Brewers 5, Twins 2: Streak Ends as Matthews Gets Ambushed

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews: 3 IP 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (71 Pitches, 42 Strikes, 59.2%)
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Matthews (-0.225), Ryan Jeffers (-0.110), Harrison Bader (-0.060)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Following another win coupled with another key injury, (Danny Coulombe with a forearm strain) the Twins turned to Zebby Matthews to continue their outlandish winning streak (and nearly as outlandish scoreless inning streak) Sunday.  It wouldn't be easy, as Milwaukee was running out their ace, Freddy Peralta.

Peralta has been nails this year, the last remnant of the Brewers former three-headed monster that once included Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff (Woodruff resigned, but was only available because his shoulder was toast). The first two innings featured a Twins catcher hitting a sharp single as well as a hit by pitch, but Peralta worked out of trouble each time by making Twins hitters swing at exactly what he wanted them to, generally a fastball at the top of the zone.

Matthews started almost immaculately, causing Brewer's hitters fits, as if they were not aware Matthews throws a slider (the contact oriented Brice Turang swung at a slider for strike three that landed a foot in front of home plate). Two called strike threes followed, with a 98 MPH dart that caught William Contreras looking punctuating the inning.

The Brewers were not so accommodating in the second. They jumped on Matthews early in the count, allowing singles to Christian Yelich, Rhys Hoskins and Sal Frelick that ended the scoreless streak at 34 innings. It was up to Matthews to make the adjustment. He threw some better pitches in retiring Caleb Durbin and Joey Ortiz, but those guys weren't exactly lighting the world on fire.

He struck out Turang again in the third but walked Contreras and was robbed of a call against Yelich on 3-1, with a cutter clearly hitting the edge of the zone. He then walked Hoskins on four pitches, bringing up Isaac Collins with the bases loaded. Matthews started Collins with a fastball at 96 MPH middle-in, and Collins laced it into center field for a two-run single. After Matthews fell behind Frelick, the Brewers right fielder sat fastball and got it, and Matthews was lucky the ball wasn't deposited in the seats, with Frelick instead settling for an RBI single. After recording the final out, Matthews' day was done.

He did nibble, and was not granted several borderline calls, but similar to last year, was too predictable. The opposing hitters knew he would throw a lot of strikes with a fairly straight fastball, and they were aggressive. Once Matthews adjusted to throwing around the periphery of the zone, they became patient and waited him out. At that point, Matthews had also scrapped his breaking ball- his last 20 pitches of the inning were all fastballs and cutters. His stuff is better than last year, but his plan of attack still needs work.

Royce Lewis cut the deficit in the Twins half of the fourth, slamming a 417 foot home run off a Peralta fastball. That was a good sign, as the lineup needs Lewis to step up minus Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton. The two catchers and Kody Clemens have done an admirable job carrying the offense lately, but Lewis joining the party offers a tad more sustainability.

He then added a phenomenal play at third base in the fourth. The speedy Turang hit a swinging bunt that Lewis fielded bare-handed and threw a seed to first, beating Turang by half a step as part of a stabilizing 1-2-3 fourth inning from Cole Sands.

Unfortunately that was all Peralta was going to allow. He breezed through his fifth inning (although Clemens did hit a 390 foot fly ball as Peralta's final batter) and then gave way to the strength of the Brewers- their high leverage relief arms.

Abner Uribe knifed through the bottom of the Twins order in the sixth on the back of his 101 MPH turbo-sinker. The Twins did make some noise in the seventh, with Trevor Larnach roping a double off of Brewers lefty Jared Koenig and scoring off a clean single from Brooks Lee, making the score 4-2.

Facing Nick Mears and his 0.42 WHIP in the eighth, Clemens began the frame with a sharp double down the right field line. Lewis then launched again, but this time to a deeper part of the park and Jackson Chourio pulled the ball back from being a sure home run, an amazing catch that saved the tying run. After Harrison Bader popped out, Carson McCusker made his debut, hitting for DaShawn Keirsey Jr, He would tap out to the pitcher to end the threat.

Old friend Trevor Megill closed the door in the ninth for his sixth save.

Trends:

Bader doesn't look comfortable as he tries to play through a groin injury, and isn't playing center field as a result. Seems like an IL stint might be better, as Bader has gone 0-8 the past two days.

Cole Sands looks to have righted the ship, pitching two scoreless innings that were fairly uneventful.

Lewis made two great fielding plays, and if not for Chourio's incredible catch, would have two home runs. He may be, as they say, back.

Clemens keeps contributing with his near-home run and clutch leadoff double against Mears in the eighth. Willi who?

Jorge Alcala struggled again, walking the leadoff hitter in the eighth, throwing a wild pitch to advance the runner, and then allowing a deep sacrifice fly to score a key insurance run.

What’s Next: Bailey Ober (4-1, 3.72 ERA) faces Logan Allen (2-2, 3.70 ERA) as the Twins try to begin a new streak against the devil-magic wielding Guardians at Target Field. Ober's strikeouts have been down, and the hard contact has been up as the righthander works through pitching with slightly diminished velocity. Allen was good in 2023, but pretty terrible last year and his 31/20 strikeout to walk ratio doesn't scream dominance. He is a lefty, though, so perhaps we see the first start of the year for McCusker.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Stewart	29	0	17	0	15	61
Varland	24	17	0	0	0	41
Durán	11	27	0	0	0	38
Alcalá	22	0	0	15	12	49
Topa	11	0	0	23	5	39
Jax	20	0	13	0	0	33
Sands	8	0	11	0	21	40
Funderburk	17	0	0	10	0	17
Coulombe	11	0	0	0	0	11

 

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[Danchat]

Can't win 'em all. Nice to see Royce starting to heat up at the plate.

Coulombe's on the IL now, probably should be off the bullpen chart.

I find it funny how Trevor Megill went from random DFA scrap-heap reliever to a darn good reliever and the Brewers closer. 

[thelanges5]

Seems like the baseball gods were taking a guy to the IL for every win they were granting us. Zebby will get his next chance against Kansas City.  He’s got five days so hopefully they come up with a better plan of attack.

[Doctor Gast]

MIL outpitched MN, MN had plenty of opportunities offensively, but didn't come through, yet Courio stole a game-tying HR from Lewis. I applauded Baldelli for limiting Alcala to 1 inning in yesterday's game, but he must have gotten another iPad & pitched Alcala in consecutive days. We lost the game anyway, but it's still bad BP management.

[Parfigliano]

Is it Zebby's "plan of attack" to throw 20 consecutive fastballs?  What about the catcher or bench?  I doubt Zebby is calling his own pitches.

[TheLeviathan]

All good things come to an end.

Royce in the field and at the plate....awesome.  Hopefully we're seeing the real Royce again to help carry this offense.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins are playing good baseball. That catch by Chourio was pretty sweet and sealed the deal for Milwaukee. Alcala looked good. He was squeezed a bit considering the zone all through the game. The wild pitch was his bad mistake. The bullpen looks like it will be set up for the Cleveland series and if the starters can go six innings us fans can hope for positive outcomes. 

Matthews clearly needs some refinement within the zone. He can throw strikes but is often in the same region of the target which allows batters to narrow their swings. Inexperienced pitchers learn from their outings and rebound. One has to like the velocity and general ability of young Matthews. Expect improvement and learning.

McCusker was too eager to swing. I believe the mound visit was to throw Carson  breaking balls down out of the zone with a goal of letting him be too eager. On off speed, low let it go. Hope McCrusher gets a start tomorrow.

Today was the best we have seen Royce Lewis in a long, long time. He was frisky in the field and his swing was on the ball. Keep it rolling RL.

Bader looks like he is hurting quite a bit. Both at the plate and in the field Harrison did not have his usual bounce.

I'm expecting Ober to be very good tomorrow coming off of his last short start.

[Patzky]

34 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

All good things come to an end.

Royce in the field and at the plate....awesome.  Hopefully we're seeing the real Royce again to help carry this offense.

Royce.. Jeffers.. Clemens.. France and even Vazquez are coming up clutch. Sure I'd love to have Keaschall Wallner Buxton and C4 out there too. Maybe in a month we will. But for now they are playing fun exciting games. Even today. Can't ask for much more. Let's repay Cleveland!

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

MIL outpitched MN, MN had plenty of opportunities offensively, but didn't come through, yet Courio stole a game-tying HR from Lewis. I applauded Baldelli for limiting Alcala to 1 inning in yesterday's game, but he must have gotten another iPad & pitched Alcala in consecutive days. We lost the game anyway, but it's still bad BP management.

How about having some level of expectation from Alcala? He’s only “used properly” in the 40% of the games he’s in (when he’s successful) because his control sucks. Plain and simple, his command is not what it needs to be! At least half or more of his appearances he gets in trouble with walks - it’s OLD! He’s got a nice pitch mix and very good stuff but he pitches like he’s on amphetamines……..hard to watch.

[JD-TWINS]

51 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Is it Zebby's "plan of attack" to throw 20 consecutive fastballs?  What about the catcher or bench?  I doubt Zebby is calling his own pitches.

Amen! “……he needs to work on his pitch mix….his plan……..” How about the pitching coach/veteran catcher telling the kid he’s going to throw what is called and then direct him with a better game plan & LOCATION expectation from the catcher. Those exchanges can’t be very difficult to have through the handful of days between starts!

He is the “ultimate strike thrower” in the minors. That’s because his stuff overpowers minor league hitters - it’s easier to live in the zone with fastballs and challenge nearly everyone. He walked as many guys in one inning as Lopez & Ryan walked in 13 combined innings in the previous 2 starts.

He’ll get better, but the 3 walks in an inning when the guy on the hill has good stuff, it’s just so frustrating to watch.

[chpettit19]

17 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

How about having some level of expectation from Alcala? He’s only “used properly” in the 40% of the games he’s in (when he’s successful) because his control sucks. Plain and simple, his command is not what it needs to be! At least half or more of his appearances he gets in trouble with walks - it’s OLD! He’s got a nice pitch mix and very good stuff but he pitches like he’s on amphetamines……..hard to watch.

A reliever that can only throw 1 inning and can't be used on back to back days doesn't have a career. No MLB team would ever even consider tying themselves to such strict use of any reliever, ever. It's an outrageous idea that ignores the reality of managing a major league team. 

Either you're good enough that a team would never consider not using you in back to back close games, or (like Alcala) you're not good enough to have your specific ideal conditions being taken into consideration over the top arms in the pen.

As you point out, Alcala is no 22 year old rookie trying to figure things out. He's been given tons of chances in tons of situations. He has some very real talent, but hasn't been able to put it all together. Expecting a team to be able to cater to a reliever never being able to throw more than 1 inning or in back to back games is an expectation ignoring the realities of the unpredictability of a 162 game major league baseball season.

[Blyleven2011]

28 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

How about having some level of expectation from Alcala? He’s only “used properly” in the 40% of the games he’s in (when he’s successful) because his control sucks. Plain and simple, his command is not what it needs to be! At least half or more of his appearances he gets in trouble with walks - it’s OLD! He’s got a nice pitch mix and very good stuff but he pitches like he’s on amphetamines……..hard to watch.

Actually I thought Alcala was throwing well , he was getting squeezed by the umpire , he was throwing strikes that weren't called strikes , it bothered him and I saw his composure change and then he uncorked the wild pitch which later produced a run  ...

He got 3 outs in 12 pitches , to me that is effective  ...

[Blyleven2011]

The twins had a nice run of 13 straight wins , last year we had a 12 game winning streak , maybe we are a better team than last year , I'll let you know at the end of June to be sure ...

Royce playing better will definitely help , missed his second homerun of the day when chourio caught it , it was a great catch but cost the twins a chance at number 14 ...

Cleveland at home next ...

[jmlease1]

Eventually, the streak was going to end. the trick is to make sure we don't fall into a losing streak. Just keep winning series, Twins. You can do it, especially with this pitching.

Not sure I loved the decision to yank Matthews; yes, he had a very wobbly inning and gave up a crooked number, but his stuff was good and he finished off the inning. Since the Twins immediately responded with a longer inning, I wouldn't think Zebby was necessarily gassed, and I would have liked to see how he would have responded. It's a long season, and sometimes you have to take that risk for player development. And keep the bullpen from getting worn out. Good job by Sands coming in and handling 2 innings, though.

Bummer for Royce in not collecting the dinger; great play by Chourio, who has been dreadful at the plate this series. But it does seem like Royce is finding his swing again. Peralta's a good pitcher, and the Twins hitters did a solid job in grinding out ABs on him, but just couldn't get enough.

[Fatbat]

Does Alcala have an option left? He needs to go across the river. 

[thelanges5]

7 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

Does Alcala have an option left? He needs to go across the river. 

He’s got enough service time that he could say no to the assignment to AAA. 

[Patzky]

9 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

The twins had a nice run of 13 straight wins , last year we had a 12 game winning streak , maybe we are a better team than last year , I'll let you know at the end of June to be sure ...

Royce playing better will definitely help , missed his second homerun of the day when chourio caught it , it was a great catch but cost the twins a chance at number 14 ...

Cleveland at home next ...

I'm wondering if any of the Cleveland games will actually happen, rain Monday into Wednesday and Wednesday into Thursday night is the forecast presently. Maybe time to heal Bader, France, Willi and even Coulombe, Buck and Correa if the games get kicked to the next Cleveland visit.

 

Not ideal but what it is?

[Doctor Gast]

12 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

How about having some level of expectation from Alcala? He’s only “used properly” in the 40% of the games he’s in (when he’s successful) because his control sucks. Plain and simple, his command is not what it needs to be! At least half or more of his appearances he gets in trouble with walks - it’s OLD! He’s got a nice pitch mix and very good stuff but he pitches like he’s on amphetamines……..hard to watch.

Why does his control suck? Why does he get injured? You have noted the symptom but ignored the cause. To solve the problem, you need to deal with the cause, not just focus on the symptom. I'm aware he's vulnerable to control problems. 

With the 2020 Minnesota Twins, Alcalá appeared in 16 games, compiling a 2–1 record with 2.63 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched.

In 2021, Alcalá appeared in 59 games for the Twins. He ended the year with a 3–6 record, a 3.92 ERA, and 61 strikeouts across 59.2 innings.^[10]

Alcala had a great shortened '20 season but was overextended in '21 where his performance declined over the season. He hardly pitched in '22 (elbow) & '23 stress fracture forearm. Since '24, returning from a very long period of being on ILs. Baldelli too often used him in multiple innings & consecutive days. What I observed is that when Alcala pitched on enough rest, his 1st inning was great, but quite often on his 2nd or on consecutive day innings were not. IMO, Alcala does not have the arm, especially now, to take that kind of punishment. Taylor, when healthy, couldn't pitch quality innings on consecutive days.

[Doctor Wu]

Bader doesn't look comfortable as he tries to play through a groin injury, and isn't playing center field as a result. Seems like an IL stint might be better, as Bader has gone 0-8 the past two days.

Yes to that idea. As Tony&Rodney also noted, Bader doesn't have his usual "bounce" or the energy that was so infectious a month ago. I admire his desire to play through an injury, but some down time may be the best course of action at this point. 

 

[MinnInPa]

classic example of a rookie being Squeezed by the ump..Zebby will be just fine..pitchers aren't going to keep opposition under 5 runs all the time..offense still needs to pick it up

[MMMordabito]

"Clemens keeps contributing with his near-home run and clutch leadoff double against Mears in the eighth. Willi who?"

What a dumb ****'in take. A couple good weeks from a player that has struggled to be relevant in the big leagues up until two weeks ago, and you're ready to cast aside the All Star utility player that has contributed in many different ways the past two seasons. And, that's right after suggesting that a center fielder may need to go on the IL.  I'm sure Kody's got that covered in place of Willi too though with all those 8s in his defensive history.

Nonsense.

[stringer bell]

10 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Does Alcala have an option left? He needs to go across the river. 

Alcalá has too much service time to be optioned without his consent. If the Twins want him in St. Paul, he would have to be DFA'd.

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, Patzky said:

I'm wondering if any of the Cleveland games will actually happen, rain Monday into Wednesday and Wednesday into Thursday night is the forecast presently. Maybe time to heal Bader, France, Willi and even Coulombe, Buck and Correa if the games get kicked to the next Cleveland visit.

 

Not ideal but what it is?

Tuesday looks like rain all day. I think they'll get games in on Monday and Wednesday.

Even though the Twins are banged up, Cleveland isn't going great either. They just got swept in Cincinnati with Emilio Pagán getting saves in all three games. Some measure of revenge for Pagán after what Cleveland did to him in a Twins uniform. 

 

 

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

Bader doesn't look comfortable as he tries to play through a groin injury, and isn't playing center field as a result. Seems like an IL stint might be better, as Bader has gone 0-8 the past two days.

Yes to that idea. As Tony&Rodney also noted, Bader doesn't have his usual "bounce" or the energy that was so infectious a month ago. I admire his desire to play through an injury, but some down time may be the best course of action at this point. 

 

I don't think an outfield of Larnach, Keirsey Jr. and McCusker is ideal. We don't know when Willi Castro will be available and Wallner and Buxton are out for the foreseeable future. If Bader isn't hurting himself long term, having him at less than 100% is better than the alternatives IMHO. Similar situation with France earlier I think. He wasn't 100% and got pressed into duty after the collision between Buck and C4. I don't know if he's 100% yet, but the alternatives are not any better than France at less than 100%.

[David Maro]

Yesterday is Yesterday can't worry about what happened. This is a very important week with Cleveland and KC coming in. With no C4 or Buxton the replacements have to step up or the streak will be for not. 

As for Zebby hopefully he learned that 97,98 in the middle of the zone doesn't work up here. Alcala is the righthand version of Moran great stuff no control. Walks and wild pitches get you sent down or DFA'ed.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

Why does his control suck? Why does he get injured? You have noted the symptom but ignored the cause. To solve the problem, you need to deal with the cause, not just focus on the symptom.

"Correlation does not connote causation" from Intro to Stats more than 50 years ago and I believe it is still taught that way. We don't know what causes Alcalá to be so inconsistent or more accurately for him to have such inconsistent command, but we do know his results have suffered. The same with his injuries. 

The manager and coaches that are around him are at times using him on back to back days and for more than one inning as is often done with the last guy in the bullpen, but almost all relievers are tasked with multiple innings or consecutive days at some point the way the game is now played. 

I don't think mistreatment is keeping Alcalá from being successful. The same for Miranda and Kirilloff who you have also asserted were held back by Twins field staff. 

[Fatbat]

50 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Alcalá has too much service time to be optioned without his consent. If the Twins want him in St. Paul, he would have to be DFA'd.

Hopefully his season turns around fast. We don’t need a low leverage guy with an era 7.0+

[William K Johnson]

The non-call on strike three to Yelich seemed to unnerve Matthews.  He will have to get used to that, as major league umpires are terrible at ball and strike calls.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

"Correlation does not connote causation" from Intro to Stats more than 50 years ago and I believe it is still taught that way. We don't know what causes Alcalá to be so inconsistent or more accurately for him to have such inconsistent command, but we do know his results have suffered. The same with his injuries. 

The manager and coaches that are around him are at times using him on back to back days and for more than one inning as is often done with the last guy in the bullpen, but almost all relievers are tasked with multiple innings or consecutive days at some point the way the game is now played. 

I don't think mistreatment is keeping Alcalá from being successful. The same for Miranda and Kirilloff who you have also asserted were held back by Twins field staff. 

Although I respect your opinion, I humbly disagree with you & your premise. I was taught that if A=B & B=C, then A=C. If a player is playing well under normal conditions, then he hurts his arm & or he's still recuperating & he plays badly. You can't tell me that his poor performance has nothing to do his hurt arm. & that it doesn't affect how I handle this player, & that he's just a bad player. Twins no doubt believe the same analytical premise, at least for some players.

[bean5302]

Lots of excuses for Matthews, who couldn't throw strikes. Matthews missed again, and again, and again. Then he'd throw a pitch on the edge hoping to get a call. The ump clearly missed a couple calls. Clearly. But, I don't think the ump was squeezing Matthews as much as Matthews couldn't throw a strike to save his life by the 3rd inning, and the ump picked up on it. Zebby Matthews is 100% responsible for that outing. Inning 1, Matthews didn't throw strikes and the Brewers hacked away. Inning 2, Matthews threw more strikes and the Brewers got hits. Inning 3, Matthews labored hard through 2 hitters, then threw no strikes and the Brewers stopped hacking so they took walks. Matthews went back into the zone and the Brewers got hits. Simple as that. Zebby throws strikes, guys get hits. Zebby throws balls, guys take walks. Matthews' stuff wasn't fooling Milwaukee hitters is what it boils down to. Of course, fastball, fastball, fastball, slider, fastball, fastball, fastball, slider, fastball, fastball, cutter, fastball might not be the best pitch mix.

Kudos to the Brewers' hitters taking professional at bats. It was clear Matthews had no control and they were going to make him throw strikes or take their free walks. I've so frequently seen Twins hitters take a first pitch hack at what was a ball way outside after a guy walks 2 Twins batters in a row. Nice to see pro hitting there in the 3rd. When a pitcher can't throw strikes, you stop swinging until they prove they can.