Rays 6, Twins 1: Same Old Song with Another Loss at the Trop

[Peter Labuza]

Box Score
Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Victor Caratini (-0.16), Austin Martin (-0.9), Royce Lewis (-0.9)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): 

The second of round of the Twins at the Trop included a pair of pitchers both looking to prove a lot to their teams. It was a largely uneventful affair, more notable for baseball weirdness than anything else.

The oddities began early when Austin Martin came up against pitcher Shane McClanahan and blew an ABS challenge. On the next pitch, however, Martin attempted to call time but McClanahan threw anyway. Umpire Brian Walsh accidentally called for the ABS, and then confusion and debate continued for at least four minutes before the game continued. Walsh later missed another call for time from Byron Buxton, though luckily the pitch came in as a ball.

Ober and Done With

Bailey Ober made the start for Minnesota, continuing his surprisingly strong work that seems to be now erasing any concerns over velocity. The 6 foot 9 inch soft tosser allowed a walk to speed demon Chandler Simpson, but a surprisingly on point throw from Austin Martin turned a potential sacrifice fly into a double play as Ryan Jeffers nabbed him at the plate. (Curiously, the bench coach on the phone signaled to cash to play on, but Cash challenged nonetheless).

Ober did not repeat the strikeout success he had in his two previous starts, but he continued his soft contact magic—managing to keep the Rays to only three hard hits all day. Unfortunately, one of those did critical damage. After a hit by pitch put Yandy Diaz on base, Jake Fraley connected with Ober’s change up and launched one 401 feet for a two run shot. 

Ober still pushed his way through to manage a Quality Start. A fifth inning walk to Richie Palacios got erased when the baserunner dragged a steal too far and Brooks Lee kept a tag (if there was a chance to challenge, the Rays were already out at the moment). After a Junior Caminero single through the infield, Derek Shelton trusted the giant to finish off the inning with a pop up and a soft grounder and keep the game where it needed to be.

Comebacker, Shane

McClanahan entered his the game since 2023 with a 5 ERA over 18 innings, though for a player who has missed two full seasons—including some months where he couldn't grip a single thing with his hand—the Rays should be happy to have him throwing 95mph while on the mound. While his first two innings looked strong, his command began faltering and put both Austin Martin and Josh Bell on base with two outs. However, McClanahan worked back a 3-0 count with Ryan Jeffers into a ground out to escape any damage.

After throwing 35 pitches in the third inning, he managed a five pitch fourth inning. An error from Ben Williamson and a single from Buxton gave the Twins a chance to cash in with two on and one out, but McClanahan easily escaped the jam. He finished with seven strikeouts on a largely lifeless Twins offense.

Bullpen Blues

A continuing refrain for Minnesota ended whatever hope for a comeback. Tyler Rogers took over for Ober in the 7th inning and graced the Rays with a double, triple, and walk—none from their best hitters— before Shelton went to Eric Orze. The former Rays farmhand did not fair much better, allowing a pair of runs before the Twins managed to end in the inning. Garret Acton was given the eighth and added onto the pain after a Williamson double.

If the Rays had questions about their bullpen after a bad week, they seemed in full force this week. Cash turned to Kevin Kelly for two innings followed by Hunter Bigge for one. Neither pitcher faced much resistance from the hitting crew. After posting a 106 WRC+ going into last Friday’s bout with the Reds, the team has been below average in hitting since then.

Trevor Martin ran into some trouble after hitting Luke Keschall, who stole second and set up Royce Lewis for a RBI single. But that was all the Twins could manage. After sitting atop the American League, the team has now dropped eight of their last nine contests.

Notes

—Buxton smacked a catwalk ring in the third inning that led to a dropped pop up in the infield, but only some of the catwalks are considered fair territory while others force a foul ball.

—Future Review? Josh Bell struck out on a "foul tip" in the eighth inning that a broadcast replay revealed as a check swing. However, such a call remains unreviewable in baseball. 

—ABS Winners today: Buxton, Jeffers (x2)

Post-Game Interview:

What's Next?

Simeon Woods Richardson looks to finally manage a win after a rough series of starts, while the Rays turn to their long releif / "opener" Jesse Scholtens, who will aim for likely five innings. 

Bullpen Usage:

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Morris	0	0	0	37	0	0	37
Banda	0	18	0	9	7	0	34
Topa	0	17	17	0	0	0	34
Acton	0	0	0	0	0	18	18
Sands	0	23	0	0	0	0	23
Orze	0	0	11	0	10	9	30
Rogers	0	0	12	0	0	15	27
Funderburk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[Vanimal46]

Does Jeremy Zoll have the cajones to release Taylor Rogers? 

[ashbury]

Bad offense.  Bad bullpen.  Bad ... result from an off-season that barely addressed these issues.

[thelanges5]

1-9 w/RISP, 8 LOB almost the same record as last year at the same time. Now 1-8 since they went 8-1. Unwatchable right now.  

[JD-TWINS]

29 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Does Jeremy Zoll have the cajones to release Taylor Rogers? 

Needs to release Outman & Clemens to get things started.

[ashbury]

47 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Does Jeremy Zoll have the cajones to release Taylor Rogers? 

 

17 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Needs to release Outman & Clemens to get things started.

Releasing dudes that offend us is the easy part.  Who do they get replaced by?  Simply calling up guys who aren't ready or never were or never will be is not a solution.  Outman for ERod is the only combination that makes any sense with this depleted roster.

[Vanimal46]

2 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Releasing dudes that offend us is the easy part.  Who do they get replaced by?

You release Rogers for anyone that could be a solution for the 2027 bullpen. He was a classic Twins nostalgia signing anyway. It’s not working out and likely not gonna get much better 

[JD-TWINS]

FIVE HITS Saturday……. 2 walks …….. Tampa kicked it around on 2-3 plays to allow more base runners. Our OFFENSE sucks.

Team got to 8 runs Thursday night …….. Jeffers grand slam made things close for about 15 minutes.

2 runs Wednesday - 2 runs Friday - 1 run Saturday.

So far this year, 6 games Team has scored 1 run and 2 games they have scored 2 runs ………. 8 of 27 games the offense has given them essentially no chance. No offense is perfect - Teams face great pitching occasionally, understood ……….30% of the time with no offensive support is not going to bode well for Tom Pohlad’s competitive desire for thus year’s Club.

Can’t worry about individuals “as the primary concern” for roster construction.

Outman - Keaschall - Wallner should all be moved after tomorrow’s game for a more fresh approach by Monday………with some commitment/confidence in Bell & Caratini splitting 1B duties, Clemens could go as well.

[Blyleven2011]

Tell me if you have heard this before , our streak of good fortune when we went 4 games over 500 was another mirage of what this team is , last years winning  streak was the same mirage , this team just can't find any kind of consistency with the bats ...

You have to tip your hat that Ober gave us a quality start and is pitching well to start the season  ( even if his velocity is down , he's bull dogging his way to pitch a decent game ) ...

We'll try it again on Sunday and see if something raises from the dead  ...

[ashbury]

22 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

You release Rogers for anyone that could be a solution for the 2027 bullpen.

The consistent use of the word "anyone" permeates roster discussions, and honestly I don't find it constructive.  We can release Rogers. The next guy will probably have an ERA in the 7s as well.

The FO owns this, and by extension ownership does. We don't, and it's not up to us to cast about for solutions among the wreckage.

[krink]

Austin remain my favorite player to watch - both at bat and in the field. That throw out at home was incredible to see!

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

We can release Rogers. The next guy will probably have an ERA in the 7s as well.

If that person is Marco Raya instead of Taylor Rogers who cares? Marco Raya is at least 23 years old with a future.