Twins 5, Mariners 3: Big Blasts Push Minnesota Over .500

Box Score
Zebby Matthews:  5+ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Home Runs: Brooks Lee (16), Royce Lewis (11), Ryan Jeffers (10)
Top 3 WPA: Luke Keaschall (.240), Royce Lewis (.150), Brooks Lee (.120)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

No preamble tonight. The author is annoyed at how late this game started.

Zebby Matthews barely knew what happened. At one point he was a starter anointing the beginning of the game; 30 pitches later, matters were turgid and anxious. What happened? 

Cole Young struck out on four pitches. Randy Arozarena walked following the same amount of offerings - a contradiction Matthews would have to ponder only after his night ended. Dominic Canzone then shot a double into right, but the righty with the iron jaw delivered three sliders to Julio Rodríguez to strike him out. Another four-pitch walk. Perhaps that one confounded our hero: he spent nine pitches on a weary and not particularly intimidating version of Cal Raleigh, with the final selection—a no-nothing hanger of a changeup—making its home in the right field stands after bouncing. Two runs. Finally, a strikeout to end the frame.

The inning was so extended and lethargic that the Twins literally traded for another pitcher while it happened.

Unbothered, Minnesota responded with a fruitful frame of their own. Josh Bell doinked a pitching wedge into right field and watched the two following batters get out. But just when it seemed like the Twins might waste an opportunity with a leadoff runner, Brooks Lee worked the count to 3-1, got a cement mixer, and deposited the pitch 367 feet away into the right-field stands. 

Gifted a tied game, Matthews pitched like a rejuvenated man, coaxing a strikeout from Colt Emerson and a groundout from Victor Robles. The latter may have been a 10-pitch excursion, but at least fortune turned towards him, radiating a golden, warm smile. This could be the start of the redemption. Cole Young vaporized a solo homer.

Though it appeared we were in for a barn-burner, the early action receded, giving way to the common ebbs and flows of a baseball game. It would be inaccurate to say that nothing happened; rather, action settled. Chances rose and fell. Runners occasionally reached base only to slowly trudge back to their dugouts after their teammates failed to bring them home. The innings flipped like the pages in a good book, and we were suddenly in the seventh with the same score that ended the second.

The bullpens were now in control. Never a more terrifying thing. Like giving nuclear codes to a drunk at a bar.

Jose A. Ferrer had earned the final two outs of the sixth, so he was sent out in the seventh to continue his work. His first sinker to Royce Lewis missed high. His second sinker almost cleared the Mariners bullpen.

A rally killer? Not so fast. Alan Roden collected an infield single and Lee flew out. By now, Mariners manager Dan Wilson had seen enough of his lefty and called in Eduard Bazardo to quell the rally. On a 1-1 count, he unleashed one of his signature boring sinkers to Luke Keaschall, and the young infielder was able to pull his hands in enough to line the pitch safely down the left field line, sending Roden gallivanting around the bases with a gait and hustle reminiscent of a middle schooler running home on the last day of school.

Kody Funderburk handed off to Tommy Nance who handed off to Andrew Morris. No Mariner could score. In the meantime, Ryan Jeffers gave the bullpen a little more breathing room with a 372-foot blast when Bazardo's sweeper was sweepless in Seattle. 

Yoendrys Gómez emerged to end the ninth and keep the good vibes going as re-enforcements made their way out west. The righty didn't make it easy; attitudes grew terse and muscles tensed as he walked two batters, but Gómez settled down and punched out Mitch Garver on a sweeper to notch the save.

Notes:

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?
The Twins and Mariners take mercy on those East of the Rockies, with a delightful 3:10 PM Saturday start. Connor Prielipp is set to take the mound opposite Logan Gilbert.

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