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    Rays 7, Twins 2: Of Course They Lost at George M. Steinbrenner Field

    The Twins lack of luck against the Bronx Bombers even extends to the Yankees spring training facility, where the Rays are playing their home games this season.
    Tom Froemming

    By Tom Froemming

    Image courtesy of Chris Paddack © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

    Twins Video

    Box Score
    Starting Pitcher: Chris Paddack: 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 90 pitches, 64 strikes (71.1%)
    Home Runs: Carlos Correa (4)
    Bottom 3 WPA: Brock Stewart -.204, Ryan Jeffers -.173, Kody Funderburk -.131
    Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

    chart.png

    You could see this loss coming from a mile away. The Minnesota Twins playing a game at George M. Steinbrenner Field? I mean, c’mon. Even if the Yankees were nowhere in sight, this was a predictable outcome.

    Tonight’s game was a pitcher’s duel until it very decisively was not. It was a scoreless tie with starters Chris Paddack and former Twin Zack Littell cruising into the bottom of the sixth inning. Paddack ran into some trouble there, surrendering a one-out single followed by a double. Brock Stewart took over for the Twins and served up a middle-middle sweeper to Jonathan Aranda, who hit it out for a three-run homer. 

    Rocco Baldelli’s old buddy Kevin Cash said “hey, we could do that!”

    After Littell hit Ty France with a pitch, putting him on with one out, Cash decided he’d also had enough of the zeros. He brought Garrett Cleavinger in from the bullpen to … also give up a home run to the first batter he faced. Carlos Correa took him deep for a beautifully violent two-run homer blasted at 108.8 mph that traveled 417 feet.

     The teams traded zeros once again in the bottom of the seventh inning and top of the eighth before things really went sideways for the Twins. Justin Topa, who pitched a clean seventh inning, retired the only batter he faced in the eighth before Kody Funderburk took over. There wasn’t much fun about his outing this evening.

    Funderburk surrendered consecutive singles before recording the second out. He then got two strikes on José Caballero but couldn’t finish the deal. In Funderburk’s defense, it looked like Trevor Larnach should have been able to make a play on the ball Caballero hit to left field that ended up being a two-run double. Larnach made a leaping attempt at the warning track and appeared to have gotten some leather on it. Upon review, he probably didn’t need to leave his feet at all.

    It’s unlikely any spring training games Larnach has played at George M. Steinbrenner Field have been in the evenings with the lights on. There’s also no lights from a third deck in a minor league/spring training stadium like this, which is something Major Leaguers can become accustomed to (hat tip to the astute Seth Stohs on that observation). No matter the reason, Larnach didn’t look comfortable on this catch attempt.

    Danny Jansen, the next batter, ended a six-pitch at-bat by blasting a two-run homer to completely blow the game open. Larnach had an outside chance to redeem himself and make what would have been a spectacular rob job, but he missed by no more than a foot.

    Since the Twins only managed to score two runs, everything that unfolded in that ugly eighth inning didn’t actually have any impact on the final outcome. This was the fourth time in the past seven games the Twins failed to score three runs or more. 

    What’s Next?
    It’s another one at George M. Steinbrenner Field Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm CT. Joe Ryan looks to finish off a strong May in which he has pitched to a 1.96 ERA while striking out 28 batters in 23 innings pitched. He’ll be facing his former organization for the third time in his career. The Rays counter with 24-year-old right-hander Taj Bradley, who has pitched much better at home (3.72 ERA) than on the road (6.20 ERA) so far this season. 

    Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

      THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT
    Topa 0 0 34 0 17 51
    Durán 0 0 23 18 0 41
    Funderburk 0 0 0 0 31 31
    Sands 0 14 0 12 0 26
    Alcalá 0 0 26 0 0 26
    Jax 0 11 12 0 0 23
    Varland 0 9 0 12 0 21
    Stewart 0 3 7 0 11 21

     

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    Featured Comments

    David Maro

    David Maro 405

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Let's be honest here Lewis doesn't need time off,he is a shell of himself now. It's time everyone realized that. It's pop up or ground balls to SS or 3rd. He can't run to beat anything to 1st. He is a automatic out and time to move on. He has only played a little over 1 season of games in 4 years.

    tony&rodney

    tony&rodney 16,949

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    3 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

    McCusker is a real liability in the OF. He needs to DH or learn to play 1B, and stop striking out so much.

    So I do not know if you have watched a couple dozen or fifty games with McCusker playing in the field in the minor leagues like I have, but he has actually been a decent outfielder. He is a little bit better on jumps than Wallner and a much stronger defender than Larnach. Unless the lights specifically were the cause of the difficulties in left field last night I would say McCusker catches all three. He has fair speed and is surprisingly athletic. 

    In 9 days McCusker has been mostly on the bench and the strikeouts are not surprising. His K-rate in AAA is about what we saw from both Larnach and Wallner. Yes, we want him to strike out less but acclimating to MLB pitching is not so easy as Jackson Holliday found out last season. It is multitudes more difficult for a rookie batting once every other game. If the Twins just wanted a pinch hitter they should have called up Mike Ford.

    I'm pretty certain that McCusker goes back to St. Paul soon and would suggest the Twins evaluate where he stands in their pecking order as an outfielder. If the Twins are not keen on Carson in their future plans I'm thinking there would be a decent opportunity to find a Dominican League, Rookie, or A ball player from some team's #10-25 prospect list or a dark horse that someone in the organization likes on another team. 

    Blyleven2011

    Blyleven2011 6,761

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

    Everything that needs to be said is in the comments but I would like to add the paddock continues to look good. Makes me curious what will happen when he becomes a free agent or if we will trade him mid-season because he will become a free agent. 

    Paddack has been really good his last 4 starts or more , yes he in the final year of contract with the twins , plus he is pitching for a big payday in free agency  ...

    I can see the twins trading him at the deadline if he continues to pitch well for some decent prospects  , the twins haven't gotten much value from paddack since we traded for him  , so it's time at the deadline to trade him for some value and have him replaced with SWR  , Festa or Matthew's , just my opinion  ...

    mickster

    mickster 707

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    22 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

    Paddack has been really good his last 4 starts or more , yes he in the final year of contract with the twins , plus he is pitching for a big payday in free agency  ...

    I can see the twins trading him at the deadline if he continues to pitch well for some decent prospects  , the twins haven't gotten much value from paddack since we traded for him  , so it's time at the deadline to trade him for some value and have him replaced with SWR  , Festa or Matthew's , just my opinion  ...

    I don't see a trade at the deadline.   If they are in the race, they will want his arm.   Only way I can see it is if it adds to our offense and not sure Paddack will bring back the punch we need.    Now if we package Paddak and some prospects for an impact bat that would be good, but then it would make us buyers and not sellers.   

    Bad News TC Bears

    Bad News TC Bears 12

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I get miffed at the thought of the Yankees. All those good years with Mauer, Morneau, Dozier, and Santana and then running into them in the playoffs. 

    I'm encouraged by the win streak and the pitching this year. We need to keep winning series! 

    tarheeltwinsfan

    tarheeltwinsfan 8,561

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    6 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

    So I do not know if you have watched a couple dozen or fifty games with McCusker playing in the field in the minor leagues like I have, but he has actually been a decent outfielder. He is a little bit better on jumps than Wallner and a much stronger defender than Larnach. Unless the lights specifically were the cause of the difficulties in left field last night I would say McCusker catches all three. He has fair speed and is surprisingly athletic. 

    In 9 days McCusker has been mostly on the bench and the strikeouts are not surprising. His K-rate in AAA is about what we saw from both Larnach and Wallner. Yes, we want him to strike out less but acclimating to MLB pitching is not so easy as Jackson Holliday found out last season. It is multitudes more difficult for a rookie batting once every other game. If the Twins just wanted a pinch hitter they should have called up Mike Ford.

    I'm pretty certain that McCusker goes back to St. Paul soon and would suggest the Twins evaluate where he stands in their pecking order as an outfielder. If the Twins are not keen on Carson in their future plans I'm thinking there would be a decent opportunity to find a Dominican League, Rookie, or A ball player from some team's #10-25 prospect list or a dark horse that someone in the organization likes on another team. 

    Thanks for that post T and R. I'm glad my observations about McC's fielding and speed were not correct. 

    tony&rodney

    tony&rodney 16,949

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    4 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

    Thanks for that post T and R. I'm glad my observations about McC's fielding and speed were not correct. 

    No big deal. McCusker is being judged on being a rookie pinch hitter. I cannot remember another instance where this has occurred. It is a very strange situation and I'm sure someone else must have questions other than me. To say he has failed is too simplistic to even respond to. Nobody knows what McCusker can do at the MLB level because he just sits and tries to be a good teammate. Can you imagine if Matthews was called up and just sat in the bullpen for a couple of weeks and then was brought in as a closer with a couple of runners on base.



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