Twins 10, Dodgers 7: Twins Take Advantage of Dodgers Miscues, Hang On for Win

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (58 pitches, 28 strikes (48%))
Home Runs: N/A
Top 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (.320), Ty France (.235), Christian Vázquez (.204)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Twins entered their latest round of "must-win" baseball on Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine, their second chance at defeating the 2024 champs. After Carlos Correa's ninth-inning blast fell one foot short of tying the game last night, Twins fans hoped that the winds of change would blow one foot higher and push the team back into a buying frame of mind. Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 3.86 ERA) got the call to keep hope alive, and he faced Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-7, 2.62 ERA), who has been muddling through a boom-or-bust sophomore campaign.

If They Catch the Homers...
Correa might have gotten robbed of a hero moment last night, but in his first at-bat to lead off the second inning, he started an early rally for his team. Instead of being disappointed by a 398-foot blast into the center fielder's glove, this time Correa tried the two-foot, 80.7-mph variety and legged out an infield single. After a Ty France walk, Correa advanced to third base on a Matt Wallner fly out, setting up the suddenly red-hot Royce Lewis with one out. Lewis bounced a hard grounder to third to score Correa, and France advanced to second on an error by Miguel Rojas at third base. Harrison Bader kept his "striking out with runners on base" streak alive, but he has a teammate (for now) named Christian Vázquez, and Vázquez delivered a two-out double to deep left-center to plate France and Lewis and make it 3-0 Twins early.

Woods Richardson Escapes, Until He Doesn't
Meanwhile, the young Woods Richardson held the All-Star-stacked Dodgers lineup to one hit and no runs through the first three innings, thanks to a couple of nifty double plays turned by France. What Woods Richardson didn't escape was the fourth inning. After walking Will Smith and Freddie Freeman on nine pitches, he hung a curveball, and Andy Pages hung three runs on the board to tie the game and end Woods Richardson's evening after only 58 pitches. The emotions were running high and positive early, but the fastballs kept riding high and outside far too often to save his night.

Yamamoto stayed in for the top of the fifth and completed his best inning of work, leaving the game tied after tossing his 100th pitch of the night. The bullpens took over in earnest after that, with Brock Stewart getting a crack at the top of his former team's lineup in the bottom of the fifth. Stewart looked stellar and set the Dodgers (including Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani) down. The Twins needed that, and thanks to Rocco Baldelli treating this like a mid-season playoff game, the game remained tied.

Ben Casparius got the top of the sixth, and if the Twins indeed saved their season tonight, then Mr. Casparius deserves a gift basket. He walked Correa to open the inning, and then surrendered a rocket double to France to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Then the wheels fell completely off, as he walked Wallner and Lewis to give the Twins the lead at 4-3. After an injury timeout, Alexis Díaz entered to pitch with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Bader beat what looked like an infield hit into the ground, but Rojas made a brilliant play to nab him at first. France still scored, and it was 5-3. Vázquez came up next with ducks still on the pond, and once again, he hit the ball like the Twins had just acquired his potential replacement a few hours earlier. That made it 6-3 Twins.

The Dodgers are Good, but Their Bullpen is...
Rocco kept bringing in the big guns, but Louis Varland misfired tonight. Will Smith led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and Michael Conforto ripped a two-out ground-rule double to put runners at second and third. Varland kept firing heat, but Hyeseong Kim was up for it, as he stroked a two-run single into center to pull the Dodgers within one at 6-5. 

The Twins escaped the sixth still in the lead, and then Will Klein did his best Casparius impersonation by walking Correa, France, and Wallner to load the bases with one out. Seriously.

Klein got pulled after only achieving one out, and Edgardo Henriquez got the call to face Lewis. Lewis thought he had good success with the infield chopper in the second inning, and hit another. By the time Henriquez's wild throw bounced off the right field wall (yes, you read that right), it was 9-5 Twins, and Lewis was laughing along with all of Twins Territory as he stood on third base with three RBIs and zero hits on the evening!

Must Win, Just Win
Even after regaining a commanding four-run lead, the Twins turned to Griffin Jax in the seventh. Unfortunately, Jax decided to hit James Outman on a 1-2 count to start the frame. With the momentum hanging on by a thread, Jax recovered to set down Betts, Ohtani, and Smith in order, to preserve the lead. With the score still at 9-5 in the eighth, Anthony Misiewicz got the call, with four of the next six scheduled batters being left-handed. Of course, it doesn't matter what batter's box you stand in if the pitcher doesn't throw strikes, and Misiewicz walked Freeman on a full count. The Twins thought they had Freeman picked off for the first out of the inning, but Freeman evaded the tag—and Misiewicz had to leave the game immediately thereafter, with a hand injury. Just like that, it was up to Jhoan Duran in the bottom of the eighth, with Pages up and a runner at first and a full count. Pages singled to left, and the game that would not end just kept rolling along.

Two splinkers later, though, it was still 9-5, and the game actually did get to keep on going. It only cost Duran seven pitches. By the time Duran came back out to pitch the ninth, Correa and France had pumped the lead up to 10-5 with back-to-back doubles. Lucky that they did, because the supernova that is Ohtani took a 100-mph Duran offering oppo-taco for a 2-run shot with two outs. Will the Twins regret that they used up Duran for the next few days with a five-run lead? It's mid-season playoff time, and we shall worry about that tomorrow. The Twins needed a win, and they got one, 10-7.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to (improbably) take the series from the Dodgers on the road in a Wednesday matinee. Righty Chris Paddack (3-9, 5.14 ERA) hopes to avenge his loss against the Rockies earlier in the week, while the Dodgers send righty Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.10 ERA) in need of a lengthy start. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT.

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