Brewers 17, Twins 6: Evisceration

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
Joe Ryan: 5 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (6)
Bottom 3 WPA: Justin Topa (-.081), Carlos Correa (-.060), Harrison Bader (.051)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

Fresh off an impotent Reds series only saved by a third-game offensive explosion, the Twins look to be wandering in the desert. That extended winning streak earlier in the season is about as old as the Magna Carta; recent play revealed the same mucky inconsistency that has plagued the team since the pandemic. With a red-hot Brewers team in town, and their young fireballer Jacob Misiorowski on the mound, Minnesota possessed the chance to secure a potentially fortune-altering win.

Joe Ryan started, which means we had front-row seats to observe The Experience in action. Words fail to capture the full essence of The Experience—it must be observed to be fully understood—but here’s a quick selection of Ryan’s mound antics:

• He continuously pitched unphased by the pitch clock and its consequences, often letting the timer tick close to 0 before snapping into his windup.
• He walked away from the mound before a check-swing appeal was made to the first base umpire. (The batter was called out.)
• He coiled himself into a crouch when a first-pitch curve fell too high in the zone. (It was just a called strike.)
• He pulled a sweeper and dropped an f-bomb loud enough for the broadcast to clearly pick up.

And all of that came just in the third inning. There is no one like him and there will never be anyone like him again. 

 

Ryan’s actual production betrayed his entertainment. In fact, he capitulated. The righty walked three, and while he struck out seven, Milwaukee pounced on their opportunities, pushing across a fourth-inning run off a Jackson Chourio walk, before Chourio doubled in a score in the sixth and eventually touched home himself after Ryan had left the game. 

Oh, and that Misiorowski fellow from before? You may want to memorize how to spell his last name: he is nasty beyond belief. The heater routinely hit 100+. The slider sat at 94.7. The slider. He cut through the Twins' lineup with the ease of prime Nolan Ryan.

The best strategy for attacking Misiorowski proved to be forcing him to sit for about 30 minutes in the seventh as Justin Topa and Joey Wentz both failed to produce any sense of relief in their pitching. Coming out of that break, Misiorowski lost his no-hitter by walking Byron Buxton on four pitches, then allowed his first major-league hit (in the second start of his career) off a Matt Wallner sky-scraping two-run shot. This game does occasionally have a sense of humor, you know. 

 

Milwaukee immediately responded by striking Wentz for four more runs in the eighth. Then Jonah Bride pitched to add levity to the situation. No one laughed. He allowed five runs and struck out Eric Haase. Ok, that one was pretty funny. 

The Brewers countered with their own position player pitcher, a much giddier Jake Bauers. Something vaguely resembling baseball occurred, and the game finally reached its inevitable conclusion.

Notes:

• Attendance for the game was 28,011, but it felt like most of them were down the third base line behind the Brewers' dugout. They also seemed to enjoy their trip to Target Field. 
• The cynical ninth inning did have one benefit: Brooks Lee singled versus Bauers to extend his hit streak to 19 games. 

• Joe Ryan's 621 strikeouts are the 16th-most in Twins history. He's 94 away from tying Eric Milton. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Brewers play again on Saturday with first pitch coming at 1:10 PM. Simeon Woods Richardson will start opposite Joe Quintana. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[USAFChief]

The Rocco Baldelli Legal Defense Team has crawled back under their collective rock.

[thelanges5]

St. Paul copied the big club tonight losing 18-7. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

At the rate this is going, by the end of the season, we'll be giving the ChiSox a run for last place in the AL Central.  Sad to say.

[dberthia]

Total system failure v3.0

[Parfigliano]

Why is Keirsey wearing a TC uniform?  What value does he add?

[IndyTwinsFan]

14 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Why is Keirsey wearing a TC uniform?  What value does he add?

Holding down the far end of the bench is the only reason I can see.

[thelanges5]

Twins have given up 14, 16, 16, and 17 runs this month. Either getting blown out, walked off, or losing 1 run games. High highs and low lows make this one of the most frustrating seasons I’ve ever followed. Maybe they have some good baseball on the horizon but it is increasingly hard to stay positive. 

[OvertheHill]

Yeah it counts as one loss, but it feels like it should count for 3. Getting to be a pattern. This team is non competitive for long stretches and in most facets of the game. In a different market and with ownership that had any semblance of expectation heads would have rolled by now. At this pace the attendance is going to crater. 

[Blyleven2011]

Way to go Milwaukee  , you pitched a hell of a game and hit like the boy wonder , you played the game the way you should play , with pitching and defense , timely hitting , running and fundamentally sound baseball ...

You beat a team that you should beat , WELL DESERVED ...

way to go Minnesota  , when you play bad baseball with poor everything , YOU DESERVE TO LOSE ...

You lost to a better team ...

I've said this a million times , we will not win with this manager that has them playing like a bunch of possums  , PLAY DEAD AT HOME AND GET KILLED ON THE ROAD ...

THE MINNESOTA POSSUMS ...

But your the only team I root for even when I'm thousands of miles away , let's play some exciting baseball ...

Nice that Lee extended his hitting streak and the Ryan experience pitchìng 5 innings of decent ball but that is about all I can say that is positive  , wallners homerun breaking up the no hitter but his 3 strikeouts some looking irritates the ĥell out of me ...

 

[USAFChief]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Twins have given up 14, 16, 16, and 17 runs this month. Either getting blown out, walked off, or losing 1 run games. High highs and low lows make this one of the most frustrating seasons I’ve ever followed. Maybe they have some good baseball on the horizon but it is increasingly hard to stay positive. 

Bride has been on the mound in 3 of the last 4 home games. 

Yeesh

[Doctor Gast]

3 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Way to go Milwaukee  , you pitched a hell of a game and hit like the boy wonder , you played the game the way you should play , with pitching and defense , timely hitting , running and fundamentally sound baseball ...

You beat a team that you should beat , WELL DESERVED ...

way to go Minnesota  , when you play bad baseball with poor everything , YOU DESERVE TO LOSE ...

You lost to a better team ...

I've said this a million times , we will not win with this manager that has them playing like a bunch of possums  , PLAY DEAD AT HOME AND GET KILLED ON THE ROAD ...

THE MINNESOTA POSSUMS ...

But your the only team I root for even when I'm thousands of miles away , let's play some exciting baseball ...

Nice that Lee extended his hitting streak and the Ryan experience pitchìng 5 innings of decent ball but that is about all I can say that is positive  , wallners homerun breaking up the no hitter but his 3 strikeouts some looking irritates the ĥell out of me ...

 

Twins bringing home the "road kill", I still stand by our core but it seems Correa is playing hurt. Ryan pitched a good game but Misiorowski was better. Congratulations to Lee on his hitting streak. Twins won't amount to anything as long Falvey & Co are at the helm. They have put together a pitching pipeline which I give them credit but they have failed at everything else. MIL is a small market but they know what they have to do.

[Nashvilletwin]

Has there ever been a more clear example of two mid-market teams competing with different strategies and different levels of execution?

Team A is well constructed, managed and coached.  The strategy was clearly to perform all the major parts of the game of baseball well by doing all the little parts that comprise those big parts at a high level.  No walks, strong fielding, heads up aggressive (risk adjusted) base running, plate discipline, keeping ABs alive, hitting to the opposite field, playing as a team, playing to their (myriad) strengths, etc., etc.

Team B looked like the exact opposite: poorly constructed (for their chosen style of baseball), poorly managed and poorly coached. A team that basically eschews doing all those critical little things - either because the players are unable, are not coached to do them, they are not emphasised, or, likely, a combination of those reasons.

The juxtaposition could not have been laid more bare. Team A looks like a mid-market team that understands the competitive dynamics of modern major league baseball and is ready and able to face those dynamics head on. Team B looks completely lost with a mirage for a strategy to compete.

If last night’s game didn’t lay clear the issues with the Twins approach, leadership and roster construction, perhaps nothing will.  Sad as it is to say, but one has to top his hat to that franchise from Wisconsin. 

[Doctor Gast]

6 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Why is Keirsey wearing a TC uniform?  What value does he add?

You probably want McCrusher up instead, which is fair. Keirsey w/o regular ABs will never adapt to MLB pitching, nobody can. If he won't get it in MLB, he should be in AAA. But this seems like an undeserved rip at him. What did you expect from him last night? With 1 AB, single-handedly carry the team to victory? He did get on base & scored at that AB & played good defense. What more can you ask?

[Eris]

With Wentz throwing 43 pitches last night, he is unlikely to be available for the rest of this series. 

[CRF]

Time to send Joey Wentz packing. He needs to be DFA today. Let's try Carson Wentz next time. Topa is just about worthless too. That 13 game winning streak was a mirage...and yes, the injuries are hurting us...but unfortunately, performances like this are more indicative of the team we have. Allowing teams to score a couple touchdowns and a FG is not good. 

[mikelink45]

With a game like this you have to dig deep.  So my disappointment is that our Ohtani Very Very Light Bride now has an ERA of 15 and a BA of 168!  Think of the historic potential here.  

[NotAboutWinning]

Every time you're sure you've seen the worst loss of the season, the Twins lower the bar ☹️

[DJL44]

19 minutes ago, CRF said:

Time to send Joey Wentz packing. He needs to be DFA today. 

Wentz is not good enough to last several innings against MLB batters. He is a pitch-to-contact lefty with little swing and miss. He's here to soak up innings as the long reliever. For that role, he's as good as their AAA options.

[ryan189]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Wentz is not good enough to last several innings against MLB batters. He is a pitch-to-contact lefty with little swing and miss. He's here to soak up innings as the long reliever. For that role, he's as good as their AAA options.

Wentz got dfa'd by the pirates for a reason you have adams in AAA  you brought him up once and didn't throw him he is a way better option to come up and eat innings

[Whitey333]

Yucky baseball Friday night.  It's the norm under Baldelli.  Boring baseball

[DJL44]

10 minutes ago, ryan189 said:

Wentz got dfa'd by the pirates for a reason you have adams in AAA  you brought him up once and didn't throw him he is a way better option to come up and eat innings

Wentz has a job to sit on the bench and wait for a blowout. The Twins want Adams to get more regular work.

[jorgenswest]

They may need someone who can give them innings today or tomorrow. Wentz and Topa are likely not available today. Wentz not likely tomorrow,

Adams started on Wednesday. He isn’t available today. Funderburk was optioned on June 6. I think he can be brought back today. He last pitched Tuesday.

DFA Wentz? Option Topa?

[Old Crow]

8 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Holding down the far end of the bench is the only reason I can see.

   only because Bride is sitting in the bull pen.

[jorgenswest]

As for Rocco, I will join the prosecution if they don’t make the playoffs. They need a manager that can take a mediocre roster and elevate the team to playoff status. Is that manager available midseason? My concern is they will hire a manager now and retain him for next season instead of waiting until the off season when the pool of candidates is much larger.

I will join the prosecution today if somebody can convince me there is that must hire manager out there right now or convince me that the interim will truly be interim.

[Riverbrian]

12 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

As for Rocco, I will join the prosecution if they don’t make the playoffs. They need a manager that can take a mediocre roster and elevate the team to playoff status. Is that manager available midseason? My concern is they will hire a manager now and retain him for next season instead of waiting until the off season when the pool of candidates is much larger.

I will join the prosecution today if somebody can convince me there is that must hire manager out there right now or convince me that the interim will truly be interim.

I’m not there yet but if I do I’m going right past Rocco and pointing my finger at his boss. 

[Riverbrian]

Ups Downs. We are on a down. We will feel better on an up in the future. 

[jmlease1]

Not a good game last night; inside the stadium it felt like Ryan was getting squeezed a bit, but YMMV.  Credit to MKE: they kept fouling pitches off and ran up his pitch count inning after inning. Frankly, I'm just happy he wasn't seriously injured when that bat shard went flying at his head (impressive concentration in fielding the ball with a chunk of wood coming at him like that).

Twins hitters struggled against the rookie, but also just missed holes or had well-hit balls come up short. Everything MKE hit bounced through a hole or landed in a gap it seemed.

Hated seeing two position players "battle" it out in the 9th. 

Not exactly sure why this game is Rocco's fault, really: the lineup didn't hit at all for 6 innings, Ryan was just ok, and the bullpen sucked. Players have to play, and the team wasn't good. Coulombe has been excellent all season...and gave up 2 hits on 3 pitches. Topa had been solid this season and picked last night to give up 4 singles and a walk. Wentz was bad, but by the time he came it it was already 5-0 and the offense looked like they were no-showing on the game. I'm curious what manager fixes that?

Crowd was at least 50% Brewers, might have been closer to 2/3. Credit to them for traveling well, but lots of Twins "fans" sold their tickets for sure. It really felt like the fanbase has quit on this team, is fed up with everything (especially the ownership) and simply does not care. An indictment of ownership, and felt like evidence that you should not have a team sale lingering on for months and months, because it causes fans to check the eff out. Twins are still right around .500 and it felt more like they were 20 games under with that atmosphere.

I'm guessing if we get new ownership, Rocco and the front office will all get fired. If we don't, Rocco probably takes the hit under the banner of "we have to do something" and the ownership won't want to pay too many people not to work. While I no longer care much if Rocco stays or goes, I don't think it fixes the malaise.

[wavedog]

Bride is pitching so much he is starting to hit like a pitcher.   For anyone that attends the games - Do they play "Here comes the Bride" for his entrance music?    Position players pitching is starting to do to stats what steroids did - inflating performance.   

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Twins bringing home the "road kill", I still stand by our core but it seems Correa is playing hurt. Ryan pitched a good game but Misiorowski was better. Congratulations to Lee on his hitting streak. Twins won't amount to anything as long Falvey & Co are at the helm. They have put together a pitching pipeline which I give them credit but they have failed at everything else. MIL is a small market but they know what they have to do.

You nailed it doc , Milwaukee knows what to do in the game of baseball for a small market team  ...

I agree totally that we will continue to see the same baseball from falvey and company because all they emphasize is hit the ball hard ( swing hardi is more like it ) ...

I would rather the batter strikes out swinging than looking , it irritates me badly and I think they should start fining the players for striking out looking , if it's close you swing to protect the plate , control what you can control ...

How's the weather in Brazil  , we are suppose to be a 100 or near that by game time ???