Twins 7, White Sox 3 (F/12): López, Bullpen Dazzle, Offense Comes Through in Extras

The bullpen was NOT lights-out. Only Moran in the 12th didn't walk anybody, and a baserunner reached 3rd four out of five innings.  This was a tightwire act, not a shutdown exhibition, and they were extremely fortunate to not get burned even once when the game was for the taking.

8 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The bullpen was NOT lights-out. Only Moran in the 12th didn't walk anybody, and a baserunner reached 3rd four out of five innings.  This was a tightwire act, not a shutdown exhibit and they were extremely fortunate to not get burned even once when the game was for the taking.

I'll split the difference Ash. The bullpen was effective. Despite having an ideal situation for Billy Hamilton to steal the game, they kept 'em off the board. Many of the free passes were strategic (four IBB). Pitching out of Manfred jams wasn't easy, but they did it.

The negative WPA is as interesting as the positive for this game. There were a lot of hitters who had big chances to contribute, but didn't:
 

Polanco: -0.209
Vazquez: -0.167
Correa: -0.165
Larnach: -0.162.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Hanser Alberto swung at a pitch that hit him. He is Astudillo-like without contact skills. It absolutely was a key play in winning the game. 

Stewart pitched well and bailed out Jeffers after he failed to catch/block a low pitch. Pagan got outs and Jorge Lopez had a nice comeback outing.

I was watching today's game from some of the best seats I have ever had at Guaranteed Rate Field, right behind the Twin's dugout.  The beginning of the game wasn't a thrill a minute, but the extra innings had enough excitement for at least two games with plenty of twists and turns.  I agree with much of what was said in the recap, but I have a few details to add. 

I don't think that Pablo Lopez was really on top of his game today, which was frustrating.  He just didn't seem to have the consistent stuff to slam the door on the hitters, even though he got several strikeouts and did have a string where he retired a bunch in a row.  What was encouraging is that he got the job done while only allowing two runs in seven innings without his dominant stuff.  It makes me very excited to see how effective he could be when he is really in control.  It was a really good performance by a veteran pitcher who knows what he is doing.  I'm extremely glad we extended him.  He's going to be a cornerstone for a long time.

It's hard to know what to think of the Twins' offensive effort.  On one hand, there were a lot of hapless at bats and a lot of very aggressive swinging strikes and strikeouts, which speaks poorly of them.  However, Giolito was dominant and looked a lot more like the pitcher he has been in the past rather than this year's version.  Correa got ahold of one and Buxton (off a different pitcher) as well, but that was all there was until the last inning. 

The relief pitching was mostly pretty impressive.  Say what you want about how many guys were on base, those were mostly intentional walks, the Twins had five (FIVE!!!!) pitchers give up one actual hit and one (fake, Manfred) run.  They were all under serious pressure and responded by getting guys out and stranding the runners.  A runner like Billy Hamilton can really impact a game (unless he has to bat).  I was impressed all the way around, but especially by Stewart and Pagan(!) working their way around the runner on second.

We need a deceptive relief pitcher like Aaron Bummer.  When he came in and struck out the side the Twins' hitters were helpless.  His delivery was such a shock to the system that no one knew what to do.  I know his ERA is currently high, but that different look was really effective.  Also, finding a way to have Colome and Peralta be traded from team to team just ahead of when we play them would be a nice gift as well. 

The White Sox just can't defend.  Aside from the two errors, there were many plays that just should have been made more cleanly than they were.  Thank you.  Keep up the fine work.  The Twins weren't flawless, but they really have some guys who can pick it. 

Sorry for the book report.  Others may see it differently.  Just one guy's observations.  Go Twins!

5 hours ago, Thiéres Rabelo said:

Five of the eight walks were IBB (a club record). In the end, the bullpen tossed five innings with tons of high-leverage moments, giving up only one hit and three walks while striking out six times.

Remember, I was merely tapping the brakes on the subheading, "Bullpen is lights-out".

An IBB to begin the 10th inning or later may be sound strategy. The Twins did that only 1 time in the 3 extra innings they played.  The other four IBB remain black marks, in my book.

Three innings in a row, starting in the 8th, the bullpen found itself with a runner on third, and the Twins issued an IBB to try to preserve the tie. Self-inflicted - a couple of leadoff walks and a couple of wild pitches were in the mix there. Without the runner on third, the IBB is unlikely in each case.

Pagan's 11th inning was the closest to a clean inning, but Rocco apparently didn't think he was lights-out and had him walk Benintendi (again!) with two outs, to face the weaker bat in Hamilton, even (as the visiting team) knowing that if it worked (it did!) then Hamilton would be guaranteed to start on second base the next inning and we'd face the top of the lineup instead of getting a free out with Hamilton coming up to bat.  I'm sure Rocco was thinking an inning ahead, and still felt this was the best move with Pagan.  There was no way at the time to know the Twins would explode for 5 runs and make Hamilton irrelevant.

The bullpen was in no way lights-out this game.

Indeed, three innings in a row, the bullpen did well to not be walked-off (in good measure due to the Twins' quiet bats until the 12th).

And that's all I'm saying.  So kudos to those pitchers for keeping their cool and battling their tails off.  Ultimately, they were good enough.

9 hours ago, ashbury said:

The bullpen was NOT lights-out. Only Moran in the 12th didn't walk anybody, and a baserunner reached 3rd four out of five innings.  This was a tightwire act, not a shutdown exhibition, and they were extremely fortunate to not get burned even once when the game was for the taking.

In five innings, they gave up two unintentional walks and one hit. The hit happened after they were up five runs. Two of the runners reaching third were Manfred Men. Besides the ground ball single, only two balls left the infield. They limited the Sox to 1 for 13 with RISP. 

I acknowledge two wild pitches, but what do they need to do to be considered “lights out” in your book? 

Related, but not necessarily directed at you, I’d also suggest that Rocco’s managing contributed greatly to that success, since he used the intentional walks to put the relievers in the best possible situations to succeed.

By contrast, in playing for the win by using Hamilton as a pinch runner in the eighth, the Sox manager took one of his best bats (Vaughn) out of the game in what turned out to be two more times through the lineup. Hamilton struck out twice to end innings in what could have been Vaughn’s spot. 

Edit to add, since I just caught that you referenced this, I don’t know that you were necessarily arguing against the intentional walks to get to Hamilton, but I do think it was the right strategy, even though that means he’ll be the Manfred Man.

I look at it this way. Facing Hamilton increases the chances of getting another inning. If the Twins score even one run in the next inning (against a Sox pen that’s getting weaker and weaker), which they SHOULD have been able to do, Hamilton is only the tying run. If the Twins score even two runs rather than five, then Hamilton is indeed irrelevant.

(In fact, if the Twins had scored just two, or even three, I’d have been tempted to just balk Hamilton around to score, so that he isn’t a distraction on the bases — I’d rather face Eloy up just a run than face him up two with a distraction on second. The only advantage to not giving Hamilton the free run is the slim chance that he runs himself into an out. But that’s a discussion for another day.)

You note that having Hamilton lead off the next inning is a free out, though the counter to that is to say that the out very likely would have been on an attempted bunt, so while a “free” out to the Twins, it’s not a valueless out for the Sox. And with Hamilton’s speed, a sac bunt attempt might not even lead to an out, leaving them with first and third and no one out. And then Hamilton steals second, so there’s no double play.

Or even worse, the fielder could doink the throw off Hamilton’s head, leading to a walkoff. 😀