MIN 5, CHW 2: Wild Final Inning Puts Twins Over

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Berrios: 53 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, 67.9% strikes (55 of 81 pitches)

Home Runs: None

Multi-Hit Games: Mauer (2-for-4, BB), Rosario (2-for-5)

WPA of 0.1 or higher: Rosario .368, Berrios .175, Cave .122, May .108

WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.131, Sano .149

The Twins entered the top of the ninth inning with the game tied at 2-2. The White Sox had opened the scoring in the second inning before the Twins answered with a pair of runs in the fourth, one of which the Twins stole.

With runners on the corners and one out, Robbie Grossman broke for second base. It looked like the hit and run may have been on, as Bobby Wilson swung through a pitch that was way outside. The throw beat Grossman by a mile, but he was able to get into a rundown long enough for Jake Cave to score from third.

Yoan Moncada hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh. Then things got real interesting. There was a whole lot more running.

The Sox led off the eighth inning with a single from Adam Engel. He was picked off by Trevor May, but managed to reach second base safely due to some poor execution by the Twins’ infield. Then, Tim Anderson tried to bunt Engel over to third.

May slipped while fielding the bunt and threw wildly to first base. Anderson just kept running. The Twins got him into a rundown and this time did an excellent job. Mauer threw to Polanco, who ran Anderson back toward first. Then he realized he had Engel caught up in no-man’s land and fired to third. Anderson just kept running. Sano chased Engel toward home, threw to Wilson, and by the time Engel tried returning to third, Anderson was already there.

In the end, the White Sox got what they originally wanted — a runner on third with one out — but it could have ended up much worse for the Twins. May struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

Jake Cave led off the ninth with a walk and was bunted over to second by Grossman. Mitch Garver followed with a single, but Cave was thrown out at the plate. With Garver advancing to second on the throw, the White Sox opted to intentionally walk Joe Mauer.

Eddie Rosario delivered the go-ahead run on a bloop single to center. Engel had a hard time fielding the ball in center, allowing Mauer to advance to third, and then his throw got by the third baseman, allowing Rosie to reach second base. Polanco hit a single that plated both runners, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it to second base.

So the Twins basically gave Chicago all three outs in the ninth inning (sac bunt and two outs recorded on the bases), but still scored three runs.

Taylor Rogers struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.

Postgame With Molitor

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1032127879402778624

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Next Three Games

Wed at CHW, 1:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Carlos Rodon

Thu vs. OAK, 7:10 pm CT: TBD

Fri vs. OAK, 7:10 pm CT: TBD

Last Three Games

CHW 8, MIN 5: At Least That’s out of the Way

MIN 5, DET 4: Late Rosario Homer Lifts Twins to Elusive One-Run Victory

DET 7, MIN 5: Stewart Bombs Second Audition