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Twins Video
Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (71 pitches, 47 strikes (66.2%)
Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (15), Brooks Lee (3)
Top 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (0.352), Jhoan Duran (0.187), Jorge Alcala (0.117)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
As the Minnesota Twins continue to battle for playoff position, most closely with Kansas City, they set their destination for Tampa Bay to take on the sub-.500 Rays.
The Twins took advantage of some two-out at-bats to get on the board early. In the first inning, it was Royce Lewis coming through, with Trevor Larnach on second base after a walk and advancing to second on a Jose Miranda single. Lewis, who hadn’t been his explosive self through the end of August, pulled the ball down the third-base line for a double. Larnach crossed home plate and gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.
The Rays wouldn’t let that score stand long. Also with two outs, Tampa's Dylan Carlson hit a 2-1 changeup in the heart of the plate for a single, which scored both Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe—putting the Rays up 2-1 to close out the first inning.
Like in a great boxing match, however, the Twins and Larnach would fire back to start the second inning. With Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez on base, Larnach hit a rocket, line-drive home run over the right-field fence. The lefty's home run ball was his 15th on the season and clocked in at 112.5 mph off his bat. The Twins lead stood at 4-2 in the middle of the second.
Simeon Woods Richardson would give up another run in the third inning, and then leave in the fourth, with team clinging to a one-run edge. It left Rocco Baldelli in an interesting position, as he would need to manage his bullpen carefully.
The first arm Baldelli called upon was Jorge Alcalá. Alcalá last pitched on Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves, where he only completed 0.2 innings and gave up a run. While the fifth inning wasn’t the cleanest, Alcalá gave the Twins 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
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Ronny Henriquez was next to toe the rubber out of the bullpen. The Twins clearly had a plan for who Henriquez would face in the Rays lineup. The right-hander had been warming up earlier in the game before sitting down when Alcalá was brought in. After Alcalá faced six batters, the Rays lineup must have been back in the spot where the Twins wanted to bring Henriquez into the game.
The plan worked. Henriquez pitched a three-up, three-down sixth inning after accepting a big assist from Matt Wallner, who caught a long fly ball at the wall off of Taylor Walls's bat. The inning also included a significant induced ground out of the dangerous Yandy Diaz.
As Baldelli continued to move the chess pieces, next up was Griffin Jax to face the Rays' 2-3-4 batters. Jax very clearly has become the most trusted reliever in the Twins bullpen, and deploying him in the seventh Monday evening was further evidence of that. It took four batters to get through the seventh after a weak Josh Lowe grounder up the middle allowed him to reach safely. Jax handled Lowe’s presence at first magnificently and struck out two batters on his way to a scoreless inning.
While the Twins were shuffling through their bullpen, the Rays were doing the same, as their starter, Zack Littell, who completed only four innings. The Rays bullpen did the job, until Garret Cleavinger gave up a leadoff home run to Brooks Lee in the eighth, for his first right-handed home run and a third home run of his rookie season.
With the Rays back up for the bottom half of the eighth inning, Baldelli next turned to Cole Sands, who tossed 13 pitches in Sunday’s game. Lee’s insurance run proved how important insurance runs are. While Sands cruised through the inning well, he made one mistake with Jonny DeLuca at the plate. DeLuca matched Lee with his own solo shot, bringing the game back to within one run, 5-4.
For the ninth inning, the Twins turned to Jhoan Durán. Durán slammed the door shut. Durán’s inning started with a rare pitch clock violation, but that didn’t rattle him. After two ground outs, the game ended with an emphatic strikeout of Caminero.
With that win, the Twins continue to get back on track, controlling what they can control by winning the game in front of them. If they do that, the playoffs will still be in the windshield for Minnesota.
What’s Next?
On Tuesday, the Twins will send fellow rookie David Festa to the mound. Festa will look to follow up on his best start of the season after going six innings and striking out seven against the Braves. The Rays will hand the ball to Jeffrey Springs for his seventh start of the season. The left-hander brings a 3.67 ERA after giving up four runs in his last outing while facing the St. Louis Cardinals.
Postgame Interviews
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | MON | TOT | |
| Blewett | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
| Jax | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 18 | 48 |
| Durán | 0 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 38 |
| Tonkin | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| Alcalá | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Sands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 17 | 30 |
| Henríquez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Castillo | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
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