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    Twins 6, Mets 3: Twins Survive the Battle of Attrition Against the Mets


    Steven Trefz

    While Jackie Robinson Day reminded fans what truly matters in this world, the Twins managed to remind their fans what they are capable of when they play up to their potential. Here's how the Twins bested the Mets.

    Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

    Twins Video

    Box Score
    Starting Pitcher:
     Bailey Ober 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K ( 77 pitches, 57 strikes (74%)
    Home Runs: Brooks. Lee (1)
    Top 3 WPA: Ryan Jeffers (.177), Ty France (.141), Byron Buxton (.095)

    Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs
    image.png.0b781ae62f261ebcced63cdc0f2bfb10.png

    Bailey Ober took the hill in search of his first victory of the 2025 season. He retired Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto on only five pitches, and then the red-hot Pete Alonso retired the baseball, sending it 416 feet to put the Mets up 1-0 before any sense of optimism could creep in. To add injury to insult, Matt Wallner managed to beat out an infield single in the bottom of the first inning, only to limp back to the dugout and out of the game with an apparent leg injury.

    Fighting Back in the Third
    In the bottom of the third inning, the Twins finally scratched across some offensive intrigue against Mets starter Tylor Megill. Megill came into tonight’s contest with a sub-1.00 ERA, but he wasn’t going to leave that way. Harrison Bader got the start in left field, and he also beat out an infield dribbler to start the third. After an Edouard Julien lineout to left and a Bader stolen base, Byron Buxton snuck a two-hopper into left to put runners on the corners with only one out. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. attempted to make the most of his opportunity of replacing Wallner by catching everyone off-guard with a bunt. That didn’t work; he popped up the bunt for an easy second out. Luckily for Keirsey and the Twins, Lindor proved that he, too, is human, as he booted an easy grounder to allow Ty France to reach safely, and to plate Bader to knot the game up at 1-1.

    The Twins then took the lead like only the Twins can. Carlos Correa found the grass in center for a single to plate Buxton, but France misunderstood that the 42 on his back doesn’t bring with it Jackie Robinson’s speed, and he was easily thrown out at third to snuff out any further rally.

    Long Ball Issues
    The Twins' lead lasted three pitches, as Juan Soto took an Ober changeup to the dock in right field for his second homer in as many days. Credit Ober for not letting the inning spiral as so many have already this season, as he was able to leave the top of the fourth still tied. Twins fans thought that Ryan Jeffers had finally broken free from his woes with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, but replay showed it bounced off the top of the padding, putting Jeffers at second and stopping Trevor Larnach at third. Larnach scored on a contact play grounder to third, and the Twins were right back on top.

    Buxton is 42
    The speed that didn’t emerge in France’s legs flows through Buxton’s, and his single, stolen base, and advance on Keirsey’s grounder to the right side set up a Byron Buxton moment to make it a fitting 4-2 game.

    More Injury to Insult, and More Jeffers
    In the bottom of the fifth inning, Correa injured his wrist on a swing and had to leave the game immediately. Again, misfortune followed just behind the Twins’ glimpse of success, as yet another key starter went down. Jeffers took some of the sting of Correa’s away by proving that his swing is indeed back and healthy, smoking a double down the left-field line to start the bottom of the sixth against reliever Max Kranick. Willi Castro moved Jeffers to third with a grounder, but Bader struck out to leave the pressure squarely on the shoulders of young Julien.

    Pressure, what pressure? Single, score it. 5-2 Twins.

    The pitch count was low again, but Ober gave way to Cole Sands after surrendering a couple of hits against the bottom of the Mets lineup in the top of the seventh, leaving Sands with runners at second and third with only one out. Sands got two outs, only allowing one of the inherited runners to cross the plate, and exiting the inning with a 5-3 lead before Soto and Alonso could come to the plate.

    All's Well That Ends Well?
    They say when someone goes down, it's next man up. In the bottom of the seventh, that man was Brooks Lee, and then end of his at-bat found Lee wearing a Spartan helmet in the dugout and the Twins with a three-run advantage yet again.

    The Twins bullpen kept the game in order, barely, as Griffin Jax survived the heart of the Mets lineup in the eighth after allowing another Alonso extra-base hit. Jhoan Duran came into the bottom of the ninth throwing 102-mph heaters, but he ended up having to overcome an infield error by Castro, and then had Castro bail him out on yet another bad throw by a pitcher on the ensuing play. The missed double play, however, immediately stung, as Luisangel Acuña bled a single up the middle to put runners on the corners with two out. This brought Lindor to the plate, but on a full count, Duran showed that his speed was deserving of 42 as well tonight, rocketing another 102 mph heater by Lindor to notch the first Twins save of the season. 

    What’s Next?
    The Twins look to take their first series at home, and first since week one of the season by taking game three Wednesday afternoon. Twins righty David Festa will get his second start of the season, after taking a no-decision without giving up a run earlier in the week. The Mets have yet to name their starter for the mid-day tilt. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 pm CDT.

    Postgame Interviews
    Coming Soon!

    Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

      FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT
    Funderburk 0 43 0 36 0 79
    Topa 37 0 0 21 0 58
    Alcalá 23 10 0 18 0 51
    Durán 0 12 10 0 16 38
    Sands 0 0 17 0 15 32
    Jax 0 0 17 0 12 29
    Varland 0 0 12 0 0 12
    Coulombe 6 0 0 0 0 6

     

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    Featured Comments

    7 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

    Who is making up what? Why do you go out your way to lie to try to make me look bad, to support your narrative? This is his 1st year, his 1st 123 ABs. Fact!

    That neither contradicts what I said, nor back up what you said. Dude was a great prospect and played pretty good as a rookie. And like I said, break those 150 PAs by thirds and that middle third he had an OPS of 1.300. You think Twins fans wouldn't be thrilled if Jenkins came up and hit like an MVP for a month? The peripherals were all there and results were sporadic but the promise was clear. 

    10 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

    Many players are late bloomers

    You're comparing a 19 year old to a 28 year old. This is completely nonsensical and like I said, makes you sound completely unserious. 

    11 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

    You never directly answered my question, "Are you cheering for the Twins or the Mets?" Your answer appeared to indicate that you preferred the Mets from the '24 deadline. I'm very curious that at this time you have become active at TD yet when you were more of a Twins' fan you weren't.

    Why the hell do you give a ****? 

    2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

    Again, I'm not remotely comparing Keirsey to Trout. But we can safely say that Cave was a much worse fielder than Keirsey, yet Cave was given every opportunity to look bad in CF.

    I get your angle but remember Cave played “regularly” when everyone else was hurt and there were no other options - Wallner is hurt - Kiersey is getting opportunities.

    By the way, he failed with another sacrifice bunt attempt again this afternoon v. the Mets. 3rd baseman on edge of grass - SS 3 steps from 2B with a guy on Second. Gotta get the ball on the ground (fair) to make the 3B play the ball. Simple stuff in the game of baseball.

    2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

    I get your angle but remember Cave played “regularly” when everyone else was hurt and there were no other options - Wallner is hurt - Kiersey is getting opportunities.

    By the way, he failed with another sacrifice bunt attempt again this afternoon v. the Mets. 3rd baseman on edge of grass - SS 3 steps from 2B with a guy on Second. Gotta get the ball on the ground (fair) to make the 3B play the ball. Simple stuff in the game of baseball.

    IMO, we agree more than we disagree here. Twins hand-picked Cave because they liked his bat & they wanted to showcase him. IMO, he was a good cOFer, but he wasn't a true CFer (& that was what we needed most). IMO, Wade was a better CFer than Cave, though he wasn't a very good CFer either. 

    Twins have very few bunters,& I'm a big supporter of bunting. Keirsey has been a slugger, IMO he hasn't shown any indication he is one or has much training to be so. IMO everyone should be able to execute a bunt (I wrote a blog about that)

    4 hours ago, NYCTK said:

    That neither contradicts what I said, nor back up what you said. Dude was a great prospect and played pretty good as a rookie. And like I said, break those 150 PAs by thirds and that middle third he had an OPS of 1.300. You think Twins fans wouldn't be thrilled if Jenkins came up and hit like an MVP for a month? The peripherals were all there and results were sporadic but the promise was clear. 

    To repeat, I'm not comparing Keirsey's potential to Trout's. The point I'm making is you can't judge Keirsey's beginning & his sporadic ABs because a super star like Trout, (The info I found, that you omitted, showed that he was unimpressive in his 1st regular 123 ABs. You said that he had a monster performance in the middle of that. If that is the case, then that further proves my point, because that means Trout really stunk in his 1st regular 50 ABs.) who in his 1st regular 50 ABs stunk. Again, which proves you can't judge Keirsey until he gets quite a few regular ABs under his belt. Which makes it very tough with very few opportunities given & a small window.

    Quote

    You're comparing a 19 year old to a 28 year old. This is completely nonsensical and like I said, makes you sound completely unserious. 

    Again I'm not comparing Keirsey's potential to Trout's. I only stated that many impactful MLBer are late bloomers which is a fact. That's what I see in Keirsey

    Quote

    Why the hell do you give a ****? 

    I'll pass on that. But I'll ask you a rhetorical question. To what level of baseball have you played? Independent? College? If you played higher ball, I'd think you'd understand the challenges & underlying conditions that go into being a ballplayer.

    5 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

    Again, I'm not remotely comparing Keirsey to Trout. But we can safely say that Cave was a much worse fielder than Keirsey, yet Cave was given every opportunity to look bad in CF.

    Keirsey will be 28 in less than a month. By the time Trout was Keirsey's current age, he already had a leg up for the Hall of Fame. Yeah, there's not much comparison. The manager and coaches see these guys all through spring training and in BP. If a guy can play, they will play or the coach/manager will lose their job. Rocco and his staff may well lose their job, but I don't think it is for the way they handled (specifically) Keirsey, Miranda and Alex Kirilloff. 

    6 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

    To what level of baseball have you played? Independent? College? If you played higher ball, I'd think you'd understand the challenges & underlying conditions that go into being a ballplayer.

    Again, why do you give a ****? 

    As many times as you compare player A to player B, and then claim you're not comparing them, the reality is you're comparing them. 

    There's no evidence to suggest Keirsey is some late bloomer that just needs a real chance. And pointing at a 20 year old superstar doesn't help your case man. 

    6 hours ago, Jeff K said:

    I've been extremely critical of Julien.  I am thrilled that he is hitting but remain unconvinced that he can play 2B.  That said, he's certainly our best bet now with all the injuries.  Gasper can NOT play 2nd.

    1) It's just one game, but Julien had a flawless game at second, with the heads up double play. I think he showed good judgment on a grounder up the middle by the Mets catcher. Julien fielded the ball cleanly, set himself and made a good strong throw. I've seen him rush when there's no reason and then things unravel--not this time. Maybe he's making some progress.

    2) I know Gasper made a really bad error in one of his few appearances at second base, but I've seen two platinum glove shortstops (Correa and Lindor) make equally bad errors in this series. I don't think we should make judgments on one or even a couple of mistakes. I see that Gasper's preliminary sprint speed is in the average range, so he shouldn't be considered an extremely slow guy (like France and Miranda) so maybe he might have okay range. I am not saying this disproves that he should never play second, just that the jury should or could still be out.

    39 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

    1) It's just one game, but Julien had a flawless game at second, with the heads up double play. I think he showed good judgment on a grounder up the middle by the Mets catcher. Julien fielded the ball cleanly, set himself and made a good strong throw. I've seen him rush when there's no reason and then things unravel--not this time. Maybe he's making some progress.

    2) I know Gasper made a really bad error in one of his few appearances at second base, but I've seen two platinum glove shortstops (Correa and Lindor) make equally bad errors in this series. I don't think we should make judgments on one or even a couple of mistakes. I see that Gasper's preliminary sprint speed is in the average range, so he shouldn't be considered an extremely slow guy (like France and Miranda) so maybe he might have okay range. I am not saying this disproves that he should never play second, just that the jury should or could still be out.

    The game served Julien well, especially in the field; time will tell if is a fluke or change.

    His head is what is holding him back; if he fixed it up there he has a future.

    I am sure his odd double play will make some shows; I will try to check a few to see what they saw.

    4 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

    Keirsey will be 28 in less than a month. By the time Trout was Keirsey's current age, he already had a leg up for the Hall of Fame. Yeah, there's not much comparison. The manager and coaches see these guys all through spring training and in BP. If a guy can play, they will play or the coach/manager will lose their job. Rocco and his staff may well lose their job, but I don't think it is for the way they handled (specifically) Keirsey, Miranda and Alex Kirilloff. 

     My only point is if super star Trout had a terrible 1st  regular 50 ABs, how can we judge Keirsey's sporadic 23 ABs? The manager & coaches could lose their jobs because of their failure to capitalize on what fell into their laps & advance even further into the postseason. I think Falvey had the greatest blame in not seeing our real needs & make the necessary trades in '24, plus many other things. '25 is just the continuation of that mess. IMO the way they handled Miranda, Kirloff, Keirsey, Margot & others contributed to that mess (but I respect your opinion). But IMO nobody is going anywhere unless the reins are taken away from Falvey. Then they are gone.

    48 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

    Again, why do you give a ****? 

    As many times as you compare player A to player B, and then claim you're not comparing them, the reality is you're comparing them. 

    There's no evidence to suggest Keirsey is some late bloomer that just needs a real chance. And pointing at a 20 year old superstar doesn't help your case man. 

    When I'm comparing player A to player B, I won't deny it, I'm comparing. But in this case, again, I'll repeat I'm not comparing Keirsey's potential to what Trout has done or using him as a comp. I'm just pointing out that if Trout had a terrible 1st regular 50 ABs, how can we judge Keirsey's 1st sporadic 23 ABs. Why can't you understand I'm only using Trout as an example?

    You can't predict late bloomers, you just look at their character & something just clicks,

    27 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

    When I'm comparing player A to player B, I won't deny it, I'm comparing. But in this case, again, I'll repeat I'm not comparing Keirsey's potential to what Trout has done or using him as a comp. I'm just pointing out that if Trout had a terrible 1st regular 50 ABs, how can we judge Keirsey's 1st sporadic 23 ABs. Why can't you understand I'm only using Trout as an example?

    You can't predict late bloomers, you just look at their character & something just clicks,

    ...because they're not at all comparable. Yet here you are comparing them again. 

    20 hours ago, RpR said:

    Gasper is a far, far better 2nd base fielder than Julien.

    Gasper has a 2nd base fielding average in the Minors of .991 vs Juliens .963

     

    That much is certain.  Both have serious flaws in their games and I'm getting impatient with the Twins, just call up Luke Keaschall already and plug him into 2nd.  Luke will do better than Gasper and Julien.

    14 hours ago, stringer bell said:

    1) It's just one game, but Julien had a flawless game at second, with the heads up double play. I think he showed good judgment on a grounder up the middle by the Mets catcher. Julien fielded the ball cleanly, set himself and made a good strong throw. I've seen him rush when there's no reason and then things unravel--not this time. Maybe he's making some progress.

    2) I know Gasper made a really bad error in one of his few appearances at second base, but I've seen two platinum glove shortstops (Correa and Lindor) make equally bad errors in this series. I don't think we should make judgments on one or even a couple of mistakes. I see that Gasper's preliminary sprint speed is in the average range, so he shouldn't be considered an extremely slow guy (like France and Miranda) so maybe he might have okay range. I am not saying this disproves that he should never play second, just that the jury should or could still be out.

    Julien is showing serious progress!  But I'm not with you on Gasper.  I just don't see it.  I can see him backing up first base and as an emergency catcher.

    1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

    Julien is showing serious progress!  But I'm not with you on Gasper.  I just don't see it.  I can see him backing up first base and as an emergency catcher.

    Gasper hasn’t done a single thing in the regular season to show he belongs in the majors. I reacted to the absolute the he can’t play second base. 




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