Make it Official! Twins 6, White Sox 3: Willi Whacks Twins to Victory

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (92 pitches, 60 strikes, 19 whiffs)
Home Runs: Willi Castro (2)
Top 3 WPA: Max Kepler (.178), Willi Castro (.156), Christian Vazquez (.103)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Austin “Only Doubles” Martin
With Joe Ryan cruising through the first two innings for the Twins, including striking out the side in the 1st inning, Minnesota got to Garrett Crochet in the 2nd inning. Thanks to an egregious strike zone from Laz Diaz, Carlos Santana drew a leadoff walk. Austin Martin then doubled, his fifth in a total of just 12 hits, and Rocco Baldelli’s squad had runners on second and third with no one out. Christian Vazquez and his 14 OPS+ stepped in and blooped a single that just barely scored Santana from third.

Willi Castro has struggled to get the bat going this year, and after Kyle Farmer went down flailing while being given an extra strike, the Twins shortstop stepped in. He connected for his second dinger of the year, and it was a birthday banger. The three-run blast made it a 4-0 game for the Twins and they had Chicago on the ropes early.

Ryan Jeffers reached on an infield single looking to keep it rolling, but Byron Buxton struck out and Manuel Margot grounded out softly to end the inning. A sizeable lead is something that Ryan definitely will sign up for though, and he had breathing room against the worst team in baseball.

White Sox Get Ryan
Ryan has been the Twins' best starter this season, and he’s picked up strikeouts in droves. What he has also done, and what was previously a problem, is giving up the long ball. Kevin Pillar was victim number one on Wednesday, and after getting Braden Shewmake on strikes, Korey Lee tagged him for a second solo shot in the 3rd inning. Very quickly, after jumping out to a four-run lead, Minnesota had their lead halved.

Back on for the 4th inning, Ryan came for vengeance. Although he allowed an Andrew Benintendi double, strikeouts of Eloy Jimenez, Andrew Vaughn, and Paul DeJong gave him the side again. Through four innings of work, the Twins starter had seven strikeouts.

Shewmake dropped down a one-out bunt in the 5th inning to give the White Sox a runner and advanced to second on a walk. Stealing third while catching Ryan napping, Vazquez then threw through to second with Danny Mendick striking out and Shewmake came home. In an inning that Ryan largely nibbled, Chicago had made it a 4-3 game.

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Kepler Keeps Cruising
With the White Sox turning to Deivi Garcia in relief of Crochet, the Twins brought on the platoon bats and looked to add on. Manuel Margot got Crochet for a double before the pitching change, and it was Max Kepler driving him in on a blooper that had a .060 expected batting average. DeJong couldn’t come up with the catch going out from short and Minnesota made it a 5-3 game.

Vazquez kept his good night rolling, and another single pushed him to 3-for-3 allowing Kepler to make third base. Farmer has been nothing short of a colossal disappointment and while he swung at a pitch that bounced in the left-handedStewart batter’s box, the wild pitch generated an RBI when Kepler raced home to give the Twins a 6-3 lead.

After Matt Bowman took over for Ryan in the 7th inning, Minnesota went back to work against Tim Hill in the bottom half. Kepler got his second double on a blooper that again should have been caught, but it was enough to chase the reliever from the game and bring on Dominic Leone for Chicago. Vazquez, Farmer, and Castro went down on strikes to end the inning.

Bullpen Locks it Up
Despite not having some of the expected horses in relief to start the year, Baldelli has seen his bullpen perform admirably. There was more of that tonight as Matt Bowman came on for Ryan in the 7th inning and worked three outs on just six pitches. Brock Stewart then took over in the 8th inning, and he continues to be one of the greatest success stories for the franchise over the past two seasons. His strikeout of Mendick was something that appeared to redefine the laws of gravity.

After warming up for extras and not being needed last night, Griffin Jax came on in a save opportunity Wednesday. Looking to nail down his third of the season, he was set to face Chicago’s 5-6-7 hitters. Getting a fly out to start the inning and a ground out on the next batter, Jax made quick work of the White Sox hitters with DeJong stepping in as the game's final out. Grabbing the strikeout, Jax gave the Twins their first three-game winning streak of the season and set up a four-game sweep on Thursday.

Notes
The Twins could be getting their starting shortstop back in the next few days. While Carlos Correa has been dealing with an intercostal strain, it seems he may be on the fast track for a return. Minnesota heads out on a road trip beginning Friday, and they travel to both Los Angeles and Chicago. He could rejoin the team without a rehab assignment according to reports.

Closer Jhoan Duran worked Tuesday night for Triple-A St. Paul. While he struck out the side, he also gave up a pair of runs on four hits. Most notably though, his velocity was considerably down. Right now that doesn’t seem to be a concern. He is scheduled to pitch on Friday and could be an option for Minnesota next week.

While his late-game heroics last night were exciting, Byron Buxton continues to be an absolute problem in Minnesota’s lineup. With three strikeouts tonight, he now owns a 28/1 K/BB on the season. This article is dated, but the strikeouts have been a problem for some time now.

What’s Next? 
Finishing out the four-game series against the Chicago White Sox with a matinee on Thursday, the Twins will head out on the road. Simeon Woods Richardson is being recalled to make the start in game four, and Ronny Henriquez is being optioned. This means Bailey Ober will start game one against in Los Angeles, and Minnesota could bring another reliever on the road. Set for a weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels, they will see old friends Miguel Sano and Aaron Hicks along with superstar Mike Trout.

Sano’s defense Wednesday against the Orioles was on display, and he has the hardest average exit velocity in baseball at the moment.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet