Twins 7, Brewers 0: López Deals and Twins Offense Seals 13th in a Row!

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Pablo López 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K – 95 pitches, 66 strikes (69%)
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (3), Kody Clemens (3)
Top 3 WPA: Lopez (.232), Jeffers (.152), Brooks Lee (.106)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 
 

The Twins entered Saturday night's border battle in Milwaukee on the heels of a 12-game winning streak, but with significant injuries still impacting their day-to-day ability to compete. Byron Buxton joined Carlos Correa on the 7-day concussion list, and Willi Castro stayed out of the lineup after taking a foul ball to the leg Friday night. Would this uncanny squad of youngsters and castaways find a way to extend the streak to a baker's dozen?

Pablo Day
One advantage that the depleted Twins had was that their ace Pablo López was on the mound. Before López could even throw a pitch, Ryan Jeffers showed everyone at American Family Field what his torpedo bat advantage looked like.

Jeffers staked the Twins to a 1-0 lead, and López made sure that was enough as he cruised through the first four innings with ease. Just in case, his teammates added lone runs in each of the first four innings to help pad the cushion.

In the top of the second, Royce Lewis got things started with a lead-off double. Just as Twins fans were about to lament his being stranded in scoring position, Christian Vázquez stayed hot and singled home Lewis with two outs. Jeffers again delivered in the top of the third, leading off with a double of his own. This time it was Ty France who delivered the RBI for the Twins, but not without an almost superhuman play by Sal Frelick.

When the dust settled on that play it was 3-0 Twins. Kody Clemens immediately tried to make it 4-0 with a single to Frelick, but this time Sal gunned down Brooks Lee at home and the out counted to keep the lead at three.

Piranhas and Spartans
While López was embarassing the Brewers in their half of the innings, the Minnesota bats kept on keeping the zeros off the board. In the top of the fourth, it was Trevor Larnach's turn to start the offense, and Jeffers advanced Larnach with his third hit of the game. Lee stepped to the plate with a chance to get that rogue run back, and he laced a single off of Brice Turang's glove to expand the lead to 4-0. When the fifth inning rolled around, it was time to break out the Spartan helmet once again, because Clemens loves yanking sweeepers into bullpens.

López is Him, and So is Everyone Else Pitching in a Twins Jersey
Now staked to a 5-0 lead, Lopez entered the bottom of the fifth inning having thrown 63 pitches and accumulating two strike outs. 17 pitches later Lopez had struck out the bottom of the Brewers order, and delivered the 29th straight scoreless inning for the Twins. The major league record is 48 consecutive scoreless innings by the 1968 Chicago Cubs and the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics. Would the Twins streak continue until Monday night?

Did I Mention the Twins Offense is Relentless?
Larnach got the top of the sixth started with yet another lead-off extra-base hit, this time a bloop of a triple. The Brewers finally got Jeffers out on a hard shot to third that kept Larnach from scoring, but Lee again knocked in the run to make it 6-0 and to keep the run-per-inning streak alive at six! 

That streak stopped in the seventh, as the Twins were blanked by Rob Zastryzny. But Justin Topa kept the scoreless streak alive at 30 innings by keeping two early baserunners right where they were by eliciting weak contact for the final two outs. It only took Jorge Alcalá 15 pitches to keep the streak alive. The Twins wasted time by scoring again in the top of the ninth with DaShawn Keirsey Jr. plating Clemens to make it 7-0, but after that nonsense was finished Kody Funderburk came in and locked down the 33rd scoreless inning, and the 13th consecutive victory.

What's Next?
The Twins go for their 14th win in a row Sunday afternoon with "TBD" (Zebby Matthews) getting the start for Minnesota against veteran righty Freddy Peralta (4-3, 2.66 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews
Coming Soon

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Stewart	0	29	0	17	0	46
Varland	0	24	17	0	0	41
Durán	0	11	27	0	0	38
Alcalá	0	22	0	0	15	37
Topa	0	11	0	0	23	34
Jax	0	20	0	13	0	33
Sands	0	8	0	11	0	19
Funderburk	0	17	0	0	10	17
Coulombe	0	11	0	0	0	11

 

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[TheLeviathan]

At some point we'll hear our choir of haters offer some flowers to how well the coaching staff is doing right?

Surely credit gets offered as equally as blame.....

Great streak in the face of adversity.

[RpR]

[Rod Carews Birthday]

It’s crazy how contagious a little bit of hitting can be — and that pitching!   I’m going to sit back and enjoy this for as long as it lasts.  Go Twins!

[DocBauer]

A full bakers dozen of wins!

What's been amazing is the contributions offensively from so many sources. Some might call that luck. Maybe so. But sometimes luck is just the result of being prepared and focused. 

During the poor begining to the season, the Twins had a lot of bad luck. Some of that bad luck was due to poor mistakes. So less mistakes, luck takes a turn and balances out. You play better, you don't make mistakes, luck turns your way.

It sure doesn't hurt that the good arms the Twins have on hand are pitching to their talent. It also doesn't hurt that Larnach, Bader, France, Jeffers, Lee, etc, are suddenly raising their games, or at least just being solid.

I hated Lee being thrown out at home, but it took a tremendous, perfect throw to get him. I appreciate the aggressiveness, and the Twins have been pretty aggressive on the basepaths this season.

Alcala has looked great his last 2 appearances, and has been good 4 of his last 5. The whole pen has really settled in.

I don't know if the offense can continue what they've been doing minus Wallner, CC, and Buxton for at least another week or two, but if they don't put too much pressure on themselves, and just keep playing solid baseball, they can keep winning series, as the winning streak will end eventually. 

Is Lewis about to break out? He's looked better, but still isn't the Royce we all know he can be. 

Imagine June 1st with Lewis being Lewis, Correa, Buxton, and Wallner all being back. Keaschall back sometime in July?

I just keep fantasizing about McCusker batting .235 with a .300 OB% but hitting 4 doubles and 3 HR in 2 weeks of work, making just enough contact to make a difference in a surprise debut. I mean, if Clemens can run in to a hot streak, why not McCusker? (Fingers crossed).

[AlwaysinModeration]

No pressure, Zebby

[thelanges5]

Love the brand of baseball we are playing right now. Strong pitching, defense, everyone chipping in on offense. 
 

I do have one bit of feedback for Coach Watkins. Don’t send Lee - pretty obvious from the eye test and his savant page. He’s slow AF!  

[Dman]

I honestly don't know what to say.  I had pretty much given up on the season and was ready for the FO to trade all the guys on one year deals at the deadline.  I know it is a long season but usually once a trend is set it doesn't instantly reverse itself. 

I'll eat my crow for now and jump back on the bandwagon I guess.  This team just doesn't make sense to me, but they sure have been fun to watch while on this amazing streak.  I know this pace isn't sustainable but it sure looks like they should be able to be in games and win their fair share.  Who knows what will happen next, but they sure have made things interesting again as they take second place in the division after the win today..

[singlesoverwalks]

Win Every Baseball Game With This One Simple Trick

[Blyleven2011]

Another great team effort , singles , doubles , triple and homers make for exciting games , 18 hits , alot of singles but they drove in the batters that had doubles , sacrifice fly scored a run ...

Piranha baseball is fun to watch , if only we would steal bases alittle more , hit and run to stay out of double plays , a layed down bunt would be nice , but first they need to find someone that can bunt good ...

Lee is slow and Watkins should never have sent him home with no outs , only blunder that I can remember in today's game  , Watkins might need glasses , his depth perception isn't very good ...

Frelick made a great catch only to drop it when he landed on his wrist , Bauer in leftfield gifted us some hits , I hope he plays there tomorrow  ...

Twins pitchers have now pitched 33 scoreless innings , a team record surpassing the old record of 32 ...

48 scoreless innings is the major league record  ...

When things are going right , there just no way to stop , good game , pitching , offense and defense  ...

I have to say that Clemens is winning over the fans with his playing time and it was the right move by FO to send Gasper and Julien  down to AAA  , Bride has been limited in at bats but his defense has shown he is capable ...

[SD happy]

The Twins now have the third best record in the American League. Who would have ‘thunk’ it just two weeks ago.

[Blyleven2011]

23 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

A full bakers dozen of wins!

What's been amazing is the contributions offensively from so many sources. Some might call that luck. Maybe so. But sometimes luck is just the result of being prepared and focused. 

During the poor begining to the season, the Twins had a lot of bad luck. Some of that bad luck was due to poor mistakes. So less mistakes, luck takes a turn and balances out. You play better, you don't make mistakes, luck turns your way.

It sure doesn't hurt that the good arms the Twins have on hand are pitching to their talent. It also doesn't hurt that Larnach, Bader, France, Jeffers, Lee, etc, are suddenly raising their games, or at least just being solid.

I hated Lee being thrown out at home, but it took a tremendous, perfect throw to get him. I appreciate the aggressiveness, and the Twins have been pretty aggressive on the basepaths this season.

Alcala has looked great his last 2 appearances, and has been good 4 of his last 5. The whole pen has really settled in.

I don't know if the offense can continue what they've been doing minus Wallner, CC, and Buxton for at least another week or two, but if they don't put too much pressure on themselves, and just keep playing solid baseball, they can keep winning series, as the winning streak will end eventually. 

Is Lewis about to break out? He's looked better, but still isn't the Royce we all know he can be. 

Imagine June 1st with Lewis being Lewis, Correa, Buxton, and Wallner all being back. Keaschall back sometime in July?

I just keep fantasizing about McCusker batting .235 with a .300 OB% but hitting 4 doubles and 3 HR in 2 weeks of work, making just enough contact to make a difference in a surprise debut. I mean, if Clemens can run in to a hot streak, why not McCusker? (Fingers crossed).

His nickname in AAA is McCrusher  ...

Been along time since we had a player with a great nickname  , sure hope he can produce here in MLB  and the nickname can stick  ...

McCrusher  , I like it , kinda like the big hurt Frank Thomas  ...

[knothole61]

18 minutes ago, singlesoverwalks said:

Win Every Baseball Game With This One Simple Trick

An amazing trick that top baseball officials don't want you to know!

[GNess]

Clemens looks pretty solid. It is at least possible that things are coming together for him as a player. He has never had 200 ABs in a season. (Yes, he has to earn those ABs.) If given a shot who knows?

He might stick on the roster even when the injured start to return. 

[Dman]

3 minutes ago, GNess said:

Clemens looks pretty solid. It is at least possible that things are coming together for him as a player. He has never had 200 ABs in a season. (Yes, he has to earn those ABs.) If given a shot who knows?

He might stick on the roster even when the injured start to return. 

It is a smaller sample size but he has the highest OPS on the team right now IIRC.  TBH my initial thought is it was kind of a joke\desperation signing, but like pretty much all season everything I think is right ends up wrong when it comes to this team.  Might as well just say right now that the worst players will be the best players and vice versa.  It's a strange world the Twins live in.

[BH67]

35 minutes ago, Dman said:

I honestly don't know what to say.  I had pretty much given up on the season and was ready for the FO to trade all the guys on one year deals at the deadline.  I know it is a long season but usually once a trend is set it doesn't instantly reverse itself. 

This team just doesn't make sense to me...

That's it in a nutshell for me, too. I have been an eternal optimist for these Twins for several years, but after last September I could not bring myself back there under the current ownership, GM and manager.

I hope this is sustainable, but I feel like I've just landed on "heads" on 13 consecutive coin tosses. When this team is on a roll, they'll stay there for a while if the last two years are an accurate indication. If they get in a rut, it snowballs.

It's hard for me to get excited about something that appears so random, but I'll accept that my judgment may prove inaccurate. In any event, the Twins look fantastic and the pitching is everything Derek Falvey hoped it would be.

[jmlease1]

A very nice win. 6 excellent innings from Pablo plenty of offense to let the Twins roll out the bottom 3 of the bullpen and give everyone else a nice day of rest. Very odd to see the Twins not get a crooked number in any inning, but no complaints about them continuing to increase the lead and wear MKE out.

Watkins foolishly sending Lee home was the only real blemish. (seemed doomed from the jump, and Watkins sure seems to have this in him too often)

Nice to see Alcala, Topa, & Funderburk able to close this out with little stress. Funderburk will be heading out for another starter shortly so good to see him do the job on his way out. Top arms get a day that's needed.

Good chance for a sweep! Team can do little wrong right now, and it's fun to watch.

[Old Crow]

Unreal, I'm starting to hear strange music,  to to to to.

[LastOnePicked]

26 minutes ago, Old Crow said:

Unreal, I'm starting to hear strange music,  to to to to.

Might want to get that checked. That's a symptom of Twins fever. I might be coming down with it, too.

[AlLagoon]

The three teams in the Wild Card spots right now are Twins, Guardians, Royals.

A few years ago who would have predicted the AL Central as a powerhouse division? Last year it was a surprise; now, a trend?

And it ain't just beating up on the White Sox. 

[JD-TWINS]

Was at a wedding reception and checked game score - box score had 6 consecutive 1’s through 6 innings. Bizarre!

Lopez seemed to have a great outing & Topa worked out of a jam. Status quo, day 13.

Freddie Perralta is going to be a little bigger challenge than most pitchers faced recently!

Pen is rested again so we need Zebby to give the rest of the guys a. chance.

[Patzky]

24 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Was at a wedding reception and checked game score - box score had 6 consecutive 1’s through 6 innings. Bizarre!

Lopez seemed to have a great outing & Topa worked out of a jam. Status quo, day 13.

Freddie Perralta is going to be a little bigger challenge than most pitchers faced recently!

Pen is rested again so we need Zebby to give the rest of the guys a. chance.

We got just enough of Brandon Webb. Let's do the same Sunday 

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, GNess said:

Clemens looks pretty solid. It is at least possible that things are coming together for him as a player. He has never had 200 ABs in a season. (Yes, he has to earn those ABs.) If given a shot who knows?

He might stick on the roster even when the injured start to return. 

He's pretty much killed Julien's chance at a return to MLB

[Doctor Gast]

The formula for winning: good pitching, good defense, good managing (Somebody must have broken Baldelli's iPad, he pitched Alcala for only 1 inning & he was great. There might be hope for him yet) & scrape through enough timely hits to win. & they did more than that. Hitting a bunch of HR when you don't need them isn't a good one.

The only negative thing I have is Watkins sending Lee home with nobody out. Until recently, Watkins only duty was to slap the players on the butt after they hit a HR. Watkins needs to know each player's running proficiency & when to send players. He seems lost out there.

[NotAboutWinning]

I do hope Baldelli has realized that less is more. The limited roster options have forced him to let the players play. Turns out, there are some good ball players on this team!

[BrokenCompass]

I'm in shock, they just keep finding ways to win. 

It just goes to show you what can happen when your bench (Keirsey, Clemens, Vazquez) can put together competitive ABs. Takes pressure off the big guys. 

Hat's off to Larnach and Jeffers, a couple of guys who were really struggling 1-2 years ago who are now essential to the heart of the order. Brooks Lee has shown new life. 

Was nice to see Royce Lewis get that double. He is getting closer, but still seems to be just missing some balls. He's not quite full speed yet and maybe that's OK. 

[mikelink45]

I love that Zebby is up, and I love the streak, but what a challenge for Zebby to have to keep the streak alive with number 14!  I hope he shines and the bats keep hot.

[JD-TWINS]

6 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

He's pretty much killed Julien's chance at a return to MLB

Does anyone even think about Eddie or Jose Miranda at this point? Potentially, (a stretch) one of those two guys are right by mid-August and able to contribute, if needed.

[Patzky]

6 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

He's pretty much killed Julien's chance at a return to MLB

That's alright by me for now.

[JD-TWINS]

STAFF ERA is 3.15

PEN individuals:

Coulombe - 0.00 ………Duran - 0.89 ……..Topa - 1.84 ……..Sands - 2.55 ……..Varland 2.95

Jax - Stewart - Alcala are the 3 guys that haven’t been consistently good & all 3 are trending positively!!

Pretty sure the current FO put this staff together………….. Good luck to Zebby today!