Rangers 16, Twins 4: Twins Embarassed at Home Against Weak-Hitting Rangers

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (98 pitches, 53 strikes (54%))
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (5)
Bottom 3 WPA: Woods Richardson (-.350), Justin Topa (-.138), Wallner (-.075)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

If a team makes noise in a mostly empty Target Field, does it make a sound? The Twins hoped to find out Tuesday night. After an off day, the Twins looked to build on the momentum of Sunday's victory against Toronto by making some noise against a former home-team twirler. Tyler Mahle has been dealing as the ace the Twins thought they traded for in 2022 for the Rangers, adding insult to the injury of seeing a pair of former Twins infield prospects contributing for the Reds over the past few seasons. Opposing Mahle was recently recalled Simeon Woods Richardson, who looked to remain in the Twins' rotation after a brief three-game stint at St. Paul. 

Early Traffic and Early Zeros
Woods Richardson surrendered a leadoff single to Josh Smith, and a one-out walk to Corey Seager made for some cluttered bases early against the young righty. The crafty righty escaped the jam, however, and went on to put up nothing but zeros across the first three innings against a struggling Rangers lineup averaging roughly two runs per game over the past week and change.

Mahle also surrendered a leadoff hit, this time a first-pitch double off of the right field wall to Byron Buxton. However, the Buck Truck stayed in park at second base as three straight fly ball outs failed to advance him, let alone score him. The Twins failed to do anything against Mahle until Buxton came up again in the bottom of the third, and again stroked a line drive for a single. Three innings, 28 pitches, and utter dominance with the fastball against Mahle's former squad.

No More Zeros
The top of the fourth inning saw Buxton's elite defense take a swerve, as a leadoff line drive to center by Jake Burger knuckled on him, and deflected off of his glove for a two-base error. Woods Richardson wobbled next, walking Evan Carter to fill first and second bases yet again, this time with nobody out. After a Josh Jung strikeout, the Twins thought escape might once again be in order. Adolis Garcia erased that thought with a double down the right field line to plate Burger and make it 1-0 Texas. Three pitches later, Kyle HIgashioka laced a single to score two more Ranger runs to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Minnesota hoped that Mahle's fastball would lose some of its mystery in the second trip through the lineup. Ryan Jeffers worked a walk, and Carlos Correa straightened out said fastball for a booming double off of the right-center wall to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Matt Wallner struck out swinging, but Ty France picked up his teammate... sort of. France rocketed another ball off of the wall in right, but Garcia deked Correa and France, as Correa could only make third and France got thrown out trying to advance to second. Suddenly, it was a 3-1 game, but the rally was at risk of being cut short before its time. Luckily, Royce Lewis is hitting the ball with authority again, and he had his teammates' proverbial backs with an RBI single to make it 3-2.

A Baseball Game Unravels
With the Twins right back in the ballgame, Woods Richardson took the hill in the top of the fifth inning aiming to get his team back in the dugout as quickly as possible. Instead, he would enter the dugout before any of his teammates were allowed to.

With a full count, leadoff man Seager walked on what will be called a strike when the electronic ump comes into existence. The next two Rangers batters got out, but instead of a one-two-three inning, Seager was still at first, and all heck broke loose. A Carter single, a wild pitch, and a Jung single plated two and made it 5-2 just like that. Garcia doubled to put runners at second and third with two out, and that ended Woods Richardson's day at 98 pitches with only a 54% strike rate.

Justin Topa came in to stop the bleeding, and one pitch later, we had a gusher, thanks to another Higashioka hit—this time a two-run double to make it 7-2. Tack on another Smith hit, this time plating HIgashioka, and it was 8-2 in a laugher.

More Noise, Mostly in a Texas Accent
The Twins attempted to crawl their way back toward making it a ballgame in the bottom of the fifth, when Trevor Larnach doubled and scored on a Jeffers single to make it 8-3. That momentum lasted all of four batters, as Topa gave up a two-run gopher ball to Carter in the top of the sixth inning to make it 10-3.

Mahle was still dealing in the bottom of the sixth when Wallner did his best to keep the fans excited by launching his fifth home run of the year to change the score to 10-4.

A couple of singles, with a Lewis double play ball in between, chased Mahle before he could complete six innings despite the insurmountable lead. The Rangers bullpen has been spotty, but it couldn't possibly be bad enough to give up this six-run lead... could it?

All Ballgames Must Come to an End
Jorge Alcala came in and took care of business in the top of the seventh. Unfortunately, he got destroyed in the top of the eighth. Wyatt Langford led off with a home run, and four hits and a few sacrifices later, it was 16-4. I kid you not: 16-4. Unfortunately for Twins fans, this isn't Tuesday night beer league, and MLB makes the teams finish the game, mercy rule be darned. The good news was Jonah Bride made it into a game, but unfortunately, it was to pitch the ninth inning. Zero runs scored against Bride! But a 16-4 loss was definitely not what the home team needed to start this series.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to avenge this walloping on Wednesday night. Twins righty David Festa looks to redeem himself after laying a 3.2 inning/8 run egg against the Athletics on June 5th. The Rangers counter with righty Jack Leiter (4-2, 3.48 ERA, and yes, he's the son of Al Leiter). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm CDT, hopefully after the rain has come and gone and left nothing but 70 degrees of beautiful baseball weather.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Alcalá	0	0	0	0	40	40
Topa	15	0	0	0	24	39
Durán	0	20	16	0	0	36
Jax	0	18	9	0	0	27
Sands	9	0	17	0	0	26
Varland	0	17	0	0	0	17
Stewart	0	0	14	0	0	14
Coulombe	9	0	0	0	2	11

 

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[Rhyno006]

I wish they'd just get rid of Alcala. 

[OvertheHill]

Yeah, SWR has regressed. Epically. I’ve seen virtually nothing this year that tells me he’s our 4th or 5th best SP now. 

Topa? He is what he is. 

Alcala? Why? You can’t convince me that there isn’t someone in our minor league system deserving of a shot. Real serious teams don’t lock up a roster spot with guys like Alcala. 

[thelanges5]

Rangers have some good guys. Hopefully we didn’t just wake a giant tonight. 
 

Positives: Wallner HR, Buck 3 for 4, Coulombe is back, 🇫🇷 BB 2 for 3

[ryan189]

could of used adams today should tell alcala he has a injury so he can go work on somethings

[RpR]

[David HK]

Heh... scanning around for some background while marking papers- saw the Rockies had a 3-run lead in the 9th!

Heh... again... homer, 2 walks, and infield bleeder, and suddenly they're down by 1 !  Sounds awfully familiar!  But hey, I wonder if the Rocks had any warm bodies we could trade for Alcala-  Colorado closer only throwing about 92, Jorge could get let those runs in a lot quicker at 98!

[S Bart]

I still cannot figure out WHY they kept Alcala and sent down Adams who was brought up as a long-term reliever earlier.  It made absolutely no sense to move him down for Coulombe when SWR and Festa were about to pitch! These types of decisions are why the Twins falter at times.  It is MIND-BOGGLING.

[Blyleven2011]

My take on game ...

Sloppy  loss ...

SWR can't seem to go 5 innings  but I think we found our 3 inning long relief pitcher , Adam's sent back to AAA before he could make his mlb debut ...

What to do with Alcala  ???

Tough game , I dozed and missed bottom of eighth and top of ninth , bottom of the ninth was uneventful  

[David HK]

** Irony alert:  **

Evan Carter, who destroyed the Twins tonight, grew up in Elizabethton, TN, former home of the E-Twins, where so many Twins greats spent their early Minors days!  He's probably been to that park many times!

[Dantheman]

Looks like sending Adams down really paid off for us tonight!!! 

[AKTwinsFan]

This is what we're looking at going forward. With the struggles of Lewis and Correa we have no real power beyond Buxton, Walllner and Larnach. Now we lost 2 of our pitching rotation so I expect we'll continue to fall in the ranks facing any decent offenses. Maybe it's time to find a new pitching coach? Is Pete Macky wearing out our starters with all the same shoulder strains.

[AKTwinsFan]

It's time to try another young pitcher and trade SWR. Unless we're gonna put Jax in as a starter!? I think he'd be great and maybe a Cy young candidate. 

[Mark G]

Geez, I missed everything tonight.  Could someone fill me in as to which missed strike call cost us the game?  

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, Mark G said:

Geez, I missed everything tonight.  Could someone fill me in as to which missed strike call cost us the game?  

More a turning point for a struggling starter than cost us the game. They're professional but it's almost like the defense wasn't ready to play by the time the ball was hit, after four minutes of balls and foul-offs. 

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

What to do with Alcala  ???

Good question. Or maybe an easy question at this point. I was willing to be patient, hoping his "stuff" would translate into more outs and less runs scored. But obviously that isn't happening, and seems to be getting worse after signs of maybe turning it around. Not sure if there is a viable trade market for him, but we should try. Adams should have at least been given a chance to pitch this past week. 

[CRF]

Real nice job by SWR, Topa, and Alcala. Alcala needs to be sent down right frickin now. He just pours gasoline on the fire every time. 

[Doctor Gast]

a lot of little things blew up

[William K Johnson]

With the upcoming end of the Acala, Topa and SWR chapters of Twins history approaching, it makes me wonder if the general managers who fleeced the Twins FO on these trades feel any remorse or guilt for taking advantage of the Twins incompetence.    Most likely not, but surely, they feel some pity.   

[TwinsDr2021]

They put up a stat last night on TV that SWR has been on the least effective starters in baseball in terms of IP per start, when you have that stat you should be prepared to pull that guy in a sign of trouble and have a guy ready that can go a couple of innings. 

Wallner's solo homer was nice, but I would give that up for a single in the 4th when the game was still close. 

[mark sills]

maybe swr would be a great relief pitcher

[mikelink45]

Breathe taking!  So the first game back routine started by Festa is now a regular event.  

[SockNet]

Twins needed length from a struggling SWR and the defense let him down. Lewis and Correa errors caused extra pitches but SWR snuk through. Then Buxton's drop. You can't keep giving extra bases and not expect the worst to catch up to you. SWR has a better chance to get through 5 with only a couple  runs given up with clean play and without all those extra pitches.

[PatG]

A little perspective...

I believe we are seeing the beginning of the institutionalized "piggy-back" starter.

Our Twins starters are coming up through minors on a pitch count (several current minor league examples) and then expected to complete 6-7-8 innings....just doesn't happen.

I say: Tell SWR you have 4 innings, give it your all; you ain't going past 4.....Then take our next "piggy-back" starter (Festa, etc); you got the next 4...

I would institute that right now!!  It is happening anyway; how many times have the relievers picked it up in 5th or even 4th....

Examples: L Varland, you don't go 5-6 innings, you go one! (great results, just setting expectations).  It is a wonder that Ober has lasted this long with his minor-league upbringing.

[TwinsDr2021]

20 minutes ago, PatG said:

.  It is a wonder that Ober has lasted this long with his minor-league upbringing.

Bailey Ober wasn't really brought along like this, 

2018 (first year in the minors) he had 14 starts and 75 innings (over 5 1/3 innings per start)

2019 he pitched in 14 games, 13 starts and was given 78.2 innings

No 2020

2021 4/16 in AAA, then 20/92.22 (reduced below 5 per start, but every year since he improved until this year it has dropped a bit but plenty of time to get it back up)

[TwinsDr2021]

26 minutes ago, PatG said:

I believe we are seeing the beginning of the institutionalized "piggy-back" starter.

Two reactions to this, so there really is no pipeline? and second just what the Twin fans need, another reason to tune out, watching a bunch of relief pitchers trying to win games is not entertaining.

[Doctor Gast]

53 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

They put up a stat last night on TV that SWR has been on the least effective starters in baseball in terms of IP per start, when you have that stat you should be prepared to pull that guy in a sign of trouble and have a guy ready that can go a couple of innings. 

Wallner's solo homer was nice, but I would give that up for a single in the 4th when the game was still close. 

Given that & it was his 1st outing back. I'd have had SWR on a very short leash. He had 3 good innings, then things started to go wrong. With the guys we have on hand, we desperately need long RPs.

We need more clutch hitting from some of these guys. 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

a lot of little things blew up

Didn't even have a concept of a plan by game's end.

[Patzky]

15 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Given that & it was his 1st outing back. I'd have had SWR on a very short leash. He had 3 good innings, then things started to go wrong. With the guys we have on hand, we desperately need long RPs.

We need more clutch hitting from some of these guys. 

Yes the hitting part. Larnach twice came up with a chance to do real timely impactful damage. Then the hot came much later. Wallner HRs in the last two games we have lost by ten runs. Some people trying to do too much or crack under pressure.. it was good to see Royce come up big when the game was still in question. Nut Larnach and Jeffers and Correa can all drop in the order at this point.

[tony&rodney]

Andrew Abbot, a 26 year old  LH SP in his third year as a Cincinnati Red, threw 110 pitches in a complete game shutout last night.