Brewers 9, Twins 0: Brewers' Pressure Breaks the Twins Yet Again

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K – 95 pitches, 62 strikes (65%)
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Woods Richardson (-.213), Ty France (-.087), Willi Castro (-.077)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 
 

After their latest "worst loss of the season," the Minnesota Twins looked to deliver some payback against the rival Milwaukee Brewers on a warm summer Saturday afternoon. The Twins started a man who was making his 39th career start in Simeon Woods Richardson, while the Brewers relied on a man making his 343rd career start in Jose Quintana. The X-factor in this ballgame was going to be baseball philosophy: the baserunning and small-ball pressure of the Brewers versus the power-driven core of the Twins offense. Which approach would carry the day on Saturday?

Advantage, Pressure
Sal Frelick led off the game with a hard-fought single, and the veteran slugger Christian Yelich advanced him to third base on a single. With runners on the corners and one out, the aging Yelich took off for second base, and Ryan Jeffers chucked the throw into center field to allow the first run of the game, and to Yelich to advance to third. A Brice Turang sacrifice fly added injury to insult, and it was 2-0 Brewers and Woods Richardson had already thrown 30 pitches before the Twins' big bats could take their first swings of the day.

The Twins worked a couple of walks in the bottom of the first, but Byron Buxton never tried to steal and eventually Ty France was unable to cash in with a runner in scoring position. In the top of the second, the Brewers just kept manufacturing runners into scoring position and then cashing them in. Jonah Bride couldn't get to a ground ball to lead off the inning, and then he threw to the wrong base and failed to convert an out on his next opportunity, and suddenly the bases were loaded with nobody out. Another sac fly and a Yelich grounder to nowhere plated two more Milwaukee runs for a 4-0 lead, and it felt like the rout that started Friday night (or two weeks ago) was just gonna keep on rolling.

Feeling the Heat
In the bottom of the second inning, the difference in philosophies between the Twins and anything resembling exciting baseball in June became clear. Harrison Bader singled with one out, but instead of giving him some time to but his speed to use Matt Wallner took a rip at the first pitch and lined out to the second baseman. A lineout is bad luck, but one can't help but wonder if a moving Bader would have also moved the second baseman and opened some more space for Wallner. No pressure on the defense led to easy outs and double plays for the Twins as the game progressed. The last few weeks have exposed what happens when station-to-station and power baseball lacks the power component. Do the Twins have time to just keep waiting for homers to arrive?

Woods Richardson Holds, Twins Bats Still Cold
Woods Richardson held serve through the sixth inning, a mighty feat considering the heat he faced early and often in this game. The Twins continued to leave runners where they stood as both a lead-off single by Wallner in the fifth and a one-out double by Carlos Correa in the sixth found both runners still standing put on their respective bases by the time the third out was registered. 

Meanhile, the Brewers got a lead-off single by Joey Ortiz to start the seventh inning, and immediately moved him to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Jackson Chourio just missed driving him home, but Brock Stewart lost Yelich in the pressure of the situation to a walk. William Contreras ended up grounding out sharply to end the threat, but the moral of the story is that once again there was a threat. Exciting baseball, with pressure continuously being applied to the Twins pitching staff.

Pressure Bursts Pipes... and Ballclubs
Just when you thought the Brewers philosophy of baseball only impacted the opposing pitcher, the top of the eighth inning gave a stark reminder of what can happen to a fielder under pressure. In the outfield version of Bride's second inning miscue, the Brewers took a Brice Turang lead-off double and adanced him to third base with less than two outs. Cole Sands induced a short fly ball to Bader in left, just shallow enough to lead to a potential throw to nab the runner at the plate. Bader set-up to make the throw, but neglected to catch the ball. As it bounced off of his glove and rolled towards the wall, suddenly it was 5-0 Brewers with a different runner at third with less than two outs. A ground ball scored Isaac Collins. Just for good measure, the number nine hitter Ortiz singled again and Frelick doubled him home to make it 7-0.

Buxton led of the bottom of the eighth with a single. He never advanced. Until the Twins can find a way to exert some pressure on their opponents, they won't advance either. Maple Grove native Collins doubled in two more runs after the defense couldn't come up with a Rhys Hoskins pop fly in the top of the ninth. His hometown supporters had something to cheer about again, but unfortuantely it came at the expense of a Twins team that couldn't look more broken.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to salvage the final game of a series for the third series in a row on Sunday. Twins righty David Festa (1-1, 4.78 ERA) looks to keep the Brewers from ending Twins' careers. The Brewers will counter with young righty Quinn Priester (5-2, 3.46 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Sands	16	0	13	0	31	60
Topa	17	0	17	22	0	56
Wentz	11	0	0	43	0	54
Stewart	33	0	0	0	11	44
Coulombe	4	0	15	3	0	22
Varland	0	0	13	0	4	17
Jax	0	0	15	0	0	15
Durán	0	0	0	3	0	3

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[D.C Twins]

YIKES!

[RpR]

I did not view the ball game, who was tackling who in the picture.

Mike Schmidt who was the sport caster for KSTP in Minn. has retired; I think he was the best in Minn.   I wish I could hear what he would have  said about this debacle.

[D.C Twins]

Ummm... anyone seen that 13-win-streak button... if you find it, go ahead and hit it! 

[mikelink45]

Luckily I forgot that it was an afternoon game.  Lucky me.

It seems to me that the best BP in MLB has been going down the drain.  Overuse?  Wrong use?  What is happening?  

I know they are trying to get the offense going again - why else would they start Bride?

[Guest]

These guys aren't dumb.  They're looking at who is on the IL and their return timetable, and they're beginning to mail it in.  At least the guys were considerate enough of fans to start to fold in June instead of August like last year so we could get some good golf and fishing in....

[Sjoski]

Since getting pasted by Oakland 14–3, the Twins have completely unraveled.

First 60 games:
– ERA: 3.37
–

Last 15 games:
– ERA: 7.90
– Runs allowed: 118
 

Somehow they've won 3 games.

 

[Whitey333]

Oh hum!  Just another in a series of boring baseball "produced" by our Twins.  Good article.  It describes what has bothered me most about the Rocco/ Falvey regime.  Station to station ball waiting for a honer or a clutch hit from our "stars".  Very poor fundamentals.  No team speed and just average power.  But they can blame it on the injuries.  Their farm system isn't nearly as strong as they tell us.  Oh well.  Another loss perhaps on Sunday.  Please at least look like you care and give an effort.

[FlyingFinn]

Lack of hustle. Lack of effort. I don't care what the score is. If the ball gets past the catcher on the third strike, run to first base. That play by Lee signifies the Twins play in June.

[hitterscount]

Someone in yesterday’s game thread identified what is missing in this team, other than a clueless manager…. They have like 7 DH’s on the field in every game. The one big issue is none of them are power or even contact hitters. There is very little team speed and the ones that can steal a base are never given the opportunity, unless the game is out of reach. The 7 DH’s in every lineup are below average fielders, lack the basic fundamentals to overcome some of their athletic non-ability and give away outs and rarely make game changing defensive plays. The pitching has been underwhelming the last 10 or so days, but overall they have held their own. Between a terrible manager and a philosophy on offense that doesn’t remotely match the talent we are likely in for a brutal end to the rest of the season. I for one would like to see Rocco relieved and replaced with a minor league manager, send down or release every player not given 100% or falls into the DH category that can’t hit or play defense, so like half the everyday players, and let the guys performing in the minors get moved up to see what you have and who can be moved come the trade deadline. What we have watched the last 5 of 6 games is a disgrace to professional MLB. players and organizations. Thank you for allowing this long ass much needed rant.

[Maybebaby]

Pretty ballsy of you to write "big bats" in talking about the Twins.

[LastOnePicked]

Hard to know what to say at this point. Whatever momentum they had built is long gone. If the clubhouse sinks that deeply from the loss of their ace, then they probably didn't have much to propel them in September or October. 

I want them to win, sure. But I'll take a total rebuild of the organization as a consolation.

[Nashvilletwin]

Wow, those are two of the worst back to back efforts from the Twins that I’ve watched in more than 55+ years as an avid Twins fan.

It’s one thing to see how wrong the team’s strategy and construction are as compared to a team that clearly has those things right.  It’s completely another thing to compound those errors by ineptitude and lack of effort.

Alas, after the 13 game winning streak I thought we’d have meaningful Twins baseball to at least carry us through to the beginning of football season.  Sad, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

What’s the over/under on home attendance now - 1.4MM?  Poor Pohlads, the price is dropping by the day, especially as the true composition of our notoriously fair weather, band wagon fan base is increasingly laid bare.

 

[Nashvilletwin]

Btw, is it just me or are Cory Provus and Trevor Plouffe (et al) starting to sound a lot like Bob Uecker and his sidekick in Major League?

[ryan189]

awful look by lee not running on dropped 3rd strike needs to be benched for a game can't do that especially as a rookie.

[IndyTwinsFan]

This team is starting to make the '62 Mets look competent, which is saying something.  Plus, that Mets team was at least lovable.  There is nothing lovable about the incompetent mess that the 2025 Twins are.

[IndyTwinsFan]

8 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Btw, is it just me or are Cory Provus and Trevor Plouffe (et al) starting to sound a lot like Bob Uecker and his sidekick in Major League?

It's hard to get very enthused when the team you're broadcasting keeps showing the incredible level of incompetence that this team shows on a regular basis.

[IndyTwinsFan]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

Ummm... anyone seen that 13-win-streak button... if you find it, go ahead and hit it! 

It seems like it was a millenia ago already. 

[Doctor Gast]

Like I posted earlier on the game thread. MIL is playing smart ball & MN can't handle it. 

Now this isn't a knock on Wallner. When Wallner was out, Baldelli decided he wanted to change things up more. The team played better defense, smarter baseball, more aggressive baserunning, less micromanaging, more fire with return of Lewis & Castro & more clutch-hitting. & we went on a 13-game winning streak. When Wallner returned, Baldelli went back to his old losing way of doing things.

[BH67]

Schizophrenia, thy name is Twins baseball.

[RpR]

4 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Like I posted earlier on the game thread. MIL is playing smart ball & MN can't handle it. 

Now this isn't a knock on Wallner. When Wallner was out, Baldelli decided he wanted to change things up more. The team played better defense, smarter baseball, more aggressive baserunning, less micromanaging, more fire with return of Lewis & Castro & more clutch-hitting. & we went on a 13-game winning streak. When Wallner returned, Baldelli went back to his old losing way of doing things.

Lewis had ZIP to do with the winning streak.

I would not blame Wallner but he is now sinking to a level that sends some back to AAA both bat and glove.

[USAFChief]

This was a low point for me. 

I've ranted on this before... watching teams run at will on the Twins is irritating.

But what sends my blood pressure through the roof is the arrogance of this organization. They long ago came to the conclusion that baserunning isn't important, and by God no amount of evidence to the contrary will change their minds. After all, you don't need to actually play baseball  these things are decided by spreadsheet. 

Pitchers dont know how to hold runners and the concept is ignored. We NEVER pitch out. We never change our catcher's stance...one knee on the ground no matter what. 

Meanwhile, we stand around on base and wait for the inevitable GDP .

Add in lackluster effort, clumsy at best defense, and one indifferent AB after another, and this team bottomed out today.

But let's just keep the management in place. 

[RpR]

39 minutes ago, ryan189 said:

awful look by lee not running on dropped 3rd strike needs to be benched for a game can't do that especially as a rookie.

Send him down and bring Gasper up.

He might learn a hard lesson that way.

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, Sjoski said:

Since getting pasted by Oakland 14–3, the Twins have completely unraveled.

First 60 games:
– ERA: 3.37
–

Last 15 games:
– ERA: 7.90
– Runs allowed: 118
 

Somehow they've won 3 games.

 

Sjoski...this is amazing, thanks for the stat. Is it a lack of perspiration, or inspiration? Probably some of both? Man, it's been awful!

[RpR]

10 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

This was a low point for me. 

I've ranted on this before... watching teams run at will on the Twins is irritating.

But what sends my blood pressure through the roof is the arrogance of this organization. They long ago came to the conclusion that baserunning isn't important, and by God no amount of evidence to the contrary will change their minds. After all, you don't need to actually play baseball  these things are decided by spreadsheet. 

Pitchers dont know how to hold runners and the concept is ignored. We NEVER pitch out. We never change our catcher's stance...one knee on the ground no matter what. 

Meanwhile, we stand around on base and wait for the inevitable GDP .

Add in lackluster effort, clumsy at best defense, and one indifferent AB after another, and this team bottomed out today.

But let's just keep the management in place. 

What/who determines if a player decides to steal a base?

Kepler stole 35 bases in his 10 years with the Twins, 10 of those happened in 2022 when he was 10-0 and the rest trickled over the other nine years.

Are they told NOT to do it ?

[OvertheHill]

19 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

This was a low point for me. 

I've ranted on this before... watching teams run at will on the Twins is irritating.

But what sends my blood pressure through the roof is the arrogance of this organization. They long ago came to the conclusion that baserunning isn't important, and by God no amount of evidence to the contrary will change their minds. After all, you don't need to actually play baseball  these things are decided by spreadsheet. 

Pitchers dont know how to hold runners and the concept is ignored. We NEVER pitch out. We never change our catcher's stance...one knee on the ground no matter what. 

Meanwhile, we stand around on base and wait for the inevitable GDP .

Add in lackluster effort, clumsy at best defense, and one indifferent AB after another, and this team bottomed out today.

But let's just keep the management in place. 

I’m in the same camp. The smugness is such a huge turn off. This organization is just so much smarter than the average fan. The product on the field completely disavows major elements of the game of baseball, and they make no apologies for it. It seems like they double down on every flawed approach to roster construction and in game decision making. As big a fan and student of the game I am, I’m not spending any of my pension dollars on this mess. 

[Bracky]

During that 13 win run it seemed the Twins were doing well playing small ball, advancing runners and getting guys across the plate. It’s not clear why this suddenly dropped off outside of pitching injuries which in theory shouldn’t directly cause this part to disappear.

It doesn’t make sense to not go for more steals given having Buxton, Bader and Kiersey (in theory he should be adding to this since that seems to be why they keep calling him up??). It’s unfortunate.

Also, does Jeffers ever manage to get a pick off throw anywhere near second base? I seriously can’t recall him making that throw this year.

Also again, what is a bunt? I’ve heard it’s a thing but never seem to see them in Minnesota.

 

[shimrod]

16 minutes ago, RpR said:

What/who determines if a player decides to steal a base?...Are they told NOT to do it ?

Probably. Kind of the contact play we run regardless of infield configuration, runner speed, game situation.... players don't appear to be allowed much discretion. 

Makes you wonder if the atrophy in fundamentals is partially due to lack of engagement. 

 

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

Hard to know what to say at this point. Whatever momentum they had built is long gone. If the clubhouse sinks that deeply from the loss of their ace, then they probably didn't have much to propel them in September or October. 

I want them to win, sure. But I'll take a total rebuild of the organization as a consolation.

A rebuild of the roster, farm system, coaching staff, front office, and ownership... in my opinion, anything less than that won't be enough.

[jmlease1]

what a disaster this team is right now. Bader making an enormous botch like that...what the hell? (weird that no one seems to care about that and is focusing on organizational philosophy in the game thread)

The offense only getting 4 hits, yuck.

players need to perform. you want to fire the manager...whatever. I doubt it makes much difference? A new manager doesn't make Bride or Kiersey useful. A new manager doesn't prevent the bullpen from melting down or puts more guys getting on base. A new front office right now won't actually get new players in to help out, because the ownership isn't going to open the purse strings.

Will firing Rocco make more fans show up? Again: not unless the team starts playing better.