Cubs 10, Twins 1: A Game to Forget

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews - 3 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (87 pitches, 61 pitches (70.1% strikes))
Bottom 3 WPA (via FanGraphs): Zebby Matthews (-0.35), Ryan Kreidler (-0.07), Kody Clemens/Josh Bell/Austin Martin (-0.03)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Twins and Cubs split the first two games of the series. The Twins, looking to climb back to .500, sent Zebby Matthews to the mound to face off against the Cubs in the rubber match at Wrigley Field. The Cubs countered with lefty Shota Imanaga. Imanaga threw a scoreless top of the first inning, and it looked like Matthews might be able to pitch around a one-out Seiya Suzuki double, but hanging a breaking ball to Alex Bregman typically doesn’t end well. Bregman hit a home run to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. 

The Cubs were able to add to their lead in the bottom of the second on a one-out single by Carson Kelly after a Pedro Ramírez double that (a theme to watch) maybe could have been caught, extending the Cubs lead to three.

Things got ugly in the bottom of the third inning, where the Cubs added four more runs. Three of them came on a Nico Hoerner triple that got past Luke Keaschall in center field. ("Triple.")

The fourth run came on a single by Ramírez, which gave the Cubs a 7-0 lead and put things on ice early. 

The Cubs offense wasn’t done, adding more runs in the bottom of the fourth against Matthews. The first four batters reached, giving the Cubs two more runs, which led to Matthews being removed from the game without getting an out in the fourth. The Cubs were able to squeak another run across, giving them a 10-run lead at the end of four innings. 

Those proved to be way more than enough for Imanaga, who pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out four and giving up just seven base runners.

While the first seven innings were not great for the Twins, they were able to have some success at the plate in the top of the eighth inning against reliever Phil Maton, breaking through on a Royce Lewis sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to 10-1. One other positive from the game is that the Twins bullpen threw five scoreless innings, so that is success the Twins hope will continue going forward. 

What’s Next?
The Twins head to Cleveland to face off with the Guardians in a four-game series. In Monday’s game, the Twins will send All-Star Joe Ryan (6-5, 2.85 ERA) to the mound, while the Guardians will send Tanner Bibee (3-9, 3.90 ERA).

Ryan’s most recent outing was in the All-Star Game, where he threw one scoreless inning as part of an American League shutout. Prior to the All-Star break, Ryan had two starts of seven and six innings respectively, giving up two runs over those 13 innings.

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