Angels 12, Twins 2: Oy vey...

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB (97 pitches, 62 strikes)
Home Runs: Ryan Fitzgerald (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Matthews -.203, Trevor Larnach -.103, Luke Keaschall -.068
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

After righteously thrashing the Angels 12-3 Monday night, the Minnesota Twins entered Tuesday hoping to secure their first road series win since early August in Detroit. Instead, they were handed a lopsided beating—one that looked far too familiar for a team stumbling toward the finish line.

Zebby Matthews took the ball for Minnesota, coming off consecutive quality starts against the Padres and White Sox. Any momentum from those outings vanished quickly. The Angels strung together three singles, a walk, and a double steal in the opening frame, plating three runs before Matthews could escape the first inning. To his credit, Matthews settled in over the next three frames, but things unraveled when he faced the order for a third time. Rocco Baldelli gave him the hook after 4 2/3 innings of work. His final line: seven hits, five earned runs, two walks, pushing his ERA back over 5.00 on the season. He did, at least, manage five strikeouts.

If Matthews’s outing was rough, the bullpen somehow made it worse. Pierson Ohl took over in the sixth and promptly surrendered four runs while only getting the same number of outs, punctuated by a three-run homer off the bat of Chris Taylor that blew the game open at 9-0. Thomas Hatch then served up a three-run bomb to Yoán Moncada, a familiar face from his White Sox days, to push the lead to 12-0. By the time utility man Ryan Fitzgerald was summoned to pitch the eighth, the game had long slipped into “damage-control” territory. The final tally: Angels 17 hits, 15 singles and two homers, a stat line rarely seen but indicative of the relentless approach Los Angeles took against Minnesota pitching.

The Twins lineup wasn’t any better. Limited to six hits on the night, Minnesota couldn't push a run across until the ninth inning, when Fitzgerald launched a two-run homer to spare the club from a shutout. It was as meaningless a home run as you’ll find, except that it was just the second home run by a Twins pitcher (technically, that was Fitzgerald's position for that at-bat) since the DH was instituted in 1973. Can you name the other?

Byron Buxton returned to the lineup, two days after having been hit in the knee by a pitch and missing a game and a half. Other than that, and beyond the limited good feelings Fitzgerald has created as a good story finding a modicum of success, there was little consolation to be found Tuesday night. The team finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, continuing a season-long trend of empty at-bats in key spots.

With the hideous loss, Minnesota falls to 64-81, officially ensuring they will not finish above .500 this season. (I know, I know. You were on the edge of your seat.) They now sit tied with Pittsburgh for the second-worst record among lottery-eligible teams.

How 'bout them Vikings, though??

What's Next
The Twins will try their hand again at securing a series victory Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, with Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.92 ERA) toeing the rubber across José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) for the Angels. First pitch is at 3:07 pm CT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Hatch	0	66	0	0	24	90
Topa	13	0	28	0	0	41
Funderburk	15	0	22	0	0	37
Sands	0	0	14	0	0	14
Adams	0	0	0	38	0	38
Ohl	0	0	0	0	43	43
Cabrera	0	0	8	23	0	31
Tonkin	0	12	0	20	0	32

 

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[mikelink45]

It's becoming really difficult to think of worthwhile comments. It must be a chore to keep coming up with witty game stories. 

[Glorybound]

So we have expanded rosters and we are a non playoff team and we have position players pitching. I don’t get it, I just don’t get it. And Monday was an off day.

[thelanges5]

The offense is maddening. Another 0 fer RISP night and we are only above Pit and Col in OPS w/RISP. 
 

Id normally say pitching doesn’t matter when the offense looks this bad but some of the shine is starting to wear off of Zebby for me. 

[Bodie]

Well, at least we have that vaunted "pitching pipeline" going...

[Doctor Gast]

We had some players getting on base but not enough & even then, the ones that are supposed to hit them in, aren't doing their job, neither is the defense & it's easy to dream on Zebby, but he's not established yet. Twins have to focus much more on defense & clutch hitting & hope the pitching somehow gels. If Twins are able to do that & sweep the Yanks, I'd be happy.

[Doctor Wu]

53 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

It's becoming really difficult to think of worthwhile comments. It must be a chore to keep coming up with witty game stories. 

I agree, Thanks to the writers for at least trying to make some sense of these depressing games. Nice to see Fitzgerald pitch a clean inning, but as another poster asked, with the expanded rosters. why was he even sent out there in the first place?

[Doctor Wu]

9 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

We had some players getting on base but not enough

plus the fact that the Angels scored almost all of their runs with two outs. Our pitchers just can't get it done. 

[terrydactyls]

Only 17 games remaining.

P	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Chicago White Sox	55	90	0.379	-
2	Minnesota Twins	64	81	0.441	9.0
3	Pittsburgh Pirates	64	81	0.441	9.0
4	Atlanta Braves	65	80	0.448	10.0
5	Whatever Athletics	66	80	0.452	10.5
6	Miami Marlins	66	79	0.455	11.0
8	Baltimore Orioles	67	77	0.465	12.5
7	Los Angeles Angels	68	77	0.469	13.0
11	St. Louis Cardinals	72	74	0.493	16.5
10	Arizona Diamondbacks	72	74	0.493	16.5
9	Tampa Bay Rays	72	72	0.500	17.5
13	San Francisco Giants	74	71	0.510	19.0
12	Cleveland Guardians	74	70	0.514	19.5
14	Texas Rangers	76	70	0.521	20.5

[terrydactyls]

28 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

plus the fact that the Angels scored almost all of their runs with two outs. Our pitchers just can't get it done. 

Are you surprised by this?  Do the Twins have any major-league quality relief pitchers on the 26-man roster?

[Doctor Wu]

1 minute ago, terrydactyls said:

Are you surprised by this?  Do the Twins have any major-league quality relief pitchers on the 26-man roster?

Sadly, I'm not surprised whatsoever. With the current state of our bullpen it will be miraculous if we can hold onto any  late inning leads. Of course, this wasn't that sort of game at all. 

[Whitey333]

It's been very strange how Rocco and tgr Twins have managed personnel and games since the fire sale... why waste time and player development by pitching a non pitcher?  I understand, well sort of, the "strategy" of not using up the bullpen for an obvious loss.  But at this point what is the difference?  I hate when the Twins put position players in to pitch.  It puts an already farcical game into another level of farce.  Par for the course for a farce of an organization.

[The Great Hambino]

3 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

Sadly, I'm not surprised whatsoever. With the current state of our bullpen it will be miraculous if we can hold onto any  late inning leads. Of course, this wasn't that sort of game at all. 

The good news is they'll do whatever they can to fix the issue of the bullpen failing to hold leads this offseason.

The bad news is they're gonna do it by assembling a roster that will never have leads to blow in the first place

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

It's becoming really difficult to think of worthwhile comments. 

That doesn't stop most people from responding.

[MMMordabito]

13 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Only 17 games remaining.

P	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Chicago White Sox	55	90	0.379	-
2	Minnesota Twins	64	81	0.441	9.0
3	Pittsburgh Pirates	64	81	0.441	9.0
4	Atlanta Braves	65	80	0.448	10.0
5	Whatever Athletics	66	80	0.452	10.5
6	Miami Marlins	66	79	0.455	11.0
8	Baltimore Orioles	67	77	0.465	12.5
7	Los Angeles Angels	68	77	0.469	13.0
11	St. Louis Cardinals	72	74	0.493	16.5
10	Arizona Diamondbacks	72	74	0.493	16.5
9	Tampa Bay Rays	72	72	0.500	17.5
13	San Francisco Giants	74	71	0.510	19.0
12	Cleveland Guardians	74	70	0.514	19.5
14	Texas Rangers	76	70	0.521	20.5

Are the Rockies so bad that they've been kicked out of the league? 😆

[terrydactyls]

Just now, MMMordabito said:

Are the Rockies so bad that they've been kicked out of the league? 😆

They aren't eligible for the lottery.

[MMMordabito]

1 minute ago, terrydactyls said:

They aren't eligible for the lottery.

Ah, got it.  I thought it was just a race to the bottom. 

[FlyingFinn]

17 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

They aren't eligible for the lottery.

Neither are the Pirates IIRC.

 

Edit - No, I was wrong. It's the Nats, Angels, Rockies, and Cardinals.

[David Maro]

Game was over after 1st inning,totally unwatchable. With the weather cooling much better things to do. 

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

It's becoming really difficult to think of worthwhile comments. It must be a chore to keep coming up with witty game stories. 

I feel for the person who draws the short bat and has to write these articles for another two weeks. Yet, I'll kiss them when it's over. 

 

Thank you?

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

d normally say pitching doesn’t matter when the offense looks this bad but some of the shine is starting to wear off of Zebby for me. 

All the more reason to panic if both (really either) of Pablo or Ryan are sent packing this off-season.

[thelanges5]

1 minute ago, Patzky said:

All the more reason to panic if both (really either) of Pablo or Ryan are sent packing this off-season.

100 loss season for sure if those fellas are traded. Sad times ahead. 

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

Are you surprised by this?  Do the Twins have any major-league quality relief pitchers on the 26-man roster?

They have maybe two major league pitchers two but both should be 5th or 6th inning guys in Topa and Sands.

So how are they going to rebuild the bullpen if those two are the building blocks.  Do we really expect Falvey to pay for any free agents even ones on a bounce back type contract.  He will sign projects that he thinks can be fixed like a Pagan or injury prone pitchers that will give a couple of months, get hurt and throw the bullpen into disarray.  Give the kids a trial for the last weeks of the season.  I would rather see Raya get blown up then Hatch, maybe he will learn what he needs to work on at the very least.

[Blyleven2011]

Kitty kaat was the last twins pitcher to hit a homerun in 1972   , Fitzgerald was the pitcher in the 8th inning and batted in the 9th inning technically being labeled a pitcher and hit the first homerun for a Twins pitcher since kaat  ...

It was a rough game to watch , I kept dozing in and out , I only saw zebby give up 3 runs in the first and Fitzgerald hit the 2 run homerun in the 9th ...

I missed most of the game but then again I didn't miss much of the game  , it was a good game to take naps ...

[HarmonK03]

27 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Kitty kaat was the last twins pitcher to hit a homerun in 1972   , Fitzgerald was the pitcher in the 8th inning and batted in the 9th inning technically being labeled a pitcher and hit the first homerun for a Twins pitcher since kaat  ...

I think Chris Gimenez did it in 2018.  I was hoping Big Sexy would hit one when he pitched for us.

[djvang]

8 minutes ago, karcherd said:

I think Chris Gimenez did it in 2018.  I was hoping Big Sexy would hit one when he pitched for us.

Chris Gimenez, a former catcher and first baseman,hit a home run while listed as a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins on September 2, 2018. After pitching an inning of relief against the Texas Rangers, he came up to bat in the top of the ninth inning and hit a home run.

[DJL44]

Julien is a lousy first baseman, possibly worse than he is at second base. He's run out of defensive positions to try.

2 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

plus the fact that the Angels scored almost all of their runs with two outs. Our pitchers just can't get it done. 

Zebby clearly struck a batter out, but the umpire missed it. That turned into runs. Plus, the defense behind him was not good. He has an ERA of 5.06 and a FIP of 3.66.

[Old Twins Cap]

Watched a little of the game to see Zebby pitch.  He's a thrower right now, and he throws it hard.  

When he learns how to pitch, he could be a stud.

The lady umpire missed a lot of strikes for Zebby in the first inning.  It cost him at least one out and put him behind in several counts.  In baseball, that level of inaccuracy really slants outcomes.

 

 

[Old Crow]

12 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Julien is a lousy first baseman, possibly worse than he is at second base. He's run out of defensive positions to try.

Zebby clearly struck a batter out, but the umpire missed it. That turned into runs. Plus, the defense behind him was not good. He has an ERA of 5.06 and a FIP of 3.66.

Not that it mattered but it seemed like the home plate umpire had no idea off what compromised a strike zone for either team.  

[djvang]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Julien is a lousy first baseman, possibly worse than he is at second base. He's run out of defensive poitions to try.

 

At least he makes up for it with his .188 BA.😄