Orioles 5, Twins 1: Sano Homers, Twins Leave 11 Men On Base

Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs)

The Twins were 15-5 in games in which Sano homers coming into today and Baltimore starter Wade Miley had really been scuffling, posting a 11.69 ERA in his previous six starts. It felt like only a matter of time before the offense broke through, but it never happened.

Miley gave up eight hits and walked three batters over his 5.2 innings of work, but all the Twins had to show for it was the lone run. That’s bad news, as Baltimore has a formidable back end of its bullpen. Sure enough, the Twins managed just one hit, struck out seven times and couldn’t draw a single walk over 3.1 innings against the O’s pen.

Sano was 2-for-4 with that blast (see below) and a walk, but he also struck out two more times. He was already leading all of baseball in Ks, of which he now has 120 this season.

https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883762508447797250

Zack Granite made his major league debut, and is maybe the first player in baseball history to receive a standing ovation after hitting a pop out. The Twins 14th-round pick in 2013, Granite pinch hit in the eighth inning and worked an 11-pitch at bat. Twins fans didn’t have much to cheer about Saturday, but that was a pretty cool moment to see Target Field acknowledge Granite's effort.

It was great to see Mejia pitch into the seventh inning for the second-straight start. He gave up four runs, but it was only on five hits, so it’s not like Baltimore beat him up today. The home run he served up to Jonathan Schoop in the fourth inning was impressive, however, as the ball left the bat at 113.5 mph and traveled 462 feet, per Baseball Savant.

https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883765786027978752

Bullpen Usage

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

Sunday

Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Baltimore (Ubaldo Jimenez), 1:10 pm CT

Jimenez got bounced to the bullpen earlier this season, but has made four starts since returning to the rotation. Over that stretch he has a 6.45 ERA. Lefties are killing Jimenez this season, hitting .280/.373/.674 (1.047 OPS). He’s given up 19 homers this year, 14 to left-handed hitters.

But, for whatever reason, Ubaldo has been really tough on the Twins over his career. In 69 career innings, Jimenez has a 3.13 ERA vs. Minnesota. His numbers at Target Field are even more impressive: 1.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP over seven starts.

Gibson’s season got off to a nightmare start, but he’ll have the opportunity to end the first half on a high note. Over his last four starts, Gibson has a 3.52 ERA. It hasn’t been pretty, but the Twins are 8-7 in games started by Gibby this season