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    Marlins 9, Twins 5: The Twins Offense Wasn't Enough to Overcome the Bad Pitching

    Byron Buxton could be headed for his loudest offensive season yet, but the story of Wednesday's game turned out to be the rapid decline of the team around him.
    Sherry Cerny

    By Sherry Cerny

    Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

    Twins Video

    Box Score
    SP: Simeon Woods-Richardson - 3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (88 pitches, 48 strikes (49% strikes)
    Home Runs: Byron Buxton (15), Kody Clemens (4)
    3 WPA: Simeon Woods-Richardson (-0.47), Luke Keaschall (-0.12), Matt Wallner (-0.07)
    Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
    image.png

    We’re in Our ‘Fix the Starter’ Era
    After an absolute gem from Bailey Ober on Tuesday, the Twins handed the ball to Simeon Woods-Richardson heading into the night, still searching for his first win.

    Almost immediately, you could tell this would not be that night. He issued a walk to Xavier Edwards, and an error by Luke Keaschall on a ground ball by Liam Hicks doubled the trouble. Otto Lopez followed with an RBI single that should also have produced an out, and Kyle Stowers walked to load the bases. Connor Norby then hit into a double play that still brought in a run, giving Miami an early 2–0 lead. Victor Caratini threw out Jakob Marsee on an attempted steal to end the inning, but the defense had let Woods Richardson down—and he had done nothing to help himself.

    Minnesota answered right away. Byron Buxton led off the bottom of the first with a first-pitch solo home run, cutting the deficit to 2-1. It was a skyscraper, a high pitch Buxton hit very hard but clipped the bottom half of, but which still easily carried into the bleachers down the left-field line.

    But Miami kept applying pressure in the second inning, breaking through again with a two-run homer that stretched the lead to 4-1. Woods Richardson never really found a groove, and in fact, he hasn't found one all season.

    While the pitching struggled to settle in, Buxton kept the Twins alive. He struck again in the third inning, launching another first-pitch home run, giving the Twins their second run. After being burned on a high four-seamer, Max Meyer tried a low sinker. The result was different, in that Buxton hit a screaming liner this time. It was the same, in that he circled the bases with his 15th dinger of the year. Could he hit 40 before 2026 is over? It's absolutely in play.

    New Pitchers, Same Old Problems
    The first four batters of the top of the fourth inning reached against Woods Richardson, with two more scoring. Derek Shelton turned to his much-rested bullpen, but not the way he'd hoped he might be able to. Travis Adams entered in relief, but could do little damage control. A single through the drawn-in infield scored two more runs. Adams closed the barn door, but the horses were long gone.

    The Twins scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, on a well-placed double by Josh Bell, but Adams couldn't keep the game within slam range. Edwards tripled past the hopelessly immobile Matt Wallner in the sixth and came home on a fielder's choice, stretching the lead to 9-4 Miami. Justin Topa took over and minimized damage, though he hardly looked dominant in his first outing since having his own doors blown off a week ago.

    So It Goes…
    By the time the game reached the later innings, what had been a long, grinding contest finally began to settle into a quicker rhythm as both sides cycled through the bullpen. Luis García came out in the eighth inning and mopped up the mess. Tristan Gray made the second of two good catches on pop-ups behind third base; he looks more like the team's short-term regular third baseman every day.

    Kody Clemens offered one last jolt of life in the bottom of the eighth with a garbage-time home run. If he and Bell can get going again at the plate, the team will have a moral victory to take away from the loss.

    What’s Next?
    The Twins will close out against the interleague series with a rubber match tomorrow in an afternoon game at 12:40 PM CT, before the Brewers come over to continue the nine-game homestand. The Twins are expected to promote Triple-A starter Zebby Matthews for his first outing of the year. After rookie Robbie Snelling landed on the injured list, the Marlins will also reach into their farm system, for Braxton Garrett.

    Postgame Interviews 
    Coming soon.

    Bullpen Availability Chart
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    Featured Comments

    karcherd

    karcherd 2,308

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    4 minutes ago, miller761 said:

    Appreciate that Shelton and Zoll are starting to make moves. Even if we are going anywhere right now we are still in it

    Making moves for the sake of making moves isn't a good thing.  Bringing up Kreidler and sending Adams down doesn't help the team in the present or the future.  Make strategic moves to help the team now with an eye on the future, those are the moves that should be made.

    Jeff K

    Jeff K 1,426

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    58 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

    I believe I said that.

    Roden is injured, Rodriguez hasn't played in 2 weeks, Jenkins is on the IL, Gonzalez has struggled, Mendez just got promoted, so really the only option would be Fedko...who isn't on the 40-man. That's why we're still riding with Wallner for sure. Lewis is probably has more to do with managing the player and the psychology of it; it's easy for someone to sit at the keyboard and say "demote him! who cares what he thinks? Who care what any of the players think!" but Twins management has to actually live in the world.

    SWR would likely be in the bullpen if they hadn't already lost Abel and Bradley, or if Festa wasn't slow in his recovery, but with those guys unavailable we're already trying to fill a spot with Morris/Adams/Rojas piggybacking and praying Priellipp doesn't get hurt...even if Zebby gets called up SWR probably doesn't head to the bullpen until Bradley is back on the field.

    Oof.

    I must have read too quickly regarding the outfielders.  I do agree that Lewis needs to be managed carefully if there is any hope of him contributing for the Twins now, or in the future.  Someone mentioned sending him to Ft. Myers which might not be a bad idea as it could feel less like a demotion and more like an opportunity to work on things.  SWR is just a huge question mark as moving to the bullpen might not help him or the team.  Perhaps a tired arm injury followed by rehab with St. Paul. 

    jmlease1

    jmlease1 15,689

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    26 minutes ago, Milwaukee-Jeff said:

    I looked at the Saints roster and stats for alternatives to Wallner. What about Fedko in the OF? And Rodriguez should be cleared to play again soon so he should be given a shot.

    I think the fact that he's not on the 40-man is a small barrier to Fedko getting a shot, especially since he's not seen as being as much of a prospect. It's sort of the Sabato problem. In order to bring him up to MLB they'd have to kick someone off the 40-man, which exposes them to waivers. Now, YMMV on how significant an issue that should be, but it's probably keeping Fedko from easily getting a shot. And while I agree on Rodriguez, I'm sure they're going to want him to get some AAA games in again to show he's ok and swinging the bat well first; it would be unusual for someone to go from the IL in AAA to go directly to the active MLB roster...

    But it's getting late early for Wallner and Lewis IMHO. And I've backed them both; I really thought Wallner in particular would have a bounce back season, and it just hasn't happened. Maybe it's they figured him out, maybe the previous seasons were more of a mirage than the stats showed, maybe having to face all those LHP early in the season screwed him up...but whatever it is, he's a mess now and showing no signs of pulling out of it.

    I think it's more complicated with Lewis (and he can still be useful in ways that Wallner can't) but if he's not in the same boat quite yet then he's bought a ticket, put on the life vest, and is checking out the seating...

    LambchoP

    LambchoP 2,583

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I think SWR has only kept his rotation spot because of all the injuries in the rotation. Once Bradley and Abel are back, I imagine SWR will go on the IL for awhile. He'll get a few starts on his return to see if he can find something, if not, it'll be the pen for the rest of the year.

    laloesch

    laloesch 1,896

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    4 hours ago, LambchoP said:

    I think SWR has only kept his rotation spot because of all the injuries in the rotation. Once Bradley and Abel are back, I imagine SWR will go on the IL for awhile. He'll get a few starts on his return to see if he can find something, if not, it'll be the pen for the rest of the year.

    Hopefully Matthews pitches well and forces that decision.  I'm not holding my breath that this will happen, but SWR has been atrocious this season.



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