Twins 5, Red Sox 4: Lee Swings Like the Wind to a Walk Off Win

[Nate Palmer]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (99 pitches, 58 strikes (58.6%)
Home Runs: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (2)
Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (0.395), Mickey Gasper (0.241), DeShawn Kiersey Jr (0.211)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Minnesota Twins made their first move of the trade deadline and it signaled "sell" as Chris Paddack became a member of the Detroit Tigers. With the Boston Red Sox in town, a team ahead of the Twins for a wild card spot, would the team on the field concede and also declare sell Monday evening? 

The Twins first inning got off to a weird and rocky start. First was a Roman Anthony hit right back at Woods Richardson that bounced off the right-hander's glove. When Woods Richardson gathered the ball, he threw an errant throw that made it to the wall and was lodged under the padding. Giving Anthony second base. The second batter was Alex Bregman, and his hit also went off Woods Richardson’s glove, putting runners on the corner. 

Impressively, the Twins starter was able to escape the first inning without allowing a run. Woods Richardson struck out two batters and was helped for the second out by Willie Castro. Castro was able to position himself well on a fly ball to left field in a way that Anthony did not even attempt to tag up and test a throw to home.

Is DaShawn Kiersey Jr. Auditioning?
Depending on just how much more selling the Twins participate in, DaShawn Kiersey Jr. could see his playing time rise if he can prove he deserves it. Hopefully, the Twins front office is watching as Kiersey Jr. puts a great swing on a ball in the third inning for an opposite-field home run to drive in Christian Vazquez and put the Twins up 2-0. 

The left-handed hitter hasn’t had much opportunity to hit this season, being limited to 74 at-bats. If Harrison Bader leaves the Twins as a rental, Kiersey Jr. would have an opportunity to grab at-bats down the stretch of the season. 

Chance to Add Runs Squandered
The Twins had a chance in the fourth inning to add to their lead as Kody Clemens walked, Royce Lewis singled, and a long shot to center field from Matt Wallner that resulted in a single, had the team with the bases loaded and no outs. As the television broadcast stated, that scenario gave the Twins a 2.69 run expectancy. 

Instead of scoring, the Twins walked away with zero runs as Ty France struck out and Christian Vazquez grounded into a double play to end the inning. That fourth inning feels like a description of the Twins offense in 2025 and exactly what has been frustrating to watch. 

Woods Richardson a Third Time Through the Lineup?
The Twins have been described as reluctant to allow Woods Richardson to face the lineup a third time this season. While the numbers don’t prove to be that awful as the Twins pitcher has allowed a .206 average and .649 OPS, it has seemed to be a strategy of the Twins. Although maybe the reluctance (if two-thirds of the time can be considered that) has helped keep Woods Richardson's numbers looking good. 

It was the third time through the order that did Woods Richardson in on Monday evening, after what had been a good outing into the fifth inning, that all was erased on an Alex Bregman swing that found the seats. With two runners on, that gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead over the Twins. Even if the third time through the order narrative isn’t a true trend, it seems like an interesting spot to choose to let Woods Richardson continue when the Twins and Rocco Baldelli hadn’t often enough. Is it a further sign of the Twins selling as the week goes on? 

Jorge Alcala to the Rescue
Don’t worry, you didn’t misremember a trade that happened earlier this season. Jorge Alcala is back in the Twin Cities, but still in a Red Sox uniform. This time, his ability to shrink in the big moments helped the Twins out. With Lewis on first, Alcala threw a wild pitch, advancing Lewis to second. Lewis would advance again to third as catcher Carlos Narvaez couldn’t handle an Alcala pitch. 

Harrison Bader was the batter as a pinch hitter during the wild throwing and would make it to third on a walk. It was Vazquez who was able to hit a sacrifice fly, which allowed Lewis to tag up and tie the game at 3-3. It likely felt good for Vazquez to get some runs across after not being able to in the fourth inning. 

Walks Haunt
With a walk to Abraham Toro to lead the ninth inning, David Hamilton came on to pinch run. Hamilton has a reputation for being a great base stealer, and every bit of that was showcased at Target Field. First, Hamilton stole second, and if it wasn’t for a crafty play by the veteran Correa, Hamilton should have been standing on third as the ball made its way into the outfield. It didn’t matter much as Hamilton went ahead and stole third as well. An Anthony single later, and the Red Sox put themselves up 4-3. 

All of Twins Territory was able to "enjoy" an intermission in the middle of the ninth inning as a strong storm system made its way through the state. Once the weather had passed, the Twins got ready to try and erase the one run Boston was now ahead of them. They would have to go through flamethrower Jordan Hicks to do so. 

Brooks Lee is the Hero
Kiersey Jr. was able to continue is good night at the plate with a single to lead the inning. Mickey Gasper entered the game and wore a pitch to put himself on the basepaths. Willi Castro was also hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Carlos Correa. Correa hit a grounder, and Kiersey Jr. was thrown out at home plate. 

All wasn't lost as the bases were still loaded with one out. Next came Brooks Lee, hitting from the left side of the plate. Lee quickly went down 0-2 in the count, but took a swing at the third pitch and the first fastball he saw and lined it to left field. It was enough to bring around two runs and end the game in a Twins win. 

The team on the field showed Monday night they are not ready to call it a season quite yet. If there is any slim chance of them fighting back into the playoff picture, a win against a Boston team you are looking up at in the standings is a good step towards that. 

What’s Next?
It has been reported that Pierson Ohl is getting the call-up and making his major league debut Tuesday evening. Since his promotion to St. Paul, Ohl has pitched in seven games, three of those starts. In those 22 ⅓ innings, the 25-year-old right-hander has a 2.82 ERA. Veteran Lucas Giolito will take the mound for the Red Sox. Giolito is bringing into the contest a 3.97 ERA and a 6-2 record. 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Durán	0	6	0	17	27	50
Topa	0	0	27	0	16	43
Funderburk	0	0	39	0	0	39
Jax	0	25	0	0	13	38
Coulombe	0	11	0	20	0	31
Sands	0	0	0	27	0	27
Stewart	0	0	0	9	16	25
Varland	0	0	0	11	0	11
Tonkin	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[jorgenswest]

Fun game of baseball. Excited for Kiersey. 

[jmlease1]

SWR pitched pretty well overall, but could not finish off Bregman, who clobbered him. Was not his best inning, but he did some other good things out there.

Alcala still gonna Alcala. He'll look great for weeks and then have a game like this that will tear your hair out. Nice to be on the other end of it I guess?

Clemens made a bad read on Wallner's deep fly, but the BoSox Duran made a good play on the ball as well with a quick throw. If France comes through there or Vazquez doesn't GIDP it wouldn't have been a big deal. (still hoping France will get moved out, since I see no future for him here)

A good win against a good team. Sort of encapsulates the team's season: good enough to beat good teams, bad enough to lose to bad ones, never know which squad will show up.

[Mike Sixel]

Ty France..... Sigh. 

Was great watching how happy they were at the end! Everyone saying they aren't trying just seems wrong to me.

[jorgenswest]

Have fun Pierson Ohl.

These men work so hard to get here. I enjoy watching debuts almost no matter how they go. 

[Doctor Gast]

Back in May, I remember a conversation with a member of TD. We were entering a series with SF. I told him the Twins were bad, Wallner was on the IL, I had given up on the Twins & that SF was going to sweep the Twins. Twins swept SF & began their 13-game winning streak. I was in the same mood before last night. Twins were bad, Buxton was hurt, and people were getting traded. I was clamoring for weeks that Keirsey should be sent down for weeks because he wasn't getting any regular ABs this season & he needed them to get into his rhythm. He started last night's game cold. Then a miracle happened, he put a good swing on a pitch to send the ball over the fence for a 2-0 lead. He also started a rally in the 9th with a single, with the end result of winning the game. 

Keirsey hadn't had any regular MLB since the winning streak when he got a couple of walk-offs. The Twins produced that 13-game winning streak through good pitching, good defense, good baserunning, clutch hitting & chemistry. Keirsey provides good defense, good baserunning, clutch hitting & chemistry. Twins seems to do well when he's in the game. I hope he continues to swing the bat like he did last night & get regular playing time. It was an exciting game.

[ashbury]

42 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

I have to say that I was VERY disappointed that Duran walked the #9 hitter by throwing a bunch of junk which ended up tying the game.  He's the #9 hitter for a reason and Duran should be throwing him heat and blowing him away.  I will never understand this.  It's very similar to what Jax did last week.

I don't know the specific scouting report, but #9 hitters aren't necessarily that because they can't hit fastballs, even good ones.  Often, it's the only pitch they can hit.

[The Great Hambino]

16 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ty France..... Sigh. 

Was great watching how happy they were at the end! Everyone saying they aren't trying just seems wrong to me.

Frustrated body language can appear apathetic.

Correa has not been good this year.  But I think he also has been pretty unlucky.  It seems like he leads the team in rocket balls that land directly in an opponent's glove.  3 AB's with an exit velo over 103 yesterday (the force at home in the 9th was 108.1), and only one hit to show for it. 

Gotta feel good for Keirsey

Can a feel-good win against the BoSox launch another 13-game winning streak? It might! (It won't)

[P Meyer]

32 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ty France..... Sigh. 

Was great watching how happy they were at the end! Everyone saying they aren't trying just seems wrong to me.

I think any assertion that these players don't want to be successful is wrong. The problem with a young team is that they are having to figure it out on the fly, and if they don't have the right support system around them, they can flounder and lose confidence very quickly.

[P Meyer]

Also, let's not sleep on another failed clutch moment from Correa. Thankfully Brooks Lee who some thought should be sent down was able to pick him up. 

[ashbury]

8 minutes ago, P Meyer said:

I think any assertion that these players don't want to be successful is wrong. The problem with a young team is that they are having to figure it out on the fly, and if they don't have the right support system around them, they can flounder and lose confidence very quickly.

This isn't an especially young team.  Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, and Matt Wallner are the only position players on the major league roster 27 years of age or under.  Weighted by plate appearances this season, the Twins are the 8th oldest team in the majors (something that may start to change after the trade deadline).

Maybe some guys are inexperienced at the major league level, but that might be more a matter of questioning their preparation, by that age.

[tony&rodney]

I don't think the third time through thing was a problem for SWR. Simeon lost control of his pitches. The walks and a couple of long plate appearances hurt. Woods Richardson is still learning and one of the things he really needs to improve is his command & control and his stamina. 99 pitches in an out short of 5 innings needs to be improved. I think he will.

[Riverbrian]

The Boston Red Sox arrived in Minnesota with 14 players with less than 3 years service time. 

14 Players comprised of 6 out of the typically starting 9 players and 9 of 13 offensive players pre-arb. 2 out of the 5 in the rotation. 

The Twins countered with 11 players with less than 3 years service time with Gasper replacing Jeffers for the birth of his child. 

After the the comeback win from the Twins last night. The Red Sox are 57-51 on the year. 

The Twins are 51-55. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

53 minutes ago, P Meyer said:

I think any assertion that these players don't want to be successful is wrong. The problem with a young team is that they are having to figure it out on the fly, and if they don't have the right support system around them, they can flounder and lose confidence very quickly.

The Twins are not young. They are top ten oldest. 8th in the league. 

They are the 2nd lowest paid (team payroll) of the top ten oldest squads. 

Only the Pirates are in the top ten in age with a lower payroll. The Mariners would be the other team similar age structure and similar payroll in the top ten. 

The other squads that comprise top ten are payroll big boys:

Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, Rangers, Mets, Astros, Giants. And if you keep going. The Cubs, Braves and Yankees are the next 3 on the list. 

I apologize for this post but I am personally spending a lot of time trying to point out the hole that they have dug in comparison with their peers. The number of pre-arb players in comparison (players making the minimum) with the other 29 teams. The effect on payroll (The limited money left over to fill the holes not being filled by younger players) and to also show that youth doesn't necessarily mean wins or mean losses as a result when you look at the youth numbers and the Win Loss records.  

Ultimately, what I'm trying to show is that the Twins have fallen behind in development. 

[Riverbrian]

I'm not saying anything definitive but I think it's at least interesting to say. 

Here goes:

Last night... The Twins maneuvered themselves into a situation where they were down a run with Keirsey, Gasper and Lee in the 1,2 and 4 spots in the order. Keirsay getting a rare start, Gasper pinch hitting for Larnach in the 7th and Lee pinch hitting for Clemens in the 7th. 

It's interesting because I'm pretty sure that those three would have been the last 3 that Rocco would want up to the plate in that situation. The bench was drained with Buxton the only player available and he wasn't available. 

Yet... With a lot of help from the Veteren Pitcher Hicks. It somehow worked out. 

Again... I'm not saying that this is the way to go. It's just interesting and how baseball has it's own way of doing things game to game.

Vets can blow it and youth can come through.    

[stringer bell]

Agree with the post by @Riverbrian. Position player development has been problematic whatever the reason. The WAR accumulated by Twins position players this year has been among the lowest in baseball and on balance the team has been pretty healthy this year. Truthfully, I don't see much help at Triple A, so a retooling seems to be in order.

 

[The Great Hambino]

It won't show up in the boxscore, but I think it's notable that the Twins did try to bunt with Willi in the 9th after Keirsey and Gasper got on with nobody out.  Turned out that Mr Hicks plunked him while he was trying to give away an out and get the winning run to second.  

This Twins team just might not be meant to bunt

[CharlieDee]

Good win. Hopefully Giolito isn't head hunting tonight.

[jorgenswest]

53 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

The Boston Red Sox arrived in Minnesota with 14 players with less than 3 years service time. 

14 Players comprised of 6 out of the typically starting 9 players and 9 of 13 offensive players pre-arb. 2 out of the 5 in the rotation. 

The Twins countered with 11 players with less than 3 years service time with Gasper replacing Jeffers for the birth of his child. 

After the the comeback win from the Twins last night. The Red Sox are 57-51 on the year. 

The Twins are 51-55. 

 

 

Looking forward to this post a week from now.

[Riverbrian]

4 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Agree with the post by @Riverbrian. Position player development has been problematic whatever the reason. The WAR accumulated by Twins position players this year has been among the lowest in baseball and on balance the team has been pretty healthy this year. Truthfully, I don't see much help at Triple A, so a retooling seems to be in order.

 

While I agree that a retooling is necessary... It's also hard to endorse a retooling when we are just pouring more players that need development into a machine that is not developing a sufficient number of players. 

The retooling needs to be done on the machine itself.   

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, jorgenswest said:

Looking forward to this post a week from now.

Yep

The Tigers and the pre-arb army. 

Which BTW... those Tigers may be down in numbers after the deadline acquisitions to come. While the Twins may be up significantly after the deadline. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Nice to see the team react at the end, and Lee be in the middle of that. Lee has not been great but he reminds me more of the old school type of hitter, more like Puckett than Julien on the hitting spectrum.

Nice response following the Chris Paddack trade. Maybe Paddack was the guy playing the Josh Donaldson role and creating the strain in the clubhouse!! 🙂  (doubt it, but maybe)

[RpR]

15 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Nice to see the team react at the end, and Lee be in the middle of that. Lee has not been great but he reminds me more of the old school type of hitter, more like Puckett than Julien on the hitting spectrum.

Nice response following the Chris Paddack trade. Maybe Paddack was the guy playing the Josh Donaldson role and creating the strain in the clubhouse!! 🙂  (doubt it, but maybe)

I would put him more like Al Newman. 

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

I would put him more like Al Newman. 

Are you commenting about Lee? He chases a lot and that yields bad at-bats. Puck wasn’t very selective, but always made decent contact. In his career he had less walks and strikeouts than average. Newman was bereft of power (Lee is probably a bit below average) but also made contact a decent amount of the time. I don’t remember Newman as particularly prone to chase. 

[P Meyer]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

The Twins are not young. They are top ten oldest. 8th in the league. 

They are the 2nd lowest paid (team payroll) of the top ten oldest squads. 

Only the Pirates are in the top ten in age with a lower payroll. The Mariners would be the other team similar age structure and similar payroll in the top ten. 

The other squads that comprise top ten are payroll big boys:

Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, Rangers, Mets, Astros, Giants. And if you keep going. The Cubs, Braves and Yankees are the next 3 on the list. 

I apologize for this post but I am personally spending a lot of time trying to point out the hole that they have dug in comparison with their peers. The number of pre-arb players in comparison (players making the minimum) with the other 29 teams. The effect on payroll (The limited money left over to fill the holes not being filled by younger players) and to also show that youth doesn't necessarily mean wins or mean losses as a result when you look at the youth numbers and the Win Loss records.  

Ultimately, what I'm trying to show is that the Twins have fallen behind in development. 

I should have stated young players instead of young team...I do appreciate the response.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Are you commenting about Lee? He chases a lot and that yields badcat-bats. Puck wasn’t very selective, but always made decent contact. In his career he had less walks and strikeouts than average. Newman was bereft of power (Lee is probably a bit below average) but also made contact a decent amount of the time. I don’t remember Newman as particularly prone to chase. 

Yes, that Lee is more prone to swing and then protect and foul a pitch that leaves the zone. In other words, more likely to strike out swinging on a pitch outside the zone, than strike out looking on a pitch down the middle. (Confession— I don’t know what the data actually says)

That winning hit was on a perfect pitch outside to slap to left. Point being you don’t see as many guys hit like that as you used to. 

[djvang]

I'd like to see Duran's stats when he comes into a tie game. Seems like he always gives up a run.