Twins 8, Mets 4: Two Out Hits Beat the Mets Again, Maeda Bounces Back in Win

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda: 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (83 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 66%)
Home Runs: Willi Castro (6)
Top 3 WPA: Donovan Solano (.196), Max Kepler (.163), Kyle Farmer (.143), 
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

After an impressive comeback win Friday night against the bumbling Mets and their league-leading payroll, the Twins faced a deficit almost immediately on Saturday. Brandon Nimmo led the game off with an opposite field home run off a splitter from Kenta Maeda, and after a single and steal from the scrappy Jeff McNeil, Daniel "Burgers" Vogelbach drove him home with a sharp single up the middle.

The Twins mounted an immediate threat to counter, or so it seemed. After Solano was hit by a pitch leading off, Jorge Polanco singled to set the stage for Royce Lewis. Unfortunately for the Twins, sixth starter extraordinaire David Peterson was able to strike out Lewis, Carlos Correa and Jordan Luplow consecutively to extinguish the rally.

Peterson has a jumpy fastball and used it along with a sharp slider to strike out five Twins batters the first time through the order. But the Twins were not to be deterred, starting with a hard hit single from Ryan Jeffers off a fastball with one out in the second inning. Castro followed with a blistering two-out double into the left field corner and Solano drove both home with a single to left. The inning could have really gotten out of hand if Pete Alonso didn't time his jump perfectly on a Jorge Polanco liner headed for the right field corner to record the final out.

Continuing a recent trend, Maeda again struggled to spot his breaking pitches, and was fortunate on several occasions to avoid damage. His third inning, for instance, included a hit-by-pitch to Alonso while ahead in the count, a 101 MPH single from Francisco Lindor, and three warning track fly balls, resulting in zero runs. 

Another two-out rally followed in the Twins' half of the third. Luplow doubled down the right field line past a diving Alonso, and Farmer delivered a Guardians Special™ bloop single (70 MPH) to score the go-ahead run.

Maeda continued to battle and the Mets increasingly fell into his crafty-veteran trap, trying to jump on seemingly hittable pitches early in at-bats but unable to truly get the barrel to the ball. That resulted in not only outs, but quick outs, and after five innings, Maeda had thrown only 74 pitches.

After retiring Lindor to start the sixth, Maeda walked Vogelbach, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to bring in the rookie Kody Funderburk. The lefty struggled with his control but was able to retire the side with the lead intact.

Meanwhile, Peterson was settling in, hitting the corners with his fastball and secondary pitches and not allowing much hard contact. Pitching for a spot in next year's rotation, the former first round pick showed why Mets fans had high hopes for him after his 125 ERA+ during his rookie campaign in 2020.

A play that certainly helped Peterson's line came in his sixth and final inning. After Luplow reached on a swinging bunt single, Farmer singled to the gap, allowing Luplow to reach third with one out. Jeffers then attempted a safety squeeze bunt, a play he had executed well several times this year already. This time the ugly side of that strategy reared its head: Jeffers missed the bunt and Luplow had strayed too far off third in anticipation, allowing catcher Omar Narvaez to gun him down before he could scamper back.

As they did last night, the Twins went to work as soon as the Mets bullpen got involved in the proceedings. After Castro was caught stealing following a leadoff single, Alex Kirilloff drew a pinch hit walk, Lewis singled and Correa walked. Kepler then pinch hit for Luplow, worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off a few tough pitches before demolishing a Drew Smith slider for a bases clearing triple. Farmer finished off the inning with a another bloop double to score Kepler.

After a pair of solo homers against Louie Varland, Willi Castro hit the first Twins home run of the game to extend the lead back to four and allow Jhoan Duran the day off, with Dylan Floro pitching a scoreless ninth to secure the victory. Overall, seven of the Twins' runs came with two outs.

The Good:
Solano continues to terrorize opposing pitchers with his big two-run single;

Maeda got better as the game wore on, finishing his offspeed pitches better and keeping them off the barrel of Mets hitters. He only struck out two, but this start was encouraging given the middling results he has shown lately.

Kepler had been scuffling a bit (.192 batting average in September), so his big three-run triple was a welcome sight.

The Bad:
Matt Wallner struck out twice on the first six pitches he faced from Peterson and later grounded out weakly. The Twins have rotated which lefty hitter gets a shot against lefty starters between Wallner, Edouard Julien, Kirilloff and Kepler, and so far only Kepler has shown the ability to hold his own.

Louie Varland, making his second career relief appearance after three scoreless against Cleveland, left 1-2 a changeup up to Pete Alonso, who crushed it 427 feet for his 43rd home run leading off the eighth. Varland then gave up a long home run to hot-hitting D.J Stewart on a 99 MPH fastball. Home runs were an issue for Varland as a starter (14 allowed in ten starts) so this was not a positive sign.

Castro and Farmer were both caught trying to steal second in addition to Luplow's shenanigans off third base in the sixth.

What’s Next: Pablo López (10-7, 3.64 ERA) takes on Tylor Megill (8-7, 5.28 ERA), younger brother of former Twins luminary Trevor Megill, as the Twins look to sweep the series against the Mets.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart: