Game Recap: Royals 14, Twins 5

Box Score

Matt Shoemaker: 0.1 IP (10 batters faced), 6 H, 8 ER (9 R), 2 BB, 1 K

Homeruns: Polanco (6), Sanó (10), Gordon (1)

Bottom 3 WPA: Shoemaker -.433, Astudillo -.048, Larnach -.039

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Historic First Inning Fells Twins

In a season of low lows for a Twins club entering 2021 with high expectations, Friday night was rock bottom. Matt Shoemaker gave up 9 first inning runs, making it through 0.1 innings and securing an infamous place in MLB history.

Shoemaker gave up 9 runs on a single, walk, double, single, walk, strike out, catcher interference, single, single, and a 3 run home run. The game was ostensibly over before Nick Nelson had even made it to his seat with his first Boulevard of the night. What a disgraceful performance. Indeed, Shoemaker’s latest capitulation encapsulates the performance of the Twins offseason free agent pickups. 

Has the performance of the Twins free agents and trades this offseason soured you on the Twins front office? Shoemaker now owns a 7.28 ERA as Minnesota’s fifth starter. It’s time to move on, and give those innings to literally anyone else.

Offense Generates Plenty of Hits, Few Runs

In another constant sub-narrative of the Twins season, the offense mustered plenty of hits. By the end of the 7th inning, the Twins had 9 hits to the Royals 12. The difference? The Royals were 8-14 with RISP (.571), the Twins? 0-8. Jorge Polanco provided the lone spark, cranking his 6th home run of the year, a solo shot in the 5th inning.

The Royals continued to add on in the second, generating 4 runs off recently recalled reliever Shaun Anderson, who the Twins rode for 3.2 innings and 62 pitches. The Twins were down 13-0 after two innings.

Gordon Hits HR #1 in Front of His Dad

The Twins offense continued to battle throughout the game and broke through in the 8th inning, hitting back to back home runs from Miguel Sanó and Nick Gordon. Gordon hit his first MLB home run in front of his father, Tom, in attendance for the first time watching his son play a MLB game, part of a strong 3-4 performance.

Willians Astudillo continued his grumpy facade pitching the 8th inning for the Twins, offering back to back pitches of 43 mph and 82 mph to Kelvin Gutierrez. After a pop out and a walk, Sanó bobbled a routine ground ball to 3rd base for the Twins 4th error of the night. Astudillo induced a double play to end the inning, but there was no escaping the consistently amateurish defensive play which, whether hinging on injuries or not, is now characterizing the Twins nightly performances.

The Twins ‘cleanup hitter’, Astudillo almost hit a home run but flew out to left field to end the game, capping a miserable night the the Twins which was ostensibly over after one half inning. Where do the Twins go from here? This team has a solid offense which never hits with runners in scoring position, poor pitching, struggling defense and a mountain of injuries. Surely a fire sale awaits?

Bullpen Usage Chart

Next Up

The Twins send José Berríos to the mound on Saturday to face Royals lefty Mike Minor. First pitch is at 3:10 CT.