Athletics 2, Twins 0: Twins Offense Can't Connect in Ugly Loss

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

 

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (92 pitches, 52 strikes (57%))
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-0.44), Victor Caratini (-0.15), Ryan Kreidler (-0.09)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Twins rode into town with some pep in their step having pull out a series split in Cleveland, with the atrocious Athletics waiting for them at Target Field. Zebby Matthews might have been coming off of two of his worst starts of the season, but opposing him was Jacob Lopez who was coming off of even worse starts. In fact, Lopez hadn't won since May, and the Athletics rode a 10-game losing streak into the All-Star Break and have lost three of their last four. The Twins stacked an all-righty lineup against the crafty Lopez, while the A's assembled a lineup of all the uninjured humans on their roster. On paper, this game looked like a win for the desperate Twins. On the field, the loss slowly and wildly unfolded for the home team.

Trading No-No's Through Four
Matthews was on point to start the game, facing the minimum with only a walk to ruin his perfect vibes. Unfortunately, Lopez was erratically on point as well. Austin Martin walked twice in the first three innings, and the Twins had runners in scoring position early and often, but Lopez was so wild that the Twins couldn't lock in for solid contact and went hitless as well through four innings.

A's Strike Limestone, Score First
Zebby's cruise control went offline at the start of the fifth inning when he walked Donovan Walton on four pitches. Tommy White went first-pitch hunting and sent a fly ball deep into right, but as Luke Keaschall could make a leaping attempt at the wall the ball caught the limestone overhang and bounced back into play. Luckily, Byron Buxton was ready to back up his teammate, and he kept the runners at second and third. Another walk loaded the bases, and Lawrence Butler made Matthews pay for his wildness with a sac fly to make it 1-0.

The Twins got a double from Martin to put yet another runner in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but Buxton and Ryan Jeffers both flew out to end yet another threat. Meanwhile, the Athletics smelled an opportunity to win a game for once, and they kept the pressure on Matthews in the sixth with seeing eye singles by Henry Bolte and Tyler Soderstrom to make it 2-0. 

City Connects Can't Connect
The Twins got into the A's league-worst bullpen in the bottom of hte sixth, and Geoff Hartlieb didn't disappoint. He walked Josh Bell and Royce Lewis to start the inning, but then struck out the hobbled Victor Caratini on three pitches. The runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Keaschall never got a strike to swing at and Hartlieb walked the bases loaded. Jose Saurez got the call to end the threat, and Brooks Lee obliged by reaching for an 0-1 changeup for the elusive but effective 5-3 double play. 

The Twins offense grounded out in order in the seventh, and immediately erased their second hit of the game in the eighth with yet another double play grounder by Bell. The bottom of the ninth? Caratini again looked lost in striking out, but Keaschall took one for the team to put the tying run up to the plate in Lee. Lee continued a rough night at the plate, this time ending the threat 1-4-3. 

No Moral Victories in Trade Deadline Week
Matthews pitched his way through a dismal 56% strike average towards a quality start. Martin dazzled in the field and at the plate, but saw the heart of the Twins lineup go 1-10 behind him. The A's found ways to get runners home from second, while the league-leading Twins went 0-8. That's how a team in search of the .500 mark continues to stay a few games under it.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to avenge this loss on Saturday night on Kirby Puckett jersey giveaway day. With a guaranteed 10,000 fans in the stadium, hopefully they aren't faced with another sad performance from an offense that has averaged "not enough runs to make the playoffs" since the All-Star Break. The Twins and A's have yet to announce their starters for the latest "must-win" game of Minnesota's season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Funderburk	16	0	22	0	12	50
Paredes	0	49	0	0	0	49
Nance	36	0	0	13	0	49
Rojas	0	47	0	0	0	47
Morris	0	0	28	16	0	44
Adams	0	0	27	0	14	41
Rogers	0	28	0	13	0	41
Anderson	0	8	0	18	17	43
Gómez	0	0	0	22	0	14

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[VivaBomboRivera!]

WHERE'S THE BATS, MAN?

[Peter]

💩💩💩🤮🤮🤮🤮better win the 5 games at home!!! 

[ashbury]

I believe it's the case that even after this loss, the Twins lead the majors in OPS for RISP situations.  Also, not coincidentally, in BABIP in those same cases.

[ashbury]

34 minutes ago, Steven Trefz said:

The Twins stacked an all-righty lineup 

[terrydactyls]

6 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I believe it's the case that even after this loss, the Twins lead the majors in OPS for RISP situations.  Also, not coincidentally, in BABIP in those cases.

Whopee.  They are still 3 games under .500.

[Saxophone Joe]

Several hard hit balls with runners on were hit right at guys. Two by Buck, Just one of those fall in & we’re having a different conversation. Whaddya gonna do? 

[wesnewy]

too many double plays - kept stalling out the offense. Good start from Zebby I hope he can transfer his success at home to away games

[wesnewy]

11 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

Several hard hit balls with runners on were hit right at guys. Two by Buck, Just one of those fall in & we’re having a different conversation. Whaddya gonna do? 

Sometimes it's just not your game, and you just gotta live with that.

[D.C Twins]

28 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I believe it's the case that even after this loss, the Twins lead the majors in OPS for RISP situations.  Also, not coincidentally, in BABIP in those same cases.

Oh... the regression to the mean is coming for the RISP.... also check out their won/loss versus run differential...

Detroit will pass the Twins this week and never look back. 

Again... Jeffers and Larnach are must trades. 

I would trade Ryan before the deadline if a strong offer comes in but I'm willing to compromise with the TDers flying high on a strong dose of hopeium that are determined that the Twins will defy all odds ..... and trade him during the off season :)

 

[Parfigliano]

11 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Oh... the regression to the mean is coming for the RISP.... also check out their won/loss versus run differential...

Detroit will pass the Twins this week and never look back. 

Again... Jeffers and Larnach are must trades. 

I would trade Ryan before the deadline if a strong offer comes in but I'm willing to compromise with the TDers flying high on a strong dose of hopeium that are determined that the Twins will defy all odds ..... and trade him during the off season :)

 

Someone might even take Bell.

[DocBauer]

So Zebby isn't a bad rotation piece? Once again, he threw a great game. The offense let him down. But his 6 IP was very good. This loss was on the offense. 

I still think Matthews has another level to be reached with some changes to his repertoire. He still has a problem getting outs with good counts. They need to help him develop a splitter, and maybe a sweeper to offset a FB that is too straight. 

But damn if he didn't go out and pitch 6 innings of really good ball tonight and give the team a chance to win. And he helped save the BP as well.

The offense lost the game tonight, not Matthews. But again, why are we discussing what Matthews hasn't done yet vs what he HAS done, and might yet do?

[knothole61]

1 hour ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

WHERE'S THE BATS, MAN?

Holy buzzkill Batman!

Hey VBR, where have you been? Long time, no read... 

[knothole61]

On any given day, any given team...so true!

Zebby Matthews is an interesting looking guy--he's right out of central casting but I can't quite put my finger on the part he should play. Tonight, as he was walking around with his cap off in the dugout, I imagined him playing the role of a junior officer on a destroyer in the South Pacific during WW II. Can you see it: fingers cupped around his coffee, half-spent cigarette in the corner of his mouth, and a steely look in his eyes as he scans the stark and choppy horizon for signs of the enemy?

Man, that was a bad game!

[howeda7]

Bad loss to a bad team. Bell, Lewis and Caratini are regressing hard. I'd dump Bell for anything of value. 

[howeda7]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

Oh... the regression to the mean is coming for the RISP.... also check out their won/loss versus run differential...

Detroit will pass the Twins this week and never look back. 

Again... Jeffers and Larnach are must trades. 

I would trade Ryan before the deadline if a strong offer comes in but I'm willing to compromise with the TDers flying high on a strong dose of hopeium that are determined that the Twins will defy all odds ..... and trade him during the off season :)

 

Larnach isn't a must trade. Bringing him back as the primary DH in 2027 is fine. 

[DocBauer]

Other than the batters blew opportunity and lost the game, a couple comments. 

How horrible is Matthews when he's so good 75% of the time and some want to dump on him instead of looking at his improvement and wondering how good he might be with some tweaks? 

The bullpen was solid again tonight. 

But why do we celebrate how awesome Bradley has been, other than a couple of games, but we dismiss how good Matthews has been other than a few games?

 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

37 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

Larnach isn't a must trade. Bringing him back as the primary DH in 2027 is fine. 

He would definitely be okay there, but the Twins have so many outfield prospects coming up in AAA. Jenkins and Rodriguez are legit outfielders if they are ever healthy, but both Gonzalez and Mendez are not great defensively, so they would see games at DH. The logjam at outfield makes Larnach an almost must-trade.