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Twins Video
Twins fans have certainly been tempted into unsufferability lately. First, with the team underperforming to a 7-13 start, the sky appeared to be falling. Even so-called "level-headed" analysts thought so and looked for signs of organizational rot to explain such a disaster (Does David Popkins need to be drawn and quartered? Do we even know how to acquire players with plate approaches?) Well, the team won six games in a row on the backs of guys hitting .150 getting their batting average to .200. Lots of guys were hurt, and the schedule was tough. We all should know better by now, and we don't, but the upshot is that the team is now likely to finish April with a .500 or better record.
A similar concern popped up with ace Pablo López. He threw a couple of pitches at 91-92 MPH after a 40-pitch inning his last start and everyone freaked out, thinking he was hurt. I was hoping ending the playoff streak would chill everyone out a bit, but I guess not. Although, I haven't been a fan of a baseball team with recent playoff success since I was 14 so maybe this is all normal.
In any case, the Twins are (probably) fine and so is López, who sat at 93-96 MPH all afternoon.
Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Pablo López: 5 IP 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (87 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 63.2%)
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Ryan Jeffers (.166), Austin Martin (.132), Alex Kirilloff (.094)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
The Twins were attempting to sweep the Angels but had to beat Reid Detmers to do so. Detmers has been a good pitcher, and is in the midst of his fourth season in the big leagues, despite being only 24. His stuff is electric from the left side, and he has a no-hitter to prove it. In past years, however, the third time through the order has been a problem for Detmers, along with some shaky command. Last year, the Twins faced Detmers on May 19th and were shut out through five innings, with absolutely no hard contact and twelve strikeouts. They mounted a rally in the sixth and drove Detmers from the game.
Today, Detmers was locked in from the start, painting change-ups and curveballs on the corners and locating his fastball (as hard as 96 MPH) up in the zone.
López was just as good to start, hitting 96 MPH with his fastball and getting whiffs on his offspeed stuff. His body language was confident and his location was sharp.
Both pitchers were perfect through three innings. Ryan Jeffers put an end to that to start the fourth, rifling a double off a hanging curveball to break up the stalemate. Byron Buxton then grounded to third, and Nolan Schanuel couldn't handle the throw, putting runners on first and second and nobody out. The broadcast was advocating for a bunt from three-hole hitter Manuel Margot, and considering Margot is hitting .173 and Detmers was dealing, I was inclined to agree with them. Instead, Margot grounded into a double play, seemingly extinguishing the rally.
Not quite, as Jose Miranda laced a single to left that scored Buxton easily.
Things got worse for Detmers in the fifth. Christian Vazquez singled on a painted slider down and in, and a Resurgent Kyle Farmer roped a double to left, bringing up Austin Martin in a pivotal at-bat. Martin worked the count to 3-2 and then singled sharply through the left side, scoring Vazquez, but also Farmer, who deked the outfielder and scored when the relay was bobbled by catcher Logan O'Hoppe, who had missed a pop-up the previous inning.
Jeffers then hit a pop-up that confused the Trout-less outfield of the Angels, with both Jo Adell and Aaron Hicks having a shot at the ball. It dropped and scored Martin, which probably prompted manager Ron Washington to wonder if he could have his old job in Atlanta back.
This may have caused Detmers to lose focus a little, as he allowed a loud sacrifice fly to Margot, and a ringing double to Miranda before finally stopping the bleeding by retiring Santana on a grounder.
However, the Angels can still hit a little, and they rallied in their half of the fifth, with all damage coming from players who had either had a misplay or error to that point in the game. After retiring the first two hitters fairly easily, López started to lose command, allowing a double to O'Hoppe and a sharp single to Adell before Rengifo launched a 94 MPH fastball from López on the inner half for a two-run homer. Schanuel then went back-to-back with Rengifo on essentially the same pitch, making it a one-run game. López got the final out, but his day was done.
The Twins got some insurance against reliever Luis Garcia in the seventh. Martin led off with a walk, Jeffers scooped a breaking ball off the dirt for a single, and Buxton walked after a lengthy battle to load the bases. Alex Kirilloff hit for Margot and worked the count to 3-1 before launching a double the other way to score two and swing the momentum back to the Twins' side. Santana hit a grounder to score the eighth run, and Willi Castro stroked a single to right for the ninth.
The Good:
-López's velocity was fine.
-Miranda got the barrel on a couple of balls, as he looked to make the case that he shouldn't be sent down upon Carlos Correa's return. He finished 3-5 with two run-scoring hits.
-Martin also made that case, however, as his fifth-inning RBI single was crucial. He also scored three runs and stole a base.
-Jeffers takes a lot of smart at-bats and has shown an ability to find the barrel even when he expands the zone. He went 3-4, upping his OPS to .964. How long does he have to be this good before he gets an ounce of national recognition? He has a 142 OPS+ since the start of 2023.
-The interchange between LaTroy Hawkins' perspective as a pitcher and Trevor Plouffe's as a hitter is pretty good TV, and hopefully, that makes up for the late start times going forward when the Twins play on the West Coast.
The Bad:
-The Angels. I don't see what the plan is. Four or five balls were hit to their outfield this series where the fielder pulled up, possibly to avoid injury. They mix awkward and sad in equal measure; their fans deserve better.
-López lost the zone and gave up a lot of hard contact in the fifth.
Edouard Julien got looked at by trainers after an awkward swing in the ninth. It looked like he was flexing his elbow, but was allowed to continue the at-bat.
What’s Next: Joe Ryan (1-1, 3.45 ERA) goes against White Sox "ace" Garrett Crochet (1-4, 6.37 ERA) as the Twins look to continue their dominance against Chicago. Crochet has great stuff, however, and the Sox just swept Tampa Bay, so it won't be a cakewalk.
Postgame Interviews:
| WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | TOT | |
| Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 29 |
| Funderburk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 38 |
| Bowman | 6 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| Sands | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 48 |
| Stewart | 11 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Okert | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 39 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Jax | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
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