Twins 5, Mets 3: Minnesota Rallies Keep Miserable Mets Reeling

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitchers: Simeon Woods Richardson -  5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (95 pitches, 56 strikes (59%))
Home Runs: Byron Buxton (4)
Top 3 WPA (via FanGraphs): Luke Keaschall (0.28), Kody Clemens (0.19), Cole Sands (0.19)
Win Probability Chart (via BaseballSavant) 

The Twins needed a win as they arrived in New York, having lost four in a row and finding themselves back at the .500 mark—with another starting pitcher on the injured list, to boot. The New York Mets wish it was only a week ago that their misery started, but instead, they entered this contest searching for their first win in a fortnight. Something had to give on a chilly night at Citi Field.

The Twins turned to a lineup restocked with Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner, and a starter in Simeon Woods Richardson who was looking to regain his form. The Mets countered with phenom Nolan McLean, who was making only the 13th start of his career but who sports a 2.11 career ERA.

An Old Foe Strikes First
After the hurlers traded goose eggs over the first two innings, it was the Mets who struck first. Woods Richardson gave up a leadoff single to his old Mets minor-league pal Mark Vientos. After inducing a ground ball that Brooks Lee couldn't turn into a double play, Woods Richardson walked Marcus Semien on a full count to bring up Twins nemesis Francisco Lindor. Lindor got ahead 3-0, fell back into a full count, and then beat a fastball to its spot. At almost 108 MPH off the bat, he caught ever stitch of the ball, which found the upper deck in right field. As Lindor jumped and danced and screamed like the Mets just won the World Series, Twins Territory realized that they just saw the end of the ballgame at 3-0. Why? His name is Nolan McLean.

Perfection Brewing...
McLean had already struck out seven Twins before Lindor crushed his homer, and through five innings, he had garnered eight and was over halfway through a perfect game. McLean clearly had the Twins' number, mixing all six of his pitches with pinpoint precision, ranging from his 98-MPH fastball to his 84.5-MPH sweeper. Woods Richardson settled in and kept the game within reach through his five innings, but somehow, the Twins bats were going to need to get to McLean.

In the top of the sixth, Wallner led off by avoiding a low changeup, and then lacing a perfect game-breaking single to left on a center-cut sinker. It looked like that was all of the damage that the Twins would muster, but then Byron Buxton got the count into his favor at 3-1. One pitch later, it was 3-2—the score, that is.

Keep the Rally Going
The attack of McLean kept rolling into the top of the seventh. After Anthony Banda took out the Mets in order in the bottom of the sixth, the Twins kept on swinging. Kody Clemens had seen all of McLean's pitches by his third plate appearance, and on a 2-2 count, he found a sinker to his liking and drilled a one-out double into the right-field corner. Two pitches later, Luke Keaschall took a sweeper straight into center field to tie the game; it was an aggressive send to the plate, but Clemens made it without a play. Keaschall later stole second base, but a Wallner shot up the middle was snagged by Lindor, and we headed into the bottom of the seventh still knotted 3-3.

To the Ninth We Go!
Justin Topa and Cole Sands got the Twins to the top of the ninth, where much-maligned Mets closer Devin WIlliams was waiting for Josh Bell and a potential Twins rally. Williams brought the boo birds out at Citi Field by walking Bell on four pitches. James Outman got the call to stand in and to steal second for Bell, and that he did. It didn't matter, because Ryan Jeffers also walked. Clemens laid down a would-be sacrifice bunt toward first base. Luckily for Twins Territory, Vientos tried to nab Outman at third instead of taking the sure out. Outman beat the throw, and the Twins had the bases loaded with nobody out. Keaschall was next man up, and nothing says hero like a slow, high chopper over the third baseman's head! 4-3 Twins.

With the boo birds now at a fever pitch, Wallner fought his way into a full count, and laid off a changeup way outside of the zone to make it 5-3. Williams gave way to righty Austin Warren, who struck out Lewis, Lee and Buxton to keep the Mets' deficit manageable—in theory. In practice, Sands finished them off with relative ease.

What’s Next?
With the upper hand in the series, the Twins turn next to their youth movement. Mick Abel is on the shelf with elbow inflammation, so lefty Connor Prielipp is expected to get the ball for his big-league debut. The Mets will counter with veteran righty closer-turned-starter Clay Holmes (2-2, 1.96 ERA), First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Sands	20	12	0	0	23	55
Morris	0	0	47	0	0	47
Topa	11	10	0	0	17	38
Acton	0	0	29	0	0	29
Banda	0	0	0	0	18	18
Orze	0	15	0	0	0	15
Rogers	0	0	8	0	0	8
Rojas	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[Peter]

Huge comeback win!!! 💪💪💪

[SD happy]

As much as I enjoyed the Twins comeback win, it was almost as enjoyable hearing/seeing the Mets fans booing the Mets!

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Is it worse to be a fan of a team that spends a ton of money and still doesn't win, or to be a fan of a team that doesn't spend any money?

[Blyleven2011]

I was on the twins thread with very little optimism against the mets pitcher McLean ...

McLean  , 9 up 9 down with 7 strikeouts , 5 innings perfect game ...

6th inning ,  wallner of all players breaks the perfect game with a single  ,  buxton on his third attempt against McLean  hits a 2 run homerun  ...

My Optimism changed ,  our players momentum changed , twins tie game in seventh  and chase McLean  ...

Twins go to ninth with a slim chance to win , score tied at 3 , their closer couldn't command his pitches and walks the lead off hitter ( you don't walk the lead off hitter or the second batter ) after that the twins kept battling with good at bats , Clemens puts the ball in play with a bunt and the force play at 3rd was late ( put ball in play and make the other team field the ball )  , bases loaded now , a slim chance has dwindled into an Optimism of a win  , Twins tack on 2 runs , Sands pitches his second inning in relief and the Twins secure a slim chance win  with a victory to break the 4 game losing streak  ...

Mets found a way to succeed in losing the game and now have a 12 game losing streak , money may buy you love but it can't buy a baseball team  ...

It wasn't a good game for the twins for 5 innings but then after it was ...

Good win ...

[Parfigliano]

10 minutes ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

Is it worse to be a fan of a team that spends a ton of money and still doesn't win, or to be a fan of a team that doesn't spend any money?

I'm both.  Each sucks in its very own special way.

[h2oface]

Williams blowing up so bad made one just ignore how absolutely awful and inept that Lewis, Lee, and Buxton looked flailing away at pitches outside the zone and striking out horribly with the bases jammed. Gotta take em when they are handed to you, eh? It was a nice comeback win.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Good game.

1 bad pitch deposited into the seats ruined an otherwise decent start for Sim. Still better than his last 2 attempts. 

Yet again Lee with a bad game. 4 Ks and slow on defense. Should've turned that double play. It looked like he was running in slow motion to the bag. 

Nice comeback win! Go Twins!

[USAFChief]

36 minutes ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

Is it worse to be a fan of a team that spends a ton of money and still doesn't win, or to be a fan of a team that doesn't spend any money?

Yes.

[Western SD Fan]

Now the question is who is being sent out.  Prielipp has been announced to start, but a corresponding move will need to be made to add him to the roster.

[Senior Softball Guy]

Just when you start to think about cutting loose Outman, he does something good. The same with Wallner. He breaks up the "No-No" and does something Brooks Lee seems incapable of doing: DRAW A WALK!

[JADBP]

I cast all 15 of my votes for Wallner!!!

[knothole61]

Nice win--the Mets' starter has a big hook!

Unfortunately, I'm still pouting over the three game sweep at home by the Reds. That will hurt for a while.  

[D.C Twins]

Banda pitched a shutout inning and struck out 2....

this is easily the most embarrassing event to occur for the Mets during their 12 game losing streak!

[stringer bell]

6 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Banda pitched a shutout inning and struck out 2....

this is easily the most embarrassing event to occur for the Mets during their 12 game losing streak!

Banda looked very good in his one inning of work. Honestly, it is the first good inning I've seen him pitch this year. More please. Maybe he need the days off.

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Good game.

1 bad pitch deposited into the seats ruined an otherwise decent start for Sim. Still better than his last 2 attempts. 

Yet again Lee with a bad game. 4 Ks and slow on defense. Should've turned that double play. It looked like he was running in slow motion to the bag. 

Nice comeback win! Go Twins!

I like SWR …….. I realize I don’t know what pitches he’s not comfortable with in an outing. That said, he threw about 50% more Split Finger pitches than were called for …… could not get the pitch to be “competitive” more than 25% of the time. He walked 3 in 5 innings. He threw the first 3 pitches to Lindor (all Split Fingers) that were not competitive. He shook off Jeffers repeatedly when count was 0-2, to throw another wildly uncompetitive Split. Then he throws 2 fastballs to get back in count - then THIRD STRAIGHT fastball middle-middle. It was difficult to watch - lack of command and poor pitch mix isn’t going to play. Where was the SLIDER?? Where was the CHANGE-UP??

Can’t have success striking a couple guys out with a Split and then throw 50+% Splits for the game! Seemed like sheer stubbornness, not cerebral pitch mix.

Lee - Lewis, our “untouchable trade pieces” from end of ‘23 season ………. underperforming is too nice! I get the starter was REALLY good but one of them has to make contact with the bases loaded.

[jmlease1]

McLean was really destroying the Twins early. Nice to see them claw out of it and give themselves a chance. It was looking pretty bad when he rolled over the first time through the lineup with 7 K's. A good job clawing their way back in it.

Would have liked a couple more insurance runs in the 9th; wasn't great to see Lewis, Lee, and Buck all K after chasing their closer...by chasing pitches out of the zone, when the rally was built by being patient. But contact was hard to come by for the Twins last night.

Good to see the bullpen effective after struggling against the Reds. Weather looked uncomfortable out there.

[laloesch]

9 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

Is it worse to be a fan of a team that spends a ton of money and still doesn't win, or to be a fan of a team that doesn't spend any money?

Yes and Yes. lol

[laloesch]

23 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

McLean was really destroying the Twins early. Nice to see them claw out of it and give themselves a chance. It was looking pretty bad when he rolled over the first time through the lineup with 7 K's. A good job clawing their way back in it.

Would have liked a couple more insurance runs in the 9th; wasn't great to see Lewis, Lee, and Buck all K after chasing their closer...by chasing pitches out of the zone, when the rally was built by being patient. But contact was hard to come by for the Twins last night.

Good to see the bullpen effective after struggling against the Reds. Weather looked uncomfortable out there.

Lewis and Lee chased pitches out of the zone all of last season.  That's why it's so devastating to have them both in the lineup at the same time.

[JD-TWINS]

MANY of the poor performers “showed up” positively on Tuesday night.

Banda was big!

Wallner broke the ice with a hit & then really worked for the bases loaded walk/RBI!

Clemens with a hustle double and then scoring on a base hit with some aggressive 3rd base coaching!

Outman, pinch running and applying pressure with a steal - then hustling to 3B to avoid force out and load bases with no outs!

Cole Sands can’t be overlooked - 2 nice innings to end it with a big Save!

Lee & Lewis, not so much!

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

38 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Banda looked very good in his one inning of work. Honestly, it is the first good inning I've seen him pitch this year. More please. Maybe he need the days off.

That was nice to see Banda finally look good, plus how about Sands closing out the game with 2 innings of no-hits and no-walks relief? Very impressive outing for those two pitchers. 

[stringer bell]

50 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

McLean was really destroying the Twins early. Nice to see them claw out of it and give themselves a chance. It was looking pretty bad when he rolled over the first time through the lineup with 7 K's. A good job clawing their way back in it.

Would have lik

ed a couple more insurance runs in the 9th; wasn't great to see Lewis, Lee, and Buck all K after chasing their closer...by chasing pitches out of the zone, when the rally was built by being patient. But contact was hard to come by for the Twins last night.

Good to see the bullpen effective after struggling against the Reds. Weather looked uncomfortable out there.

Ironic that a lot of guys who have been heavily criticized helped to win the game--Banda, Sands, Topa, Outman, Wallner, Keaschall and Clemens. But there's always someone who makes outs, in this case Lee and Lewis. The Twins faced a really tough young pitcher and he looked unhittable for five innings, yet they put a crooked number on him and got him out of the game. Well done.

The bullpen and defense were of major league quality last night and they won the game. The bullpen and defense in the Reds series were not of major league quality and they lost all three games.

Baseball is fun, fascinating and unpredictable. Just don't say that aloud to Mets fans right now. 

[JD-TWINS]

No baserunners until late in game - had nine on base total & pushed 5 across ……….. Williams was helpful! Efficient, but need to create more traffic to support Prielipp. Clay Holmes has a 1.96 ERA so it’s gonna be another challenge!

[JD-TWINS]

I think they need to “ease” Royce back - actually just hoping they let Gray hit in his place - defense probably suffers a bit but I like his chances better v. Holmes than Royce, after 10 plus days off.

[karcherd]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

I think they need to “ease” Royce back - actually just hoping they let Gray hit in his place - defense probably suffers a bit but I like his chances better v. Holmes than Royce, after 10 plus days off.

Why, he was only out for 10 days.  Gray, Kriedler and Clemens are not the answer.  Any AB's to them hurts the current and the future team.  Lewis needs to play every day and find out this year if he is part of the future.  The Gray's of the roster are not part of the future and should be played minimally as a bench piece at most.

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

13 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

Is it worse to be a fan of a team that spends a ton of money and still doesn't win, or to be a fan of a team that doesn't spend any money?

Maybe.

[DJL44]

Kreidler sent down to bring the pitching staff back to 13. Outman survives another day on the roster.

[karcherd]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Outman survives another day on the roster.

Another three months at least he is here.

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Another three months at least he is here.

If he makes it past the trade deadline they will keep him the whole season 

[Linus]

McLean has some elite stuff - he is going to be really good. Unsung hero has to be Sands pitching the last two innings. Lee needs a reset in St Paul. He is struggling badly to the point that this is hurting his development. It appears that his confidence is shot and he is overmatched at SS as well. The Twins are definitely not putting him in a place to succeed at this point.