Twins 2, Giants 1: Larnach Powers the Twins Past the Giants

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

 

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (76 pitches, 46 strikes (60.5%)
Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (6)
Top 3 WPA: Ryan (.240), Larnach (.230), Cole Sands (.118)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Joe Ryan looked to give a repeat of Chris Paddack's performance from Friday night, but was fighting illness and unsure of how long he could go into the outing. Logan Webb came into Saturday night's tilt with a 4-2 record and a stellar 2.70 ERA based on elicting ground balls and strike outs early and often. 

Giants Strike First, but Twins Strike Better
After the Twins couldn't knock in Trevor Larnach from second base after a first inning double, the Giants drew first blood when Heliot Ramos clobbered a home run off a Ryan fastball with two out and two strikes. Ryan recovered and limited the damage until Larnach could come back to the plate. This time Trevor had Christian Vazquez on first base, and by the time Webb's first pitch sweeper landed in the right field seats Target Field and Paddack were all smiles, and up 2-1.

Pitchers Duel, and Rocco's Rage
A Ramos single was the only other baserunner that the Giants could muster off of Ryan through six innings, who looked to be at the top of his game despite the rough week. Webb also set down the Twins mostly in order, but Rocco Baldelli believed that the home plate umpire might have had something to do with that success, and during a Carlos Correa at bat in the bottom of the sixth inning he let all of the radio audience know just how he felt about things. Baldelli was ejected, Correa struck out, and it was still 2-1 Twins heading into the seventh.

Bullpens and Boneheads
Ryan was taxed after six, so Griffin Jax came in to face the heart of the Giants lineup, and he took them down in order. Webb kept on rolling into the seventh inning, and Willi Castro led off with a blast to the right field corner. Unfortunately, Castro posed too long, and got himself thrown out second base on what would have been an easy double. This mental miscue came back to immediately haunt the home team as Harrison Bader doubled later in the inning. Bader was stranded, and the Twins missed a golden chance to add to their lead. Would Castro's gaffe come back to bite the Twins?

Immediately, Ramos unleashed a double in the top of the eighth off of Cole Sands, and Target Field started to collectively wince. A fly out saw Ramos tagging up and on third base with only one out. Unfortunately for Ramos and the Giants, bonehead plays weren't just limited to the home team. Vazquez and Royce Lewis exectued a brilliant pick off play, and Ramos and the threat were eliminated.

Closing it Out
The Giants bunted their way to a baserunner to start the ninth against Jhoan Duran, but a Mike Yastrzemski grounder to Duran started a 1-6-3 double play. Three strikes later, Willy Adames was heading back to the dugout, and the Twins were celebrating their seventh straight victory!

What’s Next?
Pablo Lopez (3-2, 2.18 ERA) looks to pitch the Twins to the sweep in Sunday's series finale. His mound opponent will be righty Landen Roupp (2-3, 4.89 ERA).  First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews
Coming Soon!

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Coulombe	11	17	0	9	0	37
Jax	0	17	16	0	14	33
Varland	12	10	0	7	0	29
Sands	10	0	13	0	15	23
Durán	0	14	6	0	10	20
Alcalá	20	0	0	0	0	20
Stewart	0	17	0	0	0	17
Topa	0	0	7	0	0	7

 

 

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[AceWrigley]

Where did THIS team come from? The team that looked so bad now looks so good.

Great Rocco beef too.

Now if we can get Royce Lewis a freakin' hit.

[Patzky]

Really satisfying.

[Joe A. Preusser]

Well, if the Twins are going to keep winning winnable games, this season could still be a success.  

Feels pretty darn good to be .500 right now on the upward trajectory.  This team could still be what I hoped they could be.

[Blyleven2011]

It was a good pitched game by both pitchers and bullpen,  it came as advertised  , Webb is no flunky and to beat a good pitcher our pitcher ( ill as he was ) was just as good  , well what can I say but good win tonight twins ...

Larnach 2 run homer was just enough , giants scored first and twins answered back and pitching dominated the rest of the way ...

Vazquez pick off was impressive and saved the game most likely being tied up , other teams do blunder on the base paths to , nice work behind the plate Vazquez,  good baseball smarts we've seen time and time again  ...

7 in arow win streak and back to the glorìous 500 mark , it's fun again to see the players play a solid clean games again , hitting still needs addressing  , like to see them take the outside pitches to the opposite field,  that wasn't happening tonight like previous games  ...

Broadcasters were call Ryan a water polo pitcher  , thought that was funny  , wonder if Provus will pick that up now ...

Winning streaks are fun , I think we gained a game on Detroit and Cleveland tonight  ...

Long way to go but it's exciting getting to the 500 mark  , tomorrow we climb over it with a sweep ...

I'm not asking for much ...

[USAFChief]

Don't stop now, boys!

[High heat]

Wow what a big win and a chance to sweep the home series. 
 

Big throw from Vazquez with another great pitching performance.  Maybe we can get back into this thing and have something to watch and play for into September.

[LastOnePicked]

Basically, since that unfortunate comedy post about the dearly departed Pope Francis, the Twins are on fire and the new Pope is a White Sox fan. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

[jkcarew]

Most well played game this year by the Twins. Webb is good. Won the game with DEFENSE of all things! And yes, great pitching. 

[Jocko87]

It will be interesting to see the umpire scorecard for this one.  I did not have a huge problem with the zone compared to any other zone we see.  Even Rocco in his tirade agreed it was consistent, 3 f’in times in a row I believe. 

Before we were distracted by Castro the boneheaded, I was going to mention how nice it was that the Fox strike zone box was very transparent and hardly in play.  

[Aggies7]

18 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

It will be interesting to see the umpire scorecard for this one.  I did not have a huge problem with the zone compared to any other zone we see.  Even Rocco in his tirade agreed it was consistent, 3 f’in times in a row I believe. 

Before we were distracted by Castro the boneheaded, I was going to mention how nice it was that the Fox strike zone box was very transparent and hardly in play.  

Noticed that too. Or barely noticed I should say 

[RpR]

48 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

Where did THIS team come from? The team that looked so bad now looks so good.

Great Rocco beef too.

Now if we can get Royce Lewis a freakin' hit.

Or send him back to AAA to learn how to.

[h2oface]

According to Cody Christie, it would be better to trade Ryan for a bunch of hope and dreams. Right. Very astute.

I would rather trade Lewis for ........ Hunter Greene. Correct the original mistake of not selecting him in the draft when they had the chance. What is Mr. "I don't do Slumps"? 0 for his last 35? Ever since he said that, it is all slump.

Umpiring. I will never understand why folks still want a human to call balls and strikes. Even if they are consistent. Consistently wrong is still wrong, and cheats all players of the game, batters and pitchers.

[Parfigliano]

Baseball doesn't really change.  Pitching and defense win.

[IndianaTwin]

Darrell Evans did spend a fair amount of his career playing for the Giants. 

[Joe A. Preusser]

36 minutes ago, h2oface said:

According to Cody Christie, it would be better to trade Ryan for a bunch of hope and dreams. Right. Very astute.

I would rather trade Lewis for ........ Hunter Greene. Correct the original mistake of not selecting him in the draft when they had the chance. What is Mr. "I don't do Slumps"? 0 for his last 35? Ever since he said that, it is all slump.

Umpiring. I will never understand why folks still want a human to call balls and strikes. Even if they are consistent. Consistently wrong is still wrong, and cheats all players of the game, batters and pitchers.

Oh, FFS.  Do you REALLY believe Lewis won't hit?  Have you ever actually seen him play???  Lewis has the potential.to be a perenial all-star.  Someone save this post and show the record in the future please.  

[Aggies7]

Missed the replay of the Vazquez throw. Not a baserunning miscue, just a perfectly timed play on our end 

[h2oface]

39 minutes ago, Joe A. Preusser said:

Oh, FFS.  Do you REALLY believe Lewis won't hit?  Have you ever actually seen him play???  Lewis has the potential.to be a perenial all-star.  Someone save this post and show the record in the future please.  

Of course I have. I watch all the games. I also saw Greene pitch and hit at Notre Dame High School. Lewis has been lost since the last half of last year. That's a long time, now. I saw Danny Valencia hit for the best part of a year, too. You can't hit if you can't stay on the field, for sure. Potential is cheap. Delmon Young had amazing potential. Enough for the Twins to foolishly trade Matt Garza for him. Potential really doesn't get many wins. Neither does hope and dreams. Or if I just chose to be a homer and just have tunnel vision and not notice what is happening around the rest of the league. Of course I wish the best for him. But I also am not selling out to potential. Win streaks are fun, but this is still the same team, the same team construction. Hey, anything can happen, and will. It is enjoyable right now. Good to be a .500 team instead of in the bottom third of the league.

[knothole61]

.500 again, and much faster than I thought it would happen! F.rom here on in it's play .500 on the road and win 2 of 3 at home.

If I never have to endure a dugout interview during play again...well, that will be just fine.

[blairpaul715]

The bullpen usage chart doesn't add up. Good win Twins!!!! 

[jmlease1]

Excellent win to clinch the series. Eventually the win streak will end; the trick will be not to let a losing streak creep in, but to keep winning series. With the pitching staff going like this, we have a real chance to keep up this kind of excellence. Really nice work by Ryan, especially coming off the illness. (sounds like the stomach flu went rampaging through the Twins clubhouse!)

SF had been on a nice run and was beating up on the AL coming into this series. Nice to see the Twins take down a pretty good team.

[Doctor Wu]

9 hours ago, High heat said:

Big throw from Vazquez with another great pitching performance.

That was a great, great play! And a nifty tag by Lewis helped too. Maybe that will help his confidence and he can start getting some hits again. 

[Peter]

Been saying this all along in how good the twins are!!! We are the real deal!!! Great win last night!!! Get the sweep!!! Get over .500 and stay over it!!! Not if but when twins get back into division race and into playoffs!!! 

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, h2oface said:

According to Cody Christie, it would be better to trade Ryan for a bunch of hope and dreams. Right. Very astute.

I would rather trade Lewis for ........ Hunter Greene. Correct the original mistake of not selecting him in the draft when they had the chance. What is Mr. "I don't do Slumps"? 0 for his last 35? Ever since he said that, it is all slump.

Umpiring. I will never understand why folks still want a human to call balls and strikes. Even if they are consistent. Consistently wrong is still wrong, and cheats all players of the game, batters and pitchers.

I get your point and it’s frustrating to see a guy his age and athleticism move around like Mickey Mantle at age 33 w/o medical solutions. He looks broken to me.

Am in Cincinnati & parallel to Mr. Lewis, Hunter Green is hurt again ………..big chunk of his early years have been on IL or recovering & being protected.

[JD-TWINS]

Ryan battles and stays aggressive. He’s on the edge with fastball stuff (4HR’s a few outings ago) and really fun to watch when he’s rolling.

Ober & Ryan, zero walks in their two starts this series - big deal when not overpowering. both have matured between the ears since start of ‘23………..pretty comfortable feeling when they are on the mound!

Random stat from MLB TV viewing this morning …….. Byron Buxton (since mid June of ‘24) is 5th in Weighted Runs Created behind Judge - Guerrero Jr - Ohtani - Witt. That’s pretty impressive company!!!

Correa isn’t spectacular at the plate yet but he’s up 55 points in BA over past 3 weeks……if he gets back to .260 plus, the line-up is good with Wallner as well in 2-3 weeks………come on Royce…..

Big Swing by Larnach!

Vazquez had the smarts & guts to throw the ball right at the runner’s rear end and when he slid into bag the throw was perfection!! Nice read & play by Lewis as well. Big moment.

[Fatbat]

The boys are starting to heat up! Stay on a roll and someone please flip the switch in Royce’s brain to “Allstar player” so he can help them win a division title! 
The bullpen is looking rested after the last two strong SP outings.  Can we please just leave Alcala on the bench until we have a 10 run lead in a game. 
Looking around at the division, the Cleveland and KC bullpens look like a mess. They wont keep pace thru the season if that keeps up. Lots of teams right around.500, right now. Cincinnati looks sneaky good! and look out for the A’s! The Rocky’s and Whitey’s are going to set some all time records for futility. Gawd they are awful. Lastly, The Padre’s must have been blessed by the new Pope.😳 21-rip, zero, nada, nothing. 

[Doctor Gast]

11 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

It was a good pitched game by both pitchers and bullpen,  it came as advertised  , Webb is no flunky and to beat a good pitcher our pitcher ( ill as he was ) was just as good  , well what can I say but good win tonight twins ...

Larnach 2 run homer was just enough , giants scored first and twins answered back and pitching dominated the rest of the way ...

Vazquez pick off was impressive and saved the game most likely being tied up , other teams do blunder on the base paths to , nice work behind the plate Vazquez,  good baseball smarts we've seen time and time again  ...

7 in arow win streak and back to the glorìous 500 mark , it's fun again to see the players play a solid clean games again , hitting still needs addressing  , like to see them take the outside pitches to the opposite field,  that wasn't happening tonight like previous games  ...

Broadcasters were call Ryan a water polo pitcher  , thought that was funny  , wonder if Provus will pick that up now ...

Winning streaks are fun , I think we gained a game on Detroit and Cleveland tonight  ...

Long way to go but it's exciting getting to the 500 mark  , tomorrow we climb over it with a sweep ...

I'm not asking for much ...

Twins finally picked up a game on DET, CLE & KC (who had their own 7 win streak) on our 7 win streak with excellent pitching. Larnach stepped up tonight & won it for us. Vazquez scored our 1st run & did smart catching. I predicted a sweep over BAL because of our vastly improved defense & chemistry due to the recent movement. Lewis is still hitless, but the chemistry he brings is an analyst-defying game-changer. But the Twins surprised me with their wins over SF. 

Following gameday, IMO Baldelli had the right & obligation to argue the game the ump called. I can't wait for an entire ABS called game. IMO, Baldelli has been managing better. Duran pitches much better while fixed as the closer. I'm a big defender of our core. While the Twins still aren't perfect, they are winning 

[Joe A. Preusser]

8 hours ago, h2oface said:

Of course I have. I watch all the games. I also saw Greene pitch and hit at Notre Dame High School. Lewis has been lost since the last half of last year. That's a long time, now. I saw Danny Valencia hit for the best part of a year, too. You can't hit if you can't stay on the field, for sure. Potential is cheap. Delmon Young had amazing potential. Enough for the Twins to foolishly trade Matt Garza for him. Potential really doesn't get many wins. Neither does hope and dreams. Or if I just chose to be a homer and just have tunnel vision and not notice what is happening around the rest of the league. Of course I wish the best for him. But I also am not selling out to potential. Win streaks are fun, but this is still the same team, the same team construction. Hey, anything can happen, and will. It is enjoyable right now. Good to be a .500 team instead of in the bottom third of the league.

I get your point, but it's not my usual Homer tunnel vision here.  It's not just Royce's potential, he has shown on the field how great he is.  Danny Valencia comp is just plain silly.  Royce knows his swing is struggling, just like Correa did several weeks ago.  Both are putting in the work to get right.  And they will.

[Eris]

8 hours ago, h2oface said:

Enough for the Twins to foolishly trade Matt Garza for him. 

And Jason Bartlett. Bartlett put up 9.4 fWAR in 3 years at SS with the Rays. 

[Guest]

Drives me crazy when players don’t hustle out of the box. Castro’s lucky the Twins won this game. But I guess when there are no consequences this behavior won’t change.

And while I’m ranting, thanks Fox for the 10 minutes of in game interviews over top the pivotal parts of the game.