Twins Video
Box Score: Sonny Gray: 5 IP 4 H 3 ER 3 BB 6 SO (90 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 61%)
Home Runs: Kepler (5), Correa (5)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Alcalá (-0.121), Byron Buxton (-0.121), Sonny Gray (-0.115)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
Sonny Gray struggles with control but holds it together despite his defense.
Coming off one of the finest months of his career, Gray was in command at the start, spotting his curveball, fastball, and two-seamer where he wanted and generally staying ahead of hitters. However, he completely lost control in the fourth inning, walking the unwalkable (and worst number two hitter in baseball) Amed Rosario and falling behind Jose Ramirez 3-0. Gray got Ramirez to hit a grounder, but Donovan Solano booted it, allowing Rosario to reach third. Josh Naylor then grounded to Miranda, who booted his third ball of the game, fell over, and allowed Ramirez to move up to third. Fighting his mechanics, Gray then allowed an RBI single to Josh Bell and walked Gabriel Arias and Myles Straw to force in another. How he retained his composure to finish the inning and pitch a scoreless fifth is a minor miracle.
Logan T. Allen keeps Twins off balance, minimizes damage
Gray’s counterpart consistently worked at a blistering pace with his fastball on the outside corner, getting a lot of weak contact early in counts. He allowed some traffic on the basepaths but made good pitches when he had to, throwing his fastball, cutter/sweeper, and change-up for strikes. If not for one Max Kepler, he likely would have worked six scoreless innings and left with a three-run lead.
More Kepler Magic
With the Twins lineup in a deep lull against Allen, Max Kepler followed an excuse-me single by Miranda by launching yet another home run, making the score 3-2 and justifying being in the lineup against a lefty.
Baldelli tossed, Bremer takes his side
Baldelli disputed the play, believing Ramirez was outside the base path as he averted Miranda’s tag.
Announcer Dick Bremer voiced his support of Baldelli, despite it not being a reviewable call. Umpires usually don’t make that call for more egregious baserunning ventures. In this writer’s opinion, the argument was a hollow excuse for the fourth fielding mistake in two innings for the increasingly error-prone Miranda and Solano. If this trend continues, Willi Castro has to feel more secure in his status on the active roster, even as Kyle Farmer and Royce Lewis get closer to returning to the team.
Alcalá returns and looks back to form...mostly
Jorge Alcalá returned from his brief banishment to Triple-A, pitching a scoreless sixth inning with two strikeouts. He showed improved command, throwing strikes with his slider and change-up. He got the first two outs of the seventh with little issue but tried to sneak a get-me-over slider by the homerless Steven Kwan, who deposited the pitch 402 feet to give Cleveland back the lead.
What’s Next: Joe Ryan (5-0, 2.37 ERA) goes up against Cal Quantrill (1-2, 4.73 ERA) as the Twins go for a series win in Cleveland.
Postgame Interviews:
Bullpen Usage Chart:
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