Twins Video
Box score
José Berríos: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB (1 HBP), 1 K
Home Runs: Donaldson (3)
Bottom 3 WPA: Duffey -.295, Rortvedt -.202, Sano -.146
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs?
It’s often difficult to find words to describe déjà vu and déjà vu-like experiences.
Sometimes it’s a nagging feeling in the back of the mind. Sometimes it takes the form of a word on the tip of the tongue that simply refuses to be uttered. Sometimes still it’s an unexplained, yet ominous, pit resting comfortably in the stomach.
The Minnesota Twins are not causing their fans to experience déjà vu. They’re trapping them in a real-life manifestation of Groundhog Day.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Minnesota Twins fell to the Detroit Tigers Saturday afternoon thanks to an offense that struggled to cash in runners when they were in scoring position and a bullpen that caved in on itself.
We are Bill Murray.
Berríos struggles with command
José Berríos - who ultimately did see his ERA drop slightly — was unusually dull on the mound. He clearly did not have his best stuff working and struggled with locating his pitches, resulting in him not earning his strikeout until his 104th — and last — pitch of the game.
His start on Saturday would have been the longest of his career without recording a strikeout had he not gotten Jake Rogers to chase an off-speed pitch out of the zone in the bottom of the sixth inning. Had Berríos not done so, it would have been his first start since 2018 without registering a punchout.
However, if there is a bright side to look on, it’s that Berríos was largely able to battle through his struggles and keep the Twins within reach. As intrepid co-founder of Twins Daily John Bonnes pointed on Twitter, doing so consistently is perhaps the greatest hurdle Berríos has yet to climb en route to developing into a true ace-level starter.
Unfortunately for the Twins, relievers Tyler Duffey and Derek Law didn’t have their best stuff either. The two combined to pitch the final two innings of the game, striking out two, walking four and allowing five runs to cross the plate. As a staff, the Twins struck out three and walked nine, which is not conducive for winning baseball.
Offensive woes continue
Josh Donaldson — who also doubled — hit his third home run of the season, while Jorge Polanco, Jake Cave and Kyle Garlick doubled, however, that was largely the extent of the team’s offensive output.
The Twins stranded 16 runners on base and were a combined 1-for-14 as a team with runners in scoring position. Again, not exactly a performance that will lead to many victories.
Larnach makes his MLB debut
On a more positive note, Trevor Larnach — who recently spoke with Twins Daily — made his Major League debut Saturday afternoon, going 0-for-4 — three of which had runners in scoring position, hence the -.143 WPA — with a HBP. However, as was often the case with Alex Kirilloff during his first handful of games, the numbers are a little misleading.
Larnach hit one ball that registered an exit velocity of 107.4 mph with a .420 xBA, according to Baseball Savant; a diving Jonathan Schoop at first base was the lone force that prevented it from being an RBI double.
Up next
The Twins will look to win the series Sunday afternoon in the rubber match with the Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. CT and will feature Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.02 ERA) going up against Matt Boyd (2-3, 2.27 ERA).
Postgame Interview
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
Click here to see the bullpen usage over the past five days (link opens a Google Sheet).
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