Twins 6, Tigers 4: Dingler? No, Dingers!

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Mike Paredes, 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4K
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (4), Byron Buxton (20)
Top 3 WPA: Buxton (0.20), Anthony Banda (0.16), (0.09)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): 

It was another muggy day at Comerica Park, and the game action fizzled just as it got started. With a passing storm cell sitting just 15 minutes away, the umpires spoke with both managers on whether to press on ahead. The teams agreed to begin the contest, but only got a half inning—where Framber Valdez looked like his Astros self, rather than the brutal showing the Twins took advantage of in April—before the crews decided to ask fans to take shelter and wait for a storm to pass for the next 67 minutes. 

The game then began in earnest after a half-inch of rain dumped onto the field, with Mike Parades making his second big-league start in a planned bullpen game. The relatively unknown prospect threw a mix of sweepers in the high 70s and a four-seamer in the mid-90s, managing two strikeouts to escape the first inning.

Fram(b)e(r) Up
To some surprise, Valdez returned to the game. He had obviously kept fresh in between with no reduced velocity, but the humidity may have been too much. Royce Lewis punished the southpaw with a solo home run—50th of his career and first since April—that he crushed a tape-measure 444 feet. Lewis’s home run came on an elevated sweeper that came in at 95.2 mph, for the St Paul velocity bean counters.

Valdez continued to look shaky, covered in heavy sweat throughout his five innings. He allowed a couple bloop hits and a walk that loaded the bases, but a foulout by Brooks Lee caught by Spencer Torkelson at the railing ended the rally. The shaky pitcher ran out of luck in the fifth. Valdez managed to plunk both Alex Jackson and Austin Martin in non-competitive pitches before Byron Buxton launched his slider for a 413-foot shot. Derek Shelton’s management played a nice role here, moving Buxton out of the lead-off spot and allowing this to be just his second non-solo home run of the season. 

Relief Carousel  
Mike Paredes almost escaped a third-inning jam, before a Gleyber Torres chopper deflected by a diving Buxton resulted in a run. That was enough for Shelton (who perhaps wanted to get Paredes the Pitchergami), who began his parade of bullpen arms, beginning with Taylor Rogers before moving to Andrew Morris. Morris struggled with command once again, but the defense was his real undoing. Luke Keaschall committed two should-be errors in the frame, leading to two should-be-unearned runs. If Shelton hoped to scratch two innings out of Morris, the 41-pitch count ended the conversation.

That meant Travis Adams was put on call to do what Morris couldn’t for the sixth inning. But after pulling a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts, Adams had trouble finding the strike zone and put runners on first and second for the seventh. That threw Anthony Banda into commission. Happily, Banda continued his recent dominance with an easy pop-out and a strikeout. Banda allowed a walk to Riley Greene to begin the eighth, but worked a few fly outs to send the game to the ninth. 

Hit Parade
Having used five relievers the night before, AJ Hinch eventually turned to post-hype prospect type Ty Madden to face the top of the order to begin the seventh. Madden showed craft with his diverse pitch mix, but struggled to get swing-and-miss (though Orlando Arcia managed to chase one outside the zone). With switch-hitting Josh Bell up, Hinch turned to Drew Sommers, but the mid-90s fastball left in the zone resulted in a bloop single and another run on the board. Sommers also walked Lewis on four pitches before firing a wide pitch that snuck Brooks Lee home. Keaschall loaded the count, but a harmless flyout to right field ended the rally. The Twins managed multiple base runners in both the eighth and the ninth, but well-hit but poorly positioned swings from Buxton and Bell resulted in double plays that kept the damage limited.

Yoendrys Gómez looked shaky in his save situation, putting on a pair with only one out. A launch from Matt Vierling spelled trouble, but the ball died at 408 feet in deep center and fell harmlessly into Buxton's glove. Dillon Dingler smacked a ball between Arcia and Lee to add one to the Tigers' count. but Gómez managed a strikeout of Riley Greene to finally shut the door.

Notes
Like many teams in the league, Twins.TV sells digitally commissioned ads overlaid onto the physical ones behind the batter's box. For whatever reason, these were particularly egregious tonight in creating digital artifacts, and at points, the ball disappeared from view on its way to the plate.

Byron Buxton recorded his sixth stolen base of the season, but only his second in the last month. 

Lewis continued to look good at first base, making a few nice defensive plays. It was his third consecutive day in the position.

Post-Game Interview:

What's Next?
After some more storms pass over the region overnight, Zebby Matthews will face Keider Montero in a high noon getaway game. The Twins will need serious length to ensure a fresh bullpen for their weekend series against the Cardinals.

Bullpen Usage: