Guardians 5, Twins 1: Carlos Santana and His New, Old Teammates End Twins Home Streak at 10

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Chris Paddack 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (91 pitches, 61 strikes (67%)
Home Runs: N/A
Top 3 WPA: Louis Varland (-.117), Jonah Bride (-.093), Cole Sands (-.091)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Twins finally returned to their previously scheduled program in the second game of Wednesday's odd doubleheader. Chris Paddack looked to continue his recent two-game run of dominance, in which he racked up 14 1/3 innings with the only blemish being a solo home run. Paddack immediately faced some pressure, however, after Steven Kwan led off the game with a double off of the wall in right. Thanks to some defensive effort from Game 1 hero Kody Clemens on a pop fly to no-man's land, Kwan stayed put and Paddack put another zero on the board.

Grinding Out Some Runs
Gavin Williams was dealing through the opening innings, until the piranhas returned to Target Field. Willi Castro worked a lead-off walk, and Rocco Baldelli thought runners would be at first and second after DaShawn Keirsey Jr. looked to be hit by a pitch. The Twins and Baldelli lost the challenge, however, and Williams got Keirsey out on a fly ball to center. Christian Vázquez then grounded out, but with Castro in motion, he avoided the double play. This meant that Castro was in scoring position with two outs, and Ryan Jeffers clubbed the first hit of the inning to plate the first run of the game with a 105-mph single up the middle to make it 1-0 Twins.

Paddack Rolls Until the Sixth
With Jelly Roll in attendance, neither offense was able to generate much of a "roll" through the first half of the game—probably because frozen jelly isn't very pliable. It also might have been because Paddack and Williams were mixing their pitches effectively and the defenses were making the appropriate alignments and plays behind them. Paddack entered the top of the sixth inning having only thrown 71 pitches, and a lead-off single by the suddenly red-hot José Ramírez threatened to derail his outing. A one-out walk to ex-Twins gold glover Carlos Santana (suddenly red-hot, as well) added to the threat. Paddack's walk of Daniel Schneemann on a full count filled the bases and ended his afternoon earlier than hoped or expected.

Louis Varland got the call and the jam to pitch out of, and Gabriel Arias stood at the frozen plate with rain steadily falling upon the hundreds (dozens?) of fans in attendance. With the game slowed to a snail's pace, and the count run full on Arias, Varland's knuckle-curve dropped out of the zone, and suddenly it was a tie game—with three straight walks threatening to further unravel what had been another well-pitched outing for the Twins staff. A Nolan Jones sacrifice fly plated Santana to make it 2-1 Guardians, before Varland could finally get the third out and end Cleveland's roll in the deteriorating conditions.

Williams Rolls Through the Sixth, and Carlos Santana Keeps Rolling
After losing the lead, the Twins hoped to regain the advantage immediately against Williams who remained in the game for the bottom of the sixth, but found no traction against the righty. Lefty Tim Herrin came in to face the middle of the lineup in the bottom of the seventh, and Harrison Bader's walk with one out turned into a caught stealing and the second out before any rally could ensue. Cole Sands got the call to pitch the top of the eighth, and he recorded the first out with ease. Unfortunately, Santana plays for the enemy now, and he deposited the ball into the right-field plaza to stretch the Guardians' lead to 3-1.

No More Home Field Advantage
With the Twins running out of time and at-bats, they turned to their bench to face righty Hunter Gaddis in the bottom of the eighth. Trevor Larnach got the call, but went down swinging on three pitches. The catching duo of Vazquez and Jeffers came up next, and Jeffers managed to get plunked with two down to get the tying run to the plate in Brooks Lee. Lee flew out, and again the Twins came up empty. The Twins bullpen, however, continued to leak runs as Kody Funderburk allowed three hits and two runs in the top of the ninth to blow the game open at 5-1.

The final swings and attempt at extending their amazing 10-game home winning streak washed away with zero fanfare and soaked actual fans. 

What's Next?
After an off day on Thursday, the Twins will once again attempt to put some separation between division foes on Friday, as the Kansas City Royals come to Target Field for a weekend series. Twins righty Pablo López (4-2, 2.40 ERA) will get his second start of the season against the Royals, after acquiring a no-decision in early April in Kansas City. Kansas City will counter with rookie lefty Noah Cameron (1-1, 0.71 ERA) who is off to a strong start. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Sands	0	21	0	0	20	41
Topa	23	5	0	0	0	28
Alcalá	15	12	0	0	0	27
Durán	0	0	0	0	23	23
Jax	0	0	0	0	20	20
Funderburk	10	0	0	0	11	17
Stewart	0	15	0	0	0	15
Varland	0	0	0	0	14	14

 

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[thelanges5]

I’m okay with a split on a crappy rainy double header. Big weekend coming up. Take the series with KC, starting getting some division wins. Let’s go Twins!

[thelanges5]

Is it just me or did Santana‘s pants get shorter this year? He’s starting to show some knee.🦵🏽

[Doctor Gast]

Santana walked, it's walks that hurt us tonight.

[chinmusic]

You can't win 'em all. 

What a season, though.  The narrative's been rewritten, and we're only 49 games in. 

Just anticipating the next chapter. 

[DocBauer]

I really wanted that 2nd game win today. Its too bad Varland couldn't have pulled a rabbit out of the hat and gotten out of that inning, but it was a tough spot. Very disappointed in Funderburk's appearance, but he didn't cost us the game.

The offense just couldn't get anything going it seems. And 1 run very seldom gets the job done.

With a day to reset the pen, and a breather for everyone, it's important to take 2 of 3 from KC. Hopefully Mother Nature helps out a bit as well.

Scratch and claw to score some runs and just keep playing the good ball that they've been accomplishing so far, and this weekend could be a good one.

Go Twins!

[Blyleven2011]

A soggy day of baseball  , I didn't think they would even start play on time  , but they did  ...

Won the first soggy game with Clemens walking it off with a hit to the gap and the opposite field to boot in nine innings , this is what this team needs to do , hit it where they ain't,  hit to the opposite field and good things will happen  ...

The soggy second game was good starting pitching on both sides , paddack 5 innings but sixth innings he wasn't the same pitcher , pitching down and missing the zone  , walks are not good , Cleveland will find away and they did  , bullpen alittle shakey but our bats were flat  ...

Surprised we only have 1 makeup game to play , rain rain go away , come back some other day when twins are on the road  ...

we need the rain but not all at once ...

[gmwannabe]

How does Keirsay Jr hit .108 and stay on a big league roster? Bader should be starting every game in center until Buxton is back to get McCusters bat in the lineup. 

 

 

 

[knothole61]

Very flat in game #2...sad to see. But...big weekend coming up with the Twins v. KC and Cleveland v, Detroit; something's gotta give. Upper 60s and lots of sun coming too.

Win Twins!

[DocBauer]

34 minutes ago, gmwannabe said:

How does Keirsay Jr hit .108 and stay on a big league roster? Bader should be starting every game in center until Buxton is back to get McCusters bat in the lineup. 

 

 

 

Because he plays great defense and is a good base runner who can steal a base.

If he gets on base, hitting usually 8th, he could make a move with Vazquez getting a hit or maybe bunting him over depending on the situation. He fills a role, but no doubt his bat has been disappointing. But he is filling a certain role at this point.

Also because Rocco is seemingly reluctant to throw caution to the wind and give McCusker a chance to play and see if you get lucky. To be fair, he's only been around for 2 games, so we'll see what happens over the next week or so.

[Aerodeliria]

Walks and errors are the death knell for almost any team. The second game problem were the walks and of course the Guardians who seem to give the Twins fits every year.....

[h2oface]

6 hours ago, gmwannabe said:

How does Keirsay Jr hit .108 and stay on a big league roster? Bader should be starting every game in center until Buxton is back to get McCusters [sic] bat in the lineup. 

 

 

 

Bader is playing through a groin strain, because Buxton is out, especially. (Bader suffered left groin tightness during the second game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on May 14, Sat out without going on the IL until the 17th.) They are trying to keep him from having to man center, and run more, to keep him healthy enough to stay in the lineup. Keirsay already does have a walk off hit during the streak, and is fast and can pinch run at the end of games. That's something. He is great in the field. McCusker and Castro both need to get some reps with balls hitting the right field wall. They both let balls hit and get past them in the last two games.

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, Aerodeliria said:

Walks and errors are the death knell for almost any team. The second game problem were the walks and of course the Guardians who seem to give the Twins fits every year.....

Both teams gave up 3 walks in the game. The Twins just did it in a row. Twins got 3 hits, 3 walks, and one HBP. 7 baserunners total. No runs scored with Paddack on the mound again. Even getting pulled with the bases loaded and one out, the relief was hoped to induced a double play. Today (both games), the pen inherited 5 runners total, and 4 scored officially (only 3 actually) with Duran (2 of 2) and Varland (2 of 3) on the mound.

[NYCTK]

8 hours ago, DocBauer said:

If he gets on base

That's a big if. He's 367th in out of 369 players in OBP of all players with at least 50 PAs. You can make the argument that he's the worst Twins hitter of the century.

His defense is good, not great. His baserunning is good but not great. He's simply not good enough to justify a major league job even as the occasional 14th man bouncing up and down. Happy for him that he got a cup of coffee and some memories. But also happy for him to go back to AAA to conclude his career. 

 

3 hours ago, h2oface said:

Keirsay

Come on man. He's not long for the league but at least learn how to spell his name, ESPECIALLY if you're gonna point out when someone spells a different player's name incorrectly. 

[Peter]

First off apologies for how I acted yesterday!!! Emotions/temper got best of me and that’s not acceptable!!! I love the twins and hate seeing them lose but no excuses to act the way I did! I apologize for this! Glad we got split-difficult horrible weather conditions!!! Big series upcoming this weekend!!! Hope for series win!   Enjoy the day off of no twins today!!!

[JD-TWINS]

10 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

A soggy day of baseball  , I didn't think they would even start play on time  , but they did  ...

Won the first soggy game with Clemens walking it off with a hit to the gap and the opposite field to boot in nine innings , this is what this team needs to do , hit it where they ain't,  hit to the opposite field and good things will happen  ...

The soggy second game was good starting pitching on both sides , paddack 5 innings but sixth innings he wasn't the same pitcher , pitching down and missing the zone  , walks are not good , Cleveland will find away and they did  , bullpen alittle shakey but our bats were flat  ...

Surprised we only have 1 makeup game to play , rain rain go away , come back some other day when twins are on the road  ...

we need the rain but not all at once ...

I get they have had some success but Clemens/Bride on the right side of the infield to start a game (both DFA’d this year) & our 27th add to roster being Gasper (a guy many called for to be DFA’d) ……..not to mention Fitzgerald & McCusker & Kiersey as part of 13 guys…….it’s going to be challenging to get many runs!

I had previously touted Clemens success in game 1 & game 2 with his XBH’s but after seeing replays this morning, he hit what Provus termed, “….,a looper to center” that got played into a triple and the double to end the game had eyes - that’s baseball - but he’s not punishing the ball into the gaps which was essentially my first assessment of his day.

A lot to be said for making contact!

[NYCTK]

13 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Is it just me or did Santana‘s pants get shorter this year? He’s starting to show some knee.🦵🏽

He did that last season too, and its hideous. He looks like a toddler. 

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, NYCTK said:

That's a big if. He's 367th in out of 369 players in OBP of all players with at least 50 PAs. You can make the argument that he's the worst Twins hitter of the century.

His defense is good, not great. His baserunning is good but not great. He's simply not good enough to justify a major league job even as the occasional 14th man bouncing up and down. Happy for him that he got a cup of coffee and some memories. But also happy for him to go back to AAA to conclude his career. 

 

Come on man. He's not long for the league but at least learn how to spell his name, ESPECIALLY if you're gonna point out when someone spells a different player's name incorrectly. 

He's not long for the league, so not much point in getting too hung up about him. If Bader were fully healthy, we'd be seeing less of him in the field and he'd be a defensive replacement/pinch-runner again. The defense is certainly better than Larnach, McCusker, or even Castro in the OF and he's useful as a pinch runner. Problem is, he hasn't shown he can hit at all at this level. It's notable that he's played in 39 games but only has 53 ABs.

But who's the replacement for him right now? Rodriguez? He's showing he needs more time in AAA, not that he's ready to hit in MLB. Morales? a .770 OPS isn't impressive at Saint Paul and he's not on the 40-man. Until Wallner or Buxton are back we need an OF, especially if Bader is still a little a little touch and go. If Austin Martin was healthy he'd already be up and Keirsey would be back in AAA.

Yes, it sucks having a guy who is a black hole on offense, but injuries are pushing him into a role he's not capable of, not desire to have him get starts.

[NYCTK]

4 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

But who's the replacement for him right now?

Random waiver claim. Same how Clemens was better than internal options, Twins better 5th OF options are external. But they have to stay on the 26 man so it's never ideal. 

I agree, it's not worth fretting over cause he's likely not even getting to 100 PAs. But man he's failed to meet even my weakest expectations. 

 

Edit: just looked and the only CF on waivers the last three weeks was Michael Helman. So, slim pickings. We'll see if he's claimed by anyone. 

[h2oface]

8 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Come on man. He's not long for the league but at least learn how to spell his name, ESPECIALLY if you're gonna point out when someone spells a different player's name incorrectly. 

say what? Ha! I totally missed that repeated one. I’m always lazy on the Jr’s. too. Thanks for the help. Usually it is the e and i order. Great first public interaction. It makes me a better person. 

[NYCTK]

36 minutes ago, h2oface said:

say what? Ha! I totally missed that repeated one. I’m always lazy on the Jr’s. too. Thanks for the help. Usually it is the e and i order. Great first public interaction. It makes me a better person. 

I think skipping out on the Jrs is fine. I don't know his father, so there's no confusion to be had :-)