Make it Official! Twins 11, Padres 4: Twins Get Back Up Off the Mat

The Twins came into Wednesday afternoon's series finale in San Diego on the heels of a three-game losing streak and having fallen into a tie with Kansas City for the Wild Card position. Thanks to Trevor Larnach, Edouard Julien, Matt Wallner, and just enough pitching, the Twins got back to their winning ways.

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (101 pitches, 69 strikes (68% Strikes)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (8)
Top 3 WPA: Woods Richardson .162, Austin Martin .149, Willi Castro .122

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Who Would Deliver the Knuckle Sandwich?
The Twins came into Wednesday afternoon's matchup with the Padres in search of salvaging a game in the series, and a winning road trip overall. They were facing a unique challenge in their quest to snap a three-game losing streak: Matt Waldron and his occasional knuckle-ball. Simeon Woods Richardson took the hill for the Twins in hopes of sending his squad home in style. While Waldron came into the game struggling (giving up 12 earned runs over his last 10 innings), Woods Richardson came into the afternoon rolling along (giving up four earned runs over his last 12 innings). Who would deliver the punches in this final battle of two playoff hopefuls?

Twins Punch First...and Often!
After scratching across the game's first run in the third, the fourth inning started innocently enough for the Twins with a Jose Miranda ground out. It looked like the pitch-mix and timing of Waldron would keep the Twins off-balance throughout their at-bats. Turns out that the remedy for this situation was some aggressive early swings. Edouard Julien took the first pitch he saw to right, Christian Vazquez blooped a single on the first pitch to right, and although Austin Martin apparently didn't get the memo of "swing away" and took a first pitch strike in his at-bat, he redeemed himself immediately on pitch number two.

Martin's double plated Julien and a hustling catcher to stake Woods Richardson to an early 3-0 lead. Castro then said, "First pitch, right?" and blasted a double off of the right field wall to plate Martin and make it 4-0. Larnach, second pitch, single. Lewis, first pitch, single plats Castro. Wallner, fourth pitch, and boy was he glad he waited for that cutter that didn't cut! A three-run blast to right and Wallner's eighth of the year provides what Twins fans hoped was an early 8-0 knock-out!

Would the Padres Get Off the Mat?
Major League Baseball rules stipulate that games continue even after one of the fanbases declares early victory, and as the Twins have experienced the past few days, the Padres can rally in a hurry. Woods Richardson looked to be cruising through the bottom of the fourth, but a Merrill blooper and a creative fielding "non-error-error" by Julien at second led to an extra 10 pitches and runners once again clogging the bases. A strike out of Higashioka on a full count ended the threat, but the inning meant that the punch-drunk Twins bullpen was going to be needed sooner rather than later to seal this victory.

The Twins, desperate to get back in the win column in spite of their recent bullpen woes, kept on punching after the bell had rung. Julien, Martin, Castro, and Larnach stayed hot (first career four hit game!), with more runs accumulated in the top of the fifth for the Twins to push the lead to 10-0. Old friend Donovan Solano pinch-hit in the bottom of the fifth, and he delivered the only bruise on an otherwise spotless five inning bout for Woods Richardson by hitting a solo homer.

Cole Sands got the first call up in relief, and he pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Caleb Thielbar conquered Arraez in an entertaining at-bat, and also held the Padres scoreless. Ronny Henriquez came in for the eighth, and he tried to throw the fight. A Jake Cronenworth triple led to a Bryce Johnson run batted in, and Merrill continued to mash the bullpen to the tune of 403 feet to bring the Padres within a fighters chance at 10-4.

Steven Okert bore the brunt of the accusations Tuesday night, and he got a chance to leave town a victor. Just to be safe, Julien (four hit night of his own) and Manuel Margot combined for a double and single to give just a little more cushion at 11-4. Okert turned out the lights one, two, three and sent the Twins back home with their hands raised.

What’s Next? 
After an off-day Thursday, the Twins begin a nine-game home stand against the slumping St. Louis Cardinals Friday night. With the Braves and Blue Jays visiting next, its time to regain some momentum in the standings. The Twins send out rookie RHP David Festa (2-2, 4.96 ERA) in hopes that he will continue to improve upon his solid start to the season, while the Cardinals will send RHP Andre Pallante (5-6, 4.07 ERA) to the mound in hopes that he can repeat his seven-inning victorious performance against the Dodgers last week. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm CT.

Postgame Interview 

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