Twins 7, Rockies 1: Joe Ryan Stays Hot, Royce Lewis Erupts as Twins Avoid Sweep

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K (88 Pitches, 67 Strikes, 76.1%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (11), Royce Lewis 2 (4), Harrison Bader (12)
Top 3 WPA: Ryan (.307), Kody Clemens (.116), Bader (.086)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

The roller coaster hit a little dip these past few days. After riding some positive momentum into the All-Star break that included some key series wins against good teams and Byron Buxton going bananas, the Twins headed to Coors Field to play a Rockies team that made the 2024 White Sox look competitive—and lost the first two games. Then, Royce Lewis threw some barbs at the team for benching him, in a single game, during a season in which his OPS starts with a '5'. 

On the plus side, these are still the Rockies, and All-Star Joe Ryan was starting for Minnesota. Ryan looked sharp and was remarkably efficient, requiring just 44 pitches to complete the first four innings of his outing, and 88 pitches overall in seven innings. He left one ill-advised sinker up to the hot-hitting Mickey Moniak in the third, but was otherwise in total command, locating his fastball and mixing in his splitter and slider just enough to keep Rockies hitters honest.

The Twins were tasked with facing Germán Márquez, and fortunately, this isn’t 2018, which was the last time he had an above-average strikeout rate. Márquez walked two in loading the bases in the first inning, but Matt Wallner struck out on three pitches in non-competitive fashion to end the inning. A nifty hit-and-run with Harrison Bader and Christian Vázquez led to another scoring chance in the second, but Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play to end yet another threat. 

They would break through in the third. Willi Castro drew a leadoff walk, Kody Clemens tripled and although Clemens was tagged out on the contact play in the next at-bat, Wallner atoned for his earlier failure by launching a two-run home run that seemed to still be rising as it soared into the first row in right field (112 MPH).

Lewis would also atone for his vent sesh with Dan Hayes by hitting a towering 451-foot home run in the fourth against lefty reliever Ryan Rolison. Harrison Bader would add a solo shot of his own an inning later, a rare opposite-field homer for the center fielder.

Meanwhile, Ryan was on cruise control, as the historically bad Rockies offense could not make contact against his fastball. Ryan induced 12 swings and misses on his fastball, and it felt like more, as he seemed to ditch the concept of waste pitches. That was validated in the seventh, as Ryan tried to sneak a two-strike curveball past the Rockies' most established hitter, Ryan McMahon, and it got blasted for a double. He would recover with a strikeout and weak pop-up to finish off his day.

Lewis would add his second homer in the eighth inning, off a hanging changeup from Jimmy Herget.

Stray Observations:

• Lewis has a knack for giving some of the most disturbing quotes to the media. Talking about a cascading effect of all his injuries with Hayes, saying he doesn't slump, that he doesn't want to play second base, and talking about ignoring game plans in favor of doing his own improv at the plate have all left us with weird tastes in our mouths. Maybe this multi-home run game will get him to talk less, for his own benefit.
• Willi Castro had an interesting game, cutting down a runner at second trying to stretch a single into a double, then hitting a long fly ball in the ninth that looked like it might carry over the fence. He would get a triple instead, and then score on the throw to third for a Little League homer.

What’s Next: David Festa (3-3, 5.25 ERA) faces Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.00 ERA) of the Dodgers as the Twins face a slight shift in competition. Ohtani is amazing, but has only pitched in short stints so far this year returning from Tommy John surgery. Last time out was a three-inning outing, his longest of the year. Festa has been mostly good of late, since he got his head knocked in against Milwaukee in June.

Postgame Interviews:

Coming soon

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Topa	0	0	17	16	0	33
Sands	0	0	22	0	0	22
Misiewicz	0	0	0	21	0	21
Durán	0	0	0	0	16	16
Coulombe	0	0	0	12	0	12
Stewart	0	0	0	9	0	9
Jax	0	0	0	0	8	8
Varland	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[jkcarew]

Can’t be long before the baseball world turns its eyes to the epic race shaping up that is the 2025 battle for 2nd place in the AL central. Authors will write books. Legends will be passed down. Who will make the key deadline transaction to enable their club to threaten the magic 80-win mark? Like the timeless tale of the tortoise and the hare.

Except instead of a hare, there’s two more tortoises.

[Vanimal46]

Keeping it positive…

Nice to see Royce Lewis wake up after his comments yesterday. First multi HR game of his career in the regular season.

Wallner hit a blast too but that’s too far in between futility at the plate. 

Clemens continuing to make the most out of his opportunities. 

[mikelink45]

We need Joe Ryan - please no more posts suggesting him as a trade candidate.

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Clemens continuing to make the most out of his opportunities. 

So which one is the "real" Clemens?  He had an .958 OPS in May a .626 OPS in June and now has a 1.060 OPS in July. I think his career OPS is .600 something so he has never hit this well before.  Its kind of been one bad month, one good month, another bad month, another good month, but this July surge has me wondering about his potential

Is this a guy transforming himself into a mini Brian Dozier with a lower batting average and lot's of pull side power? Is this just a dream season?  Or is he gonna go back to .600 something OPS Clemens?

Granted he doesn't have the requisite number of at bats to qualify but his current .830 OPS would put him in the top 40 in OPS in Major league baseball right now.  Also that OPS is second on the team.

The average is lower and he is selling out for power. Only walking 8% of the time and striking out 25%, but the kid has been clutch.  He is 29 right now and 30 in May of next year. I doubt he is the next Merrifield, but could be a late bloomer.

Right now I have the Twins trading him if someone were interested as they have so many players set for 1st\2nd in Keaschall, Lee, Julien, Schobel possibly Culpepper in the near future and possibly Eeles if you are a believer.  They all are younger than Clemens.  Still while Clemens has no options left he is a pre-arb player so wouldn't cost much and it looks like he has more power in his bat than everyone except maybe Keaschall.

He has created an interesting dilemma if you believe he has turned a corner. At any rate I love what he has been doing and he has sparked this team to wins on several occasions. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[Vanimal46]

7 minutes ago, Dman said:

So which one is the "real" Clemens?  He had an .958 OPS in May a .626 OPS in June and now has a 1.060 OPS in July. I think his career OPS is .600 something so he has never hit this well before.  Its kind of been on bad month, one good month, another bad month, another good month, but this July surge has me wondering about his potential

Is this a guy transforming himself into a mini Brian Dozier with a lower batting average and lot's of pull side power? Is this just a dream season?  Or is he gonna go back to .600 something OPS Clemens?

Granted he doesn't have the requisite number of at bats to qualify but his current .830 OPS would put him in the top 40 in OPS in Major league baseball right now.  Also that OPS is second on the team.

The average is lower and he selling out for power. Only walking 8% of the time and striking out 25%, but the kid has been clutch.  He is 29 right now and 30 in May of next year. I doubt he is the next Merrifield, but could be a late bloomer.

Right now I have the Twins trading him if someone were interested as they have so many players set for 1st\2nd in Keaschall, Lee, Julien, Schobel possibly Culpepper in the near future and possibly Eeles if you are a believer.  They all are younger than Clemens.  Still while Clemens has no options left he is a pre-arb player so wouldn't cost much and it looks like he has more power in his bat than everyone except maybe Keaschall.

He has created an interesting dilemma if you believe he has turned a corner. At any rate I love what he has been doing and he has sparked this team to wins on several occasions. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I’ve got zero issue playing Clemens nearly every day over the next few weeks to solve that riddle. We need any offense available here so there are plenty of opportunities for him. 

[Mike Sixel]

11 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’ve got zero issue playing Clemens nearly every day over the next few weeks to solve that riddle. We need any offense available here so there are plenty of opportunities for him. 

Preferably at first base......

[Bracky]

Given the fact that Clemens would be relatively cheap to keep around, I hope to see him next year somewhere on the team.

I think he does well at 1st also and has had a hotter bat recently than France.

Bader and Clemens are two I find really fun to watch play and hope they stick around.

[Patzky]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Preferably at first base......

I'd rather see him in RF than Wallner.. but that kind of requires the presence of France too.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Patzky said:

I'd rather see him in RF than Wallner.. but that kind of requires the presence of France too.

Wallner could rebound. France shouldn't be on the roster.

[Sjoski]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

First multi HR game of his career in the regular season.

Hit the ball he did...2nd homer probably stays in the yard everywhere but Denver.  But it's a start. 

Regarding his comments...you never  know which version of Lewis is going to show up, on the field or in front of a microphone.

Fine wine or spoiled milk?

 

[mnfireman]

5 minutes ago, Sjoski said:

Hit the ball he did...2nd homer probably stays in the yard everywhere but Denver.  But it's a start. 

Regarding his comments...you never  know which version of Lewis is going to show up, on the field or in front of a microphone.

Fine wine or spoiled milk?

 

411 feet and out of all 30 parks according to Baseball Savant...

[ashbury]

Good win! Hooray!

Sell.

[jorgenswest]

59 minutes ago, Dman said:

So which one is the "real" Clemens?  He had an .958 OPS in May a .626 OPS in June and now has a 1.060 OPS in July. I think his career OPS is .600 something so he has never hit this well before.  Its kind of been one bad month, one good month, another bad month, another good month, but this July surge has me wondering about his potential

They are all the real Clemens. Slash stats need more than a full season of playoff control to stabilize so they can really vary by month. It is often meaningless and usually track BABIP. In June his BABIP was .100. His strikeout rate was lower and his walk rate was higher in June. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately the increase in balls in play did not lead to hits. 

His average exit velocity of 94.5 leads the Twins and matches Juan Soto who is 13th overall. Buxton is next at 92. Hard hit balls are the real Clemens. 

[KirbyDome89]

Wasn't aware of the Royce quotes until reading this. Last year you could chalk it up to a young player experiencing failure for probably the first time in his life. There's probably some of that at play again this season. His quip about the team having a short leash with him is totally off-base though. He's been terrible for roughly a full season now and he's still getting MLB playing time... 

[Vanimal46]

4 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Wasn't aware of the Royce quotes until reading this. Last year you could chalk it up to a young player experiencing failure for probably the first time in his life. There's probably some of that at play again this season. His quip about the team having a short leash with him is totally off-base though. He's been terrible for roughly a full season now and he's still getting MLB playing time... 

As Plouffe was saying during the broadcast, he was finally looking at himself in the mirror and questioning how good he actually is. MLB is unrelenting at the top level of competition. 

[KirbyDome89]

6 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

As Plouffe was saying during the broadcast, he was finally looking at himself in the mirror and questioning how good he actually is. MLB is unrelenting at the top level of competition. 

For sure. I didn't want to read too much into the 3rd person references but they stood out to me, it's almost like he bought too much stock into the early hype, much the same way fans did. 

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Wallner could rebound. France shouldn't be on the roster.

Wallner probably will not, Clemens is as good in the outfield as Wallner is not.

France 42 rbi -  Wallner 17, bye, bye Wally.

[T.O.]

14 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

 it's almost like he bought too much stock into the early hype, much the same way fans did. 

I think more than "almost". 

 

[RpR]

[Galen]

Easy as can be...just sweep the Dodgers and we're back to. 500

[Blyleven2011]

We salvaged 1 win in Colorado  , the 1 win won't salvage the season ...

Moving on to dodgertown  , 3 games , twins haven't had much luck with dodgers , but winning 1 games would be nice but I really don't expect  it ...

Retool at deadline , trade off expiring contracts  , find the the diamond in the rough to fill our weaknesses  ...

Trading 1 of Duran , Jax or Stewart won't hurt us , trade from a surplus and find some good players to move forward and win the division  , i dont like playing second fiddle to a wild card ...

Pitching is our strength , trade for some spunky quality bats that hit , clutch hit , no nervous Nellie's  ...

We may lose the rest of the season but give our prospects everyday reps to see who could be part of our future ...

[Sjoski]

2 hours ago, mnfireman said:

411 feet and out of all 30 parks 

Home Run #2: 411 feet

Adjusted for sea level: 411 ft × 0.90 = ~370 feet

Borderline: That’s enough to clear the left field or right-center power alley at Target Field (ranges from 328 ft to 367 ft depending on direction), but not dead center or deep gaps.

[David HK]

Is this the last Joe Ryan start in Twinkie togs?

How much you wanna bet we leave LA without at least one of the following:  Danny Cool, Jhoan, Jax, or Joe.

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, Sjoski said:

Home Run #2: 411 feet

Adjusted for sea level: 411 ft × 0.90 = ~370 feet

Borderline: That’s enough to clear the left field or right-center power alley at Target Field (ranges from 328 ft to 367 ft depending on direction), but not dead center or deep gaps.

Love that stat!

[Doctor Wu]

10 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

They are all the real Clemens. Slash stats need more than a full season of playoff control to stabilize so they can really vary by month. It is often meaningless and usually track BABIP. In June his BABIP was .100. His strikeout rate was lower and his walk rate was higher in June. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately the increase in balls in play did not lead to hits. 

His average exit velocity of 94.5 leads the Twins and matches Juan Soto who is 13th overall. Buxton is next at 92. Hard hit balls are the real Clemens. 

The most bizarre aspect of Clemens' recent performance: he has hit triples in each of the past two games!

[Major League Ready]

7 hours ago, David HK said:

Is this the last Joe Ryan start in Twinkie togs?

How much you wanna bet we leave LA without at least one of the following:  Danny Cool, Jhoan, Jax, or Joe.

A lot because those trades are highly unlikely to happen until the last day or two before the deadline.

[Major League Ready]

12 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Preferably at first base......

They seem to be on board with your thinking.  Now they just need to let France go.  We have several guys that could play 2B or OF.  IB is the perfect opportunity to see what we have in Clemmens.  Keaschall can also play 1B so they have a back-up in case of injury or substitutions.  They really need to trade Castro as well.  That playing time should go to Keaschall (INF & OF).  

I think Clemmens is part of the future.  The question is if he is an everyday player of a bench player.

[stringer bell]

5 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

They seem to be on board with your thinking.  Now they just need to let France go.  We have several guys that could play 2B or OF.  IB is the perfect opportunity to see what we have in Clemmens.  Keaschall can also play 1B so they have a back-up in case of injury or substitutions.  They really need to trade Castro as well.  That playing time should go to Keaschall (INF & OF).  

Due to  Keaschall's TJ surgery and the fact that he couldn't continue strengthening after he broke his arm, I think he will stick to DH with an occasional day at 2B. I really doubt Keaschall plays any outfield this year.

[madtowntwin]

11 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

We salvaged 1 win in Colorado  , the 1 win won't salvage the season ...

Moving on to dodgertown  , 3 games , twins haven't had much luck with dodgers , but winning 1 games would be nice but I really don't expect  it ...

Retool at deadline , trade off expiring contracts  , find the the diamond in the rough to fill our weaknesses  ...

Trading 1 of Duran , Jax or Stewart won't hurt us , trade from a surplus and find some good players to move forward and win the division  , i dont like playing second fiddle to a wild card ...

Pitching is our strength , trade for some spunky quality bats that hit , clutch hit , no nervous Nellie's  ...

We may lose the rest of the season but give our prospects everyday reps to see who could be part of our future ...

The Brewers just swept the Dodgers in LA after dismantling them a bit earlier in Milwaukee. LA was slumping going into the break and have come out after the All Star Game in similar fashion. Now would be the time to have a strong series against them. One will probably serve as tonic for the other.