Twins 3, Brewers 0: Dominant Pitching Spearheads 12th-Straight Win

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Box Score
Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (.303), Kody Clemens (.098), Trevor Larnach (.084)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

12 games is the winning streak set by the 2024 squad. Indeed the (in)famous “rally sausage” carried the team from the bowels of terribleness to relevance, at least for a time. The ultimate fate last year was disappointing. We’re in the middle of discovering what 2025 holds for the present collection of players.

First, the Twins scored. Twice. Facing Chad Patrick—another in a seemingly endless supply of Milwaukee’s eclectic quality hurlers—Trevor Larnach wore an inside cutter, Ryan Jeffers smashed a single to right, and Ty France copied his teammate to score the game’s opening run. Genteel behavior would have to wait; Minnesota was ready to rumble early. Kody Clemens singled in the frame’s second score. 

One inning later, Ryan Jeffers grounded himself and  Christian Vázquez to plate the uniquely underwhelming baseball outcome: a run-scoring double play. Oh well. The Twins lead stood at three after just two innings.

Just as well, the plague of injuries cursing the Twins all season struck once more before this author could even reference the game’s starting pitcher: Willi Castro fouled a pitch off his knee in his first at-bat; he toughed out an inning before exiting the game to give 30-year-old Ryan Fitzgerald his first taste of the big leagues. 

Joe Ryan was the man tasked with defending this lead. Known for his eccentricities and antics, Ryan’s pitching mound demeanor alone would render his starts critical viewing; in play to start the season, Ryan might just be one of the best hurlers in the AL. He entered Friday with just five walks, 54 strikeouts, and a 2.74 ERA across 46 innings—and he continued his excellence against the Brewers.

You’d be forgiven if his first inning churned skepticism regarding another great start; he tossed 30 pitches while allowing a hit and a walk, only finally exiting the inning when his last offering fell harmlessly into Larnach’s glove, about five feet in front of the outfield wall. His fastball command wasn’t where it needed to be. 

Then, it was. The righty came out for the second with a renewed vigor. The heater found the spots he looked for; Milwaukee wilted as he struck out eight in a row. The frames melted into each other. An occasional lapse in control revealed that Ryan wasn’t in complete control of his arsenal—they’ll call it “effectively wild” when it works—yet he walked off the mound following six shutout innings with nine strikeouts. The sloppy first only proved to be a pitch count burden, perhaps the only thing that limited him from pitching further into the game. 

Brock Stewart entered as Minnesota’s opening bullpen arm. Two men reached, but the other three went down on strikes. Griffin Jax followed. He struck out two. Then... Cole Sands? The closer? Sure. He struck out a pair with just 11 pitches. The streak extends to 12. 

Notes:

After 684 minor league games, Ryan Fitzgerald made his MLB debut on Friday. 

Joe Ryan's nine strikeouts give him 588 in his Twins career, passing Rick Aguilera for the 17th-most Ks in team history. He's 22 behind Eddie Guardado.

Griffin Jax earned his 13th hold on Friday, tying with him Lucas Erceg for the major league lead.

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Brewers play again on Saturday, with Pablo López set to start against Tobias Myers. First pitch is at 6:15 PM.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

View full article

[Aggies7]

Winning is so easy why didn’t we start sooner 😂

[jkcarew]

*yawn*

 

 

 

😉

[LastOnePicked]

When I was a kid in St. Paul, if you ordered a dozen cookies at a local bakery, you'd get a few extra in the bag. Too much to hope that this also happens in Milwaukee?

[JD-TWINS]

Clemens - Kiersey - France all contributing - Vazquez with a double (he’s coming around, nearing .200 BA)……….scraping out a few runs and pitching is just fantastic! Guys get into jams occasionally and they don’t blink - just grind through innings and escape with ZERO’s on the scoreboard.

Lopez Saturday and a fresh face on the hill Sunday. Keep it rolling in Milwaukee!

[Parfigliano]

The B-team is putting up W's

[Blyleven2011]

A good start to the border series rivalry  ...

12 straight wins , roster hurting but they still win , couldn't ask for a better team effort than tonight ....

[VivaBomboRivera!]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Vazquez with a double (he’s coming around, batting .213, .634 OPS)

Fixed yer post

😎

[GNess]

I like what I am seeing.

[thelanges5]

[Doctor Gast]

The bottom of the order out hit the top. MIL love to run, you have to keep them off the bases. Twins eeked out some runs, pitching & defense was able to secure the lead for the win. Great formula. Go Twins! W/O main players Correa, Buxton, Baders & now Castro, the reinforcements are holding down the fort.

[jmlease1]

Nice job scratching out another win. Love when they jump out to a quick lead.

Hope Castro is ok; he was finally back from the oblique injury and getting unlucky like this is a bummer. He really looked like he was in a lot of pain, and I suspect it influenced his ability to complete his AB. Bad timing too, we really need his positional flexibility right now. I';m guessing his knee started swelling up on him, but hopefully it's just a bruise that will ease off after treatment. But he could end up on the IL again.

Ryan wasn't efficient, but he stayed effective. Glad he was able to navigate through 6, even without finishing guys off quickly. He's been excellent this year. Brock made me a little nervous, but the K's were flowing for everyone last night. Love seeing the staff rack up 16 Ks. Sands looked plenty comfortable handling the 9th. Jax is having a weird year: far too hittable, yet still able to strike anyone out.

Love starting the series with a win!

[Whitey333]

Nice job Twins.  12 game winning streaks are great.  What's even better is the great Pitching and and the resiliency of the young players coming through in clutch moments.  IMO losing Castro would be very bad.  His ability to play so many positions is vital to the teams success with all the injuries.  Let's get number 13 in a row Saturday.  Go Twins!

[Jeff K]

Today's lineup should be interesting.  Who the heck is available?  I hope Buxton is back.  The winning streak is awesome, but the Twins need their frontline guys back.  All this winning  is "muy" fun!

[twinssporto]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

This visual effectively illustrates the success of our pitchers. Look at the runs our opponents scored during this streak. 

[Parfigliano]

18 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

This visual effectively illustrates the success of our pitchers. Look at the runs our opponents scored during this streak. 

Pitching + Defense = W's

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Nice job scratching out another win. Love when they jump out to a quick lead.

Hope Castro is ok; he was finally back from the oblique injury and getting unlucky like this is a bummer. He really looked like he was in a lot of pain, and I suspect it influenced his ability to complete his AB. Bad timing too, we really need his positional flexibility right now. I';m guessing his knee started swelling up on him, but hopefully it's just a bruise that will ease off after treatment. But he could end up on the IL again.

Ryan wasn't efficient, but he stayed effective. Glad he was able to navigate through 6, even without finishing guys off quickly. He's been excellent this year. Brock made me a little nervous, but the K's were flowing for everyone last night. Love seeing the staff rack up 16 Ks. Sands looked plenty comfortable handling the 9th. Jax is having a weird year: far too hittable, yet still able to strike anyone out.

Love starting the series with a win!

Jax seems to be giving up decent contact in most of the games he takes the mound - as you stated, then he strikes a couple guys out. Per the article, he’s tied for “holds” in baseball even with a few pretty uneven performances. That’s tough to beat. I think he’s leveling out but I think it would help his psyche if he could go one - two - three in an outing!

[JD-TWINS]

51 minutes ago, Jeff K said:

Today's lineup should be interesting.  Who the heck is available?  I hope Buxton is back.  The winning streak is awesome, but the Twins need their frontline guys back.  All this winning  is "muy" fun!

Larnach - Buxton/Kiersey - Clemens in OF

Lewis - Lee - Fitzgerald/Bride - France

Jeffers ……….Vazquey may be the DH? 

Seems Buxton needs to clear “protocol” 1st.

We’ll see????

[madtowntwin]

The Brewer announcers maintained that Byron was available for last night's game. They also opined that the ball Castro fouled off of his knee looked eerily similar to that which fractured Yelich's patella last season...

[DJL44]

Hands up if you thought the team with a .370 winning percentage would immediately reel off the 2nd longest winning streak in the history of the franchise.

Everyone with their hand up is a liar.

[thelanges5]

8 minutes ago, madtowntwin said:

The Brewer announcers maintained that Byron was available for last night's game. They also opined that the ball Castro fouled off of his knee looked eerily similar to that which fractured Yelich's patella last season...

Per Bobby Nightengale:

Mentioned inside the notebook, Willi Castro took an X-ray after he fouled a ball off his knee and it did not reveal a fracture.

[stringer bell]

For the season, the Twins have allowed the fewest runs per game in the American League. While the offense is less than average, it is broadly middle of the pack. That formula nets a winning record.

[LambchoP]

Very surprised we've been able to win so much with half our lineup as DFA'd and minor leaguers. Pitching is going to carry us. Just need to hold out until our guys get healthy again. Buck, Correa, Bader, Wallner and Keaschal. This could be a really potent lineup in the second half. Hopefully Mccusker is up and crushing too!

[D.C Twins]

[D.C Twins]

38 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Hands up if you thought the team with a .370 winning percentage would immediately reel off the 2nd longest winning streak in the history of the franchise.

Everyone with their hand up is a liar.

you caught me... I thought they would only immediately reel off a 10 game wins streak :)

[JD-TWINS]

Normal Line-up heading into ‘25 v. RH arm:

Lewis - CC - Lee - France

Larnach - Buxton - Wallner

Jeffers

If Byron can go they’ll have 7 of 9 in the field including Pablo on the hill……..Bader has to be close or they’d put him on IL for a fresh body the next week. Anyone hear of a Wallner update?

Clemens in RF & Bride at 2B today I guess. DH?

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

Today's lineup should be interesting.  Who the heck is available?  I hope Buxton is back.  The winning streak is awesome, but the Twins need their frontline guys back.  All this winning  is "muy" 

[bean5302]

Without a doubt, this is the best Joe Ryan has ever been in his career. It's rare for a pitcher to take a step forward by adding a good pitch after reaching MLB, let alone to go from fringe starter to a mid rotation arm. The way Ryan has been pitching this year suggests there's still more in the tank. Ryan doesn't have any overpowering pitches, but everything he does have is average or better, and his command has been outstanding.

Ryan's Achilles heel has always been the second half, but we're kind of seeing the 2nd half of 2024 right now as I think this is the first season where Ryan hasn't made major tweaks to his arsenal.

Up until now, I've dismissed calls to extend him; however, Ryan is beginning to look like a legitimate front end starter. A back-loaded 5 year extension close to the deal the Twins gave Lopez is starting to make sense, but it would mean Ober was on borrowed time.

[Althebum82]

We get a chance to watch this team on Fox local broadcast stations tonight, think I'll throw and extra log or two in the fireplace and settle in to watch it!

[EPEZRider]

6 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Everyone loves a 12-pack!

[Dman]

It is so hard to go on these extended winning streaks as all five guys in the rotation have to keep the team in the game.  The offense has to do enough against the other teams pitchers and the pen has to hold up game after game after game as well.  With the way this season started I would have never pegged this team for even a five game winning streak let alone 12.  Kudos to those guys for sticking together and changing this season's narrative.