Matt Braun

Well, it was almost a close game. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Joe Ryan: 6 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Royce Lewis (12), Willi Castro (8), Byron Buxton (14) Top 3 WPA: Lewis (0.384), Ryan (0.108), Alcala (0.076) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The White Sox are not good. One can never be too confident in anything in life, really, but this is a truth no lawyer could argue. They entered play on Friday amid a slow melting—a tedious collapse that already eliminated them from finishing the season with a record above .500. It’s August. Their last win came before the All-Star break on July 10th. It’s August. Their fans deserve some sort of medal for ushering this corpse of a squad to its lethargic death. Two men and four first names took the mound as Joe Ryan started opposite Davis Martin. Ryan looked sharp early; he punched out the side in order to start the game and followed that showing up with a breezy 2nd. Life wasn’t as easy for Martin. He struck out Willi Castro, walked Trevor Larnach on four pitches, caught Byron Buxton window shopping, and nearly exited the frame unscathed before Royce Lewis pounded a two-run homer to left field. Martin should have known better: was the most boisterous Twin since Kirby going to announce his return to Target Field in secrecy? The excitement was short-lived, though, as the White Sox fired back with help from a player they recently acquired at the deadline. Miguel Vargas—an outsider in L.A., an everyday figure in Chicago—worked the count full against Ryan and clobbered a game-tying homer just above the left-center wall. Yet, that excitement was short-lived as well: Lewis stepped up to the plate the next inning with a pair of runners on and delivered both of them home with a stinging double just over Luis Robert Jr.'s head. That settled things for a time. Runners reached base, but excitement rarely crescendoed above mezzo forte. Even the outs were of a lazy nature; Jose Miranda drastically overestimated his fleetness and ran into an out at second, while Larnach nearly cracked a three-run homer just for his flyball to land safely in Dominic Fletcher’s glove. So it goes. The good news was that Ryan wasn't allowing runs, either. He shed his 3rd-inning struggles to work into the 7th, perhaps a bit more laborious than usual, but still effective; no one scored following Vargas' homer. Andrew Benintendi chased him from the mound and straight into the appreciative cheers of the grateful home crowd. Then, the dam broke. Lord, did it break. With two outs in the 8th, Minnesota's fortune swung wildly in the other direction; Christian Vázquez perfectly plopped a two-run double in-between outfielders, Willi Castro blasted a home run out to right, and Byron Buxton hammered the third multi-RBI hit of the frame, depositing an offering to Chicago's bullpen. The flurry shot the score to 10-2. Suddenly, Jhoan Durán could take the night off. Trevor Richards entered instead and bucked the curse of Kevin Jepsen (continued by Sam Dyson) of new Twins relievers imploding in their first outing. He did exactly what he needed to do—and the Twins' win was secured after just nine pitches. Notes: Byron Buxton hit his 129th career home run. He is three away from tying Jacque Jones for the 15th-most in Twins history. Joe Ryan's seven strikeouts give him 523 in his MLB career. He is four punchouts away from tying Jim Merritt and Scott Erickson for the 23rd most in Twins history. Royce Lewis has eight 4+ RBI games in his MLB career. Jorge Alcalá lowered his season ERA to 1.60. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and White Sox will play the second game of their series on Saturday. Bailey Ober faces off against Garrett Crochet. First pitch is at 6:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

And how the Twins can finally, eventually take advantage of the opportunity. The 2024 MLB trade deadline was high in sound and low in fury. What was once a time for splashy deals and headline-grabbing has morphed into an improve-on-the-margins bonanza, with the designations between “buyers” and “sellers” melting together into a homogeneous pot. The era of Zack Greinke moving at the last second is over, and the shape of the trade deadline is far different than it once was. I think there are a few trends fueling this phenomenon. The most obvious is the new playoff structure: two more teams making the postseason tilts the balance of power toward sellers. Those few extra squads in the middle, potentially sellers in a separate time, live in a far less clear-cut world than they once did. The mediocre franchises that were once dead in the water can fantasize about catching fire late to squeak into a final playoff spot. They become buyers as well, or, at least, no longer extreme sellers. Maybe they do a little of both. That’s how the 53-56 and dreadfully boring San Francisco Giants hold onto Taylor Rogers, Matt Chapman, and Blake Snell, while dealing away Jorge Soler, Alex Cobb, and Luke Jackson just to bring in… Mark Canha? It’s just weird. That’s how the game is played these days. You’ll hear lawyer talk from executives like Jerry Dipoto about how the “seller” and “buyer” binary doesn’t really work anymore, and they’ll be correct; quite a few teams operate in both worlds. Take the Cubs: they took a big swing to acquire Isaac Paredes, but dealt Mark Leiter Jr. to the Yankees. Hypocrisy? Not really. They identified that Leiter, a reliever—the standard currency of the trade deadline—doesn’t affect their future that much, while Paredes—an All-Star slugger three and a half years away from free agency—does. They aren’t going to make the postseason this year, but teams aren’t so narrow-minded as to think only about that. A deal is a deal, no matter if it comes in July or December. There are two edges to this blade, but they both cut in the same direction. See, there are more playoff spots, which means more buyers and fewer sellers. However, that same playoff expansion means that the value of making the playoffs is lower, as is the quality threshold one needs to exceed to do it. The market is, sadly, being perfectly rational. With supply constricted, prices are high, but demand really doesn't rise to meet them, because many of the buyers can tell themselves they're already good enough, and because the value they derive from getting better once they're above that threshold is diminished. You can see the way this all interweaves by looking at one of the trades made this week. Did you see the return Yusei Kikuchi commanded? A 4.72 career ERA! Half a season before he's a free agent! And he netted Toronto a new number-3 prospect, a potential starting outfielder, and a depth middle infielder. Holy crap. That makes Tarik Skubal worth a young Kirby Puckett and an old Nelson Cruz--but, like, a not-too-old one. Even a decade ago, we routinely saw teams give up way more than that at the deadline, but it was for better players, and the teams acquiring them felt both greater urgency and a greater confidence in being rewarded for aggressiveness than anyone feels these days. Those players are so expensive because there’s an ever-dwindling pool of them available at the deadline. Remember the Giants and Cubs from earlier? Well, when they decide to hang onto their veterans, suddenly, the Skubals and Garrett Grochets of the world become ridiculously valuable. Cartoonishly so. Asking prices rise well above the comfort level of your average prospect-hugging executive, because there’s no real alternative to which to pivot. That causes everyone not ready to run as wild as AJ Preller in San Diego to balk. The Twins find themselves in a tough place in this context. Their typical calculated, methodical team-building is harder to pull off with the new trade deadline ethos. You can wait all offseason for a trade to manifest, but when your options are limited in July, uhhh, it’s called a deadline for a reason; you have to pull the trigger eventually. They were slow to react as buyers before the expanded playoffs, and they’ve almost entirely punted the last two years, despite being solid contenders both seasons (although after the disastrous 2022 deadline, maybe that’s not a terrible thing). In order to avoid another groan-inducing dud of a deadline, they’ll either have to find the chutzpah to hand over serious prospect talent for a stud or two, or build such a damn solid team in the offseason that the trade deadline becomes moot. Those are the only real options. Walking this narrow, lukewarm path will only keep them squarely in the middle—good enough to compete, but needing a lot of luck to make a deep playoff run. Let’s hope they decide well. View full article

I'd say it's more that A-ball pitchers can't command for squat. Putting an advanced, disciplined machine in the same level as them is a recipe for hilariously lopsided BB/rates.

And a whole bunch of dudes make their claim for hitter of the day. Image courtesy of William Parmeter TRANSACTIONS RHP Ronny Henriquez recalled by Twins Saints Sentinel St. Paul 10, Toledo 3 Box Score Zebby Matthews: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB (naturally), 6 K HR: Chris Williams (12) Multi-hit games: Rylan Bannon (2-for-6, 2 R, RBI), Yunior Severino (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB), Chris Williams (4-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB), Wynton Bernard (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI) The Saints offense stayed hot on Sunday. The leading story should have been Zebby Matthews’ AAA debut, but when a team dumps over another squad like this, the lineup steals the show. And what a show it was: Chris Williams went 4-for-4 with a walk, the first five batters in the Saints lineup reached base multiple times, and St. Paul scored double-digit runs for the second game in a row. Madness. That Williams homer—as the tweet says—ties him with Mark Contreras for the franchise lead. The aforementioned combo of DaShawn Keirsey Jr. , Rylan Bannon, Yunior Severino, Williams, and Wynton Bernard totaled 11 hits and reached base 15 times. That’ll score some runs. The outpouring of runs shouldn’t take away from the fact that Matthews pitched well in his first taste of AAA. Staked to a 3-0 lead before he even threw a pitch, the righty nabbed two quick outs, gave up a pair on a massive homer, and settled into standard Matthewsian efficiency, pounding the zone while halting any other scoring effort. He struck out six and topped out at 96.4 MPH. He turned the ball over to Brock Stewart, who mowed down the Mud Hens in order with just 11 pitches. He may be ready to rejoin the Twins; just a guess. Zack Weiss, Ryan Jensen, and Hobie Harris carried the effort the rest of the way, ensuring no funny business would soil St. Paul’s excellent, commanding victory. The Mud Hens are led by Jace Jung, brother of Josh, both belonging to a family that favors alliteration. Detroit’s 3rd-ranked prospect doubled once in four trips to the plate. Former 1st overall pick Spencer Torkelson walked once in four plate appearances. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Frisco 1 Box Score Cory Lewis: 4 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (3-for-3, 2B, RBI) The Wind Surge won a pitching duel on Sunday. Cory Lewis looked like the Cory Lewis of old. Following a horrifying seven-earned run outing, Lewis locked in and overwhelmed, punching out five over 4 ⅓ innings with a lone earned run. He threw 71 pitches. Lewis’ relatively curt outing put the much-maligned Wind Surge bullpen in a tight spot. They needed to accrue 4 ⅔ innings somehow. Taylor Floyd was first up, and he crushed his assignment, finishing Lewis’ while adding a full scoreless frame for good measure. John Stankiewicz worked around minor traffic jams to deliver the game to Wichita’s current quasi-closer, Cody Laweryson. He finished the deed, flipping to Luke Keaschall to end the game. In an offensively-deficient game, Wichita’s lone runs came when three (!!!) hit by pitches begat a 1st inning sacrifice fly and RBI infield single by Ben Ross. That was it. The Wind Surge reached 2nd base only two more times in a game that made the deadball era look like the 2019 season. Abimelec Ortiz, Frisco’s rightfielder, is the Rangers’ 11th-best prospect. He went 1-4 with two strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 5 Box Score Jordan Carr: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K HR: Rubel Cespedes 2 (9, 10) Multi-hit games: Rubel Cespedes (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI) Wisconsin-based baseball came out on top once again on Sunday. Don’t blame Jordan Carr, though. The lefty from Baltimore almost entirely neutralized the Timber Rattlers, allowing just one hit over five innings of work. Naturally, that one hit proved to be a run-scoring knock; only the finest fortune for the Twins franchise. Still, Carr struck out four and exited the game with the lead. That lead was entirely created by Rubel Cespedes. He cracked a solo homer in the 3rd and decided to make it a two-fer with another shot in the 5th. Four more bombs will set a season-high for the Dominican lefty. Unfortunately, no other Kernel saw the ball like Cespedes, leaving a vast chasm where any sort of offense went to die. Non-Cespedesian entities earned just four hits—all singles—and failed to claim a hit with a runner in scoring position. Cedar Rapids’ first three hitters combined to go 1-for-13 with two walks. The impotence put the Kernels' bullpen in a tight spot; just one false move could cause certain death, and it did. The typically excellent Jarret Whorff surrendered three runs (just one earned), ironically largely due to an error by Cespedes. Nolan Santos made his A+ Ball debut, pitching a scoreless 8th inning. Wisconsin’s centerfielder, Luis Lara, is the Brewers’ 8th-ranked prospect. He singled once in four trips to the plate. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 10, Daytona 6 Box Score Cesar Lares: 2 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Carlos Aguiar (5), Rixon Wingrove (6) Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB), Rixon Wingrove (3-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Matthew Clayton (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Carlos Aguiar (2-for-4, HR, R, 5 RBI) Fort Myers’ bats exploded on Sunday. It’s typically a good sign when your first two hitters take six at-bats in one game. Yes, the runs came easy for the Mighty Mussels; they put up four in the first act, rested in the second, and came back with maliciousness for one final blow late in the game, giving them a series sweep of the Threshers. In a day full of big bats, Rixon Wingrove’s proved the most potent. He nearly hit for the cycle—and it was the single, of all things, he missed out on. No matter: he settled for three extra-base hits, two walks, and four runs scored, a tremendous engine in a great offensive machine. The 24-year-old Australian is now hitting .264/.366/.488 in 34 games with Fort Myers. Walker Jenkins, Matthew Clayton, and Carlos Aguiar were the overqualified sidekicks of the day. Jenkins reached base four times; Clayton, the same; and Aguiar knocked in five runs, three of which scored on one swing. Oh, and Nick Lucky took three walks and stole a trio of bases. Rehabbing big leaguer Rodolfo Castro collected two hits and a walk for the Threshers. Philadelphia’s number six prospect, infielder Devin Saltiban, took two walks and DH’d. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rixon Wingrove (but shoot, take your pick) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-4, R, RBI, 2 BB, K #2 - Brooks Lee (Twins) - 1-4, RBI, BB #5 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 2 K #8 - Austin Martin (Twins) - 0-3, 2 K #9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-2, R, BB #10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 0-5, 3 K #13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, RBI, K #14 - Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K #15 - Cory Lewis (Wichita) - 4 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 R, RBI, BB #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, 2 K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Twins @ DSL NYY Yankees (10:00 AM) - TBD FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Huge top-end exit velocity, now that sounds like a Twins pick

Thank god help is on the horizon. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS INF Nick Lucky transferred from Low-A Fort Myers to AAA St. Paul Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Louisville 9 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Anthony Prato (2) Multi-hit games: Alex Isola (2-for-4, R, RBI), Maddux Houghton (2-for-3, R) Middle relief failed the Saints on Sunday. Aaron Rozek killed it. The 28-year-old Burnsville native—typically an up/down arm for the high minors—diced through the Bats lineup with ease, punching out five with unique efficiency. Louisville likely celebrated when they saw him stay in the dugout for the 4th inning. And then they pounced. Good lord, did they pounce. Zack Weiss allowed a dinky single, struck out the next batter, then watched a line of shenanigans and singles turn a slim lead into a 4-1 deficit. Tossing a cement mixer to Livan Soto didn’t help, either; the lefty out of Venezuela deposited the offering over the right field wall. Louisville waited patiently and mercifully for one more frame before clubbing the Saints again—this time with a five-run attack. Weiss started that inning, quickly giving way to Austin Brice when it became clear to Toby Gardenhire that keeping him in could be deemed cruel and unusual punishment. Brice was no better. He hit one, walked three, allowed an RBI single, and elicited his only out when Chris Williams caught a runner attempting to swipe third. Ronny Henriquez cleaned up with mild resistance. Nine runs proved too much for a poorly coordinated but decently effective Saints offense. St. Paul could only jab; they plated four in single-run intervals, as each attempt at a crooked number ended before much could occur. Anthony Prato whacked his second homer of the year. Louisville centerfielder Blake Dunn claims the 10th spot on the Reds’ prospect list. He struck out three times in four at-bats. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 9, Springfield 16 Box Score Andrew Morris: 1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K HR: Carson McCusker (9), Dalton Shuffield (2) Multi-hit games: Tanner Schobel (2-for-5, 2B, R), Ben Ross (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Dalton Shuffield (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI) The Wind Surge lost a sloppy, sloppy game on Sunday. Something must be in the water; Zebby Matthew, Cory Lewis, and now Andrew Morris turned in some of their worst performances as a pro this last week. Morris at least has some excuse, given that he needed to earn five outs just to escape the 1st. And, unfortunately, the 41 pitches he threw to earn what is usually a gimme took him out of the game for good. All five runs scored on him were unearned. He lowered his season ERA. The Cardinals plated five more runs before Wichita’s bats woke from their slumber. They rose with a vengeance: nine furious runs pushed the game to a one-run match, at least for a time. Andrew Cossetti, Dalton Shuffield, and Jake Rucker had the run-scoring knocks in the 5th; Carson McCusker, Ben Ross, and Shuffield had them in the 6th. Between the two frames, Wichita collected six extra-base hits, reached base 11 times, and nearly evened what was once a 10-run deficit. As it happens, the Cardinals soon realized they could respond to Wichita’s flurry. They did. They continued to bleed the Wind Surge bullpen dry, scoring in the 6th, 7th, and 8th to mask the fact that this once looked like a close game. Rehabbing big leaguer Tommy Edman collected two hits and three RBIs. Despite claiming a plethora of excellent pitching prospects, Springfield’s highest-ranked youngster active on Sunday was the brilliantly named Jimmy Crooks. The catcher homered in a 2-5 showing. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 Box Score Jeremy Lee: 4 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Gabriel Gonzalez (2-for-4, R) The Kernels couldn’t hold on to an early lead on Sunday. Jeremy Lee was solid. A little inefficient, but solid. The Sky Carp knocked around him for six hits—mostly singles—and took two walks, but Lee nearly escaped without a scratch; too bad Carlos Santiago blasted a two-run homer off him. Lee’s elevated pitch count begat a tremendous 2 ⅓ inning, five punchout performance by Jacob Wosinski; the 6’8” righty from Grand Rapids blew through the Sky Carp, only faltering when that damned Santiago manufactured a run with a walk/stolen base/advance on a wild pitch combo. He scored on a single. In the background, the Kernels' offense was patient and ineffective. They plated a pair with an eventful 1st inning, but failed to capitalize more, eventually leaving the bases loaded with tepid at-bats from Jose Salas and Kyle Hess. And that was the last time a Kernel reached second base. Twice, they ended a frame with a double play; thrice, their attempted rally simply started too late. Overall, they took six walks but could muster up just four hits. Typically, the Sky Carp are fronted by a duo of tremendous pitching prospects, Noble Meyer and Thomas White, but—because both hurlers participated in the Futures Game on Saturday, their best prospect to play on Sunday was first baseman Brock Vradenburg, ranked 18th in their system. He went 0-4 with three strikeouts. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Daytona 6 Box Score Spencer Bengard: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Poncho Ruiz (3) Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Yohander Martinez (2-for-3, 2B, BB) The Mighty Mussels dropped their finale against the Tortugas on Sunday. Starter Spencer Bengard pitched a working man’s five innings for Fort Myers. He didn’t dominate—his strike rate was just 60%—and ten men reached base against him, but only two scored; perhaps a sign of tremendous gumption or plain good luck. In any case, Bengard’s season ERA sits at a shiny 1.54, the fourth-lowest of all pitchers in the FSL with at least 50 innings pitched. That dam held back by Bengard broke, though, the second he left the game: Daytona buried Ben Ethridge with three runs as he could only coax one out before exiting the mound, likely grumpier than before. Fort Myers’ offense, in return, could not keep up with this flurry. Or, they at least ran out of time before finding the necessary gear. Walker Jenkins plated their opening run with a 5th-inning single, but the knock only portended a missed opportunity: Brandon Winokur snipped the rally prematurely by grounding into an inning-ending double play. The next runs didn’t come until the 8th when Poncho Ruiz bruised the berm with a two-run smash. The hit could only make the score look a little better, as the Mighty Mussels came up empty in the 9th and fell to just two games over .500. Daytona’s best prospect is Ricardo Cabrera, ranked 8th in the Reds system. He collected three hits and two RBIs in five at-bats. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Rozek Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Shuffield PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 2B, RBI #5 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R, 2 K #10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, K #13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-5, 2B, R #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2 RBI, K #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, R, 2 BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Twins @ DSL Mets Orange (10:00 AM) - TBD FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

I don't remember advocating for much in my comment; maybe I'll interrogate it more to find whatever you appeared to have uncovered. Anyways, the point was that---for as much consternation that Margot elicits---he's been a perfectly fine, if not outright good lefty killer. He's going to bat leadoff against southpaws, and he's done quite well in that role. All the fruitless pinch-hitting and terrible play against righties is a different story.

Miranda had a bad back.

Margot is hitting .313/.373/.493 out of the leadoff spot this season.

You know that kind of terrible movie whose ending you can predict after about 20 minutes? Image courtesy of © John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Joe Ryan: 5 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.208), Christian Vázquez (-.118), Manuel Margot (-.071) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) It was June, 2017. Ervin Santana tossed one of his five complete games that year, Kennys Vargas cracked a homer off Jeff Samardzija, and Nik Turley—yes, Nik Turley—started game three of the series. These are the vapid, vague memories of the last time the Twins played in San Francisco, some near decade ago when Byron Buxton and Max Kepler were still youngsters and Brooks Lee was in high school. That series ended in a Minnesota victory; would 2024’s matchup follow a similar path? The man on the mound was familiar with this turf. Joe Ryan walked this land and breathed this air as a boy: he was born in San Francisco and went to high school some 20 miles north in San Anselmo. He loved the Giants. And the Grateful Dead. Familiar or not, Oracle Park proved unfriendly early and often; an otherwise typical 1st inning line drive portended defensive disaster when Matt Wallner collapsed on himself and allowed Jorge Soler to reach third base. The play did not result in an error. Only the finest for sport’s most subjective stat. That runner soon scored, as did two more the following frame when Byron Buxton nearly chased down a ball in the gap before Brett Wisely dumped a dying quail right in front of him to plate a third run. If a ball could mock someone while falling, that one sure did. Accentuating San Francisco’s offensive flurry was Minnesota’s impotence in the same situation. They put runners on, but moving them around was a hassle; Brooks Lee flew out on a ball gone in 23 ballparks; line drives found gloves; two men on with no one out begat three of the worst at-bats taken all game. The one run they did score felt more like an insult than a celebration; they should have had four of them by now. No matter. Josh Staumont entered, finally allowed a few earned runs, and turned the game from an optimist's close match to a true laugher. Minnesota's bats fell even more tepid into the void encompassing them all day, and the end result we all knew to be imminent and true. Notes: Joe Ryan's three walks were a season-high. Ryan's six strikeouts give him 502 in his Twins career, good for 27th-most all-time. He is three strikeouts away from passing Glen Perkins and Dean Chance for 25th place. Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa now have hitting streaks of eight and 13 games, respectively. Buxton earned his fifth multi-hit game of July. He is slashing .452/.500/.742 since the month's turn. Brooks Lee has reached base in eight of his nine first career games. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Giants will play the second game of their series on Saturday. Simeon Woods Richardson faces off against Hayden Birdsong. First pitch is at 6:15 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Underrated turning point was Jax allowing a weird, flopping double before locking in and mowing down the next three batters in order. That's all-star level stuff, folks.

Thank goodness it ended up being a good game. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS OF Matt Wallner recalled by Twins RHP John Stankiewicz promoted from AA Wichita to AAA St. Paul Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Gwinnett 3 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 4 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K HR: Jair Camargo (6), Chris Williams (9) Multi-hit games: None The Saints were just one of four teams to play a game on Sunday; everyone else played a rare Monday game earlier in the week, making St. Paul the sole focus of today’s minor league report. Randy Dobnak earned the start on Sunday. He entered action on fire: the righty allowed just seven earned runs since June began, with four of those coming in a meager outing against Syracuse on June 8th. That stretch included a terrific 10 K performance against the Bats just one start later, helping deflate his ERA from over 5 following the Syracuse game to under 4 heading into Sunday's outing. And on the 7th, he was okay—perfectly cromulent. Gwinnett tagged him for an early run, but laborious 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings knocked him out of the game before he could line himself up to earn the “W.” A walk of Yuli Gurriel—a man who swings as much as Count Basie—moved Toby Gardenhire to remove his starter. Dobnak whiffed five and walked three. Fortunately, the Saints’ offense was ready to hit, even without the reigning International League Hitter of the Month. A double play coaxed in their first run, while a Yunior Severino stinging double gave St. Paul a small, soon-to-be-vanishing lead. No matter. The Saints waited a few innings, gathered their thoughts, and cracked the Stripers with a ferocious one-two punch in the 6th. Jair Camargo obliterated a 448-foot solo shot over the batter’s eye in center, and Chris Williams smoked a more humble 397-foot homer to push St. Paul in front. "I knew it was far, and I knew it was hard, and it was loud," said Camargo after the game. "And shoutout Tramp man (Saints clubhouse manager Matt Tramp). He changed my bat, and I was like, 'Man, whatever you put in there, I am going to swing it,' so big shoutout to him. It felt good." (Quote via our resident journalist, Theo Tollefson.) John Stankiewicz hadn’t pitched above AA; Gardenhire did not care. The Fordham product donned a Saints uniform for the first time in his career, entered the game in the 7th, and stared down a trio of big leaguers for his first AAA outing. He pitched beautifully. Brian Anderson weakly flailed at a cutter, Gurriel harmlessly grounded out to 2nd, and Eddie Rosario hit a home run in a silo, sending Stankiewicz’s offering nearly straight up and safely into Payton Eeles’ glove. Just another day of work. Matt Bowman's scoreless 8th begat a Diego Castillo save opportunity in the 9th. He walked the lead-off man before eliciting a flyball out to left field. Perhaps desiring to become the game's hero, Gwinnett's baserunner Nacho Alvarez Jr. bolted for 2nd. In the mad scramble, Williams cooly rifled a throw to the infield, gunning down Alvarez for the second out of the inning. The final batter was an afterthought. The Saints walked away with an impressive come-from-behind victory. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – John Stankiewicz Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jair Camargo PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Twins) - 2-4, R #11 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Twins) - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, RBI, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Phillies White @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Quite a day for fans of standing ovations. Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Joe Ryan: 5 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K Home Runs: Brooks Lee (1), Byron Buxton (9) Top 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (.118), Willi Castro (.104), Trevor Larnach (.083) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Friday’s game stunk. The back-and-forth seesaw event turned blowout, turned “maybe Josh Winder shouldn’t have pitched as long as he did” bonanza burned the Twins and left fans with a terrible aftertaste. What a great game, and yet, what a rotten one. Fortunately, baseball never waits long to offer a new opportunity to succeed—and the Twins took full advantage on Saturday. Entering the game, Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown had been unhittable. His ordinary season stats belie a tremendous month of June: the righty allowed four runs all month, good for a 1.16 ERA. He then tossed six scoreless to start July. And—evidently—no one told this to Minnesota’s hitters. They creamed him. Two runs in the first begat a trio in the second, concluding with another multi-run frame in the third. The Twins nearly had more runs than Brown had outs. Nestled at the heart of the offensive outburst was Jose Miranda, the man on a streak so incendiary that amateur prognosticators have flocked to the Thesaurus website in search of worthy synonyms for the word “hot.” He entered the day reaching base safely in ten straight plate appearances; an early hit-by-pitch and subsequent RBI single quickly grew that total to 12, a Twins franchise record. A later single gave him 12 straight at-bats with a hit, the most since Walt Dropo in 1952. "So much for that being the focus,” thought Brooks Lee , perhaps stewing that his teammate has swiped so much attention. He was a top prospect, hitting .500 in his time in the majors; what the hell does he have to do to earn some respect? Well, Lee took over for at least one swing; he scooped a low curveball and just barely coaxed the ball over the towering right-field wall for his first career major league homer. The runs were needed as “a safe lead” did not exist in anyone’s lexicon after last night’s game. In point, Joe Ryan was nearly dominant. He struck out eight, earned about a thousand whiffs, and still left the game in a state where one swing could have knotted things. That’s no insult to Ryan, who expertly diced up Houston’s veterans more than a few times; rather, it resulted from two blazing offenses refusing to settle quietly. Jon Singleton homered, Alex Bregman doubled, and a whole bunch of foul balls in the 6th forced Ryan to exit before earning the elusive quality start. Fortunately, Jorge Alcalá netted the final out, and in an even better turn of luck, Byron Buxton turned it into a six-run game with a 7th-inning two-run bomb. That was the final touch. Cole Sands cut down the Astros in the 7th and 8th, Caleb Thielbar flirted with an immaculate inning in the 9th, and Minnesota earned their 50th win of the season. Notes: José Miranda's 12 consecutive at-bats with a hit tied an MLB record shared by three other players: Walt Dropo, Pinky Higgins, and Johnny Kling. Miranda's streak of 13 consecutive plate appearances reaching base safely set a Twins franchise record. Minnesota's 12 pitching strikeouts give them 810 on the year, the highest total in MLB. Byron Buxton's 124th homer is good for 16th place on the all-time Twins leaderboard. He is eight away from tying Jacque Jones for 15th. Harmon Killebrew remains deep on the horizon. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Astros will play the final game of their weekend series on Sunday, with Simeon Woods Richardson facing off against Spencer Arrighetti. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Man, Byron is swinging a hot bat. Feels like he’s about to carry the club for the next month or so. Good to see Pablo settle down and turn in a solid outing. Go Twins!

You may want to say a quick prayer before seeing Louie Varland's pitching line. Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Matthew Clayton) TRANSACTIONS RHP Jay Jackson outrighted to AAA St. Paul LHP Aaron Rozek promoted to AAA St. Paul Saints Sentinel St. Paul 9, Toledo 20 Box Score Louie Varland: 2 ⅓ IP, 11 H, 11 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 3 BB), Jair Camargo (2-for-5, 2B, 3B, R, RBI), Will Holland (2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Patrick Winkel (2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, BB) The Saints lost an ugly, ugly game on Sunday. If you’re going to snap a winning streak, you may as well go all out. Louie Varland got a swinging strike on the first pitch he threw. That was the best it was ever going to get. Parker Meadows blasted his next offering 423 feet out to centerfield, and perhaps the worst day of pitching Varland has ever experienced came crashing down in a multitude of blasts. He allowed five homers, most of them with a “distance traveled” that started with the number “4.” Toby Gardenhire only finally pulled the plug when another Meadows’ extra-base hit continued the early-game tragedy. Oh, but the brutality did not end. This was an advanced sort of punishment. Aaron Rozek—a good soldier—ended the 3rd as reasonably as any pitch could but experienced the exact same holy-crap-what-is-going-on whiplash his predecessor endured. He never made it out of the 4th; the Mud Hens blasted him for six earned runs, a few of which came when Scott Blewett allowed the 496th homer of the day. The funny thing is, St. Paul actually had a lead in the middle of all this. They stormed back with five runs in the 1st, giving the team a semblance of hope before everything fell apart. Edouard Julien reached base five times on Sunday, walking thrice in a classic Julien-ish performance. Every batter in the Saints lineup collected a hit. Toledo’s starter, Ty Madden, is the Tigers’ 5th-ranked prospect. He allowed eight runs over four frames while walking five. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Arkansas 2 Box Score Travis Adams: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K HR: Jake Rucker (5) Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Kyler Fedko (2-for-4, 2B, R) Wichita narrowly hung on in a thriller on Sunday. Travis Adams was spectacular. For two years, the righty out of Sacramento State has found the Texas League an uncaring place to pitch, with runs coming far easier than any pitcher cares to see. He shed that notion just for one day; Adams tossed five scoreless innings, walking three while punching out seven in one of his finest starts as a member of the Wind Surge. Adams and the rest of Wichita’s pitching staff earned offensive support, somehow both tenacious and tepid. For one, the Wind Surge banged out eight hits, took five walks, and went down on strikes just five times. But the hits were poorly timed; only one came with a runner on base. Runners don’t always need to be on base to score, though. Just ask Jake Rucker, who lifted a fly ball deep enough out to left field to clear the wall, giving Wichita a 1-0 advantage in the 1st. Their next run came off a Dalton Shuffield single in the 5th. And, finally, an 8th-inning sacrifice fly appeared to hand the Wind Surge an insurmountable lead. Three runs in two innings is a tough ask; the Travelers nearly did it. Jared Solomon allowed a trio of doubles, plating two runs and necessitating an emergency appearance from Cody Laweryson one out earlier than expected. No matter. The righty struck out the last batter of the 8th, rang up the next two to start the 9th, and coaxed a weak chopper to Aaron Sabato to end the game. The Travelers are led by a duo of awesome Mariners prospects, Cole Young and Harry Ford. Young, a shortstop, doubled and walked in four plate appearances, while Ford, a catcher, doubled and struck out twice. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 9 Box Score John Klein: 4 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Kernels could only muster two hits on Sunday. If introductions were gospel, everything would have been fine; Cedar Rapids actually struck first when Rayne Doncon kicked off the home team’s hitting with a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly. Then, it became Peoria’s game. Brooklyn Park’s John Klein surrendered the lead during an agonizing nickel-and-dime-fest made up of four singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. He was otherwise good over his 4 ⅔ inning start, but the 2nd lorded over his outing and ultimately soiled his day. The Chiefs called off their attack until Cedar Rapids’ bullpen entered the game; from there, they scored in increasingly successful intervals, capping their outburst with a game-sealing bases-clearing double off Ricardo Velez. In stark contrast, the Kernels accomplished almost nothing against Peoria’s pitching staff. Their lone run outside of the opening frame scored when a hit by pitch portended an eventual adventure around the bases for Payton Eeles, eventually resulting in the second baseman reaching home off a wild pitch. That was it. Nate Baez’s 4th inning single was the team’s only hit following Doncon’s triple. Peoria’s catcher—20-year-old Leonardo Bernal—is the Cardinals’ 7th-ranked prospect. He doubled once in five trips to the plate. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 14, St. Lucie 2 Box Score Jose Olivares: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: Matthew Clayton 2 (1, 2), Rixon Wingrove (4) Multi-hit games: Matthew Clayton (3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, BB), Carlos Aguiar (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) The Mighty Mussels won big on Sunday. Seven-run innings will do that. Fort Myers breezed through the 1st before bludgeoning their opponent in the 2nd, pouring on runs in a cascade of hits and runs. Matthew Clayton kicked off the scoring with a solo homer. Mets starter Joel Díaz collected a pair of outs. That’s when the trouble began: the Mighty Mussels went walk, hit by pitch, double, single, single, home run, walk (by the same Clayton who earlier homered), and—mercifully—concluded the frame with a flyout. Likely now pitching with far less pressure, Jose Olivares locked in and cruised through five outstanding frames. He punched out six—twice on strikes so good the Mets felt obligated to challenge the call; both times, they were wrong—and allowed one lone run. His season ERA now sits at 2.55. Fort Myers was not yet done mocking St. Lucie’s pitching staff. They sat in silence for a few more frames before exploding on poor Juan Arnaud for six runs. A 6th inning sacrifice fly served as the maître d' for another vigorous thrashing, yet again featuring a Clayton long ball. Clayton—a product of the University of Nevada—is now slashing .281/.440/.406 after today’s action. The Mighty Mussels then loaded the bases and plated a few more off a grounder and a fielding error. Their bloodlust concluded with an 8th-inning RBI double by Carlos Aguiar. The Mets feature the franchise’s 7th-ranked prospect, a shortstop named Colin Houck. New York selected him in the 1st round in 2023 out of the same high school that produced Matt Olson and Jeff Francoeur . On Sunday, Houck punched out twice in four at-bats. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Travis Adams Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matthew Clayton PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 1-6, R, 2 RBI, K #9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-3, R, 2 BB #13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-3, BB #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, BB, K #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1, RBI, 2 BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals (10:00 AM) - TBD FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

The pain of losing Sonny Gray. I miss him.

On a scale from Kevin Jepsen to Ron Davis, Jhoan Duran is awfully close to being a Matt Capps. Image courtesy of © Stan Szeto - USA TODAY Box Score Chris Paddack: 4 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Royce Lewis (10), Willi Castro (6) Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.560), Kody Funderburk (-.285), Manuel Margot (-.128) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Baseball in Oakland will soon be no more. This has been the reality for some time now, but for the Twins, that meant this series—an otherwise non-descript set in the middle of June—marks their final foray into the Oakland Coliseum. Their conquest over the A’s in 2002, forever immortalized thanks to Moneyball, soon to be a relic. The team in Sacramento will know no such pain. Whatever occurs in Oakland this weekend, a melancholic mood will follow the result—hopefully, it will support wins, not curse losses. Friday began with a rematch: Chris Paddack vs Joey Estes. Neither man hung around for long last time; Minnesota’s righty turned in a dreadful performance last Sunday, exiting the game after just 2 ⅓ innings with five earned runs against him. Contact against him was not quiet. Estes, though, was basically just as bad; he netted one more out, but the trade-off coaxed an extra earned run from his ledger. This game—the one that could change the vibes for each respective hurler—teetered on becoming like the one from before: Paddack walked a season-high three batters over 4 ⅔ mildly effective innings, allowing a bevy of line drives and baserunners. Men were on base in almost every frame. Oakland hitters swung with confidence. The Texan’s line appeared passable for a time, but Kody Funderburk’s blunders in “relief” swelled Paddack’s earned run total from one to three. So it goes. Minnesota had less luck against their opponent. Estes escaped their grasp whenever they tried to trap him. An early run seemed to begat a repeat of last week’s outing, but Estes slithered away from damage at almost every turn. Someone should have checked his pocket for a horseshoe. Of course, then he ran into Royce Lewis. The inevitable. The assumed. The predictable. Royce observed a sweeper on the outside corner before finding one spinning at the top of the zone; it didn’t touch down until it flew 380 feet away, just enough to give him his 10th homer of the year. In 16 games. That seemed to spark things for the tepid, sleepy Twins offense. They greeted Oakland reliever Austin Adams with a single and a walk to send the go-ahead run to the plate. That run—who has a name; Willi Castro—cracked a soaring, skyscraping flyball, holding just barely fair as it landed safely in the bleachers for a three-run homer. Twins lead. It appeared to be the clinching hit. If there ever was a blast to equalize things and establish order in the chaos, Castro's three-run homer should have been like Thanos' infamous snap. It was not. Jorge Alcalá worked a scoreless frame before Jhoan Duran entered in the 8th. The formerly dominant closer plunked a batter with a curveball, proving yet again that he is not the same reliever we could have once turned the TV off and assumed a win. He unleashed a splitter far less mean than before, and Shea Langeliers blasted a go-ahead two-run homer to left field. Mason Miller set the Twins down in order. Yet again, Minnesota nearly made a comeback but ultimately failed to escape themselves in an excruciating loss. Notes: Carlos Santana played in his 2,000th career MLB game on Friday. Only four players have more home runs than Royce Lewis in their first 16 games of a season: Willi Castro is slashing .290/.395/.478 in June. Jorge Alcalá lowered his season ERA to 1.75 on Friday. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Athletics will play the second game of their weekend series on Saturday, with first pitch coming at 3:07 PM. Bailey Ober will start opposite JP Sears. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article