Twins Video
Trying to win back to back series following their debilitating sweep in Kansas City and subsequent egg-laying at the trade deadline, the Twins were delayed about a half hour by the festivities surrounding Joe Mauer's Twins Hall of Fame induction (check out a great tribute to Mauer here). Once underway they delivered one of their better performances of the year while their division rivals were throwing punches at each other, pushing the division lead to 3.5 games.
Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda: 6 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K (87 Pitches, 54 Strikes, 62%)
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers 2 (8), Michael A. Taylor (15), Max Kepler (17)
Top 3 WPA: Willi Castro (.180), Jeffers (.150), Matt Wallner (.110)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
Maeda was sharp early, but a couple of close pitches called balls (particularly low in the zone) resulted in some hitters counts and ultimately the first run of the game, a home run off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Opposing Maeda was rookie Ryne Nelson, a second round draft pick who struck out a lot of hitters in the minors but who has struggled to get swing and miss in the majors. He relies on his 94 MPH fastball to get weak contact from hitters, and throws it over half the time. His secondary pitches don't rate very highly, and given that and that fact that Nelson throws right-handed put him right in the Twins' cross-hairs.
They went to work against Nelson in the second. Matt Wallner led off the inning with a broken bat single, and Willi Castro scorched a ground ball through the right side all the way to the warning track to score him. With Joe Mauer in the booth, Ryan Jeffers then demolished a Nelson fastball over the wall in right center field to make it a 3-1 game, part of another offensive onslaught that raised his OPS to a Mauer-like .895.
After Jorge Polanco was called out on a check swing that he truly did check in the third inning, Max Kepler drove a single up the middle and Carlos Correa ended an 0-for-17 drought with a hard single off the limestone in right field (home run in 16/30 parks). Wallner then doubled down the right field line to score Kepler and Willi Castro drove home Correa with a drive to the gap in left center field that Gurriel made a nice catch on. Jeffers then smacked a hanging slider from Nelson down the left field line for a double to score Wallner, making it a 6-1 game.
Meanwhile, Maeda was in cruise control, spotting his offspeed and sitting 91-92 MPH with his fastball. He continued to get squeezed by home plate umpire Emil Jimenez, but kept executing pitches and the slumping Diamondbacks lineup had no answer. When he struck out Arizona's superstar rookie Corbin Carroll to end the sixth (and his outing), he had set down 14 men in a row.
Not to be outdone, Jeffers added yet another home run (115.8 MPH) in the sixth, this time off of mop-up lefty (and no-hitter throwing) Tyler Gilbert. Jeffers is unconscious right now and may need some DH at-bats going forward.
The last run was delivered by newcomer Jordan Luplow, who singled off of position player Carson Kelly to score the team's 12th run.
The good:
Jeffers, who might need to play a little more. His improvements against right-handers (.310/.403/.500 entering the game) might mean he should represent the strong side of the platoon with Christian Vazquez. Didn't have that one on my bingo card to start the year.
Michael A. Taylor has homered in three straight games, adding a solo shot the other way in the fourth inning.
Kepler hit a 435 foot home run off of the lefty Gilbert.
Jhoan Duran got the night off, and the team won.
The bad:
Tomorrow's mound opponent;
Jorge Polanco struck out three times;
Jovani Moran is in a major funk;
Mauer's speech was pretty long.
What’s Next: Dallas Keuchel (First start of 2023) faces off against Arizona ace Zac Gallen (11-5, 3.41 ERA) as the Twins try to complete a perfect home stand on Sunday. Gallen has been good, but his team has been playing at a .250 clip (7-21) since early July. Keuchel faces one of the teams that cut bait on him last year as he tries to prove that his numbers with the Saints (1.13 ERA) can carry over to a major league pennant race.
Postgame Interviews:
Bullpen Usage Chart:
| TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | TOT | |
| Durán | 14 | 0 | 15 | 19 | 0 | 48 |
| Winder | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Morán | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 30 |
| Jax | 14 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Pagán | 16 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 27 |
| Balazovic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 26 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 23 |
| Floro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
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