deeply unserious franchise. 

[BH67]

I just returned from the indolence of last September to look around. Nothing's changed. I'm outta here.

[mark sills]

let your young pitcher pitch

[gregens]

Scoring 6 runs should be enough to win most games.  But not this team.  If there is a way to lose, this team will find it.

[AceWrigley]

That last at-bat gave me gasperitis.

[Mike Sixel]

Fire the front office

[1985Fan]

Another example of Rocco’s genius. Pull the young pitcher with 2 outs in the fifth. Now your BP is going to be stressed for the rest of the series. Paddack pitching tomorrow. What’s the chances of another short start?! 
Castro with his usual great defense. But, oh he can play multiple positions! Stone Hands Julien also had one clang off his glove. Those errors may not have resulted in runs, but extra outs are further stress on the pitching staff. 
Rocco has Gasper at DH instead of Julien? If Gasper is a bat-first guy, Falvey is a failure at talent evaluation. 

[Woof Bronzer]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Fire the front office

Didn't Falvey just get a promotion?  The Pohlads think he's doing great! 

[D.C Twins]

It is always the same thing actually.... just a bad baseball team that is poorly constructed, allergic to fundamentals, and devoid of passion being 'led' by a terrible manager. 

[D.C Twins]

"Chris Paddack will start"

Message to the bullpen:

[h2oface]

Baldelli Ball strikes again! And so soon. Just took the next game. 64 pitches (41 strikes), 2 outs in the 5th, and your starter has only given up 3 hits total and 1 walk with 4Ks...... so of course, with all the overuse of the "Best Bullpen in MLB", you pull him. The only reason you have a runner on third and a run in --- is because a throw from right that was a little off ("Matt Wallner uncorked an unwieldy shot, evidently tricky enough to evade two defenders and eventually roll into the Tigers dugout. The runner scores." Seriouisly? Unweildy? "Unearned, of course....") but certainly shouldn't have been a problem to at least stop, was deflected by the $35 million shortstop hitting a buck 50, and then Mr. utility defense Castro misses it under his glove (very likely would have had it if not for Correa's missed attempt) and it rolls into the dougout. So instead of a runner on 2nd and third with 2 outs, and no runs in, you have a run in, a runner on third, AND YOU PULL YOUR STARTER WITH ONLY 64 PITCHES! Alcala implodes, Topa gives up 2 inherited runs, Castro boots another later, and you use Gasper, who shouldn't even be on an MLB roster, as your DH. A DH that can't, and never has, hit in the show, and he is all you've got because you used one of your hottest batters, Bader, as a pinch runner one batter earlier for Julien (who is having a hot game going 3/5), with the tying run on third to end the game on a soft (of course it is) grounder. Baldelli Ball.

[Mark G]

Funny how this works: TD writes an article about Julien and his slight improvements and he promptly goes 3-5.  They write an article about how the bullpen ranks and all of its warts and they promptly give up 6 runs in 4.1 innings (I know, one of them unearned). 

Is this spooky, or just irony?  🙃

  

[Mark G]

3 hours ago, mark sills said:

let your young pitcher pitch

YES!

[Fezig]

I'm starting to think the Mgr is trying to get himself fired so he can get out. Nobody could possibly be that inept as a Mgr. 

[Bodie]

6 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

It is always the same thing actually.... just a bad baseball team that is poorly constructed, allergic to fundamentals, and devoid of passion being 'led' by a terrible 

Harsh, but pretty much inarguable.

[Sjoski]

Classic Baldelli Ball: where your starter needs an engraved invitation to pitch into the 6th, and your DH has the offensive upside of a folding chair. Can't wait to see how we reinvent the art of losing tomorrow.

 

[Linus]

Didn’t see the game. How did Alcalá give up 4 runs without recording an out?  That guy can implode with the best (or worst) of them. 

[CRF]

Another one pretty much all on Rocco. Turns a winnable game into another gut wrenching loss. It's gonna be a very long season. 

[Althebum82]

4 hours ago, Mark G said:

Funny how this works: TD writes an article about Julien and his slight improvements and he promptly goes 3-5.  They write an article about how the bullpen ranks and all of its warts and they promptly give up 6 runs in 4.1 innings (I know, one of them unearned). 

Is this spooky, or just irony?  🙃

  

YES!

[Karbo]

Bring on Lee and Keaschall. Maybe they can hit their own weight. They can certainly play a little better on the D side!!

[Linus]

Here is the thing: the manager is a problem in my estimation. One of about 10 huge problems the Twins have. The FO has somehow constructed a lineup that can’t hit, is slow, is unathletic and is poor in the field. We are much further away from winning than a new manager. To be clear: i am not defending Rocco - I’m done with him and the FO. I’m saying our problems go well beyond them. 

[puckett_34]

The clean up hitter has 1 xbh w zero hr and sub .300 slg. Guy hasn’t hit a hr in 32 games. Seriously…

[shimrod]

In the movie Major League, a baseball indifferent owner wants to move her team to Miami for a better social life. An escape clause allows the owner to break the stadium lease if attendance is low. The owner stocks the team with misfits who are bad at baseball. The players find out ownership considers them financial liabilities useful only as cogs in her machinations. Their response is to  sabotage her plans by playing excellent fundamental baseball that wins games and attracts fans. 

 

In the real world  a baseball indifferent ownership group wants to sell their team to realize a $1.7 Billion windfall and wipe out millions more in (likely non-baseball) debt. The players realize ownership considers them financial liabilities useful only to promote the sale price of the team. They respond by playing indifferent, lackluster baseball that turns off fans and reduces the value of the franchise. 

 

[Whitey333]

Wow.  I just love everyone's comments.  They are so spot on.  Baldelli ball?  I love it.  The comment, not the manager.  He continues to show why he is one of the poorest managers in baseball and maybe the worst manager in Twins history.  It would be comical if it wasn't so sad.  Only 12,000 people there.  How long will it take to start dumping payroll dollars?

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

I’m not usually one to pile on Baldelli and so I don’t often nitpick specific in-game decisions. But wowza, seeing the game end with the tying run at 3rd, the winning run at 1st, and Gasper at the plate… At the point when Bader pinch-ran, three things could have happened next: 

- the next batter (France) makes an out, ending the game with a loss

- the next batter homers, ending the game with a win

- the next batter drives in one or two runs, leaving the following batter’s spot (Gasper) next up to prolong the inning

 Bader’s speed only matters in the third scenario here. But in that scenario, if you need to play for the run that Julien represents, then having Bader’s bat available has to be more important than having his speed on base.
Just a bad tactical decision in what could have been an exciting end to the game.

[Old Crow]

For most of the fans who couldn't access apple+ you didn't miss a thing.

[jmlease1]

Hard to feel good about the decision to pull Festa there. Yes, he'd surrendered the lead, but he'd been pitching well. Not Festa's fault there was an error in there. Not much faith there from the manager. Only 64 pitches thrown, multiple clean innings, he's throwing strikes and there's 2 outs in the inning. Instead we burn Coulombe for 1 batter and after Alcala implodes ask Blewett to go 2+ to finish so we don't use 5 relievers to finish out the game?

I don't blame Baldelli for Alcala imploding; that's on the player. But Festa isn't in his first go-around, and the quick hook is a mistake. Feels like Baldelli is managing scared, trying to keep his job and instead is making it worse.