Twins 16, Cubs 3: Huge Run Support Helps Varland to First Win This Season

Box Score
SP: Louie Varland: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (97 pitches, 64 strikes (66.0%)
Home Runs: Larnach (4), Gallo (9), Taylor (5) 
Top/Bottom 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (0.230), Louie Varland (0.159), Carlos Correa (0.138) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Pregame Notes 
Happy Mothers Day to all the moms and grandmas and wives! I always enjoy how the Twins social media posts the team’s lineup on Mothers Day. 

Coming into the game, Twins starting pitchers led MLB in innings pitched with 227 1/3 innings. They also lead MLB in FIP (3.15), WHIP (1.06) and strikeouts (259). They are second in ERA (3.01) and batting average against (.220).  

Varland Victorious  
As mentioned above, the Twins starters lead MLB in rotation innings pitched. They are averaging 5.7 innings per outing. Last year, they averaged 4.8 innings to start. Louie Varland added to those totals with a really nice start on Sunday afternoon and earned his first win of the season. 

It just started out well with a nine-pitch first inning. Varland, as he does, worked really fast, mixing a big fastball with his cutter, slider and change up. He threw 48 fastballs among his 97 pitches and averaged 94.9 with it. He topped out at 96.5 mph. He threw 22 cutters, 14 changeups and 13 sliders. Cubs batters swung at 54 of his pitches and whiffed 16 times (22 foul balls). 

As important as all of that, Varland pitched just how you would hope with a big lead early. He worked fast. He threw strikes. While he got strikeouts, he wasn’t afraid of giving up some contact. Christopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki each hit a solo home run. Unfortunately, the final batter he faced walked on his 97th pitch and that was it for his day. He completed a career-high 6 1/3 innings. 

Emilio Pagan came on and gave up two singles that scored the third run charged to Varland. 

Early Offense  
Marcus Stroman has been quite good for the Cubs early this season. Coming into this game, he was just 2-3 despite a 2.28 ERA. He had completed at least six innings in seven of his eight starts. Against the Dodgers in late April, he gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. 

In this start, the Twins knocked him out after just 2 2/3 innings. He was charged with six runs on seven hits and two walks. Michael Rucker came on and allowed the inherited runner to score and two more runs. 

Now let’s get to the Twins side of things. Following Varland’s quick top of the first, the Twins got on the board right away in the bottom half. Alex Kirilloff got things started with a one-out single to center. Carlos Correa then doubled into the left field corner. Tommy Watkins aggressively sent Kirilloff home. He scored easily and the Twins had a 1-0 lead.

The Twins then scored seven runs in the third inning. Trevor Larnach came to the plate with two runners on and two outs in a 1-0 game. After a back-and-forth battle with Stroman, Larnach got a slider in the middle of the plate and deposited it into the right field bleachers to give them a 4-0 lead.

Kyle Farmer doubles. Nick Gordon doubled him in and then scored on a Christian Vazquez single to right. Joey Gallo ended the inning’s scoring with a long two-run homer.  

Correa’s Crusade 
Earlier in the homestand, the boo birds came out at Target Field, aimed in the direction of Carlos Correa. At the time, he was hitting .185 and really scuffling. Asked about the boos, he acknowledged them and said that he didn’t blame the fans for doing it. He said he hasn’t been playing well. 

Was he worried? No. Should Twins fans have been worried? Of course not. 

On Sunday, he went 2-for-5 with a double to raise his average to .207. Over the past five games, Correa has at least one hit in each game. He is 7-for-21 with two walks, four doubles, a homer, and eight RBI. 

Buxton Breaks Streak
In the first inning, Byron Buxton singled. That ended an 0-for-26 stretch. He ended the game 2-for-5, so now he's in a 2-for-30 slump, but that's much better. It's a start, and his at-bats were much cleaner. 

Farmer Fond of Playing Everyday
Kyle Farmer missed a month after being hit in the face with a Lucas Giolito fastball. He has started all five games since his return at third base. He has at least one hit in all five games, and is 7-for-18 (.389) in that stretch. He also looks very smooth at third base defensively. 

Late-Inning Offense
The Twins have had some big innings early in games, but it was nice to have a huge inning late in a game too. Sure, it would have been great to have saved the big late-inning run production for a game later this week maybe. 

Emilio Pagan got a big strikeout of Christopher Morel to end the seventh inning with the Twins leading 8-3. In the bottom of the seventh, the Twins scored a run off of Julian Merryweather to get the run back. 

Then came the bottom of the eighth frame. #OldFriend Michael Fulmer came on. He gave up three runs and recorded just two outs. It was at that point when Cubs manager David Ross could go to a position player (based on the new league rules of when they can pitch). Miles Mastrobuoni was the choice. The first four batters he faced recorded hits. He gave up an RBI single to Kyle Farmer, a run-scoring double to Nick Gordon, an RBI single to Christian Vazquez, and a long, two-run homer for Michael A. Taylor. 

Gallo Exits Early
In his final at-bat of the day, Joey Gallo grounded into a double play. After crossing first base, he slowed down and grabbed his right hamstring. While he tried to stay in the game, Rocco Baldelli immediately took him out and replaced him with Michael A. Taylor (who certainly took advantage of his one at-bat in the game).  

Everybody Contributes!
All nine batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Six had at least two hits in the game. That's the kind of win that can really help bring a team together. They will need that this coming week. 

The Twins won two out of three against both the Padres and the Cubs on this homestand. They are now 14-8 at Target Field, and they're 6-6 in interleague play. This was just the third time in Twins history that they have had back-to-back 10-run games. The last time was April 24th and 25th, 1996. 

The Twins out-hit the Cubs significantly in this game. The Cubs are now 0-15 when they are out-hit by their opponent. 

What’s Next? 
It’s going to be one of those weeks where Twins fans will struggle to get up for work a few mornings. The Twins will be doin’ a little west coast swing. They start a three-game series on Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They will have a day off in LA on Thursday before playing three games against the Angels in Anaheim. 

Monday 9:10 pm: RHP Pablo Lopez (2-2, 3.47) vs. Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 6.12)
Tuesday 9:10 pm: RHP Bailey Ober (2-0, 1.85) vs. Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.36)
Wednesday 2:10 pm: RHP Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.39) vs. RHP Dustin May (4-1, 2.68) 

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart