Matt Wisler

The Twins were part of yet another five-plus hour day of baseball, but this time it wasn’t because of extra innings. Despite the White Sox ace being cut short due to a three-hour rain delay the Twins couldn’t take the Sunday rubber match losing just their seventh series on the season.

For the second time in nine days, the Twins were playing into the 17th inning. The bullpen kept giving the offense opportunities to take this game, Martin Perez had a stellar comeback after a rough second inning, and the Twins offense was lifeless after the first.

For the first time this season the Twins win on a walk-off hit from (who else?) Max Kepler. It was the longest game of the season for both teams tonight and both bullpens were lights out, but one had to blow it. Kepler also hit a game-tying single in the eighth inning and a game-tying homer in the 13th.

Kyle Gibson struggled to finish off the Tigers in the second inning, the Twins’ lineup was uncharacteristically quiet against a Detroit staff maneuvering through a bullpen game and Matt Magill made sure there was no drama in the ninth inning. In between all that, Ryan Eades pitched two scoreless innings in his major league debut.

In an otherwise ideal season, the Minnesota Twins' glaring weakness remains their bullpen. And at least one man is going to let it wreck the next few days.

Among the many “new school” approaches of the Twins front office is an increased focus on pitch framing, wherein catchers tweak their movements to maximize the odds of the home plate umpire calling a strike.

Unfortunately, Jason Castro might have needed a little more clarification.