Twins Video
Box Score
Pablo López: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Home Runs: Joey Gallo (14), Max Kepler (11), Byron Buxton (14)
Top 3 WPA: Pablo López (.144), Joey Gallo (.111), Royce Lewis (.096)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
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The infamous players' meeting—was all anyone could talk about. No one knows what precisely the hitters told each other beyond that Kyle Farmer offered incentives to his fellow batters and that—perhaps, hopefully—the bats would forget their previous struggles and embrace the endless future and its potential success.
It seemed to work early. Carlos Correa smashed a single up the middle, and Alex Kirilloff lined a hit into right to brew early trouble for Baltimore starter Dean Kremer. It was too much.
Joey Gallo adjusted, fouling off a tough cutter to find his bread and butter: a middle-middle fastball soon to be a souvenir for the Orioles faithful.
Kepler made his adjustment, pulverizing a cement mixer well enough into right field in his mind to drop the bat with some swagger out of the box.
And Byron Buxton adjusted, eschewing the puzzling left-handed troubles that have plagued the organization since Nelson Cruz became a Ray with a three-run homer that knocked the monkey entirely off Minnesota's back.
Pablo López made his adjustment… in an atypical manner. Rather than dominate with an incredible strikeout-to-walk rate—and far too many runs—López walked three with just six strikeouts but only one earned run. He wobbled early, allowing baserunners when the game was fresh and still un-won, before settling in and cruising through Baltimore's lineup; a cheeky Adley Rutchsman solo shot was his lone error. His hat may have been thoroughly drenched in sweat, but his start was an easy success against a solid lineup.
Immediate offensive excitement gave way to typical, atrophying scoring; the Twins didn't score following the 4th inning as the team sat on their comfortable lead, waiting out Baltimore's outs until the team could claim victory.
And so they did. Jovani Moran, Emilio Pagán, and Jordan Balazovic continued the pitching effort, handing Minnesota a trio of scoreless frames to end the game decidedly in their favor.
Notes:
Pablo López earned 14 swings-and-misses on Friday.
The Twins earned four Statcast "Barrels" on Friday—one from Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, and Kyle Farmer.
Post-Game Interview:
What’s Next?
Minnesota and Baltimore will play the second game of the series on Saturday; Bailey Ober is set to face off against Kyle Bradish with first pitch at 12:05 PM.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
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