KC 5, MIN 3: Royals Sweep Twins, Butera Hits Inside-the-Park Homer (Seriously)

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Jake Odorizzi: 72 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 67.0 % strikes

Bullpen: 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 0 K, 2 BB

Lineup: 1-for-4 w/RISP, 3 LOB

WPA of 0.1 or higher: Dozier .107

WPA of -0.1 or lower: Hildenberger -.349

First Base

Before we even get to the game, there is quite a bit of roster news to go over. Logan Morrison was activated from the DL, and as a corresponding move Willians Astudillo was optioned back to Rochester. Morrison started at first base and hit fifth in the Twins order, going 0-for-3 with a run-scoring groundout and a walk.

There figure to be plenty more transactions in the coming days, as Adalbero Mejia (who is scheduled to start tomorrow) and Ervin Santana (who’s scheduled to start Wednesday) need to be added to the active roster. Santana will be coming off the 60-day DL, so the Twins will even need to create a spot on the 40-man roster for him.

Second Base

The Twins have had a very strange year when it comes to replay, and Sunday they had yet another one that left some people scratching their heads. Jake Cave sent a line drive out to left field and Alex Gordon appeared to make a really nice diving catch. The slow-motion replays seemed to tell another story. Here’s the video:

https://twitter.com/MLBReplays/status/1021112942018875392

The ball definitely bounced, however, it’s possible that it still hit the thumb side of Gordon’s glove and simply bounced inside his mitt. It’s hard to say for certain by the replay above, but I’d be willing to bet if there was a better angle it would show that ball hit the grass first. The call stood, but what do you think?

Third Base

So, this happened …

https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1021131625994825728

… I don’t wanna talk about it.

Home Plate

You know what, let’s just not talk about anything having to do with this game. Or this series.

Matt Magill was not used at all in Kansas City and hasn’t pitched since July 10. He’s only pitched three times this month. Sure, some of that is due to the All-Star break, but Magill only appeared in five games all of last month.

https://twitter.com/BaseballByTom/status/1021131166898958336

Alright fine, we’ll talk some about the game. On the plus side, Jake Odorizzi was really good, giving up just two runs (one earned) on two hits and one walk while striking out eight batters in six innings of work. Max Kepler hit his 12th home run of the season. Also, um … Alan Busenitz pitched a scoreless eighth inning. That’s all I got.

The Twins could only muster three hits and racked up 10 strikeouts. Joe Mauer had a particularly rough afternoon, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

UPDATE: After the conclusion of this game it was announced that Busenitz was being sent back down to Rochester to make room for Mejia. Matt Belisle is bulletproof.

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

AL Central Standings

CLE 54-43

MIN 44-53 (-10)

DET 42-58 (-13.5)

CHW 34-63 (-20)

KC 30-68 (-24.5)

Next Three Games

Mon at TOR, 6:07 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. TBD

Tue at TOR, 6:07 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Ryan Borucki

Wed at TOR, 3:07 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. TBD