Twins 9, Angels 5: Mejia, Mauer, Max Lead Twins to Victory

Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays (via Fangraphs)

Mauer and Kepler have been a bit under the radar on a game-by-game basis, but they both had big performances Monday night. Mauer, who hit leadoff with Brian Dozier sitting out, hit a big two-run homer early. Kepler was 4-for-4 with his 10th homer of the season, a double, a walk and three RBIs.

As the score would indicate, it was a pretty great game all around for the hitters, as Miguel Sano also contributed three hits and a walk and Escobar had a pair of base knocks. But maybe the most encouraging performance came from Adalberto Mejia.

Mejia completed seven innings for just the second time this season. He gave up three runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out five. Mejia has been a bit inconsistent, but overall excellent in his last four starts, surrendering just five earned runs over 21.2 innings (2.08 ERA).

It’s difficult to remember Mejia just turned 24 late last month, meaning he’s only about six months older than Felix Jorge, who was a surprise call up from Double A. Adalberto has been really solid, and though he may not have front line starter upside, we’re seeing him figure some things out. And it’s very exciting.

The only reason this one stayed so close was because Tyler Duffey gave up a couple of runs in his inning of work. That marks the third-straight appearance for the Duff Man in which he’s given up a run. He’s been alarmingly bad of late, giving up 15 earned runs over his last 15.1 innings pitched.

As for Meyer, he gave up five runs over five innings. He walked six. The first run he gave up came on a balk. Maybe most shocking was the fact that he managed to walk Eddie Rosario on four pitches. That’s hard to do.

Here's the Mauer homer:

https://twitter.com/twinsbeisbol/status/882041450871050240

And Kepler's dinger, which got out so fast that if you blink you night miss it:

https://twitter.com/twinsbeisbol/status/882057623645892609

At the conclusion of the game it was announced Kennys Vargas was being optioned to Rochester to make room for Ehire Adrianza, who was being activated off the DL.

Postgame With Mejia

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/882082601288085504

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Tuesday

Twins (Kyle Gibson, 6.11 ERA) vs. Angels (J.C, Ramriez, 4.60 ERA), 1:10 pm CT

Ramirez, a 28-year-old righty, has a 5.81 ERA over his last five starts. He’s been getting crushed by lefties so far this season, surrendering a .287/.348/.610 (.958 OPS) line to southpaws. He’s given up 17 home runs, 13 to lefties.

I think we all know who Kyle Gibson is at this point, but it’s worth pointing out that he has a respectable 4.12 ERA over his last seven starts. The peripherals haven’t been great, but he’s keeping the Twins in games. The team is 4-2 over his last six starts.

AL Central Standings

Cleveland 44-37

Twins 42-40 (-2.5)

Kansas City 42-40 (-2.5)

Chicago 37-45 (-7.5)

Detroit 36-45 (-8)

Make sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report.