Make It Official! Twins 10, Angels 5: If the Sausage Never Dies, the Summer Never Ends

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (105 Pitches, 70 Strikes, 66.6%)
Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (5), Matt Wallner (12), Carlos Santana (21)
Top 3 WPA: Santana (.236), Farmer (.192), Lopez (0.42)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Following the Twins latest loss, this time to the woeful Angels of Anaheim, it was fair to ask if this was rock bottom. A 6-14 stretch will prompt those kinds of questions, but if Monday was the bottom, that meant Tuesday had to be better by default.

Two factors supported that argument: Pablo Lopez has been great in the second half, but unbeknownst to many, so has Kyle Farmer, or at least since his return from the IL in August. He has a .568 slugging percentage since that point, and following a rare series of singles to start the second inning, demolished a three run homer to give the Twins a comfortable lead for the first time since the series finale in San Diego several weeks ago.

But Lopez set the tone early, showcasing the increasingly potent raw stuff he has featured lately. He pitched around a double from Zach Neto in the first, and was in control from there, leaning heavily on his fastballs, but also commanding his secondary pitches well, including quite a few curveballs. Hitters that came up with an aggressive approach never got the pitch they were looking for, particularly the Angels' young catcher, Logan O'Hoppe, who struck out twice on a steady diet of offspeed stuff. Hitters that worked the count couldn't get the barrel on the ball, either.

Meanwhile the Twins had little trouble getting out of their funk facing Angels righty Griffin Canning, who had a mild amount of hype as a prospect, but hasn't really developed into anything, with a 4.71 career ERA around a multitude of injuries and demotions. Matt Wallner hit a massive home run in the third, a healthy 448 feet, and Ryan Jeffers delivered a sacrifice fly later in the frame to make the game 6-0.

But this team is still fighting it, and in the fifth, with Lopez still cruising, Edouard Julien got in front of a hot smash from Angels rookie Bryce Teodosio, picked up the ball and then glitched before firing to first, allowing Teodosio to reach with two outs. The hot-hitting Taylor Ward then hit a long single off the limestone in right field, and Neto then destroyed a Lopez sinker 428 feet to dead center field, quickly making the game 6-4.

The pitch Neto hit wasn't terrible, a sinker up and away, but the young shortstop got his arms extended and the outcome was never in doubt. In recent weeks, the Twins MO would be to go down quickly the following inning and hand the ball back to their starter before he can catch his breath from the inning before.

It appeared that sequence would come to fruition again, with Wallner and Jose Miranda making quick outs. But Trevor Larnach laid off some tough pitches before drawing a walk, and Carlos Santana made sure that would matter, as he reached out on a Canning change-up and launched a home run over the high right-center field wall to put the Twins back in control of the game.

Defensive miscues from young players has been a recurring theme during the Twins recent cold stretch, but not in the sixth, with Lopez looking for a quick inning.  Former first overall pick turned fifth outfield Mickey Moniak lined a ball to center that I immediately knew Austin Martin, Manuel Margot and Willi Castro wouldn't get to, but DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was out there tonight, and made an excellent diving catch for the first out of the inning.

Brooks Lee has looked listless lately, but ranged to grab a grounder from O'Hoppe deep in the hole, and looked like prime Derek Jeter with a beautiful throw on the run to nab the Angels catcher.

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The Twins piled on in the sixth. Farmer drew a one out walk, and Julien singled with two outs. Wallner then lifted a double off the wall in right-center for a double to get the lead back to six. The Angels are just a rich man's White Sox, but it was nice to see the Twins add on late in a game they had to win.

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Stray Notes:
-With Christian Vazquez on the paternity list, Jeffers made a rare back-to-back catching appearance and drove in two runs.
-Royce Lewis, in the midst of an 0-20 slide, was not in the lineup. Lee is now 0-18 and his at-bats have been dreadful, so he might be the next player to take a breather.
-Louie Varland made his 2024 relief debut (not counting bulk appearances) and touched 101 MPH with his fastball as he made mincemeat out of the Angels Quad-A lineup, striking out two and breaking the bat of the other hitter he faced.
He came back out for the ninth, but his velocity was down to 95 MPH and the Angels were able to string some hits against him.
-Keirsey Jr. got his first big league hit in the eighth, dribbling a ball past the pitcher's mound and beating the feed from the pitcher easily.

What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-3, 7.36 ERA) tries to justify his spot in the rotation as he faces young Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz (2-4, 4.89 ERA). Kochanowicz was a third round pick in 2019, but hasn't really had much success in the minor leagues and has only twelve strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings thus far for Los Angeles, a ratio which would make Carlos Silva blush.

Postgame Interviews:

(Coming soon)
 

Bullpen Usage Chart: