Blue Jays 5, Twins 4: Twins Bullpen Falters in Loss to Toronto

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Chris Paddack 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (86 pitches, 55 strikes (64%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (4), Kody Clemens (6)
Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-.457), Willi Castro (-.114), Clemens (-.113)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Since his last win against the Orioles on May 15, Chris Paddack has continued to lower his ERA and to extend his innings past the fifth inning. Over that span, however, Paddack has an 0-2 record and a no-decision to show for it as the Twins run supply has been unable to match Paddack's success. With the Twins trying to break back into the win column against the streaking Blue Jays, Twins fans hoped that Paddack and the Twins bats could align together again to win the day on Saturday. Standing opposed to Paddack was Kevin Gausman who had fared better in the win department but had been unable to finish the fifth inning in his last two starts. 

Paddack Struggles Out the Gate
It took 28 pitches for Paddack to complete the first inning, and a Nathan Lukes single with two outs plated Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the first run of the game. Tyler Heineman took a center-cut Paddack fastball deep in the top of the second inning to make it 2-0 Toronto. From there, however, The Sheriff settled down and began to set down Blue Jays at a more rapid rate, limiting his pitch count to 72 after five innings of work and only surrendering the two runs.

Gausman Loses Control of the Fourth
The Twins were unable to generate any offensive momentum over the first three innings against Gausman, but they began to accumulate base runners in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Jeffers and Carlos Correa delivered one-out singles and then Gausman literally lost control. He walked Matt Wallner on a full count to load the bases, slugged Ty France in the shoulder to push home the first Twins run of the game. Royce Lewis then worked a walk as well to plate the tying run to make it 2-2. With the bases loaded still and only one out, Twins Daily Hitter of the Month Kody Clemens came up with a chance to break the game wide open. Unfortuneately, Clemens got eaten up by a Gausman splitter and ground into a 5-2-3 double play to end the threat.

Matt Wallner is a Big Bad Man
Paddack successfully defended his home turf in the top of the sixth inning, which led to yet another chance for the Twins to copy Toronto's path to victory from the previous night by catching up and taking over in the middle innings. Correa struck out swinging for out number one, but four pitches later Wallner swung and did not miss with two strikes. 3-2 Twins.

 

Bullpens Match
Louis Varland got the call for the top of the seventh inning against the bottom of the Toronto order, and they treated him rather rudely. Andres Gimenez and Heineman singled to put runners at first and second with only one out to turn the line-up over to Bo Bichette and Guerrero Jr. in a game-tying scenaro. Varland stepped up and struck out Bichette, and sunk Guerrero Jr. with a sinker to keep Minnesota on top.

Chad Green got the call to replace Gausman, and the bottom of the Twins lineup also treated him rudely. Willi Castro singled with one out, and Trevor Larnach singled with two out to slide Castro over to third base. Jeffers walked to bring up yet another bases loaded situation. Correa got a chance this time to break the game wide open, but once again the Twins failed to capitalize, and the game remained tied at 3-2.

Bullpens Separate
Griffin Jax entered in the top of the eighth to face the heart of the Blue Jays order, and he came in red hot having only surrendering one run over his last nine outings. Unfortunately for Jax, he got ambushed by Addison Barger for a double off of his second pitch. Five pitches later, George Springer ambushed him even more. Springer launched a fly ball that landed just past the left field wall to steal the lead back at 4-3.

Now the Twins were back in catch-up mode, and the middle run of Wallner, France, and Lewis got their chance against reliever Braydon Fisher and his 0.91 WHIP. A strikeout and two groundouts later, Fisher's WHIP and the Twins' hopes for victory had been equally lowered.

Jhoan Duran came in to try to keep the Twins within a run, and the equally red-hot Duran met an equally disappointing fate. Two singles led to one run, and suddenly the Twins found themselves two runs behind and facing the roller coaster that is Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman, who can allow two runs almost as often as he locks down a save. Clemens got the first crack at Hoffman, and after falling behind 1-2 in the count, Kody remembered his swing and launched a home run to right to make it a one-run affair again.

 

Unfortunately, that ninth inning Toronto insurance run proved to be more than the Twins could overcome, and Twins fans were forced to listen to the cheers of the Blue Jay faithful at Target Field as they silently sulked from the stadium.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to avenge at least one win in this home series against the Blue Jays, and Joe Ryan (6-2, 2.91 ERA) will be the one in charge of controlling the Toronto offense. He will face Blue Jays RHP Bowden Francis (2-7 5.84 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Alcalá	28	0	26	0	0	54
Varland	0	22	0	0	17	39
Sands	25	0	0	9	0	34
Durán	0	12	0	0	20	32
Jax	0	13	0	0	18	31
Topa	10	0	0	15	0	25
Stewart	0	15	0	0	0	15
Adams	0	0	0	0	0	0

View full article

[thelanges5]

Already did all of my whining and complaining on the game thread. 
 

Positives: Wallner, Paddack, Varland

I’d say, hopefully Joe can be a stopper tomorrow but we need offense more than anything else right now.

[BrokenCompass]

"Twins Bullpen Falters" ? 

"Griffen Jax blew it again" is a much more accurate headline. 

[thelanges5]

Gleeman skeet:

Chris Paddack has a 2.25 ERA in his last 11 starts, yet the Twins are 3-8 in those games.

Twins' lineup has scored an average of just 2.3 runs in those last 11 games started by Paddack.

[Parfigliano]

Can't produce with RISP sums it up

[thelanges5]

More fun stats from our MN Twins:

15-20 in day games

7-10 in 1 run games

[Peter]

😤😡🤬😭😭😭

[Guest]

I think we have found out who the Twins are, a .500 team that can beat the marginally bad teams and lose to the marginally better teams. With all the flattery regarding the Twins pitching, they just could not hold the lead. That applies to yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Twins will not be a winning team if they are required to continually comeback from a deficit game after game after game. 

[Guest]

Tomorrow is get away day. Hopefully the Twins can salvage one, lone victory from the Blue Jays during this homestand. But I am not counting on it.

[Guest]

Get away day from from the Athletics was sooo pitiful that I can see they may decide it is better to get the game over quick and be able to go golfing. OK, that was over the top, but I believe this is a .500 club, at best!!!!

[Guest]

I'm done.

[Guest]

Until I'm not.

[William K Johnson]

Anyone know how you get that Heilman guy out?   A backup catcher batting over .400

[IndyTwinsFan]

35 minutes ago, Verified Member said:

I think we have found out who the Twins are, a .500 team that can beat the marginally bad teams and lose to the marginally better teams. With all the flattery regarding the Twins pitching, they just could not hold the lead. That applies to yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Twins will not be a winning team if they are required to continually comeback from a deficit game after game after game. 

As I have stated here before, this team will only go as far as its pitching can carry it.  And as good as the analytics may look, this overall staff is highly inconsistent and doesn't seem capable of carrying a mediocre offense for any real length of time.

Even if we do make the playoffs, I expect we'll get bounced pretty quickly, unless something pretty dramatic happens to this team between now and the end of the season.  And the logical side of me says that that likely won't happen. 

[Blyleven2011]

I've made statements that we will know the real identity of the twins by the end of June  , sadly we just might not have to wait till then ... 

Pitchers , there out there to succeed in getting batters out , regardless of how many runners they put on base ...

Batters are to get on base and make adjustments and succeed driving in ducks on the pond  ( runs ) ...

Manager : 

The twins identity is they have a manager that should be given a pink slip , but continues to be at the helm and has job security , he has no worries about being let go because falvey and baldelli are joined at the hip ...

The twins pitchers failed late and the Toronto hitters succeeded in driving in runs ...

The toronto pitchers succeeded and twins batters just plain failed , I think they failed twice with the bases loaded today  ...

The identity is coming into focus , I was hoping that the Twins batters would be the players that played in May  , not the players that played in April ...

Time for this pohlad job security to change , I've stated for years that we will never win with baldelli  managing  , he can't get his players to play a game of baseball the way it should be played and these players should be much better if they were only managed with better discipline ... 

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

More fun stats from our MN Twins:

15-20 in day games

7-10 in 1 run games

13-20 before “the streak”. 8-10 after.

16-23 >.500

Without the streak, a sad 21-30 team. . 
The 36 million dollar man had a chance to earn his $ today with the bases loaded  And too bad Clemens didn’t pick the 4th to hit his homer instead of grounding into a double play with one out  Royce said he “found Royce again” yesterday  I hope today doesn’t mean he lost Royce again

 

 

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, Verified Member said:

I think we have found out who the Twins are, a .500 team that can beat the marginally bad teams and lose to the marginally better teams. With all the flattery regarding the Twins pitching, they just could not hold the lead. That applies to yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Twins will not be a winning team if they are required to continually comeback from a deficit game after game after game. 

These were two winnable games. Just like the two games the Royals lost this weekend and the two games the Guards lost, and the Tigers weren't really in the game that they lost today.

 

Keep on...it's a marathon.

[Blyleven2011]

13 minutes ago, Patzky said:

These were two winnable games. Just like the two games the Royals lost this weekend and the two games the Guards lost, and the Tigers weren't really in the game that they lost today.

 

Keep on...it's a marathon.

You forgot to mention the surging white Sox,  they just might be the team to watch out for 😂😂 ...

[Patzky]

14 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

You forgot to mention the surging white Sox,  they just might be the team to watch out for 😂😂 ...

Oh they are the ones who beat KC.!

[Jocko87]

If you told me Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran were both due for an oppsie, I'd prefer to just have them both on the same day. 

It's a long year, stop assigning catastrophic conclusions. 

[DocBauer]

The pen has generally been outstanding, as has been the starting staff. But they aren't going to be perfect. And when you play so many close games, far too many are going to be coin flips. Scoring 4 or more runs often leads to victory for the Twins, but not always.

The offense is still too inconsistent. Clemens has been a real help, and might even stick around, but he's not a savior. With all due respect to some professional AB and some clutch hitting, France is not a difference maker. Lee has been OK, but is still feeling his way and developing. What they could really use is Lewis figuring himself out in the very near future. He's going to have a bad line for 2025 no matter what he does from here on out. But what's important is what he does from now to the rest of the season. Raising his game to what he's been in the past, or close to it, changes the complexion and depth of the offense. 

Getting back a sparkplug like Keaschall in July helps a TON. But we still really need Royce to find himself not only for his potential contributions, but to deepen the lineup as well.

Despite not being perfect, I wouldn't trade Jax and Duran for most anyone.

[knothole61]

5 hours ago, BrokenCompass said:

"Twins Bullpen Falters" ? 

"Griffen Jax blew it again" is a much more accurate headline. 

Jax is a very touchy subject for some...almost like abusing the flag, which of course you should never do! He has some incredible stuff and his spin and blah, blah, numbers are apparently to die for. And, you have to give him credit because his last few appearances have been wonderful. But...and here's the big but...he seems, to this not-so-casual observer, to be more prone to psych-outs than some; to giving in to pressure in high leverage situations, that is. I can't quote chapter and verse, but it's been my impression of him all along that in the 8th inning or later (I think he did blow a close situation earlier in the season-yes?) with the game tied or with a one-run lead things have, on a regrettable number of occasions, ended up exactly like today.

I think he's quite talented and I like him as a player very much--his failures are hard to watch. But, at this stage in his career, I wouldn't call him a clutch performer.   

[Aerodeliria]

3 hours ago, Patzky said:

These were two winnable games. Just like the two games the Royals lost this weekend and the two games the Guards lost, and the Tigers weren't really in the game that they lost today.

 

Keep on...it's a marathon.

Sure, but you can't a break at the water tent and chat with the gals about mile 25 when you're only at mile 11... 😉 

 

[S Bart]

6 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Already did all of my whining and complaining on the game thread. 
 

Positives: Wallner, Paddack, Varland

I’d say, hopefully Joe can be a stopper tomorrow but we need offense more than anything else right now.

Agree,,,you may want to also add Clemens. He has been a nice addition and a better fielder at 2nd/hitter than Julian.

[S Bart]

At times, I cannot fully understand the negative comments that I have viewed on three additions this year. They are improvements over last year. Bader is a gold glove fielder with a 255 BA (tied for 4th best on the team). Compare him to Margot who was demoted to AAA. Clemens has shown to be sturdy (3rd in HR). Compare him to Julian. France has the best BA on the team and a better BA than Santana at the moment. Also, HE CURRENTLY LEADS ALL MLB HITTERS IN ONE CATEGORY WHEN AT THE PLATE :)

[CRF]

Paddack has been really good this season, but when he's on the hill...we do even less than usual at the plate. He deserves better. This team just flat out can't hit. 

[Whitey333]

Twins SHOULD win Sunday against a faltering Blue Jay's pitcher.  Plus I'm going to the game.  Go Twins.  They are what we thought they are just an average or below average team

[Doctor Gast]

12 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I've made statements that we will know the real identity of the twins by the end of June  , sadly we just might not have to wait till then ... 

Pitchers , there out there to succeed in getting batters out , regardless of how many runners they put on base ...

Batters are to get on base and make adjustments and succeed driving in ducks on the pond  ( runs ) ...

Manager : 

The twins identity is they have a manager that should be given a pink slip , but continues to be at the helm and has job security , he has no worries about being let go because falvey and baldelli are joined at the hip ...

The twins pitchers failed late and the Toronto hitters succeeded in driving in runs ...

The toronto pitchers succeeded and twins batters just plain failed , I think they failed twice with the bases loaded today  ...

The identity is coming into focus , I was hoping that the Twins batters would be the players that played in May  , not the players that played in April ...

Time for this pohlad job security to change , I've stated for years that we will never win with baldelli  managing  , he can't get his players to play a game of baseball the way it should be played and these players should be much better if they were only managed with better discipline ... 

Toronto had good pitching, played much better defense, got clutch hitting & good chemistry. Formula for winning close games, something that the Twins are lacking now. Hitting solo HRs & sac. flies don't sustain rallies. Hitting solo HRs might look good on paper by bolstering stats but they're not enough to win games.

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, knothole61 said:

Jax is a very touchy subject for some...almost like abusing the flag, which of course you should never do! He has some incredible stuff and his spin and blah, blah, numbers are apparently to die for. And, you have to give him credit because his last few appearances have been wonderful. But...and here's the big but...he seems, to this not-so-casual observer, to be more prone to psych-outs than some; to giving in to pressure in high leverage situations, that is. I can't quote chapter and verse, but it's been my impression of him all along that in the 8th inning or later (I think he did blow a close situation earlier in the season-yes?) with the game tied or with a one-run lead things have, on a regrettable number of occasions, ended up exactly like today.

I think he's quite talented and I like him as a player very much--his failures are hard to watch. But, at this stage in his career, I wouldn't call him a clutch performer.   

Nearly all of his appearances are when there is leverage. If he has a bad game (and almost everyone does) it will appear when the game situation is close because he only pitches when the game is close. They don't bring Jax in the game if they have a 5 run lead or trail by 5. He only appears during clutch situations.

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Toronto had good pitching, played much better defense, got clutch hitting & good chemistry. Formula for winning close games, something that the Twins are lacking now. Hitting solo HRs & sac. flies don't sustain rallies. Hitting solo HRs might look good on paper by bolstering stats but they're not enough to win games.

The Twins lost yesterday because they got out-homered 3-2.