Mariners 5, Twins 3: Taj Bradley Shines Bright, But Twins Can't Get to Out 27

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Taj Badley - 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (114 pitches, 73 strikes (64% strikes))
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Eric Orze (-0.70), Josh Bell (-0.18), Matt Wallner (-0.13)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)


Taj Bradley entered Wednesday's game looking to get back to his dominant ways. Bradley surrendered four monster home runs, his first of the season, last weekend against the Rays—two each to former teammates Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda. 

But this game was different, Bradley had control, and marched through seven innings in which he allowed two runs on just four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Derek Shelton trusted his newfound workhorse, letting him throw more pitches than any Twins pitcher had since Kenta Maeda was chasing a no-hitter during the 2020 pandemic season.

Arguably, that trust tipped over from admirably old-school to inadvisable passivity in the seventh. With the Twins nursing a 2-1 lead, Bradley gave up back-to-back doubles to left-handed batters to tie the game with two outs in the inning, already having passed 100 pitches—even though lefty Anthony Banda was warming in the pen.

Banda came out in the eighth to relieve Bradley and took care of business, setting the stage for the Twins to take the lead again.

A Little Life
The Twins offense was virtually non-existent Tuesday night, making their Monday outburst feel a bit like a mirage. Lately, they seem unable to muster the consistency of approach and production that characterized their hot streak earlier this month. They did get something going in the fourth inning, though. Ryan Jeffers singled with one out and advanced to second on a walk by Kody Clemens. Luke Keaschall blooped a single into center, and although Jeffers couldn't score after holding up to make sure the ball fell in, both he and Clemens scored when Brooks Lee followed with a flared single of his own. Jeffers (.409 OBP) and Clemens (who got on base three times Wednesday and is hitting his stride as the team starts seeing more righty hurlers) have become quietly vital to the team's offense, especially with some of the others in the group beginning to struggle.

Those two runs didn't prove decisive, but briefly, it looked like their late tally could. Another Jeffers single set the wheels in motion, and James Outman (pinch-running for the catcher) stole second base. After two strikeout, Victor Caratini pinch-hit for Matt Wallner and came up huge:

The Twins threatened to score some insurance runs, too, loading the bases for Byron Buxton, but the Twins' star slugger flied out to end the frame.

And a Painful Death
Those insurance runs, as it turned out, were much-needed, and because they didn't get them, the Twins lost. Eric Orze couldn't find the strike zone, walking Randy Arozarena to lead off the inning. He fell behind most of the hitters he saw, and though he came back to strike out one of them, he surrendered back-to-back singles and a walk to give Seattle the lead and left Taylor Rogers in a jam, to boot. Rogers minimized the damage reasonably well, but another run scored on a sacrifice fly. The Twins went down with barely a whimper in the bottom of the ninth.

What’s Next?
The Twins take on the Toronto Blue Jays at home for a four-game series. The Twins will send Bailey Ober to the mound (2-1, 3.94 ERA) in Thursday's series opener, facing Toronto ace Kevin Gausman (2-1, 2.57 ERA).

Postgame Interviews 

Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart

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[thelanges5]

Four games against the Jays. Everybody is circling their dates with the Twins as get right series for them.

[Mike Sixel]

No one could have predicted having zero RP would be an issue....no one.

[Linus]

One thing about our bullpen, you never know who is going to blow it on any given day. Congratulations to Taj 

[Peter]

Gut wrenching demoralizing backbreaking possibility season ending loss😡🤬💩🤮😤👎in all seriousness we aren’t that bad it’s the damn bullpen that’s screwed us over!!! You can’t trust them with any lead. As you all know I’m a hardcore diehard twins fan but this was painful brutal loss. How can we recover from this and beat Toronto? 😢😔

[jmlease1]

Yep, here's the crappy bullpen we were worried about. There's literally no one you truly trust right now. You're playing roulette with these guys.

Bradley did well. Offense should have given him more support with that many hits, but it can be hard to get the runs when it's only one for extra bases. (hitting for power does matter!)

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

No one could have predicted having zero RP would be an issue....no one.

I actually think the front office did a decent job sorting through the pitchers nobody else in the league wanted to cobble together a bullpen that isn't the absolute worst in the league. The problem, of course, is they didn't add anyone to the bullpen who was wanted by another team. It's a bunch of guys who are fine as the 7th or 8th guy in the bullpen.

[Nshore]

Orze you not entertained???

Oddly enough, I'm optimistic.  What if there was a rotation of Ryan, Ober, a healthy Abel, Bradley, and Prielipp.  Move SWR and Matthews to the pen.  Call up E-Rod and somebody else with a pulse.  Better.

They do have something to work with.  Tickets are selling fast!

 

 

[Parfigliano]

26 minutes ago, Peter said:

Gut wrenching demoralizing backbreaking possibility season ending loss😡🤬💩🤮😤👎in all seriousness we aren’t that bad it’s the damn bullpen that’s screwed us over!!! You can’t trust them with any lead. As you all know I’m a hardcore diehard twins fan but this was painful brutal loss. How can we recover from this and beat Toronto? 😢😔

RISP bats are lacking too.

[Vanimal46]

14 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I actually think the front office did a decent job sorting through the pitchers nobody else in the league wanted to cobble together a bullpen that isn't the absolute worst in the league. The problem, of course, is they didn't add anyone to the bullpen who was wanted by another team. It's a bunch of guys who are fine as the 7th or 8th guy in the bullpen.

And none of them have over powering stuff. It’s a throwback to the Terry Ryan days when we had nothing but soft tossing pitch to contact relievers

[DJL44]

7 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

And none of them have over powering stuff. It’s a throwback to the Terry Ryan days when we had nothing but soft tossing pitch to contact relievers

Terry Ryan would have put a decent defense in front of his pitch-to-contact pitchers.

[RpR]

[Danchat]

37 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

RISP bats are lacking too.

Yup, 3 for 12 and the Mariners went 3 for 5. Failing to hit in RISP situations seems to be a constant with the team for the past few years.

[PDX Twin]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Bradley did well. Offense should have given him more support with that many hits, but it can be hard to get the runs when it's only one for extra bases. (hitting for power does matter!)

Hitting for power matters, but, especially without it, speed matters, too. When you haven't much of either ... It's going to be a long season!

[JD-TWINS]

4 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Yup, 3 for 12 and the Mariners went 3 for 5. Failing to hit in RISP situations seems to be a constant with the team for the past few years.

They were hitting .315 with RISP earlier this week ……………. something like .350 BA through a specific game w/RISP and since like .171 BA ……….. previous to today. Stuff levels out. Would be nice to level run production but it’s linked to line-up and what pitchers they are facing - and execution.

4 guys had 2 hits - 12 hits as a Club - 3 walks …….. gotta score more runs!

[D.C Twins]

The bullpen sucks and Wallner strikes out in 2/3rds of his ABs.... Yaaaaaawn..... 

Not really that big of a deal I guess.... None of them will be around in 2027 anyway..... 

Taj will be though and he was great!!!!!

 

[Sjoski]

Hmm...we traded away the bullpen for starting pitching right? 

So...instead of the game being over in the 1st inning,  now we have to wait all the way until the 9th?

In some circles they call that progress... in Minnesota it's just another Wednesday.

[JD-TWINS]

So today, in game 31, it was my first time thinking Shelton really influenced a negative outcome in the game. Now, granted, if OFFENSE puts up just one more run prior to the 9th, Shelton doesn’t pull the infield in to face their hottest hitter. Infield back - ground ball out - they are still up one with 2 outs. …….. in Shelton’s defense, he’s got nothing close to a closer to call in in this situation.

- Pulling infield in with one out in 9th, and guys on 2nd & 3rd. Team (Manager) increases the opponent’s BA greatly when brought in on the grass.

- WHY is Rogers on the Team if not to come into pitch to their hottest hitter (LH hitter) with one out in the 9th & guys on 2nd & 3rd? Orze was struggling with control - not his day. Right/Left match-up. Rogers had been up a few minutes…………they may counter with Mitch Garver but the kid IS their hottest hitter. Take your chances with Garver - not with leaving Orze in the game. That said - pulling infield in, nearly made Orze’s job “strikeout or bust” ……… not fair to a guy with his stuff. The hitter slapped a roller just past Keaschall - Orze didn’t make a bad pitch.

Can’t score less than 4 runs/game and expect a real shot at winning ball games! (2-8-2-2-1-11-1-3 is 30 runs in 8 games, an average of 3.75 runs/game) Only went over 3 runs twice in last 8 games. Not “competitive” - which is Tom P.’s goal.

[FlyingFinn]

Our Twins are who we thought they were!! Very good starting pitching, a mediocre offense that can get just barely more runs than the starting pitching allows, and a worthless bullpen (who will have some spurts where they look okay).

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

I actually think the front office did a decent job sorting through the pitchers nobody else in the league wanted to cobble together a bullpen that isn't the absolute worst in the league. The problem, of course, is they didn't add anyone to the bullpen who was wanted by another team. It's a bunch of guys who are fine as the 7th or 8th guy in the bullpen.

1. Decent job sorting through guys nobody wanted? Huh? 

2. There's no such thing as "fine as the 7th or 8th guy." There's no such thing as "low leverage."

[JD-TWINS]

Buxton has 7 HR & 12 total XBH ……. all appears great! Bad news is he’s around 0-20 w/RISP and only has 10 RBI.

He obviously needs to get it together with RISP! Also, he needs to move out of the One Spot in the line-up……….it can’t be that big of a deal for him psychologically - it’s not a good strategy for Team’s run production!!!!!

[Sampson5]

This bullpen man... At least they share the love and take turns melting down lmao not shocking I mean did anyone really believe a 1 run lead was safe in this economy?? Only think I'd of done differently is go Rodgers instead orze but I'm not convinced he finishes the save either . So stupid they didn't add more to this bullpen it was clear this was gonna be one of the worst pens in the league but man it's tough to watch feels like unless we're up 4 runs were cooked these days 

[Over The Hill Again]

I’m officially on “Wallner Watch”. He should be sent down this week. 

[Nshore]

7 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Buxton has 7 HR & 12 total XBH ……. all appears great! Bad news is he’s around 0-20 w/RISP and only has 10 RBI.

He obviously needs to get it together with RISP! Also, he needs to move out of the One Spot in the line-up……….it can’t be that big of a deal for him psychologically - it’s not a good strategy for Team’s run production!!!!!

I totally agree.  Never understood Buxton leading off.  It's a story of the big contract wags the dog.

[Nshore]

1 minute ago, Nshore said:

.

 

 

[BrokenCompass]

Another embarrassing loss by a listless, bad baseball team with zero fight in them. Been the story the past couple years with these guys. 

Even when they win it's hard to watch - they'll typically have one good inning and remain hitless and scoreless the rest of the game as the other team plays catchup. They had one good stretch of ball where they swept a depleted Detroit team in 35 degree weather. Other than that it's been awful. 

The only question moving forward is if the Twins will lose 3 or 4 against Toronto in the next series. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

I actually think the front office did a decent job sorting through the pitchers nobody else in the league wanted to cobble together a bullpen that isn't the absolute worst in the league. The problem, of course, is they didn't add anyone to the bullpen who was wanted by another team. It's a bunch of guys who are fine as the 7th or 8th guy in the bullpen.

The PEN only played a part in 2 of last 8 games, last Thursday’s 10-8 loss and today’s 5-3 loss.

I would say they have 6 guys that can currently function in the PEN but they need Rojas & Klein (or something similar) to elevate the talent.

Sands - Topa - Funderburk - Orze - Morris - Banda or Rogers………… add Rojas & Klein …….. delete Banda or Rogers & Garcia.

Festa may be ready for a reliever slot in a month from now …….with him, Rojas & Klein removing “the current bottom 3”, I think the PEN can be ranked #15-18 in baseball.

Just like the starters that throw 4-7 innings, The PEN is going to give up a run or three if they have to cover 2-5 innings……..that’s not changing.

Gotta SCORE to WIN!

[Vanimal46]

5 minutes ago, BrokenCompass said:

Another embarrassing loss by a listless, bad baseball team with zero fight in them. Been the story the past couple years with these guys. 

This organization is a truck stuck in the mud. The wheels are spinning and s*** is being thrown everywhere. The truck isn’t going anywhere until we find new people who can push us out of the mud. 

[Blyleven2011]

20 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

. Not “competitive” - which is Tom P.’s goal.

 Please show us we are at least trying to be competitive  Tom Pohlad  , get us one or more shutdown relief pitchers ...

Kick it in gear , make a trade , have a prospect or someone from the minors trade places with  ...

This would have been a good game to test Rojas in a close game   , stop picking up these old veterans that nobody else wants ...

These bullpen losses are brutal , especially after a good start from the starter ...

[Parfigliano]

50 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

They were hitting .315 with RISP earlier this week ……………. something like .350 BA through a specific game w/RISP and since like .171 BA ……….. previous to today. Stuff levels out. Would be nice to level run production but it’s linked to line-up and what pitchers they are facing - and execution.

4 guys had 2 hits - 12 hits as a Club - 3 walks …….. gotta score more runs!

I think the 12 hits were 11 singles and a double