Twins 5, Royals 3: Sixth Inning Ambush Fuels Comeback Win

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

 

Box Score
SP: ............Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
Home Runs: Brooks Lee (9)
Top 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (.130), Brooks Lee (.120), Orlando Arcia (.120)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

There was rain. Or maybe there wasn’t. Well, there was supposed to be rain. Those who should know told us, anyways. And it might be back there in the distance somewhere. We’ll push this game back an hour and a half. It’ll build character. And then we’ll make them get an Apple TV subscription again. That’ll also build character. Are you tired of all the character? 

Nestled in Minneapolis—on the outskirts of the skyscrapers and man-made institutions that inspire awe and assert dominance—sits the stadium that contains the baseball played on Friday. The field, a beautiful arrangement of limestone, greenery, and screens, gave way to a classic back-and-forther on Thursday, the kind of game that could entertain even the most arduous baseball hater, though it ended in a loss for the protagonist Twins. And this is where we find our heroes: lauded and mired in the common traps and pitfalls of a team that simply may not be good. Not bad. Just not good. The Lord would spit them from his mouth if given the opportunity. 

Zebby Matthews certainly didn’t begin his start well. Fresh off the vague, esoteric rain delay, the square-jawed hurler found the terrain unfamiliar and rude. Kansas City crushed his offerings. A Bobby Witt Jr. walk portended a stolen base, placing the dynamic speedster in scoring position for any hitter. Vinnie Pasquantino made the point moot with a double cracked into right field. Jac Caglianone brought home his Italian-American brethren with a double off the Jericho wall in right-center. 

The instant offense paralyzed the Twins. Their offense remained dormant for two innings. The clever finesse veteran Michael Wacha knew which buttons to press and selected them with the acumen of a hurler 14 years into his major league career. 

Finally, matters turned in favor of Minnesota—ironically after they lost their best player, Byron Buxton, who exited following a failed encounter with the center field wall. Alex Jackson singled, and pinch-hitter Tristan Gray reached first on a bunt, sending the leading runner to third in the process. Brooks Lee grounded out to conclude the manufactured run. 

At this point, Matthews was settled in, comfortable. The Royals found him more troublesome than before—though thanks in part to Austin Martin throwing out a would-be runner at home in the fourth. A pitcher can sometimes only be as good as his defense, after all.

Sitting at a 2-1 stalemate in the sixth, the Twins trudged to the batter’s box draped in the common misfortune of an offense that couldn’t get going. They needed a hit to fuel things, yet the only fuel for such an endeavors is a hit. Quite the pickle. So, Lee simplified the situation by blasting a solo home run. 

“Homers kill rallies,” say some. In this case, they ignite them. Minnesota's bats became a flurry. Doubles by Kody Clemens and Josh Bell shot the Twins into the lead, and Orlando Arcia added on with an RBI knock into right field. Back-to-back wild pitches coaxed the scampering Arcia home safely. Suddenly, it was 5-2 Twins, and the Royals were no longer the aggressors in the game; they hadn’t flashed teeth since the first; they still couldn’t stop running into outs at home; Martin remained an armed terror manning right field with a vigor unseen since the cathedral was raised (outside of Max Kepler, but he never threw runners out quite like this.

Matthews ended his night after seven innings, ushering in the bullpen to end what the youngster had brilliantly started. Anthony Banda did so drama-less. Travis Adams did so with a soft tepid feeling of uneasiness, but he never devolved into worse territory, eventually closing the game with a soft pop-up off Kyle Isbel's bat. 

Notes:

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?
The Twins and Royals return to the Target Field confines Saturday for an early afternoon melee, sparring Joe Ryan against Luinder Avila. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Maybe. An estimation of rain could soil the start time. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

Morris	0	18	0	48	0	66
Paredes	0	0	0	50	0	50
Gómez	15	15	0	18	0	48
Lawrence	0	0	19	24	0	43
Orze	0	0	26	16	0	42
Banda	0	20	0	8	14	42
Adams	19	0	0	0	16	35
Laweryson	0	0	26	0	0	26
Rogers	0	0	12	11	0	23

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[DataNerd]

If you had Austin Martin's arm being the difference in this game, go play the lottery.

Bullpen playing solid.  Adams got hit around a bit, but he didn't walk anybody up by 3 so I'm a lot less annoyed about today.

Matthews, who throughout his career has seemed to have worse results than he should, has a start where he has much better ones than he should have.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Great Win. I hate to see Buxton go down, but it doesn't seem like there is serious injury there. Great defensive game by Austin Martin throwing two guys out. Great tag by Alex Jackson on the first one. I think the next month is going to be really interesting as to where people are playing on the field. There are a lot of guys on the Saints who are performing well enough for a call-up. I think the Twins should move either Royce Lewis or Luke Keaschall to 1st base, and the other one should be at second. Kaalen Culpepper homered again today. If you bring him and Lewis up, you could have an infield of Keaschall, Lewis, Culpepper, and Lee from right to left with Clemens and Bell in DH roles. That is a lot more exciting than what we currently have. Also, Kyler Fedko homered twice today for St. Paul. I know he is not on the 40-man but he might be worth a call-up soon if he keeps hitting like this. Go Twins.

[GopherMike]

I was at that game right behind the Royals dugout. Great game.
 

Martin will get credit, and rightfully so, but those two tags at the plate by Jackson were both absolutely flawless, especially the first one where the throw was a little off. 

[knothole61]

Nice win...I like Martin in right. Probability that I would go crazy if AppleTV covered all the games: 97%!

[h2oface]

Some really good plays already mentioned but my favorite was the excellent bunt by Gray. It was funny to hear the announcers praise or defensive versatility followed by also being one of the very worst in MLB.