Red Sox 13, Twins 1: Is This Selling?

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews  4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (74 pitches, 52 strikes (70%))
Home Runs:  Matt Wallner (13)
Both 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (-.243); Brooks Lee (-.115); Ryan Jeffers (-.077)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

Zebby Matthews's return from the shoulder strain that sidelined him in early June has been a mixed bag, so far. He had a rough first start coming out of the All-Star break, but that was in the challenging pitching environment of Coors Field. He looked terrific against the Nationals over the weekend, so there was cause for some hope entering this start against the Red Sox. He did work a clean first inning, although Trevor Story led off the second with an absolutely scalded solo home run to put Boston ahead.

The Twins offense did attempt to keep things close and had the chance to get on tbe board first in the bottom of the first inning after a two-out walk on Kody Clemens, followed by a sharp single from Ryan Jeffers. Clemens was rounding second, and slowing down to stop at third as the ball was fielded in a relay from left fielder Roman Anthony to Ceddane Raefela—only to be waved home by third base coach Tommy Watkins. He was unable to beat the final part of the relay from the cutoff to catcher Connor Wong. 

With Byron Buxton out, the offense does have to work a little harder, and one slugger who has really stepped forward is Matt Wallner, the Minnesota Moose. Wallner has had a good last five games, getting a hit in each game and two home runs that have been a great help to the team. The Twins initially tied up the game in the bottom of the second with a Wallner home run, making it 1-1. It was his 13th of the season, and his first oppo taco. We love seeing Matt Wallner back in action!

Matthews, like Pierson Ohl, has not faced the Boston lineup before, but it didn’t take Sox long to figure out either pitcher. Matthews tried to work through the order for the second time in the third inning, but immediate traffic on the bases caught up to him. Wong was able to get a double to start the third inning, on a flare Wallner couldn't catch in right field. There was no relief throughout the game from this point on; the defense was unable to make plays, and the offense was unable to create runs. 

Matthews and Abraham Toro battled through 10 pitches, Toro patiently fouling off pitches. Toro finally caught up to Matthews and the 10th pitch ended in a sacrifice fly, scoring Wong to make it 2-1 Boston. A few of the Twins' defensive bobbles have been frustrating the past two days, especially with Boston’s players in scoring position, giving them the advantage.

A dropped third strike kept the fourth inning alive with two outs, Jeffers dropped the ‘dropped’ third strike, letting Wong get to first base instead of a solid out. 

Matthews had thrown 66 pitches through four innings and came back out for the fifth, and Boston continued to shell him. Wong singled, followed by a double to Wallner, who threw to Willi Castro and Castro held on the relay. That held Wong at third, until the next play. It was a line drive to Harrison Bader, who bobbled two yesterday and dropped another. Two runs scored, giving Boston a 4-1 lead. The mistakes weren’t all recorded as errors, but for the team, they are simply egregious and are the things that lose games. The Twins simply needed a double play to end the inning,

Justin Topa came out to relieve Matthews, but Boston kept the pressure on. Topa walked two, loading the bases. A ground ball from Masataka Yoshida snuck through the infield and two more runs scored, widening the gap 6-1. The fifth inning finally ended with a strikeout, but the damage had absolutely been done. 

The Twins offense couldn’t give any member of the pitching staff more than a five-minute break throughout the game. As quickly as they went out to hit, they came back to the dugout. 

Noah Davis came out for the Twins today. Who is Noah Davis? Good question. He came from the Dodgers on July 17. The 28-year-old is a career minor-leaguer, spending most of his time in Triple-A, but made appearances in the majors starting in 2022. 

The Twins had what looked like a small glimmer of hope in the 7th. Wallner and Bader got on to create a big chance, only for DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Trevor Larnach to strike out. A 1-2-3 inning ensued in the eighth.

The ninth inning got interesting, with Willi Castro coming off the field and hugging everyone in the dugout, leading Twitter to believe in a trade—just like "hug-gate" with Johan Duran Tuesday night. It was just a hamfisted attempt to get him a final ovation from the crowd, though.

The ninth inning was a complete disaster. Griffin Jax came out and threw 12 pitches, recording zero outs. It was 9-1 when Rocco Baldelli lifted Jax in favor of position player Clemens, who allowed another four runs, pushing the total for Boston to 13-1 on a home run by Romy Gonzalez.

The Twins had absolutely no life by the end of the game, and had a 1-2-3 inning to end the game and series and (for sure, this time) the season. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins get a day off on Thursday, much-needed, before they head into six games of divisional competition, starting with the Guardians.  Joe Ryan (10-5; 2.82 ERA) will be taking the mound against Gavin Williams (6-4; 3.51 ERA) at 6:10 PM CST, Friday... unless Ryan is dealt first.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[Vanimal46]

Let’s hope this team looks much different the next time we play. 26 hours Falvey. Get to work

[Twinsrtheworst]

Yes, this is what selling looks like.  Things go sideways quickly. From bad to worse.  

[USAFChief]

Jax looked pretty unhappy coming out of the game for a position player in the 9th too.

I thought he was gonna punch Rocco.

Pretty classless if you ask me.

[SarasotaBill]

Even with tomorrow off, what is Jax doing in the 9th inning?

Give him a few days off.

 

[DJL44]

7 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Let’s hope this team looks much different the next time we play. 26 hours Falvey. Get to work

They will look a lot worse in the short term.

[LastOnePicked]

No, rebuilds aren't guaranteed to produce a championship, but I'd argue that it's a lot more fun to watch an up-and-coming team gel over a few years than it is to watch a sluggish, underachieving roster like this fall short of even the most modest preseason expectations, Let 2025 be the end of this kind of boring baseball in Minnesota for a long while, please. 

[NYCTK]

The Mets just paid a LOT for a rental of a RP. The market is HOT and the Twins should take advantage of the high cost of RP and sell off all of Duran, Jax, Stewart, Topa, and Coulombe. 

[Aggies7]

How many more years will fans have to watch their team QUIT in the second half until something major is done? Two days left in July and these guys played like it’s late September. Total mail-in today.

[mikelink45]

After this game I was dreaming of what I would write if I were the TD correspondent stuck with covering this:

 Red Sox 13, Twins 1: Is This Selling?

We stunk!

Zebby Matthews has not turned the corner - at least not the one we hoped for.

The batters stunk - only Wallner gets a pass

The fielding stunk - who cares if Jeffers had the PB removed - Bader is our defensive stalwart and enough said.

The RP stunk and Noah is no longer a secret weapon

Maybe Griffin just doesn't want to get traded - great audition.

WPA worst players - The Twins team

Oh, by the way the 3B coach stunk again too.

[Vanimal46]

2 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

How many more years will fans have to watch their team QUIT in the second half until something major is done? Two days left in July and these guys played like it’s late September. Total mail-in today.

My dad and 7 other buddies chose this game for their annual Twins game to attend. They somehow lasted until the 7th inning before calling it a day. 

[TheLeviathan]

People are aware of their record since June 1st right?  

19-32 since June 1st

White Sox are 20-29

(Did a quick count, might be wrong)

We're not "becoming" bad.  We ARE bad.  We WERE bad.

[Melissa]

Sherry, this line of yours sums up a sad performance so well: “the defense was unable to make plays, and the offense was unable to create runs.”

I was at Target Field, and it was one of my more depressing days there. The air quality was poor, the sun was hot, the team was tepid and just plain embarrassing.

Highlight: I snagged a deeply discounted ticket to the Thrivent Club, so I was able to escape to air conditioned avoidance of the carnage. And even better, I was two tables away from Mr. Tony Oliva and wife. I didn’t want to bother them for a selfie, but did take a pic of one of the displays honoring Number 6.

[tony&rodney]

It will take a pretty serious conversation to salve that treatment of Jax. Jax is an established, if not famous, MLB late inning pitcher. Jax is probably the most disciplined player the Twins have had in many years. There was brief moment where it looked like he was going to go off in a big way on Rocco.

I think Jax is almost surely going to be traded.

[Melissa]

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, Melissa said:

Sherry, this line of yours sums up a sad performance so,well: “the defense was unable to make plays, and the offense was unable to create runs.”

I was at Target Field, and it one of my more depressing days there. The air quality was poor,the sun was hot, the team was tepid and just plain embarrassing.

Highlight: I snagged a deeply discounted ticket to the Thrivent Club, so I was able to escape to air conditioned avoidance of the carnage. And even better, I was two tables away from Mr. Tony Olivia and wife. I didn’t want to bother the, for a selfie, but did take a pic of one of the displays honoring Number 6.

Well stated. As perhaps the most polite member of this online community you captured it succinctly.

Mama said there would be days like this, but stands out as among the worst in Twins history.

[Parfigliano]

2 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

It will take a pretty serious conversation to salve that treatment of Jax. Jax is an established, if not famous, MLB late inning pitcher. Jax is probably the most disciplined player the Twins have had in many years. There was brief moment where it looked like he was going to go off in a big way on Rocco.

I think Jax is almost surely going to be traded.

He was definitely unhappy.

[LastOnePicked]

8 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

My dad and 7 other buddies chose this game for their annual Twins game to attend. They somehow lasted until the 7th inning before calling it a day. 

Good for them - they made in two innings longer than the Twins did.

[TheLeviathan]

If anybody wants some salt in their wounds, check this out:

 

[LastOnePicked]

9 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

We're not "becoming" bad.  We ARE bad.  We WERE bad.

Say this as loud and as often as it takes until the "let's bring it all back for 2026" chatter finally ends.

 

[NYCTK]

8 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Say this as loud and as often as it takes until the "let's bring it all back for 2026" chatter finally ends.

 

This is why emptying the bullpen is appropriate. Betting on a reliever being good in two seasons is almost always a bad bet. 

SELL, SELL, SELL! 

Seriously, looking at what the Giants got for Tyler Rogers just now, for a rental, Twins would be foolish not to trade at least 3 arms. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The Twins can make Tingler the interim manager for the final two months, close on the Correa trade, and then first thing when the season’s done, bring in a solid manager from the outside who can keep these guys sharp and guide them though a full season. That can get you back to 86-88 wins on its own, even with the current roster and pitching staff (provided they keep the big names) and none of it requires Pohlad to be involved. Baldelli will come out somewhere else just fine. 

[Woof Bronzer]

 

9 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

If anybody wants some salt in their wounds, check this out:

 

This comment might be more even more humiliating than today's "game".   

Can't help but feel happy for the guys who are going to get a chance with serious, professional organizations.  

 

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

The Twins can make Tingler the interim manager for the final two months, close on the Correa trade, and then first thing when the season’s done, bring in a solid manager from the outside who can keep these guys sharp and guide them though a full season. That can get you back to 86-88 wins on its own, even with the current roster and pitching staff (provided they keep the big names) and none of it requires Pohlad to be involved. Baldelli will come out somewhere else just fine. 

Can Rocco bring Derek with him?

[Aggies7]

21 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

If anybody wants some salt in their wounds, check this out:

 

Sounds like we need another new stadium so that we can compete. Or something 😂

[rv78]

With Byron Buxton out, the offense does have to work a little harder,

I about fell out of my chair from laughter when I read this line. The offense hasn't worked all year, even with Buck!

[sweetmusicviola16]

33 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

It will take a pretty serious conversation to salve that treatment of Jax. Jax is an established, if not famous, MLB late inning pitcher. Jax is probably the most disciplined player the Twins have had in many years. There was brief moment where it looked like he was going to go off in a big way on Rocco.

I think Jax is almost surely going to be traded.

Your entire post is very unfortunate. 

 

Lifting Jax for Clemens. smh

 

The last line in the article. How very true. "absolutely no life" Bring on the trades. Dump Baldelli. Dump Falvey. They had their chance. It's past time.

[Sjoski]

1 hour ago, se7799 said:

From bad to worse.  

Your being far to gracious...more like worse to horrid... 😀

Just checked the order of the adjectives. 

Bad = a general level of poor performance. started Aug. 2024

 

Worse = a comparative, indicating decline...continues into 2025.

 

Horrid = emotionally charged and extreme, suggesting something not just poor, but repulsive or miserable...NOW.

 

 

[exeoud]

It would be a monumental failure to not trade everyone that we possibly can in the bullpen. We have a complete monopoly on the reliever market and not taking advantage of an opportunity like this should get Falvey and co fired by the end of tomorrow.

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, exeoud said:

not taking advantage of an opportunity like this should get Falvey and co fired by the end of tomorrow.

Is there any indication that anyone among the ownership actually cares a lick? Maybe, but it has been crickets for a long time from anyone connected to ownership.

Twins fans are left with trusting that Derek Falvey and his FO care about their work. I think they care quite a bit, even if I don't understand their mode of thinking regarding baseball. I wish them luck.