Twins 3, Rockies 2: Prielipp Shoves, Solo Homers Lift Twins To Series Victory

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Connor Prielipp: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K (93 Pitches, 65 Strikes, 69.9%)
Home Runs: Kody Clemens (13), Ryan Kreidler (5)
Top 3 WPA: Yoendrys Gomez (0.28), Kreidler (0.16), Andrew Morris (0.14)
Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant):

This week the Twins learned that despite an overperforming offense, they can't really compete with the likes of the Dodgers. Minus Hunter Goodman, they are pretty good against the Rockies. After splitting the first two games of the series, the rubber match would feature Connor Prielipp against Ryan Feltner of Colorado.

Feltner is sneakily not that bad of a pitcher, despite middling numbers. His ERA+, which accounts for his home ballpark, has Feltner over 100 each of the past three seasons, indicating he is an above-average pitcher. The induced vertical break on his four-seamer is within shouting distance of Joe Ryan's, and you could see it in the swings of Byron Buxton, Trevor Larnach and Kody Clemens early, with all three getting fastballs in their nitro zone that just swung underneath, resulting in 300-foot flyouts rather than extra-base damage.

Prielipp was a little wild, but his breaking stuff was sharp, and all the Rockies could hope to do was dink and dunk the lefty to death, with mixed results. A ground-ball single from Willi Castro, a hit batsman, and a grounder that kicked off Brooks Lee's glove resulted in a run in the first inning, but Prielipp recovered to strike out lefty-masher Kyle Karros to end the frame. The next two innings were uneventful, with Prielipp generating whiff after whiff, his curveball and slider looking particularly dominant.

The Twins would answer in the second, with Royce Lewis doubling down the left field line and Lee legging out a swinging bunt that third baseman Karros threw wildly on, allowing Lewis to score. Lee even managed to steal second afterward, but the Twins were unable to add on.

The fourth inning was frustrating for Prielipp, as he allowed a bleeder through the infield, a bloop single, and another hit batter to load the bases with one out. But despite falling behind Braxton Fulford, Prielipp struck him out with a slider, then got Ezequiel Tovar to tap out to end the threat. He had generated 12 whiffs already by that point.

Clemens finally got on top of a Feltner offering in the bottom of the fourth, launching a fastball 399 feet for a no-doubt home run to give the Twins the lead.

The Rockies tried some more Guardians-ball in the sixth. Drew Rumfield legged out an infield single, and Cole Carigg tried to bunt for a hit, but hit it right to Lewis at first, who probably had a chance to get the lead runner but opted for the easy out at first. Prielipp then struck out Karros on a nasty curveball and got ahead of Troy Johnston, but served up a flat slider that Johnston served into right field for a run-scoring single. Prielipp then struck out Fulford for his 10th ponche.

Meanwhile, the Twins had no answers for Feltner, who cruised through six innings, consistently keeping his fastball above the Twins' bats. A leadoff double by Larnach in the sixth was squandered, and the seventh was started by Rockies' relief ace Seth Halvorsen, so things were looking grim.

Tell that to Ryan Kreidler, who took Halvorsen to straightaway center for a go-ahead home run. Austin Martin singled sharply up the middle, and Alex Jackson laid down a perfect bunt to put two men on for Josh Bell, pinch-hitting for Larnach against lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino. Bell hit him hard, but the liner was speared by Bernardino to end the frame.

Andrew Morris and Anthony Banda got through scoreless seventh and eighth innings with four strikeouts. Banda was sent back out to start the ninth and immediately plunked Fulford, appearing to hurt himself in the process. Yoendrys Gómez was then inserted and allowed a screaming liner off the bat of Jake McCarthy that Martin made a great sliding play on. Three pitches later, Gómez had another save and the Twins a series victory.

Stuff I'm Tracking:

• Byron Buxton DH'd today, and has looked physically uncomfortable the past few games, particularly after sliding or swinging and missing. He's still hitting, though.
• Kreidler has been getting some more run these past few weeks and is even starting against righties like Feltner today. I feel bad for Tristan Gray, but he's being outhit by Kreidler and was never the preferred option defensively. It sure seems like Gray would be the odd man out if/when Kaelen Culpepper gets his chance.
• Prielipp looked great. He did hit two batters but didn't walk anyone, and was rarely close. He induced 20 whiffs and the Rockies didn't sniff an extra-base hit. They were lucky to generate two runs.
• Crazy how the Yankees have been searching for answers at first base for over a decade now. Now they have Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt finding the fountain of youth, so Rumfield became expendable and has an .860 OPS, looking locked-in against the Twins all series.

Postgame Interviews:

 

What's Next:
The Twins travel to Houston for a three-game set against the Astros. Zebby Matthews (3-5, 4.56 ERA) faces Peter Lambert (6-4, 3.28 ERA). The 'Stros sit one game ahead of the Twins in the AL Wild Card race and have played better since a brutal start. Matthews has been hit or miss, as usual, and I do shudder to think what Yordan Alvarez will do to him.

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	P
Raya	0	0	0	40	0	40
Banda	25	0	11	0	14	35
Morris	7	0	6	0	12	25
Funderburk	0	0	20	25	0	20
Orze	0	0	14	0	0	14
Gómez	10	0	0	0	4	14
Rogers	0	0	0	9	0	9
Adams	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

View full article

[mark allen]

Andrew Morris has a great week, Two wins 4.1 scoreless innings.

[Peter]

Huge huge huge series win!!!!💪💪💪how’s Banda???

[RpR]

[stringer bell]

Gotta like what Kreidler is doing. Since Culpepper hasn’t played in over a week, it is unlikely he’ll be recalled soon. Keep it up Ryan!

Clemens keeps producing no matter where he plays. The best news of the day was probably Prielipp’s outing. If he keeps his arm healthy, he might still be something special. 

[Matt Braun]

I would like to see more Kreidler at shortstop, please. 

[karcherd]

6 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

I would like to see more Kreidler at shortstop, please. 

At least until Culpepper is ready, hopefully after the All-Star break.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Kriedler and Clemens need to be playing every day. 

Hope Banda is ok. Don't like seeing players get hurt. He had been pitching very well after his rough start and was one of MAYBE 3 guys in the BP you can trust with Morris and Gomez. 

 

[thelanges5]

29 minutes ago, Peter said:

Huge huge huge series win!!!!💪💪💪how’s Banda???

Shelty said it was his side but nothing more than that. 

[krink]

We win two games against the Rockies, and lose one. What did the two we win have in common? I’ll give you a hint - I’ve been proselytizing about him for a while…

Nice to get this series after the trouncing that happened previously. Let’s keep that going as we hit the road - Texas was good to us last time, here’s hoping the Lone Star state treats us well this time around, too!

[thelanges5]

76-86 pace, good series win. Flying off to Houston and NYC for the week. 

[Saxophone Joe]

We currently have a better record than the defending AL champs. Meanwhile, Detroit and its bullpen had a terrible series against Houston. Fan bases across MLB - save for a handful of clubs - are pissed off at their teams, for various reasons...

Point is - all and all, after 85 games, could be a lot worse for Shelty and co.! “Hunt the good” indeed.

[jkcarew]

We’re a bad hop better than the Rockies!

At least at home.

[Patzky]

6 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

We’re a bad hop better than the Rockies!

At least at home.

Willi oughta know about those hops 🆙

[AceWrigley]

That there is a good win, I don't care who ya are.

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, mark allen said:

Andrew Morris has a great week, Two wins 4.1 scoreless innings.

Vulture! He owes both Bradley and Prielipp dinners.

[mark allen]

33 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Vulture! He owes both Bradley and Prielipp dinners.

I don't think he is the one to owe Bradley a dinner, butt there are some others that sure do.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, Matt Braun said:

I would like to see more Kreidler at shortstop, please. 

Agree 100%

[Jacksson]

Great Strategy.  Come in to start the 9th with your team ahead by 1 run, with zero outs and the bases empty.  Hit the first batter faced and put the tying run on 1st with no outs.  Having Banda come into a game is like walking on eggshells.  His stats conceal the fact that he gives up scores to runners he inherits, hits batters, walks batters and allows hits. 

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Keaschall has played a decent right field. I haven't seen him have to make any important long throws yet.  Can you foresee  an OF of  Buck, Jenkins and Keaschall? Might be pretty good defensively.

[Dman]

Dang, Kriedler is giving me lot's of crow dinners. Stats can't always take into account when a player is going to improve.  I Know 90 at bats is still a SSS, but the rub is most would say it is harder to hit well when getting small amounts of playing time and he has an .890 OPS under those conditions.  

Today it was a down the middle fastball that he hit out which is easier than most pitches. Still his stat line looks pretty sustainable over those 90 at bats.  He has a near 10% walk rate and only a 16% K rate so he is making contact and has a decent eye.  He also has a .319 BABIP which might be a tick high, but is fairly normalized. He has a positive WAR on Offense and Defense.   I think it's time to see if he can keep this up as a starter.

I get he is already 28 and currently in his prime but he could have another 4 years left before declining all that much.  If he can OPS anywhere near just an .800 OPS that is starter material.  It's hard to believe his numbers this year compared to the rest of his pro career, but he is getting too consistent to be lucky here at some point.  I'd say keep him in there and see if he drops off with the bat or not.

[Blyleven2011]

A 1 run win , a series win ...

How sweet thou are ...

Prielipp with 10 strikeouts and no walks , tremendous start ...

Kody Keeps Klobbering w / Klub ...

See what I did there ... 

Got to like the opportunity Kody's been given on both sides of the ball ...

Kody seems to like it here and I'm sure that he appreciates the opportunity he has been given , 1 hot streak last year after acquired and that set tge stage ...

We keep Kody as our super sub ...

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

We’re a bad hop better than the Rockies!

At least at home.

There are no bad hops.

 

[The Great Hambino]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

There are no bad hops.

 

Sounds like someone has never tasted Miller Lite

[USAFChief]

1 minute ago, The Great Hambino said:

Sounds like someone has never tasted Miller Lite

Nobody has ever tasted Miller Lite.

[The Great Hambino]

1 minute ago, USAFChief said:

Nobody has ever tasted Miller Lite.

Touche

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, karcherd said:

At least until Culpepper is ready, hopefully after the All-Star break.

If Kreidler keeps up his production - his defense is solid……….I do not see Culpepper until they wave the white flag in August, or maybe September, if they hang around the Wild Card race.

Culpepper should be in a groove before being brought up ……,seems that’s 3-5 weeks away with his current health.

Kreidler is somehow hitting & hitting more……. I don’t get it, but he’s actually doing it routinely. I see no reason to move off him as long as “winning” is the goal.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Dang, Kriedler is giving me lot's of crow dinners. Stats can't always take into account when a player is going to improve.  I Know 90 at bats is still a SSS, but the rub is most would say it is harder to hit well when getting small amounts of playing time and he has an .890 OPS under those conditions.  

Today it was a down the middle fastball that he hit out which is easier than most pitches. Still his stat line looks pretty sustainable over those 90 at bats.  He has a near 10% walk rate and only a 16% K rate so he is making contact and has a decent eye.  He also has a .319 BABIP which might be a tick high, but is fairly normalized. He has a positive WAR on Offense and Defense.   I think it's time to see if he can keep this up as a starter.

I get he is already 28 and currently in his prime but he could have another 4 years left before declining all that much.  If he can OPS anywhere near just an .800 OPS that is starter material.  It's hard to believe his numbers this year compared to the rest of his pro career, but he is getting too consistent to be lucky here at some point.  I'd say keep him in there and see if he drops off with the bat or not.

At this point - he gives them the best chance of good results! I’d easily take .750-.760 OPS if the SS has a decent glove. …….. others here said in Spring Training that he was “the worst hitter in all of MLB”. He sure seems to be squaring the ball up pretty often - too often to think it’s just good fortune, as you mentioned. Pencil him in 5 days/week at a minimum, IMO.

[Linus]

Prielipp looked good. The curveball really baffled the Rockies. A little better control and we have something. Hat tip to Morris - guy has been great. And as others noted Kreidler has been a nice surprise. Alex Jackson with a productive game - bunt, good challenge and seemed to really keep Prielipps pitch mix unpredictable.  

[DataNerd]

3 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Kriedler and Clemens need to be playing every day. 

Clemens is running a .635 OPS vs LHP and an .817 vs RHP this year, career its .589 and .721.  He should start against every righty, but save him for a pinch hitter with a lefty starter.