Twins 4, White Sox 3: Lopez Dominates in another Wild Walk-Off Win!

13 minutes ago, Steven Trefz said:

 

Willi Castro pinch ran for the Twins as the "ghost runner" in the bottom of the tenth, and Taylor started the inning with a surprise attempt to simply move the runner over with a bunt.

 

I don't think it was a surprise at all. In spite of Taylor's earlier home run, he's a light hitter historically and the top of the order was on deck. It would have been a surprise to me if he didn't bunt.

Vasquez more than made up for the out at 3rd with his work behind the plate. He is a difference maker with this staff. 

Generically as a modern-day MLB strategy with no pitchers batting and a runner already in "scoring position", it is still a surprise to see a bunt attempted, much less successful.  But, it is also true that Taylor is the starter most likely to try it, even though he has never had more than two sacrifices per season over a fairly long career.

@DocBauer I was thinking the exact same thing when MAT went deep, lol.

I'd say Lopez is the story from this game. My goodness, he dominated once he got rolling. Nice to see that he and Vazquez to get a grip on things when the 1st inning wasn't going to plan, and they got it done. The changeup looked really good, he was spotting the curve, and then later the sweeper got back into play as he got deeper into the game and was more comfortable out there.

Not sure about Vazquez calling a great game.

Duran throws 102 mph.  Why again would you call for his first pitch of the inning to be a curve in the upper 80s?

Not for my money.  Make their best hitter see, feel and fear the high heat.

Then throw the curve.

Robert prolly thinks he hit Duran's fast ball.  Was he guessing curve there?

Man, does Lopez look good. As good as Arraez is, the front office made a smart and necessary move by getting Lopez for him. Good job by them.

Beyond excited to see Julien in the lineup tomorrow. Hopefully Correa can join him.

Trade working for both teams. Arraez hit for the cycle tonight - first in Marlins’ history.  

I have been very critical of Baldelli's use of pitchers, but today he left Lopez in to pitch the 8th, and I was super happy about it because Lopez was really on top of his game. Lopez has started the year by shredding hitters (but Arraez has also been shredding--especially in the game against the Phillies). So far, it is a win-win for Miami and MN.

As for the hitting, I am still very concerned. .228 with RISP--ranking 25th? Luckily two of the teams with a lower BA with RISP are in the Central. We need Correa to start driving in some of those runners.

White Sox defense- the gift that keeps on giving. 

Great effort by Lopez, too bad he didn't get the win. 

Speaking of winning - it's great to see the Twins finishing with a "W",,,but so far, it doesn't seem like much has changed from last year. The Twins scored a couple early runs, but the bats went cold and they were held scoreless for 7 straight innings.. They win on a defensive miscue. This was the formula for April & May of '22. 

Don't get me wrong, being 7-4 is nothing to sneeze at. But I'm feeling pretty queasy when it comes to this team's offensive abilities. We need more.

On the bright side, maybe the news that Edouard Julien getting called up will help put a spark in the offense! 

Wow.............I cannot remember the last time a Twins starter got nailed in the first and was so dominant during the rest of the outing. Kudo's to Lopez and if Rocco doesn't mess with him and also Gray, we may have something here. That was pitching...........fun to see from our local team. GO TWINS!

Twins Geezer...........out!

7 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Generically as a modern-day MLB strategy with no pitchers batting and a runner already in "scoring position", it is still a surprise to see a bunt attempted, much less successful.  But, it is also true that Taylor is the starter most likely to try it, even though he has never had more than two sacrifices per season over a fairly long career.

I agree, Even in a situation like the one in this game, it seems as if teams nowadays are adverse to bunting. What a delight to see Taylor bunt in that situation. I love it! And even better that it resulted in the winning  run scoring. 

Happy to see Arraez keeping his shine, the dude deserves it and for sure will be missed.

Man, we could use a cycle for this offense once in a while...

7 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Not sure about Vazquez calling a great game.

Duran throws 102 mph.  Why again would you call for his first pitch of the inning to be a curve in the upper 80s?

Not for my money.  Make their best hitter see, feel and fear the high heat.

Then throw the curve.

Robert prolly thinks he hit Duran's fast ball.  Was he guessing curve there?

I'm pretty sure Duran has started off with a curve in several outings this year, or at least a good number of at bats. I think it usually works since hitters are geared up for the fastball and have no chance on the curve. His curve has been a super effective pitch in any count for him too.

Robert took a chance that he would start with the curve again and ended up being right. I don't think it necessarily makes it a bad call. No one has criticized it in other at bats where he's done it because it has always worked out.

Now, when you have a 102 mph fastball, it is probably less likely that they'll manage to square it up first pitch even when they are sitting on it. You might be right that it's not necessary or optimal for him to "pitch backward" as he often does. But it has typically worked for him when he's done it in the past. Probably a couple times in his career someone will ambush a first pitch fastball too. It's probably best for him to not fall into a predictable pattern, but sometimes the hitter will guess right.

Huge win!!! Lopez was awesome!!! Buxton with 100th hr/Taylor with hr and walk off bunt. They needed this win big time. Let’s win this series!!! Go Twins!!!

3 hours ago, Jeff D. said:

Wow.............I cannot remember the last time a Twins starter got nailed in the first and was so dominant during the rest of the outing. Kudo's to Lopez and if Rocco doesn't mess with him and also Gray, we may have something here. That was pitching...........fun to see from our local team. GO TWINS!

Twins Geezer...........out!

Some basic respect please and maybe consider who's staff is leading the league in innings pitched. You might want to consider that the early hooks last year had something to do with who Baldelli's pitchers were. 

Who has the impenetrable head here? 

9 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Generically as a modern-day MLB strategy with no pitchers batting and a runner already in "scoring position", it is still a surprise to see a bunt attempted, much less successful.  But, it is also true that Taylor is the starter most likely to try it, even though he has never had more than two sacrifices per season over a fairly long career.

It depends hugely on the score. In the bottom of the potentially last inning with a runner on second and nobody out it should certainly be in play. Of course, who is batting and who would be up next also comes into play, and in this case that moved the needle from possible to obvious.

10 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Generically as a modern-day MLB strategy with no pitchers batting and a runner already in "scoring position", it is still a surprise to see a bunt attempted, much less successful.  But, it is also true that Taylor is the starter most likely to try it, even though he has never had more than two sacrifices per season over a fairly long career.

I could be wrong but I think the modern analysis in that situation (tied, bottom of the inning, in extras) is that bunting the runner over is better.

Generally runner on second with no outs has a higher run expectancy than runner on third one out since the former is more likely to score multiple runs, but when you only need one run, the latter is more likely to score at least that one.

If the probability of executing the sacrifice were always 100% you would probably see it most of the time. However, even with good bunters it's not 100%, and with guys that don't tend to bunt much there is a fairly high probability that they'll pop it up or otherwise fail to advance the runner. That's why you don't see the bunt a whole lot, but I know I have seen it several times.

I wasn't really surprised, in fact, it almost feels like a no brainer to me with Taylor who can usually lay down a good bunt, is fast, and isn't a great hitter otherwise. We also saw the upside that when the bunt is executed it puts pressure on the defense.  Most other guys at the plate we probably don't see the bunt though.

Lopez has been a great asset, from the beginning I've said we need to extend him. Longer we wait, more difficult it'll be.

Happy that Buck got his 100th at the right time, Taylor had a good day at the plate, we won the game and Julien is up to take Gallo's spot at 1B. Only sad part is that Lopez didn't get the win. Correa hurry back we need your D. Go Twins!

When was the last time a Twins starter retired 23 in a row?