Twins 9, Athletics 6: Twins Build Big Lead, Hold On for Much-Needed Win

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB (105 pitches, 70 strikes)
HR: Ryan Kreidler (6)
Top 3 WPA: Matthews 0.21, Bell 0.13, Kreidler 0.11
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):
 

After being swept by the San Diego Padres over the weekend, Minnesota saw its playoff odds cut in half, dropping from around 40% to just 20%, according to FanGraphs. (Baseball Prospectus put them even lower Monday morning—down around 12%.) With their postseason hopes hanging in the balance, the Twins traveled to West Sacramento to face an Athletics team with the worst record in the American League. The last time the Twins were swept, they responded by sweeping the Atlanta Braves. This time, they were hoping for a similar rebound.

Minnesota ran into a struggling Jeffrey Springs, who came in with a 6.02 ERA. Considering the Twins' season-long struggles against left-handed pitching, there was still plenty of reason to wonder which offense would show up, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. Byron Buxton drew a walk to start a first-inning rally. Ryan Jeffers followed with a single, and Josh Bell continued his excellent month of August by ripping a double off the top of the wall in left-center. The ball missed being a home run by roughly an inch, but it still brought Buxton home to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead.

The Twins added another run in the third inning when Bell grounded into a fielder's choice, bringing home Buxton. Minnesota then really began to pull away in the fourth, when Ryan Kreidler launched a solo home run, his sixth of the season and first since June 28. A massive hit for the hometown kid who had lots of friends and family at the game. Kody Clemens followed with an RBI single, extending the lead to 4-1 and chasing Springs.

The Twins broke the game open in the sixth inning after loading the bases and putting pressure on the A's bullpen. Luke Keaschall came through with a two-run double down the third-base line, giving Minnesota a 6-1 lead. Bell followed with a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the night. It was Bell's team-leading 17th RBI of August and brought him to 80 on the season, continuing what has been an impressive month at the plate for the switch hitter.

Minnesota kept its foot on the gas into the late innings. In the eighth, Clemens picked up another RBI single, scoring Buxton and giving the center fielder four runs scored on the night. Buxton went 3-for-4 in what was a massive game as he had been struggling mightily since returning from the injured list two weeks ago. A couple batters later, Kaelen Culpepper added an RBI single to cap a four-hit night and push his batting average to .340 on the season, an impressive start to his young major-league career.

By the time the night was over, the Twins had collected 15 hits and scored nine runs, with every batter in the starting lineup recording at least one hit. It was the kind of offensive performance that has been frustratingly elusive of late, making it even more encouraging to see Minnesota put everything together.

While the offense stole the show, Zebby Matthews quietly delivered one of his best outings of the season. Matthews didn't need to be great to win, but he was, anyway, tossing seven innings and allowing just one earned run (on an infield single) and striking out seven. He generated 23 swings and misses, a season high, and followed up another solid start with a second straight strong outing. That offers some encouraging signs of consistency from a pitcher who hasn't been able to find much of it this season.

Yoendrys Gómez was called upon to close out the game in a non-save opportunity, having not pitched since August 19. After getting two quick outs, however, Gómez ran into trouble. A single and a walk put two runners on. Back-to-back-to-back doubles from Jeff McNeil, Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler suddenly turned a 9-1 game into a 9-6 contest.

What looked like an opportunity to give the back end of the bullpen a much-needed night off quickly became a somewhat sticky situation. The Twins were forced to bring in Andrew Morris to record the final out, and he did just that (on one single pitch), securing the 9-6 victory.

It wasn't the clean finish the Twins envisioned when they built an eight-run lead, but the important part was getting the win. After a weekend in San Diego that threatened to derail their season, the Twins got exactly the kind of offensive response they needed. Minnesota improved to 64-68 on the season and, with the Guardians also winning, remains two games behind Cleveland for the third and final American League Wild Card spot. The White Sox lost 11-2 to the Rangers, meanwhile, bringing the Twins to within 4.5 games of first place in the AL Central.

Now they need to do it again.

What's Next

The Twins will look to take the series on Tuesday against Athletics rookie Gage Jump. Minnesota will send Taj Bradley to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. Central.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart