Twins 4, Braves 1: Suddenly Streaking

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (90 pitches, 58 strikes (64%))
Home Runs: Josh Bell (17)
Top 3 WPA: Bell (0.17), Matthews (0.15), A.J. Minter (0.12)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

An 11-game and seven-year winless drought against the Braves was broken Monday night, and Zebby Matthews hoped to shock the world again by pitching the Twins to a series win on Tuesday night. The foe was ex-Twin Tyler Mahle, who has been taking care of business for his new team in two starts since the trade deadline. If you had "pitchers duel" on your bingo card, you were the only one—and you went home happy. The question remained, though: would Twins fans go home happy yet again?

Starting Well Again
For a solid week, the Twins seemed to repeatedly surrender first-inning runs in heart-wrenching fashion. The past two games saw the Twins jumping on the board early, with mixed eventual results. Tonight's game saw Matthews cruise through the top of the first, and Mahle initially looked poised to do the same—that is, until Ryan Jeffers reached second base on some outfielder pinball with two outs, and Josh Bell decided to send an 87.4-MPH splitter back at 110 MPH (with a 30° launch angle). Just like that, it was 2-0 Twins.

Good Pitching Defeats Good Hitting... Every Time
The second through sixth innings featured both pitches commanding the zone and fielders making the plays in front of them. Mahle needed 26 pitches to escape the first inning, but he only needed 41 pitches to mow through the next five, without surrendering another run. The Twins' early starts and mid-game fizzle were on full display yet again.

Matthews matched Mahle in results at twice the effort, as he reached the 90-pitch mark in the sixth after serving up Drake Baldwin's 21st homer of the year. With only a one-run lead, Matthews stayed in and got into more trouble with runners at first and second with two outs. Derek Shelton brought in the emergency relief, and Kody Funderburk came through to keep the game 2-1 in favor of the home team.

Can the Twins Really Win a Game Like This, After a Week Like That?
Andrew Morris wore Sunday's Phillies loss, but he took the Braves out in order in the seventh. A.J. Minter faced the dangerous Baldwin, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Matt Olson trio in the eighth, but they all went back to the dugout disgruntled. Meanwhile, the Twins' bats had been dormant since the first, but Kaelen Culpepper ain't scared of relievers. He singled to start the bottom of the eighth. Luke Keaschall failed to advance him, but Shelton pinch-hit Byron Buxton for Trevor Larnach, which caused Walt Weiss to bring in the righty Didier Fuentes. Buxton singled on the first pitch he saw, and it took Ryan Jeffers only two pitches to make it a 4-1 Twins lead with a ringing double.

With the game still a save situation, Yoendrys Gómez came in to shut the door. Michael Harris II instead slammed a leadoff double to put the anxiety back into the room. Harris never got past third base, however, and the unthinkable became reality at Target Field. Series victory in the books. It's time to see if Philly left any brooms in the building.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to sweep the Braves. I never thought I would get to type that, but here we are. Twins righty Taj Bradley (9-5, 3.98 ERA) looks to avenge his Field of Broken Dreams start, while the Braves will send recent call-up RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0, 4.15 ERA) out to attempt to salvage a game. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Morris	0	23	28	0	13	64
Hoffman	0	17	0	20	0	37
Gomez	0	0	0	19	16	35
Minter	0	12	14	0	6	32
Rogers	0	0	16	11	0	27
Funderburk	0	16	4	0	4	24
Adams	0	0	0	18	0	18
Nance	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[Saxophone Joe]

Zebby gave the team exactly what was needed. Bravo! 

Honestly was one of my favorite wins of the season. Every W feels huge right now. Get greedy tomorrow. 

[ashbury]

Two in a row?   Woo hoo!

[SE23]

Pitching was top notch, start to finish. Haven't been able to say that often this year

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

After thinking about this some more, I think Alex Jackson cursed the team when he’s DFA’d and reversed it when he was called back up, LOL. I am really starting to wish we had another year of control on Minter. He has been solid since coming over. I just hope Amick doesn’t make us regret that trade for a rental.  
 

Gomez just keeps knocking down saves. That and Bell continues to rake at the end of the season.  I will have to update the playoff chances in my post trade thread but I was getting close to giving up on the team. One last point, Culpepper seems to be hitting his stride.  Let’s get the sweep!

[TheLeviathan]

Two quality wins.  It keeps the pulse going.

[Mike Sixel]

I like wins. 

[Parfigliano]

Nice to see Zebby dominate a legit top tier MLB lineup.

[High heat]

You won 2 game I wouldnt call it streaking!  
 

With saying that after the Philly series and Braves and Padres coming I thought we were toast!  This at least keeps are playoffs alive.  Gotta get a sweep tomorrow and go to SD and hope to take 2.

[90stwinskid]

Well that's a series dub! Against the mighty Braves, no less. Time to get greedy tomorrow.

Post-deadline: 6-8

Overall: 62-65

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Amick was called up to the Mets AAA. Still striking out at about a 40% clip but hitting the cover off the ball in his other at bats. 7 home runs and nearly a 1.200 OPS.  Still seems to be a small sample size and plenty of swing and miss, but potentially a 3rd/1st baseman with legitimate power. 30 home runs on the year. 

[JD-TWINS]

Kody FUNDERBURK!!

MORRIS!!!

MINTER!!!!

GOMEZ has really got some mental fortitude - keeps getting results!!!!!

Great to see Buxton come off the bench & provide some spark …… he was cruising into & around 3rd!

[bean5302]

25 minutes ago, SE23 said:

Pitching was top notch, start to finish. Haven't been able to say that often this year

31 / 126 games this year the Twins have allowed 2 or fewer runs. Basically, 25% of the time. It's not that uncommon for the staff being dominant.

[Cory Engelhardt]

22 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

After thinking about this some more, I think Alex Jackson cursed the team when he’s DFA’d and reversed it when he was called back up.  I am really starting to wish we had another year of control on Minter. He has been solid since coming over. I just hope Amick doesn’t make us regret that trade for a rental.  
 

Gomez just keeps knocking down saves. That and Bell continues to rake at the end of the season.  I will have to update the playoff chances in my post trade thread but I was getting close to giving up on the team. One last point, Culpepper seems to be hitting his stride.  Let’s get the sweep!

Minter is very much someone I hope gets a new deal. But that's actually becoming a fairly longer list in my head of what I would do if I were in charge of extending players. 

[bean5302]

The Twins taking 2 back to back against the Braves certainly wasn't expected, but I'll take it! Getting the wins courtesy of production from those you least expect it from has made for a strange season!

[JD-TWINS]

10 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

31 / 126 games this year the Twins have allowed 2 or fewer runs. Basically, 25% of the time. It's not that uncommon for the staff being dominant.

I think the sentiment is …….”after giving up 24 runs in 3 games” ……… as well as “v. the Team that’s been leading the NL East all year”…….it’s nice to see the Staff dominate v. a good Club.

[GNess]

The Twins need to keep finding ways to win - the schedule in September is less daunting.

The American League from top to bottom is absent an elite team. There is a path forward in the postseason for every team that qualifies.

[twinstalker]

20 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Amick was called up to the Mets AAA. Still striking out at about a 40% clip but hitting the cover off the ball in his other at bats. 7 home runs and nearly a 1.200 OPS.  Still seems to be a small sample size and plenty of swing and miss, but potentially a 3rd/1st baseman with legitimate power. 30 home runs on the year. 

LOL.  I couldn't be less worried about a player haunting the Twins.

[jkcarew]

You don’t have to squint a whole bunch to see a pretty decent starting pitching staff emerging for the next few years. Yes, more than a few things still need to fall right…Matthews, Prielipp taking a step, Bradley gaining a bit more consistency. Abel coming back strong. But it’s a talented bunch…so, maybe. One thing not being talked about…Lopez hits free agency after next year just like Ryan. 

[JD-TWINS]

22 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Minter is very much someone I hope gets a new deal. But that's actually becoming a fairly longer list in my head of what I would do if I were in charge of extending players. 

If there’s a “floor” at $150M or more, could get aggressive on 3-4 key guys!

[DJL44]

53 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

After thinking about this some more, I think Alex Jackson cursed the team when he’s DFA’d and reversed it when he was called back up, LOL.
 

The Alex Jackson win streak continues. Unfortunately for Jackson, the team absolutely can’t put him in a game until the streak ends.

[glunn]

38 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

31 / 126 games this year the Twins have allowed 2 or fewer runs. Basically, 25% of the time. It's not that uncommon for the staff being dominant.

How does that compare with other teams?

[Cory Engelhardt]

27 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

You don’t have to squint a whole bunch to see a pretty decent starting pitching staff emerging for the next few years. Yes, more than a few things still need to fall right…Matthews, Prielipp taking a step, Bradley gaining a bit more consistency. Abel coming back strong. But it’s a talented bunch…so, maybe. One thing not being talked about…Lopez hits free agency after next year just like Ryan. 

Yup, I think I would pick Lopez to extend over Ryan. Depending on if there is a season or not next year, that will be an interesting talking point.

[JD-TWINS]

TWINS are in the mix & own tiebreakers with:

Toronto 4-3

Houston 4-2

Boston 5-1

Baltimore 3-3

Need 1 of 3 in home Guardian Series (up 6-4)

Need 2 of remaining 6 w/Tigers (up 5-2)

Need 1 of remaining 3 w/Texas (up 3-0)

Down 4-3 so far with White Sox w/6 left

Team is 3 games under .500 overall & swept by Dodgers - Pirates - Reds - Phillies…….0-12!

 

 

[Parfigliano]

55 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

You don’t have to squint a whole bunch to see a pretty decent starting pitching staff emerging for the next few years. Yes, more than a few things still need to fall right…Matthews, Prielipp taking a step, Bradley gaining a bit more consistency. Abel coming back strong. But it’s a talented bunch…so, maybe. One thing not being talked about…Lopez hits free agency after next year just like Ryan. 

Isn't Ryan free agent after this year

[Parfigliano]

50 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The Alex Jackson win streak continues. Unfortunately for Jackson, the team absolutely can’t put him in a game until the streak ends.

He don't play.  TC wins.  Easy streak for a Manager to work with.

[Parfigliano]

10 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

TWINS are in the mix & own tiebreakers with:

Toronto 4-3

Houston 4-2

Boston 5-1

Baltimore 3-3

Need 1 of 3 in home Guardian Series (up 6-4)

Need 2 of remaining 6 w/Tigers (up 5-2)

Need 1 of remaining 3 w/Texas (up 3-0)

Down 4-3 so far with White Sox w/6 left

Team is 3 games under .500 overall & swept by Dodgers - Pirates - Reds - Phillies…….0-12!

 

 

Or....work with me here....WIN.  Then WIN.  Then WIN again.  And WIN again.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

I think the sentiment is …….”after giving up 24 runs in 3 games” ……… as well as “v. the Team that’s been leading the NL East all year”…….it’s nice to see the Staff dominate v. a good Club.

Zebby zapped them.

[Wedman13]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Amick was called up to the Mets AAA. Still striking out at about a 40% clip but hitting the cover off the ball in his other at bats. 7 home runs and nearly a 1.200 OPS.  Still seems to be a small sample size and plenty of swing and miss, but potentially a 3rd/1st baseman with legitimate power. 30 home runs on the year. 

#freebillyamick

[USAFChief]

41 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Isn't Ryan free agent after this year

One more arb year. Provided of course that doesn't change with new CBA.