Twins Video
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez - 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (97 Pitches, 62 Strikes, 64% Strikes)
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (9)
Bottom WPA: Carlos Correa (-.221), Christian Vazquez (-.128), Royce Lewis (-.082)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
The Twins entered Tuesday night having staked claim to a seven game lead over the Guardians and looking for more. After preparing to face rookie starter Gavin Williams, the Twins found themselves instead facing the Guardians bullpen starting in the second inning with Williams needing to leave due to injury. Pablo Lopez hoped to show the playoff-ready dominance that the Twins traded for. What transpired was a low key baseball game, filled with some odd situational action, small ball, long ball, and a lot of missed opportunities against a variety of Guardian pitchers.
Guardians Get to Lopez Early and Often
Cleveland knew after last night's game that their offense was going to need to keep generating runs in any way possible. The first way possible ended up being Bo Naylor taking a pitch at his eyes and depositing it into the concourse in right for a 1-0 Guardians lead in the top of the second inning. The top of the third inning saw Lopez giving up two more hits and a wild pitch that brought in the second Guardian run. The top of the fourth saw the second place Cleveland squad load the bases with nobody out. After getting Jose Ramirez to force out the lead runner at home, Cole Calhoun chopped a ground ball to first baseman Joey Gallo that scratched across the third Cleveland run.
Royce Lewis is Human, and Not Human, and Human Again
In the bottom of the first inning, Lewis found himself in territory very few have ever played in. He strode to the plate with the bases loaded, having just hit grand slams in back-to-back games. The crowd and the entire fanbase readied themselves to erupt... but Lewis popped up to deep second base, and the threat went unredeemed.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Twins down 3-0, Lewis came up with nobody on base. This time he didn't miss to pull the hometown nine one run closer at 3-1.
Lewis got another opportunity in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a leadoff single off of lefty Sam Hentges by Max Kepler, Matt Wallner struck a single into right to advance Kepler to third. With one out, Lewis popped up to shallow right, failing to plate Kepler and leaving the Twins a Christian Vazquez strikeout away from another a prime scoring chance.
Lopez Settles Down, Twins Bats Go Silently
Lopez found his groove in the fourth inning and managed to complete six without letting any more Guardian runs cross the plate. Unfortunately, the Twins bats failed to mount any more threats against Hentges either. Emilio Pagan came in for the top of the seventh inning, and allowed a one out single to Ramon Laureano off of his glove. Then Carlos Correa oddly chose to let an Andres Gimenez infield fly fall at his feet, before turning and tossing the ball to second for the out. I say oddly, because this allowed a more successful base stealer to occupy first.
Sure enough, after two disengagements, Gimenez stole second easily, which set up Will Brennan for an RBI on a single up the middle. The score now showed 4-1 Guardians, and the Twins began running out of room to respond. Jorge Polanco led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, and Kepler drove the ball to the wall in left, but Steven Kwan leaped and robbed Kepler and the Twins of hope. Correa did the rest, grounding weakly into his 27th double play of the year.
Cole Sands and Other Stuff at the End of the Game
The final two innings of the night belonged to Sands, in an effort to keep the bullpen fresh for the series finale. Sands did well enough, no more damage there. The Twins bats couldn't figure out the Cleveland relief, however, and the game ended without much fanfare. Matt Wallner facing his former high school teammate Nick Sandlin was interesting, but the weak contact that Sandlin induced wasn't fun to see from a Twins fan perspective. Vazquez in particular had an extremely tough night at the plate, but Lewis also left plenty on the table. Even a Michael A. Taylor solo home run in the bottom of the ninth seemed anti-climactic.
It was clear that the Twins prepared for Williams, and ended up getting something else entirely. The home run or bust offense busted on solo shots, and the division lead crept back down to six.
Post-Game Interview
What’s Next?
The Twins look to take the series back on Wednesday afternoon, and send RHP Sonny Gray (7-6, 3.06 ERA) out to face the Cleveland ace rookie RHP Tanner Bibee (10-3, 3.01 ERA). On paper, the Guardians look ready and able to steal the series before next week's clash in Cleveland. Will the Twins offense boom or bust after scoring 10 runs Monday, and going 0-9 with runners in scoring position Tuesday? First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm CDT.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| FRI | SAT | SUN | MON | TUE | TOT | |
| Sands | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 56 |
| Pagán | 0 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 39 |
| Floro | 0 | 12 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Jax | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Funderburk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 28 |
| Winder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Durán | 0 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
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