Twins Video
Box Score
Simeon Woods Richardson: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (18), Carlos Santana (17)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Santana (.282), Jhoan Durán (.203), Griffin Jax (.143)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
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Welcome to Player’s Weekend! The state-mandated fun begins Friday and the festivities will play out through the entire weekend. Observe such unique, fun examples of player personalities, such as special bats and… different cleats? You can’t have nicknames anymore—that was too much fun—but you can swing a pencil bat now; enjoy a party thrown by Captain Ray Holt.
Friday was a homecoming of sorts for Simeon Woods Richardson. The Sugar Land native grew up some four hours away from the plot of land that would become Globe Life Field; an afternoon saunter for Texas standards.
And he was fine. Gritty if you were in a complimenting mood, inefficient if your grade curves harder. He netted just five swings and misses the entire game. Instead, fortune took his hand and turned a 408-foot missile by Adolis García into a warning track flyout; later, Josh Jung saw much the same. By totality of fly ball distance, Woods Richardson’s start probably looked ordinary, but he still walked off the mound with just two earned runs on his ledger—enough to put him in line for the win.
“Well, how did he get there?”
Thank the long ball, all hail. Andrew Heaney diced up the Twins for two frames before a lethargic changeup turned 106.7 MPH screamer off Ryan Jeffers’ Ticonderoga #2 gave Minnesota their first score of the day.
Another scoreless frame begat an eventful 5th. The all too important should-I-stretch-my-starter-one-more-frame-or-call-in-the-cavalry decision burned Bruce Bochy: he gambled with Heaney against Carlos Santana and could only watch helplessly as the 38-year-old blasted a three-run shot just above the wall in left-center field. All hail the long ball.
So began the running of the bullpens, with trapdoors and booby traps abound as the plethora of vaguely trustworthy arms give way to the guys the manager actually wants to use. This movement spat out Caleb Thielbar and Cole Sands; the former, nearly completely effective in handling his three batters, the latter, stumbling with a pair of singles to draw the game within one. Then he literally stumbled in an attempt to touch first base on a routine groundout in the 7th. Job security for the Griffin Jaxs of the world.
Indeed, Jax pitched a breezy 8th with two strikeouts before Jhoan Durán introduced himself to the game. He didn't need to stick around long. Leody Tavares snuck a cheeky infield single in, but a pair of Ks with an excellent Willi Castro diving play sandwiched in-between ended Texas' day and gave the Twins the victory.
Notes:
Carlos Santana hit his 318th career home run, putting him in a tie with Roy Sievers for 136th place in MLB history.
Jhoan Durán earned his 53rd career save, good for 8th place in Twins history. He is 23 saves away from tying Ron Perranoski for 7th.
Manuel Margot's lead-off plate appearances took 16 pitches, the most of any in MLB this season.
Post-Game Interview:
What’s Next?
The Twins and Rangers play the third game of their series on Saturday, with rookie David Festa set to match up against the veteran 262 starts his senior, Nathan Eovaldi. First pitch is at 6:05 PM.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
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