Cubs 8, Twins 1: Twins Blasted in Finale, Miss Chance at Rare Sweep

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Chris Paddack 5 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 K, 1 B (98 pitches (63 strikes (64%))
Home Runs: Kody Clemens (11)
Bottom 3 WPA: Paddack -.270, Correa -.130, Larnach -.059
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

After taking the first two games from the first-place Cubs, the Minnesota Twins had a golden opportunity to complete their first series sweep in nearly two months and pull back to within one game of .500. Instead, they fell flat on Thursday afternoon, getting hammered 8-1 at Target Field in a lopsided loss that highlighted both rotation struggles and offensive inconsistency.

Chris Paddack took the mound for the Twins and delivered another shaky outing. The Cubs got to him early, with Dansby Swanson doubling in the second and scoring on an RBI single from Nico Hoerner. In the third, Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his breakout season with a towering two-run homer, his 24th of the year, to put the Cubs up 3-0. Chicago kept adding on in the fourth and fifth innings, eventually chasing Paddack after five innings and 98 pitches.

Paddack’s final line was rough: 11 hits, 6 earned runs, one walk, and just two strikeouts. He only generated seven whiffs all game. It's been over a month since his last quality start, and while his spot in the rotation would normally be in question, the Twins' current pitching depth issues likely mean he’ll remain in the mix... for now.

Things didn’t get much better after Paddack left. Anthony Misiewicz, newly recalled to help eat innings, served up Crow-Armstrong’s second homer of the day in the sixth to push the Cubs' lead to 7-0. Justin Topa took over for the final two frames, allowing one more run as the game got further out of reach.

Offensively, the Twins were lifeless. They managed just four hits all afternoon, and largely looked uncompetitive. The lone bright spot came in the fifth, when Kody Clemens launched a solo homer to center (his 11th of the year) to briefly cut into the deficit. The top three hitters in the lineup—Willi Castro, Trevor Larnach, and Brooks Lee—combined to go 0-for-11, and the team only hit four balls over 100 MPH all game. The Cubs, by contrast, had nine.

The broadcast added a lighthearted twist to the otherwise rough afternoon. Former Twins general manager Terry Ryan joined the players-only booth, where he chatted with the former players that he once drafted or acquired and even read old scouting reports on-air. It was a fun and nostalgic wrap to a new-look booth for this series that featured Glen Perkins, Justin Morneau, and Trevor Plouffe in a series that didn’t include the familiar voice of Cory Provus, or any traditional play-by-play voice at all.

Despite the ugly finale, the Twins still took the series against the NL Central leaders and have now won back-to-back series. The loss dropped Minnesota to 45-48 on the season, with just three games remaining before the All-Star break.

What’s Next
Friday night’s matchup is one of the most anticipated of the season. Second-year phenom Paul Skenes makes his Target Field debut for the Pirates, going head-to-head with Twins All-Star Joe Ryan. First pitch is set for 7:10 pm, followed by the postgame Nelly concert under the lights.

Postgame Interviews

Coming soon...

Bullpen Usage Report

View full article

[Patzky]

Listless games happen with regularity. Buxton being out and a shaky start didn't help. Take two out of three from Pittsburgh and let's catch our breaths

 

[Danchat]

Beating the Rays and Cubs in back-to-back series is very nice, you just wish they hadn't gone into a tumble in June to put their record in a bad spot.

[tony&rodney]

Tampa Bay for 3 games followed by the Cubs for 3 games could have easily been an 0-6 line. The Twins played some of their best baseball of the season. Skenes is no picnic on Friday night, but the Twins have a good opportunity to roll into the All Star Game break with some positive vibes.

[Doctor Gast]

It seems to me that a game can go either way very quickly. Buck has been our main man, so w/o him to give us that quick spark, to get that running game going, everything was flat & went out of control. We need Correa and Lewis to step up to lead this team against PIT to finish strong before the ASG.

[Old Crow]

Not sure what was worse, watching the Twins inept attempt to play the game or the 3 stooges on a split screen.  I finally threw in the towel and tuned in WCCO.

[jmlease1]

Blegh. Lifeless offense and a bad outing by Paddack doomed this one pretty early. Don't think i'll be watching the replay when I get off work, though hearing cranky Terry Ryan reading scouting reports would be fun.

(I'm assuming Ryan was grouchy and a crank, as I've never seen him be any other way in public.)

[CRF]

Even though it wasn't, this felt like a getaway game. Just lifeless at the plate and Paddack sure didn't help matters. Yeah, we won the series, but this game was real disappointing. 

[Old Crow]

14 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Blegh. Lifeless offense and a bad outing by Paddack doomed this one pretty early. Don't think i'll be watching the replay when I get off work, though hearing cranky Terry Ryan reading scouting reports would be fun.

(I'm assuming Ryan was grouchy and a crank, as I've never seen him be any other way in public.)

The only scouting report I'd like to see is the one on Nishioka from about 2010.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

Beating the Rays and Cubs in back-to-back series is very nice, you just wish they hadn't gone into a tumble in June to put their record in a bad spot.

I wish no such thing!  Sell baby sell!

(I actually like where this team could be in a year or two if they make the right moves.  But I like it a lot less if they stand pat in hopes of a one game playoff)

[1985Fan]

33 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Blegh. Lifeless offense and a bad outing by Paddack doomed this one pretty early. Don't think i'll be watching the replay when I get off work, though hearing cranky Terry Ryan reading scouting reports would be fun.

(I'm assuming Ryan was grouchy and a crank, as I've never seen him be any other way in public.)

I actually met Terry Ryan at a Twinsfest at the Metrodome years ago. He was scouting director or AGM or some title like that before Andy MacPhail left and he was appointed GM. I didn’t know who he was, so I approached him and asked if he was with the Twins. I then proceeded to pepper him with questions about MiLB players and prospects I had been reading about. He didn’t get flustered at all, answered every question, and knew each player I asked about without having to check notes. Talked to us for about 10-15 minutes. You could tell he was a baseball guy/scout and was very nice to my Dad and I. I came away impressed. 

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Tampa Bay for 3 games followed by the Cubs for 3 games could have easily been an 0-6 line. The Twins played some of their best baseball of the season. Skenes is no picnic on Friday night, but the Twins have a good opportunity to roll into the All Star Game break with some positive vibes.

False vibes.  Sell.  Sell.

[thelanges5]

Paddack owns a 8.48 era over his last 6 games. He is who we think he is. 
 

The lifeless offense that has been more the norm than not since August is 2024 is the concern. They have flashes of brilliance and then they disappear. 
 

78-84 pace

[Vanimal46]

Good one to miss out on today. Looking forward to Ryan vs Skenes tomorrow! 

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Good one to miss out on today. Looking forward to Ryan vs Skenes tomorrow! 

Might bring back memories of a lefthander we recently faced and the outcome wasn't good  in Detroit ...

Good test against Skenes , we have to beat the good pitchers  ...

Would be nice to sweep the Pirates and be 500 at the break  ...

But we are kidding ourselves if this is a playoff contending team , offense is just to inconsistent  , we should be sellers at deadline  ...

[JD-TWINS]

Gotta get Ober/Matthews back to take at least the 5th spot……..,Paddack is no longer living the charmed life ……… last 4-5 weeks have generally been very rough with him in the mound. Adams isn’t the answer. Paddack is the 8th guy in the PEN by mid-August…….may be too late at that point?

If Team has to run Adams & Paddack out there another 2-3 times they might as well punt. 3 starters out may just be too much to overcome…….accompanied by an often anemic offense.

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Might bring back memories of a lefthander we recently faced and the outcome wasn't good  in Detroit ...

Good test against Skenes , we have to beat the good pitchers  ...

Would be nice to sweep the Pirates and be 500 at the break  ...

But we are kidding ourselves if this is a playoff contending team , offense is just to inconsistent  , we should be sellers at deadline  ...

Sell sell.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Ah, yes, the get away day dud. Far too common for this team. After they failed to capitalize in the bottom of the 1st, the wind went out of their sails. 

[Bodie]

13 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Paddack owns a 8.48 era over his last 6 games. He is who we think he is. 
 

The lifeless offense that has been more the norm than not since August is 2024 is the concern. They have flashes of brilliance and then they disappear. 
 

78-84 pace

"Flashes of brilliance..."

Haven't seen anything approaching brilliance offensively since Cruz's heyday.  Any (and every) major league team have multi-run innings.  Some even do it regularly.!  F##k, some do it multiple times a game!!!

Yeah, such outbursts are detrimental to sleeping during the game, but...

[Bodie]

21 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Ah, yes, the get away day dud. Far too common for this team. After they failed to capitalize in the bottom of the 1st, the wind went out of their sails. 

Why can't the Twins and their opponent have get away games the same day?

The Twins figure it is the last game of a series,  and that makes sense.  But the opponents seldom seem to play "get away day" baseball.  In fact they often treat it like it counts as much as other games!  They try!!!

Haven't the other teams gotten the message about the games being a "screw the customer" day by fielding your lineup from the back end of your roster??? 

[David Maro]

Game was over after the 1st inning. Paddock 18 pitches,Rea 7 pitches. Twins swinging for the fences only,this is why the offense is up and down. We will see the Derby Monday night,don't need to see it all the time. Really tired of seeing guys like Clemens celebrating running the bases on a solo shot. When losing by 7 or 8 runs not a lot to celebrate.

[stringer bell]

As encouraged as I allowed myself to be after Wednesday's game, I am equally discouraged after Thursday. The formula for this team to be a winner is, first and foremost, consistently good starting pitching, getting contributions from the entire lineup and having a stout bullpen. Due to injuries and the ineffectiveness of Paddack and Ober, the starting pitching isn't holding up its end. The lineup has been woefully inconsistent and the "front end" of the bullpen has been pretty leaky.

[Patzky]

11 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Might bring back memories of a lefthander we recently faced and the outcome wasn't good  in Detroit ...

Good test against Skenes , we have to beat the good pitchers  ...

Would be nice to sweep the Pirates and be 500 at the break  ...

But we are kidding ourselves if this is a playoff contending team , offense is just to inconsistent  , we should be sellers at deadline  ...

Trying to recall names against whom we've done well. Chris Sale ate us up. We waited out Bubic and Peralta.  Did pretty well against all the good SF arms.  Skubal.. well .

Take solace in that Pittsburgh is one of the more offensively challenged teams we have faced in a long time...  They'll probably put up an eight spot this weekend lol.

[JD-TWINS]

57 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

As encouraged as I allowed myself to be after Wednesday's game, I am equally discouraged after Thursday. The formula for this team to be a winner is, first and foremost, consistently good starting pitching, getting contributions from the entire lineup and having a stout bullpen. Due to injuries and the ineffectiveness of Paddack and Ober, the starting pitching isn't holding up its end. The lineup has been woefully inconsistent and the "front end" of the bullpen has been pretty leaky.

I think your “formula” fits baseball Teams everywhere.

Matthews/Lopez/Ober all hurt ……. needing Adams to eat bulk innings……not good!

Sands - Coulombe - Stewart - Varland - Topa make up the vast majority of the “front end” ……can’t be much better than this group on average. They have had some stinkers but that’s going to happen over 162 …….. through 93 games they probably have 160 appearances between them so if 15 aren’t great, that’s 90% pretty good. Now, if we roll Alcala - Wentz - Funderburk - etc. (the 8th guy) into the mix, it hasn’t been pretty.

Line-up is a problem - the problem in my estimation. Can’t score 2 or less runs in 1/3 of games played and gave much of a chance to be over .500!

Lewis & Wallner need to light it up in a hurry and could really use Keaschall ASAP (couple weeks?) for some energy……..displacing Kiersey.

[Blyleven2011]

5 hours ago, Patzky said:

Trying to recall names against whom we've done well. Chris Sale ate us up. We waited out Bubic and Peralta.  Did pretty well against all the good SF arms.  Skubal.. well .

Take solace in that Pittsburgh is one of the more offensively challenged teams we have faced in a long time...  They'll probably put up an eight spot this weekend lol.

How did we do against Seattle pitching , won 3 of seven , woo started and pitched well , twins came roaring back in the eighth and ninth innings against relievers and we won like 12 to 6 , we beat Kirby and Hancock  , the better pitching we didn't fair all to well ...

We've got to learn how to hit better pitching , 

[RpR]

10 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

How did we do against Seattle pitching , won 3 of seven , woo started and pitched well , twins came roaring back in the eighth and ninth innings against relievers and we won like 12 to 6 , we beat Kirby and Hancock  , the better pitching we didn't fair all to well ...

We've got to learn how to hit better pitching , 

Not really better, but I remember in the past years, the Twins would often send the opponents top pitchers back to the pen - then - the relievers would shut them down while the Twins bullpen fell apart.

Same crap only a different pile.

[Patzky]

33 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

How did we do against Seattle pitching , won 3 of seven , woo started and pitched well , twins came roaring back in the eighth and ninth innings against relievers and we won like 12 to 6 , we beat Kirby and Hancock  , the better pitching we didn't fair all to well ...

We've got to learn how to hit better pitching , 

We have had better luck against relievers than good starters, it seems to me.