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    Tigers 3, Twins 0: Tarik Skubal Carves Up Helpless Twins Offense

    One wouldn't expect the Twins to mount any sort of resistance against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. Well, they didn't, and the Tigers took the series with a 3-0 victory.

    Hans Birkeland
    Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

    Twins Video

    Box Score:
    Starting Pitcher:
    Chris Paddack: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB 3 K (91 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 64.8%)
    Home Runs: None
    Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-.128), Paddack (-.114), Byron Buxton (-.089)
    Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

    image.png.d22849d6793ef5424c24443b9bddafd0.png

    The Twins somehow had a chance to take a road series against one of the league's best teams, who also happen to lead the AL Central. Standing in their way was defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, and he was in no mood to make this game seem winnable at any point, finishing with 13 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings.

    Byron Buxton began the game by striking out on a filthy changeup from Skubal. Ryan Jeffers followed with a routine fly out, and from there, Skubal went scorched-earth, striking out the next seven batters by locating his 98-MPH fastball wherever he wanted, and keeping the Twins off balance with his disappearing changeup, unreachable to any right-handed batter.

    Chris Paddack was on the mound for the Twins and was amped, hitting 98 MPH with his fastball in the first inning. The Tigers had some trouble squaring up the fastball, but seemed content to wait for his other offerings—highlighted by Kerry Carpenter launching his 16th home run off a sloppy changeup from Paddack.

    Paddack continued allowing hard contact, but was bailed out by his defense, most notably on an over-the-shoulder catch at the wall by Willi Castro that saved a sure run in the third. However, Riley Green sat on another changeup in the fourth, and launched it 381 feet to double Detroit's lead.

    Meanwhile, Skubal took a perfect game into the fifth before he gave up a one-out gapper off the bat of Ty France. That proved inconsequential, as Skubal struck out Harrison Bader on yet another filthy changeup, and got Brooks Lee swinging at 99 MPH at his eyes to end it.

    The Tigers pounced on that missed opportunity in the fifth. Following a hit-by-pitch of Colt Keith, Carpenter slammed a Paddack fastball up in the zone down the right-field line with two outs. Castro tried to chase it down, but it ping-ponged in the corner, which allowed Keith to score the game's third run. That was the end of the road for Paddack, as Danny Coulombe came in to retire Greene.

    Skubal coasted from there, walking Christian Vázquez at one point but otherwise completely shutting down the Twins lineup. The Twins seemed to be starting a mini-rally in the eighth against Tommy Kahnle, with Bader singling to start the inning and Lee hitting a sharp grounder to the hole between first and second. But Spencer Torkelson made an excellent play, spearing the ball and making a great feed to second, with Lee unable to beat out the twin-killing.

    Stray Observations:
    -Skubal is the best left-handed starter in the game, with all due respect to Max Fried and Garret Crochet. He throws harder, has better mound presence, and goes deeper in games. He's an absolute menace.

    -I wonder if Paddack has any trade value left, now that his ERA has settled back into the mid-4s. The problem is that you can't market him as an innings-eater, as he has been one of the least durable pitchers in baseball, and you can't say he'd be a difference-maker, since he's never been that effective. Maybe other teams are interested in a really nice guy who never backs down from a challenge, even though he will almost always lose said challenge.

    "Who will save us from the alien invasion?!"

    Paddack: "I'll do it."

    "Chris Paddack? Wasn't he sort of good in 2019, but spent the last six years hurt and ineffective?"

    "I'm gonna save the day. I'm a sheriff."

    "Wow he's so loyal and nice! Hopefully the aliens won't sit on his offspeed and breaking pitches."

    "Oh, he's dead."

    What’s Next: The Twins head to Miami for an off day Monday, before beginning a series against the Marlins. Joe Ryan (8-3, 2.86 ERA) opposes Edward Cabrera (2-2, 3.78 ERA) as the Twins try to start salvaging their season with the trade deadline getting closer and reinforcements on the way—either in or out.

    Postgame Interviews:

    Coming soon

    Bullpen Usage Chart:

      WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT
    Wentz 0 0 0 48 0 48
    Sands 0 31 0 12 0 43
    Topa 0 8 0 0 30 38
    Jax 9 0 23 0 0 32
    Varland 17 0 15 0 0 32
    Stewart 0 13 0 0 14 27
    Coulombe 0 16 6 0 1 23
    Durán 9 0 9 0 0 18

     

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    The 22-year-old went 2-for-5 on Friday night, his fourth straight multi-hit game. Heading into the week, he was hitting .246/.328/.404 (.732). Four games later, he is hitting .303/.361/.447 (.808).

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    Twins had a disadvantage right from the start , bad lineup management against a very very good lefty ...

    2 hits , France and Bader  , what is wrong with the twins system  of developing hitters ...

    Skubal was good but the twins helped him out at swinging at alot of pitches they couldn't handle , Lee struck out twice with pitches in his eyes for example  ...

    It was what everyone expected from Skubal , that he would dominate the twins , even their bullpen held up the shutout , the twins hitters were all worn̈ out facing Skubals nasty stuff ...

    Detroit is the better team and they took the series with players i would like to have on the twins roster ...

    I am not an advocate of the all right handed line up. I know that Skubal is very difficult on left handed batters but they at least need to be able to break up his rhythm. Only two trams have tried the all right handed line up against Skubal this year. Both attempts were unsuccessful.

    I should note the Twins did get a win against Skubal last year with the all right handed line up. That was probably Margot’s best game as a Twin. He had a homer off Skubal and scored two runs. The game was tied when Skubal exited and the Twins scored off the Tigers bullpen to get the win.

    After going hitless in 3 rehab games the Twins are rushing Lewis back to save this crappy offense. It's more likely he goes 0-15 or something and goes down with another leg injury, this time for the rest of the season. Hey, at least we got rid of Bride. Now if we could just do the same for Keirsey and Wentz. Why does Rocco play our worst looking lineup anytime we're on national TV? We always play like **** too. Definitely not making the team look attractive to any potential buyers out there.

    Could only watch 2 innings of this embarrassing game. How hitter after hitter made Skubal look like a Cy Young pitcher. Standing in the on deck circle watching him throw change up after change up blow the zone on 2 strikes. Then swinging at what they had just watched happen,why look at their IPad. 

    Looking at how Paddock pitched he didn't deserve the outcome he got.

    6 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

    Maybe

    Hinch is doing it with 15 players that add up to around 11M in payroll. Which is about the same price as Vazquez alone.

     

    If I remember correctly, the Tigers payroll is about $400,000 more than the Twins and both are just below the middle in team payroll ranking.

    1 hour ago, Larry Janisewski said:

    If I remember correctly, the Tigers payroll is about $400,000 more than the Twins and both are just below the middle in team payroll ranking.

    You are correct. The Twins and Tigers are spending about the same in 2025. 

    The Tigers had money to spend this off-season because they didn't 4 million here and 4 million there the money away with players in Arbitration and Cheap Vet Contracts. The Tigers have a roster full of players making the minimum. As a result, the Tigers had about 50 million to spend on DECENT free agents this year while we were sweeping up spilled produce in the supermarket aisles.

    The Twins are currently trying to figure out who they can't sign and who they will have to trade next year to make payroll room because we are not filling spaces internally like nearly everybody else does.  

    If the Twins can't develop talent. This thing will crash and burn hard. 

    The Twins currently compare with the Phillies and Dodgers in regards to players making the minimum. The problem is that we don't have the money the Phillies and Dodgers do. 

    If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there.

    Brad Pitt says a lot of smart things.   

     

     

    I would suggest that the Tigers still have their own warts.  Javier Baez, for the good year he is having this year, is still a bust of a signing for Detroit.  They are still paying Kenta Maeda $10M to not be close to the team.  Throw in Alex Cobb and his $15M on the IL doing his best Tyler Mahle impression and that just about equates to a bad Correa and Vazquez.  

    This iteration of the Tigers reminds me of the Astros ten years ago or a team that we have seen before:  the early 2000's Twins.  A young group breaking in together, growing up together, and playing together.  Mix that in with some veterans either acquired through trade or FA signing (Shannon Stewart, Jose Offerman, Carlos Silva).

    22 hours ago, knothole61 said:

    I know that the aesthetics of it are not pleasing, and that purists will say that if he can't be counted on to go 100%, 100% of the time he should just pack his bag, but I think for Lewis to contribute to the Twins in a meaningful way, he'll need to be coached to run the bases at a controlled 75% effort, most of the time.

    It's hard to pull a hamstring at a reduced speed. He should have no trouble fielding at third base or shacking around the bases. The pulls occur when you get up on your toes and extend, and surge for at least 10-15 hard strides. If you have the inclination to pull, and Lewis clearly does, no amount of stretching or whatever "vibration technologies" they may have today (I may have made that up?) will keep him from risking a pull any time he puts the pedal to the metal...any time.

    I think he can find his hitting stride again, (maybe .900s in OPS?) but I wouldn't have him try to find his full running stride again. It's really not a sellout, just common sense in my humble opinion.    

    You know, I completely understand the revulsion at the sight of anyone not running 100%. But I'm pretty sure that if Lewis keeps trying to run full speed he will spend much more than half of his seasons on the IL. His value to the Twins is not as a base stealer or a guy who can stretch out an extra base from time-to-time anyway-yes? He's really pretty earthbound. I say let him use "the better part of valor" on the base paths and live to fight many more days as a result. Channeling my inner Johnnie Cochran: If it's speed he will not succeed. 

    Some guys just pull under high strain. The more pulls (tears) you have the weaker the entire mechanism becomes and the greater the likelihood of future injuries. Even when a given tear "heals" it can leave behind a sizable calcified node on the spot. I'm probably not up on the latest medical knowledge, but I do know that chronic hamstring problems can spell doom for an athlete.

    Time will tell, and maybe he'll fly around the bases unhindered for years to come...I just wouldn't bet on it. 




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