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Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (79 Pitches, 45 Strikes, 57%)
Home Runs: Donovan Solano (2),
Bottom 3 WPA: Jovani Moran (-0.360), Carlos Correa (-0.122), Alex Kirilloff (-0.091)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
The Tigers Bite First, in the Second
Sonny Gray has struggled over his past seven outings, going 0-1 with 3.65 ERA. The Twins haven't provided him much run support, but Gray has also struggled with high pitch counts which led to him exiting the games too soon to succeed. After a quick first inning, Gray was cruising along in the second until he wasn't. The hottest hitters in the Tigers lineup, all with an OPS over 1.0 in June, struck with two outs to cash in the games first run.
Andy Ibanez staved off a strikeout, and worked a walk. The ageless Miguel Cabrera continued his hot streak of late, lacing a single up the middle. Then Matt Vierling, yes Matt Vierling, followed up with an RBI single to right and it was 1-0. Gray still had work to do, and managed to strike out Jake Rogers to end the threat.
The Twins Bite Back, with a Vengeance
Matthew Boyd allowed a one-out double to Carlos Correa in the first, but escaped without any damage. Boyd's second inning also started innocently enough, allowing a single to Royce Lewis and getting two outs. Then the Twins' new offensive game plan began to emerge yet again. Ryan Jeffers laced a single to left. Former Tiger, Willi Castro, choked up on the bat and shanked a run-scoring single to right with two strikes. Now with the score 1-1, and two on, Donovan Solano stepped to the plate and fell behind 0-2, worked the count to 2-2, and then did the opposite of flaring the ball to right to make the score 4-1.
So Many Pitches...So Few Innings
Gray worked through the top of the third on six pitches. The top of the fourth took him 35 pitches.
Javier Baez singled on the sixth pitch, and stole second on a delayed attempt. Gray then walked Nick Maton and Ibanez on six pitches each, loading the bases with nobody out for Cabrera. Twins fans closed their eyes, and because of that they missed an impressive 5-6-3 double play started by the quick hands of Lewis. Baez scored on the play to make it 4-2, but that was way better than the feared 5-4 outcome.
Gray responded to this great play behind him by...walking Vierling on six pitches. Rogers came up again with a chance to do some serious damage, and it took seven pitches but he did strike out to end yet another threat. Rocco Baldelli and Gray had a series of words in the dugout during the inning and following the inning, and Gray's night was done much to his dismay. The line closes at four innings, 79 pitches, and a 57% strike rate.
There Are Tiger Tooth Marks All Over Moran
Jovani Moran entered the game to put out the fire, and four batters later the game was tied. A single, an errant throw by Lewis on a brilliant diving stop, and then a Baez delivered his own version of T-Pain. Baez reached beyond the strike zone to triple to burn Michael A. Taylor in left-center, evening the game at 4-4 with only one out. The camera chose not to locate Gray in the dugout again.
The Tigers made a move to the bench, placing right-hander Eric Haase in for Maton. Haase's cue ball gound out to second base brought in Baez to put the Tigers ahead 5-4.
Do the Twins Bite Back, or Just Lick Their Wounds?
In the fifth and sixth innings, they mostly whimped at the plate. A Solano walk was immediately erased by a Correa double play in the fifth. Byron Buxton looked lost, flailing wildly at 92 mph fastballs in the sixth. Boyd settled in, going six innings and handing the ball off to the bullpen with a one run lead. It only look Tigers RHP reliever Will Vest to take out pinch hitters Edouard Julien and Joey Gallo, along with Castro, 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Luckily for the Twins, while their bats might not have responded to the Tigers' challenge, the much maligned Emilio Pagan did. Pagan mowed through the sixth and seventh innings facing the minimum batters, continuing his trend of dominating when pitching without the lead.
To the Eighth We Go
Jorge Lopez took the mound to start the eighth inning, and proceeded to get three outs by inducing two ground balls. The Twins pinch hit Max Kepler for the only person to hit a home run today, Donnie Barrels, to start the bottom of the eighth. Kepler rewarded his manager by grounding out to first base. Correa struck out looking, and Kirilloff dribbled the ball to the pitcher to wrap up a horrible inning.
Can We Get Another Ninth Inning Miracle this Week???
Nope. And the suspense didn't last long either. Lopez stayed in to face the bottom of the Tigers lineup, and he got hit around to the tune of three more runs. Spencer Torkelson and Zach Short each crushed doubles to left with two outs, driving the nails into the Twins bullpen's coffin.
The Twins caught a break when Torkelson couldn't dig out the throw on Buxton's ground out, placing the lead off runner in the bottom of the ninth on base. A Kyle Farmer lazy fly ball, a Lewis swinging strike out, and a Christian Vasquez lazy fly ball later and the Twins were meat.
What's Next
The Twins will send RHP Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) to the mound on Friday night in hopes of righting the ship, to face a Tigers bullpen squad with the vaunted "TBD" scheduled to get the first inning. On paper it looks like the Tigers already conceded this one a week ago, but if tonight's game taught us anything its: "That's why you play the games!" First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm CDT.
Postgame Interviews
Bullpen Usage Chart
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