Twins 9, Cardinals 8: Game of the Year on a Random Friday Night

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Home Runs: Byron Buxton (21), Kody Clemens (10), Royce Lewis (5), Brooks Lee (11)
Top 3 WPA: Kody Clemens (.410), Royce Lewis (.320), Byron Buxton (.200)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

1987. Michael Jackson returned from the biggest album ever with Bad. Guns N’ Roses debuted with Appetite for Destruction. The highest grossing film was… Three Men and a Baby? Ok. The music zeitgeist was clearly more stimulated than the film one. And in the midst—amongst the dramatic, modernic turns subtle in a decade often revered for its eccentricities—the Minnesota Twins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to claim their first World Series victory since moving to the state in 1961. Oh, and Prince released Sign O’ The Times. Man, were the movie-makers even trying this year?

Back to the present. Though the men on the field laboring, working, fighting for their respective organizations were not alive during that critical World Series, they survive as living monuments to the legacy of that sequence of games. 

Joe Ryan took the mound. The ace of the Twins. Anointed and donning the lake-blue attire too reminiscent of a soccer kit for its own good. The maestro with fastball adroit and dangerous staggered out of the gate, perhaps in pre-anticipation of the rain delay soon to befall the game: he surrendered a truly gargantuan home run to Alec Burleson before returning to labor through a single-centric second inning. Two runs scored. The newly-minted 30-year-old appeared perplexed. 

Fortunately, he was not alone in his fight. Byron Buxton remained in a flow state. He found a first-pitch outside slider to his liking and blasted the offering deep to center, depositing the ball amongst where there once was shrubbery, but now only rests a tame and ordinary grass, and a green batters-eye wall. 

The run, while mighty, was merely a lone scratch for the Twins. A single etch. Their only blood drawn against starter Kyle Leahy as the innings blurred into each other, and as the rain—later to be an intermittent nuisance—delayed the game for some time. 

Rather than muddy the quagmire at hand, the weather evidently cleansed the Twins of whatever nagging ailment rendered them mediocre. Royce Lewis singled to start the fifth, and Victor Caratini slugged a double into right-center to send his teammate to third. A Brooks Lee flyball was a tad too short in Lewis’ estimation, but a Tristan Gray infield single one batter later did the deed instead. 

Though only one run, the effort pushed Minnesota’s offense even further in the sixth, as a Buxton double begat a Josh Bell double thudded off the jutted wall in right field, tying the game until Lewis broke his team into the lead with a sacrifice fly. 

Given the lead for the first time, the Twins found themselves unsure what to do with themselves, and so given the choice, they reverted back to their standard operating procedure: they squandered it. Taylor Rogers and Eric Orze danced around the conclusion, seeming for a moment to only allow the game to be tied again, before finalizing the sudden direness of matters when Jordan Walker cleared the bases with a solidly-stroked double down the left-field line.

A fraught day for pitchers indeed. Sullen-eyed and lethargic, any hurler who trudged to the mound looked; knowing their fate and the swollen ERAs that will soon follow with their entrance into the game. A rank curse. To see so clearly what awaits one yet to be helpless to stop the terribleness. At least they have a pile of money to cry into.

Gordon Graceffo and Ryne Stanek were the next two pitchers to find this out; the prior for walking two batters; the latter for hanging a splitter that Kody Clemens swatted into the right-field seats for a game-tying three-run homer. 

The Cardinals scored again in the eighth but did you think that would mean anything? What with how this game has gone? Have you paid any attention? Were you actually watching? The tenor of the moment and the shifts of the night spoke to a predictable outcome: a mammoth Lewis homer to tie the game. Though perhaps surprising was Brooks Lee’s go-ahead blast just two batters later. 

Somehow, that proved enough: Andrew Morris entered to lock down the game in the ninth and did exactly that, exterminating the St. Louis threat with shocking efficiency to quietly end what had been a chaotic and unruly game. All hail the over-the-top hurling righty from Texas Tech for taming this crazed beast, 

Notes:

Byron Buxton is slugging .917 in his last seven games.

Royce Lewis is slashing .364/.400/.682 since re-joining the Twins on June 6th.

Joe Ryan's eight strikeouts give him 811 in his Twins career, the 11th-most in team history. He's 34 away from tying Kyle Gibson. 

Every batter in the starting Twins lineup outside of Trevor Larnach reached base safely at least once. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Cardinals match up once for what may be a normal game of baseball on Saturday with first pitch coming at 1:10 PM. Connor Prielipp will start opposite Matthew Liberatore. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Paredes	0	0	58	0	0	58
Rogers	0	17	14	0	22	53
Morris	0	0	39	0	9	48
Laweryson	0	12	0	32	0	44
Gómez	0	0	27	0	15	42
Orze	0	23	0	0	16	39
Banda	0	0	30	0	9	39
Adams	0	0	31	0	0	31
Lawrence	0	26	0	0	0	26

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[Permanent Twins Fan]

Great Game. Great win tonight for the Twins. Byron Buxton is a stud.  It is really nice to see Royce to seem to have figured something out lately. Hopefully it sticks this time. The Twins got clutch hitting when they needed it, and played solid defense for the most part. Ryan pitched decently. At this point, he is the only Twins starter I am confident in. Bradley, Matthews, and Prielipp have all shown flashes but haven't been consistent. Go Twins and Go USMNT. Dominant win today over Paraguay!!!!

[Sampson5]

Poetic that it was Royce who tied the game & lee who hit the go ahead homer can't say I expected either to happen after the bullpen looked to sell another winnable game shoutout to the offense for picking the pen up . Morris locking it down with ease was great to see after his previous outings needed to see him right the ship . Hopefully they can now find a way to win the series this weekend baseball alot more fun when your favorite team at least has a chance to play meaningful games later in the season 

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Terrible night for the bullpen. Yikes. 

Kody Clemens with another good game. .802 OPS now. Incredible career half season for him so far. He's really been defying his career numbers. 

Bucks bat is on fire 🔥 He is so fun to watch!

Royce is heating up! Still early, but maybe I was wrong about him...I hope I was. 

Lee with his hot and cold bat. Its like a roller-coaster with him. 

After the great start, Gomez has given up a run in 3 of 4 outings, I believe. Definitely not ideal. 

Orze was just plain awful tonight. Probably should've left Rogers in for that last out. Couldn't have done any worse. 

[knothole61]

Wow, the polar opposite of the 11-0 fiasco. This is the exciting team that we've had a few glimpses of this year! Please get these guys a somewhat reliable bullpen...is that too much to ask? 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

51 minutes ago, knothole61 said:

Wow, the polar opposite of the 11-0 fiasco

If this team is going to be bad defensively, and worse out of the bullpen, then it needs to beat the livin' bejeesus out of baseballs.
This is the way.

[David HK]

Wow, this was the Toilet Bowl of bad bullpens! 

Heh... The Twinks sure meth-cooked that mullet-headed Stanek tonight!  

[David HK]

And who is that gorgeous 70s fashion model Cards sideline reporter? 😍

[David HK]

3 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Terrible night for the bullpen. Yikes. 

Kody Clemens with another good game. .802 OPS now. Incredible career half season for him so far. He's really been defying his career numbers. 

Bucks bat is on fire 🔥 He is so fun to watch!

Royce is heating up! Still early, but maybe I was wrong about him...I hope I was. 

Lee with his hot and cold bat. Its like a roller-coaster with him. 

After the great start, Gomez has given up a run in 3 of 4 outings, I believe. Definitely not ideal. 

Orze was just plain awful tonight. Probably should've left Rogers in for that last out. Couldn't have done any worse. 

Neither of them deserve to be in a MLB bullpen. But there's no help nor hope on the horizon.  So I guess we just keep riding the DFA train of castoffs from other crappy teams. 😭

[Peter]

Buxton/lee/royce/Clemens go deep!!!💪💪💪great comeback and huge bounce back win!!! Let’s get a win and take series from cards!!!

[TL]

Best paragraph of the yer so far , “A fraught day for pitchers indeed. Sullen-eyed and lethargic, any hurler who trudged to the mound looked; knowing their fate and the swollen ERAs that will soon follow with their entrance into the game. A rank curse. To see so clearly what awaits one yet to be helpless to stop the terribleness. At least they have a pile of money to cry into.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Josh Bell doesn't get much love here, and overall he's obviously had a sub-par season so far, but when he DOES get hits, he seems to generate a few runs each time. He is tied with Lee at 39 RBI, which is more than either Buxton or Clemens have. Not saying he is a better player than any of those guys, but I still think he has value on this team. 

[Saxophone Joe]

Gutsy win. Great to see the guys picking each other up. This would’ve been another demoralizing loss.
So happy for Royce! 
Bullpen is a total mess though 🤦🏼‍♂️Morris was shockingly efficient indeed. 

[terrydactyls]

If the OP had just added to this article:

1.  Heaving busoms

2.  Throbbing male genitalia

3.  A picture of Fabio

he would be well on his way to a romance novel.  I think he must have recently taken a creative writing class.  Just tell us what happened at the game.

[CRF]

4 hours ago, David HK said:

And who is that gorgeous 70s fashion model Cards sideline reporter? 😍

Her name is Dani Wexelman. It's her first season as Cardinals version of Audra Martin. 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Josh Bell doesn't get much love here, and overall he's obviously had a sub-par season so far, but when he DOES get hits, he seems to generate a few runs each time. He is tied with Lee at 39 RBI, which is more than either Buxton or Clemens have. Not saying he is a better player than any of those guys, but I still think he has value on this team. 

A good example of the effect of lineup position on RBI totals.

Buxton is 12th in runs scored and he has mostly batted leadoff. That’s what you want from the leadoff hitter.

[D.C Twins]

We actually won a Battle of the Bad Bullpens (trademark pending)

[rv78]

56 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

If the OP had just added to this article:

1.  Heaving busoms

2.  Throbbing male genitalia

3.  A picture of Fabio

he would be well on his way to a romance novel.  I think he must have recently taken a creative writing class.  Just tell us what happened at the game.

Disagree. Was one of the more enjoyable articles on this site I've ever read. Evidently you like boring instead of having your mind enlightened and envisioned with imaginary details. Great job Matt!

[wornsmooth]

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

A good example of the effect of lineup position on RBI totals.

Buxton is 12th in runs scored and he has mostly batted leadoff. That’s what you want from the leadoff hitter.

I have never before heard of batting a guy on track for 40 to 50 homeruns batting leadoff.

Mickey Mantle was as fast as Buxton, but the Yankees never wasted his power batting leadoff.

ILast year I thought batting Buxton leadoff  was stupid.

I still think it stupid.

If he batted 3rd or 4th he would have 50 percent more ribis and about same number of runs scored

 

 

[Blyleven2011]

As erratic the bullpen can be , Morris had his moment to shine in a save situation ...

Exciting win but i didn't get to see the excitement unfold as i fell asleep after the 6th inning , to bad so sad ...

[jmlease1]

I like seeing the offense continue to battle? I like seeing Royce being a key contributor?

I don't like seeing the bullpen be so crap. That said, I do think Morris has a future in the bullpen.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Terrible night for the bullpen. Yikes. 

Kody Clemens with another good game. .802 OPS now. Incredible career half season for him so far. He's really been defying his career numbers. 

Bucks bat is on fire 🔥 He is so fun to watch!

Royce is heating up! Still early, but maybe I was wrong about him...I hope I was. 

Lee with his hot and cold bat. Its like a roller-coaster with him. 

After the great start, Gomez has given up a run in 3 of 4 outings, I believe. Definitely not ideal. 

Orze was just plain awful tonight. Probably should've left Rogers in for that last out. Couldn't have done any worse. 

If Roger’s can’t throw strikes or locate just off the plate (like many pitchers) he doesn’t have the stuff to get past hitters nor put them away. When throwing sliders that break 2 feet to RH hitters and they are right in it, repeatedly, the term “washed” comes to mind.

Orze - WOW!

Gomez got a bad break with infield drawn in - Gray had 3 plays that I saw where he got to balls and couldn’t make a play……his effort is great! However, I have to think that with another step of quickness, Culpepper turns two of the three stops by Gray, into outs.

I think Clemens actually deserves a potential extension for $3M/year with some incentives - couple years! They were paying Castro $7M/yr in ‘24.

Buxton - WOW!

[terrydactyls]

47 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Disagree. Was one of the more enjoyable articles on this site I've ever read. Evidently you like boring instead of having your mind enlightened and envisioned with imaginary details. Great job Matt!

To each his own.  I personally didn't care for it.  But that says nothing about me liking "boring" or the rest of the detritus you added.  (See!  Me can speak in big words.)

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

I think Clemens actually deserves a potential extension for $3M/year with some incentives - couple years! They were paying Castro $7M/yr in ‘24.

They already have control over Clemens for the next three seasons after this one, ages 31-33. Castro was 27 in 2024.

[JD-TWINS]

6 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

They already have control over Clemens for the next three seasons after this one, ages 31-33. Castro was 27 in 2024.

Great point but if he continues this path he’s on, he’ll get more in arbitration, IMO.

[stringer bell]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

They already have control over Clemens for the next three seasons after this one, ages 31-33. Castro was 27 in 2024.

Exactly. Clemens will be in his first arbitration year this off season. Arb will net him raises, but the current system gives team control through his age 33 season. He is performing well enough to be at least a 400+ PA utility man and in a different situationcould possibly be a 3 WAR first baseman who contends for a Gold Glove. Not bad for a DFA pickup who I immediately dubbed "Bronnie".

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Great point but if he continues this path he’s on, he’ll get more in arbitration, IMO.

If he ages like a typical player he might not last until then.

[Mike Sixel]

24 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

If Roger’s can’t throw strikes or locate just off the plate (like many pitchers) he doesn’t have the stuff to get past hitters nor put them away. When throwing sliders that break 2 feet to RH hitters and they are right in it, repeatedly, the term “washed” comes to mind.

Orze - WOW!

Gomez got a bad break with infield drawn in - Gray had 3 plays that I saw where he got to balls and couldn’t make a play……his effort is great! However, I have to think that with another step of quickness, Culpepper turns two of the three stops by Gray, into outs.

I think Clemens actually deserves a potential extension for $3M/year with some incentives - couple years! They were paying Castro $7M/yr in ‘24.

Buxton - WOW!

Clemens would make more than that in arbitration, not to mention a likely floor next year.  He's definitely the positive surprise of the year for me. 

[mark allen]

6 hours ago, David HK said:

Neither of them deserve to be in a MLB bullpen. But there's no help nor hope on the horizon.  So I guess we just keep riding the DFA train of castoffs from other crappy teams. 😭

disagree Gomez has been good with the twins. All pitchers give up runs

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, rv78 said:

Disagree. Was one of the more enjoyable articles on this site I've ever read. Evidently you like boring instead of having your mind enlightened and envisioned with imaginary details. Great job Matt!

Agreed. I was entertained. I don't need dry recaps. I can get that from other places.