Tigers 7, Twins 0: Maybe We Should Have Rooted Harder for Rain

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
Pierson Ohl: 2 ⅓ IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Pierson Ohl (-.400), Edouard Julien (-.050), Royce Lewis (-.035)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Friday’s match gave us a classic baseball archetype: that of the young, spry hurler facing off against the wily veteran. Minnesota’s starter was eight years old when Tigers pitcher Charlie Morton debuted; the elder statesman has him bested by 2,155 career strikeouts, 404 regular-season games, and an iconic moment as the man on the mound when the Astros earned their first World Series* win in their franchise’s history. But all that matters is what lies ahead for these two—and Pierson Ohl could win the generation battle with an impressive performance.

He didn’t win. Frankly, it wasn’t close. The line speaks for itself as a Greek chorus of sorts; sloppy weather portended sloppy play from the Ship of Theseus Twins, with a pair of singles placing men on the corners, and a clanked grounder by Luke Keaschall opening the scoring for Detroit. The second baseman should have made the play. The run would have scored, yet Minnesota could have had two outs. The Tigers pounced. A flurry of hits turned the lead from one to five, with the inning’s final out—perhaps fittingly—coming on an RBI double halted at just one run on a questionable send and competent relay by Royce Lewis. 

Ohl survived through a scoreless second, though Detroit returned in the third to eventually knock the righty out of the game. A single, walk, and sharply struck double ended his night. Reliever (Piggybacker? Other Bulk-Guy?) José Ureña entered to save the bullpen and survive as long as possible—his two long-term goals. He’d accomplish those in time. In the short term, he’d allow one more run to give the Tigers a commanding seven-run advantage.

That left the quadragenarian Morton as the decisive winner of this somewhat arbitrary conflict. His effectiveness these days usually precedes the word “wild” and Friday was no exception: he walked three and hit a batter, yet kept Twins hitters off the barrel, coaxing a variety of weak contact across six shutout innings. Don’t let anyone tell you that a 41-year-old can’t offer the sport new lessons. 

Detroit's bullpen took over to declare what we all knew to be true. The middle-to-final innings weren't a game; it was like watching the teacher walk over to hand you back a test you didn't study for. The result was inevitable. Maybe there was a faint sense a miracle would occur. However, fate was sealed long ago.

Minnesota almost avoided a shutout, placing runners on base in the ninth to threaten at least something. Naturally, with one out, Edouard Julien lined a pitch up the middle... into shortstop Trey Sweeney's glove, leading him to catch the ball and step on second to end the game and secure the shutout. So it goes. 

Notes:

Luke Keaschall reached base thrice for the third time in his MLB career.

José Ureña's Twins ERA is now 2.13.

Erasmo Ramirez appeared in his 333rd career MLB game. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Tigers play the third of their four-game set on Saturday, with first pitch set to arrive at 6:15 PM. Zebby Matthews will start opposite Casey Mize. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[Danchat]

The pitching strategy makes no sense to me. The likes of Ohl and Adams are borderline pitchers who should be converted into one-inning arms because they sure as heck aren't going to be starters or "piggyback" pitchers. Bradley and/or Abel should be pitching in the majors instead of Ohl/Urena. And don't even get me started on trying out Gasper as a backup catcher... and I can't wait for Outman to be on the 26 man roster next year even though he won't deserve it. The personnel decisions are baffling.

[Sjoski]

Tigers 7

Twins 0

Comment board 2

[thelanges5]

Per Bobby N:

Alan Roden was diagnosed with a sprained UCL in his left thumb, so he’ll miss some time.

[tony&rodney]

2 hits, zero runs is as near to a guarantee of a loss as is possible.

[USAFChief]

The post game act-a lefty-threw out the first pitch and was offered a AA deal as a "bulk" guy. 

[thelanges5]

Third time in five days the Twins had three or fewer hits in a game.

[CRF]

This whole thing is a complete mess. A ship without a rudder. 

[mikelink45]

7 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Per Bobby N:

Alan Roden was diagnosed with a sprained UCL in his left thumb, so he’ll miss some time.

will we notice?

[mikelink45]

Bring up the real prospects - Adams and Ohl are really lost up here.  Give them one inning jobs and give us the pitchers we traded for - let's at least get a look at the future.

[Whitey333]

Barring a rainout, it looks like another guaranteed loss Saturday.  It doesn't surprise me.  This is the type of baseball the organization thinks we enjoy.  It's going to get worse and last a long long time.  We are stuck with the Pohlads, Falvey, and Baldelli.

[shimrod]

I've finally figured out Gasper's role on this team. He's here to make the inevitable resigning of Vasquez look like a prudent baseball move.

[LambchoP]

It sure looks like Ohl and Adams either need more time in AAA, or try them out in 1-2 inning relief outings. Starting has not worked out so far, neither one, especially Ohl, seem to have good enough strikeout stuff. I don't get why they haven't given any starts to Abel or Bradley. These are guys that need innings, wouldn't it make more sense to give them a shot and maybe audition for a SP role next year? Abel and Bradley every fifth day sounds like a better strategy than 2 so called bullpen days, which is basically just Adams, Ohl and Urena surviving for as long as they can.

Gasper also needs to go. It's becoming clear he will not be a part of the teams long or even short term plans. The guy just can't hit at the MLB level and his defense behind the plate sucks. Dump him and give one of our young catchers some valuable major league experience and maybe do a bit of an audition for the backup catcher job next year.

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Per Bobby N:

Alan Roden was diagnosed with a sprained UCL in his left thumb, so he’ll miss some time.

Outman should come up

[DJL44]

I’m pretty sure this is how it will be the rest of the season in the comment section 

“Why don’t they bring up the young guys from AAA”

Twins bring up a rookie 

“This guy sucks, why did they bring him up from AAA?”

[David Maro]

This game was over in the first 15 minutes of the delayed start. Totally unwatchable,and to think some die hard fans payed $100.00 for this crap.

Its time for the fans to stand up and protest what is going on here and get the changes needed. The taxpayers are the owners of Target Field and need to make it clear that it is not a minor league field.

[FlyingFinn]

If only I trusted the ownership and front office, I could see what they are doing. The team is very close to being the 4th worst this year (can't catch the White Sox or Rockies or probably the Pirates). Get a high draft pick, reload the bullpen (maybe internally as we have so many possible starters right now) and trust the youth in 2026 (Jenkins, Culpepper, etc.). We would be faster and have better defense. The hitting can't be any worse than some of these games recently.

As some have stated, the other plan is a total tear down. If they know there's not going to be baseball in 2027, I certainly can see that.

But overall I just don't trust the ownership and front office. And they underestimate how mad the fans are and thus how little revenue is going to be coming in, even if we suddenly start winning.

[OvertheHill]

The Dead Cat Bounce after the fire sale was nice, but I’m prepared for this to be the norm for the “entertainment value “ of this team with this FO and Manager (they’re tied at the hip) for the foreseeable future. 

[Matt Braun]

To my eyes, Ohl and Adams need some more seasoning in the minors. Honestly, I would probably cut bait on Adams' prospects as a starter, have him focus on two or three of his best offerings, and have him back as a reliever next year. Ohl, for some reason, I have some belief he can stay a starter. I'd give him another year in a rotation, at least. That changeup really is something.

I think we'll see Taj Bradley soon, but I wouldn't count on Mick Abel being in a Twins uniform in 2025. The more likely scenario is that Simeon Woods Richardson returns with Andrew Morris being the next man up on the call-up totem pole. 

[jmlease1]

Ohl wasn't good, but also didn't get much help from his defense. But one of the signs of a good pitcher is being a guy who can pick up your defense when they clank one (or two).

Mixed game for Keaschall: did well at the plate, but a howler of an error and he knew it. 

Normally if you draw 7 walks you'll push a run or 3 across, but Twins bat were awfully silent.

Urena was quite competent. Didn't expect that. But I shuddered as soon as Provus said it was going to be a bullpen game, because right now we don't have a bullpen. If we're not getting Festa and/or SWR back by the next start I'd hope they'd bring up Bradley.

[Dave Borton]

Quote

 it was like watching the teacher walk over to hand you back a test you didn't study for.

Classic Line to which we all can relate...

[TwinsDr2021]

41 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

To my eyes, Ohl and Adams need some more seasoning in the minors. Honestly, I would probably cut bait on Adams' prospects as a starter, have him focus on two or three of his best offerings, and have him back as a reliever next year. Ohl, for some reason, I have some belief he can stay a starter. I'd give him another year in a rotation, at least. That changeup really is something.

I think we'll see Taj Bradley soon, but I wouldn't count on Mick Abel being in a Twins uniform in 2025. The more likely scenario is that Simeon Woods Richardson returns with Andrew Morris being the next man up on the call-up totem pole. 

If almost 26 year olds need more seasoning, they aren't in the future besides relief.

[gman]

Win totals

Twins           57

Balt              56

A's.               55

Atl.              54

Wash.         54

Pitts.           52

CWS.           44

Colo.           33

 

The only teams I don't think the Twins can catch are the White Sox and Colorado. I expect they could catch at least 1 team per week. This may not be the best place for this, but tracking next years draft placement is something to look forward too.

[Danchat]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I’m pretty sure this is how it will be the rest of the season in the comment section 

“Why don’t they bring up the young guys from AAA”

Twins bring up a rookie 

“This guy sucks, why did they bring him up from AAA?”

How many rookies have they called up that are legitimate prospects, though? I have no problems with Roden and Martin playing every day, but the likes of Adams and Ohl don't project as starters so there's no point to continue throwing them out there to predictably fail. 

[FlyingFinn]

14 hours ago, Danchat said:

and I can't wait for Outman to be on the 26 man roster next year even though he won't deserve it.

Wait no longer. He's coming today!