Make It Official! Twins 6, Royals 5: Ryan Dominates, Young Sluggers Blast Off for Big Win

Sands bad pitcher or bad luck today?   Really seemed like a bunch of dribblers outside the DB.

Exit velocities of the Royals hits in the 9th

78.9

64.7

108.4

72.2

55.4

Baseball is a funny game. Those who expect easy , routine, and perfection are going to be disappointed 

8 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Great performance by Ryan today along with key HRs from Miranda and Larnach.

Saying that, how much longer do we have to endure the shaky to terrible work of Sands?  There was absolutely zero reason Duran should've been forced into pitching today

Yes, he pitched well the other day (with a deficit), but I'm beyond his inability to shut a game down when needed. 

His ERA in May has now ballooned to 10.56 (9 ER in 7.2 IP).  

Demoting him to SP is unlikely as it would require a move on the 40 man roster.

 

???? Sands is on the 40-man as well as the active roster. If he is switched out for another guy on the 40-man, there is no 40-man issue. He came in with a five-run lead and threw strikes. Two of the three hits he allowed were definitely soft contact. 

I'm not a big Sands fan, but most of his performance today was "one of those things". It carried on with Durán--a batter nipped on the foot by a curve ball on an 0-2 count and then two infield singles. 

Folks on Rays Daily prolly still screaming, "We gave up Joe Ryan for a half season of Nelson Cruz." 

33 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Folks on Rays Daily prolly still screaming, "We gave up Joe Ryan for a half season of Nelson Cruz." 

Maybe, but they're probably not as stressed as you might imagine since they churn out more than 1 good pitcher per decade. It's a novel concept in Minnesota.

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Ryan is looking great, but the early season articles about the Twins having, potentially, the best BP have to be disregarded as we struggle to compete on the mound for nine innings.

I get it, they scored 4 runs in the 9th inning, but that was about as collective soft contact as you'll see for a team scoring 4 runs in an inning.

1 hour ago, IndianaTwin said:

Folks on Rays Daily prolly still screaming, "We gave up Joe Ryan for a half season of Nelson Cruz." 

Even less than that - 55 games.

44 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Maybe, but they're probably not as stressed as you might imagine since they churn out more than 1 good pitcher per decade. It's a novel concept in Minnesota.

Given the Rays are currently 23rd in MLB in ERA (and have a losing record), my guess is their fans would be ecstatic to have Ryan in their rotation.

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

Baseball is a weird game, We have a difficult time against CLE but teams like CWS & CO do not.

They're 0-5 against the Guards. There are eight more games remaining and the Twins could turn it around. I think if they want to win the Central, they need to win six (or more) of eight.

1 minute ago, JD-TWINS said:

Jax was outstanding……..Sands was OK, a couple really soft contact singles……he had 2 outs & only one run in at that point. Duran comes in to get one out - facing the #8 hitter that’s hitting .176, and per the announcers, he’s been spiraling downward for over a month. Duran was up 0-2 (with 2 outs) and somebody thought it would be a good idea to call another curveball to a left handed batter (that has got to stop!) and he hits the guy’s foot ….2 tappers to, short of dirt, SS that couldn’t be played by anyone on any team. Big trouble as Witt Jr. comes to the plate……. another tapper to end the game.

I agree - Pen hasn’t been perfect. Most of the issues over the last 8-9 days have fallen on Duran. He’ll clean it up!

Still think with the emergence of Staumont as a 7 or 8 guy, Funderburke finding his way, & the potential with Alcala settling into a role …….along with Stewart & Topa contributing again before the break, the PEN will be a strength.

Optimistic take. I don't fault a back foot curve ball, keep it out of the whomp 'em zone and quite possibly end the game. Every once in a while, it hits a foot. 

The Twins haven't had the back end whole yet this year. I guess that is the way it goes with all the pitching injuries in baseball. If they could get all three and add two or three from those mentioned, they have an very good bullpen. It is true that Funderburk hasn't emerged and Jackson was disappointing, but there still are plenty of arms available. Relief pitchers are so hard to predict and project.

6 hours ago, miller761 said:

Finally Cleveland is human!

They are due to lose alot.

1 minute ago, mikelink45 said:

The lesson I get from this is that it is not how hard you hit the ball, but where you hit the ball.  Velocity can be overrated.  

Statistically speaking, it is not overrated - hard hit balls will, more often than not, result in positive results for the hitter. That's not 100 percent, but it is the case more often than not. Morneau (who knows something about hitting) made a comment yesterday about the confounding nature of baseball and the ninth inning was an example. That inning had little to do with the pitchers, it was just one of those weird innings.

I noticed postgame that what was originally scored a hit for Kepler in the eighth was changed to an error on Witt Jr. I believe that was the proper call.

The Royals' late rally resulted in KC having more hits than the Twins. This was the first game all season where the Twins were outhit, but still managed to win the game.