Nash Walker

The Twins offense cracked open in Saturday night’s 5-3 victory. Mitch Garver drove in four runs, including the game-winning three-run shot in the seventh inning.The win increased Minnesota’s AL Central lead to 6.5 games.Box Score Odorizzi: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 67% strikes (66 of 99 pitches) Bullpen: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K Home Runs: Garver 2 (28) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-for-3), Astudillo (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Garver .248, Schoop .196, Sano .081 Bottom 3 WPA: Cron -.171, Rosario -.121, Polanco -.020 Garver scored the lone run off Cleveland starter Aaron Civale on a solo shot in the first inning. Garver’s 27th homer set the record for the most in a season by a Twins catcher. Earl Battey hit 26 in 1963. Jake Odorizzi threw 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, falling one short of his career high with 10 strikeouts. The start held more weight, as Michael Pineda was handed a 60-game suspension today for violating the league’s drug policy. Pineda had been the most reliable Twins starter since the break, posting a 3.04 ERA and striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings. The Twins bullpen has been one of the best in the last month. Tyler Duffey continued his success, holding Cleveland to just one run on a wild pitch. Duffey struck out two in his relief of Odorizzi. With Sam Dyson uncertain to return, the Twins are exploring other options out of the pen. Zack Littell allowed one hit in a scoreless seventh inning. Sergio Romo limped off the mound after setting up in the eighth. Taylor Rogers was great again, retiring the side in order to secure the win and his 25th save. The win was important for Minnesota. Avoiding the potential sweep with Indians ace Mike Clevinger on the mound tomorrow, the Twins are more than treading water to win the division. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

The Twins recovered after a poor performance on Friday to take the series from Detroit and finish the homestand with a 3-3 record. The 7-4 win increases their lead in the AL Central to 3 1/2 games, as Cleveland fell to Kansas City 9-8.Box Score Pérez: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 68% strikes (68 of 100 pitches) Bullpen: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Home Runs: C.J. Cron (21), J.Schoop (18) Multi-Hit Games: None Top 3 WPA: Pérez .214, Garver .154, Schoop .101 Martín Pérez returned to Target Field after a very successful road trip in which he allowed just two runs in 11 innings. The bullpen and bats restricted Pérez to no decisions in both starts. The Twins allowed 8-of-9 leadoff batters to reach base in last night’s victory. On Sunday, Pérez surrendered just one. C.J. Cron assisted Pérez to his first win since before the All-Star break with a three-run blast in the fourth inning. Pérez twirled six strong innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. Pérez has walked 3.8 batters-per-nine this year, but gave a free pass to just one hitter on Sunday. His cutter was extremely effective to right-handed batters, which is an important development after the pitch was dominant during the first half of the season, but not so during the middle part of the schedule. Left-hander Matthew Boyd started for Detroit and allowed seven runs in six innings. Jonathan Schoop had one of the four Twins’ hits, as he laced a two-run homer down the left field line in the sixth. The Twins lead the league in OPS against left-handed pitching (.885). Catcher Mitch Garver doubled off the wall in the third to improve his torrid numbers against lefties. Boyd walked five and struck Max Kepler with a pitch in the fourth. The Twins figure to see Boyd at least once more, as they have seven more head-to-head matchups with Detroit. They have scored 10 runs off him in two starts. Cody Stashak continued to be a reliable low-leverage arm out of the bullpen, pitching two innings of one-hit ball with a strikeout. He was helped out by an outstanding catch in left field by Jake Cave. Lewis Thorpe entered in the ninth with less luck, surrendering three hits and two runs. Thorpe escaped the jam and finished the job. Stashak and Thorpe saved the arms of Rogers, Dyson and Romo. All of which will receive two days of much-needed rest. The Twins will enjoy an off-day tomorrow before facing Chicago for a three-game series against Lucas Giolito and the White Sox. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

MINNESOTA TWINS OPPONENT (# OF GAMES) - SERIES PREDICTION @ Texas (4) - Twins 3-1 vs. Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Detroit (3) - Twins 3-0 @ Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 @ Detroit (4) - Twins 3-1 @ Boston (3) - Red Sox 2-1 vs. Cleveland (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Washington (3) - Twins 2-1 @ Cleveland (3) - Indians 2-1 vs. Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Kansas City (4) - Twins 3-1 @ Detroit (3) - Twins 3-0 @ Kansas City (3) - Twins 2-1 Final Record: 101-61 CLEVELAND INDIANS OPPONENT (# OF GAMES) - SERIES PREDICTION @ New York Yankees (4) - Split 2-2 @ New York Mets (3) - Mets 2-1 vs. Kansas City (3) - Indians 3-0 @ Detroit (3) - Indians 3-0 @ Tampa Bay (3) - Rays 2-1 vs. Chicago White Sox (4) - Indians 4-0 @ Minnesota (3) - Twins 2-1 @ Los Angeles Angels (3) - Indians 2-1 vs. Minnesota (3) - Indians 2-1 vs. Detroit (3) - Indians 3-0 vs. Philadelphia (3) - Phillies 2-1 @ Chicago White Sox (3) - Indians 2-1 @ Washington (3) - Indians 2-1 Final Record: 99-63 Conclusion: If the Indians and Twins split their remaining six games, it will be very difficult for Cleveland to win this division. They are tasked with 10 games on the road with the Yankees, Mets and Rays. The Twins toughest road games come against Boston and Texas. The Indians are a good team and I think they continue to show that, but the Twins take care of business and head to October by 2.0 games.

The Cleveland Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-5 on Thursday. The win brought Cleveland within one game of the Twins with three games left to play in this series, and a grand total of nine head-to-head matchups to come.Box Score Gibson: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 49% strikes (42 of 85 pitches) Bullpen: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Luis Arraez (2-for-3, BB) Bottom 3 WPA: Eddie Rosario -.314, Kyle Gibson -.257, C.J. Cron -.146 Mike Clevinger mostly stymied the best offense in baseball on Thursday, going seven innings and striking out nine en route to his seventh win. Clevinger threw 117 pitches and made them all count, allowing just three hits. Two blemishes came in the fourth, as the Twins struck on RBI singles from Luis Arraez and Marwin Gonzalez. The Indians offense lifted Clevinger as Yasiel Puig tripled and scored in the second off Kyle Gibson. Gibson pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs while walking six. Zach Littell relieved Gibson in the fifth and gave up a two-run double to Jose Ramirez. Ramirez continued his smoking hot second half, driving in three runs on the evening. Adam Cimber pitched the eighth inning for Cleveland and surrendered two hits and a walk as Jorge Polanco doubled in Ehire Adrianza to narrow the deficit to three. Cimber was pulled for left-hander Oscar Perez and Eddie Rosario grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Max Kepler to bring the Twins within two. Miguel Sano doubled in Rosario on a full count to strike to within one. Marwin Gonzalez popped out to center to end the inning. Tyler Naquin blasted a solo homer off Trevor May in the ninth for an insurance run. In the bottom half, Eddie Rosario popped out to right with bases loaded for the finishing touch. Minnesota native Brad Hand earned his 29th save. Devin Smeltzer and Shane Bieber will face off tomorrow night. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

On an 0-1 count in the bottom of the ninth inning, Miguel Sano crushed a 443 foot home run to help the Twins defeat the Braves 5-3 on Monday. Jake Odorizzi went six full innings and allowed just one run on a Freddie Freeman gift to the short left field porch. Trevor May was phenomenal in two innings of work, and Max Kepler blasted his 31st homer of the season. What does this win really mean? 1. If you did not already know, the Twins are one of the best teams in baseball. Atlanta is in first place in the NL East with a record of 66-47 and have one of the most potent lineups in the league. Ronald Acuña Jr., Josh Donaldson, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies round out a terrifying core. This is a true World Series ready team and the Twins sat them down in game one. 2. The pressure is back on Cleveland While the Twins battled, the Indians fell to Mike Minor and the Rangers by a score of 1-0. The Tribe were -170 favorites at home and their offense faltered. With Jose Berrios on the hill for Minnesota tomorrow, the heat finds the Indians once again as the division lead is back to four games. 3. The biggest week of the season started in the best possible way What is better than an electrifying win against a really good squad on the Monday of your most crucial week on the home stretch? Nothing! The Twins will host the Indians later this week for four games and hope to enter with their current four game lead, or possibly more? The Special Season continues, and the Twins have won their 70th game. Enjoy it, Twins fans.

As the deadline lingers, Madison Bumgarner is reportedly on the block again. What should the Twins realistically give up for the World Series Champion? Too much: Any of SS Royce Lewis or OF Alex Kiriloff This was a different situation for Noah Syndergaard, as he had team control for seasons, but Bumgarner is a rental for 10-12 starts. Losing Lewis or Kiriloff would be an expensive blow for a short-term option. Too little: Nothing including P Brusdar Graterol or P Jordan Balazovic While I do believe Bumgarner should not cost an arm or a leg, I also believe with the competition that he will not go for pennies on the dollar. Graterol or Balazovic will be a necessary starting piece in any deal the Twins start. Just right: P Jordan Balazovic and SS Nick Gordon Avoiding their top three prospects in Lewis, Kiriloff and Graterol, the Twins pull it off by dealing Balazovic and Nick Gordon, who is an MLB ready player hitting above .300 for Rochester. This deal makes sense for both sides, and I would be happy to see it happen for the Twins. Happy trading!

Although there have been a number of surprises, Jake Odorizzi has been one of the best for the Minnesota Twins. After going 7-10 and posting a 4.49 ERA in 2018, Odorizzi has improved mightily. His 9.4 SO/9 is the highest of his career. Odorizzi had a phenomenal month of May, going 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA and opponent BA of .160. In July, Odorizzi holds a 9.35 ERA and is allowing a 1.106 OPS in four starts. His last start came at home against the Yankees, where he surrendered nine runs and two homers in four innings. Odorizzi will start tonight against Miami. The importance of Odorizzi is two-fold. The Twins need a solid second starter, and they need someone to shut down right-handed bats. The Yankees and Astros have Aaron Judge, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, George Springer, Edwin Encarnacion, Luke Voit, and DJ Lemahieu, just to name a bunch. Because Odorizzi is a fly ball pitcher, his .204 BAbip suggests that his outfield is active against righties. On fly balls, his opponents are batting just .165. To put perspective into this importance, here is how righties are hitting against the Twins starters: 1. Odorizzi- .178/.264/.327 - .591 OPS 2. Gibson- .249/.299/.369 -.668 OPS 3. Berrios- .238/.290/.385 - .675 OPS 4. Perez- .256/.332/.418 - .749 OPS 5. Pineda- .253/.307/.481 - .788 OPS If Odorizzi can find at least some of his dominance from May, the Twins chances greatly increase. This is true for both the rest of the regular season and the playoffs against either Houston or New York. His arsenal against the right side of the plate could dictate how far this team goes. There is optimism to be found in his last few starts. His BAbip in the last 28 days is .349, and with Byron Buxton back from his concussion, that number will inevitably decrease. Tonight is an opportunity for Odorizzi to bounce back against a beatable Marlins lineup. Go Twins!

The Garvsauce delivered for Minnesota on Monday as they defeated the Yankees 8-6 in game one. Here is the full recap: http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/twins-game-recap-722-twins-turn-triple-play-mitch-garver-homers-twice-in-win-over-yankees-r8133 The Twins will send Kyle Gibson to the mound tonight. Gibson pitched well Thursday against Oakland, going seven strong and striking out seven to improve his record to 9-4. Gibson is now 6-1 at Target Field with a 3.71 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings pitched. This will be Gibson's tenth start against New York. He is 1-6 with a 6.50 ERA against the pinstripes. Edwin Encarnacion is 10/33 with a 1.127 OPS and four homers, Gary Sanchez is 3/8 with two home runs, and Brett Gardner (knee) is 5/16 with a double and a triple off Gibson. The Yankees are showing their top man on the hill in Domingo German. German is 12-2 in 15 starts this season. German threw six great innings against Tampa Bay on Thursday, striking out five and earning his third win of the month. German missed most of June with a hip flexor injury and has not reached 100 pitches since. He has not pitched more than six innings in a start since May 15th. In his last start against Minnesota on May 5th, German struck out seven and allowed one run in 6 ⅔ innings in New York. The Twins are batting .152 with 19 strikeouts in 46 at-bats against German. Marwin Gonzalez has the best history, going 4/9 with a double. The Yankees have the strongest bullpen in baseball and a dominant starter going tonight. The Twins have had a tendency to battle in games such as these but will have to force German into tough situations. If they can stay hot with the long ball and force him out early, their chances of winning greatly increase. Kyle Gibson will have to limit Encarnacion and the amount of walks he allows. Projected Twins lineup: Max Kepler CF Jorge Polanco SS Nelson Cruz DH Eddie Rosario LF Marwin Gonzalez RF Luis Arraez 2B Miguel Sano 3B Ehire Adrianza 1B Jason Castro C Prediction: This is a tough one for Minnesota. They will likely struggle to get to German and Gibson has an awful history against the Yankees. I do believe this game will be close, but the Yankees may outlast Minnesota with their elite bullpen. Score: Minnesota 4, New York 5

The Twins turned a triple play in the first inning, Mitch Garver hit two of the Twins’ five home runs and the bullpen held up a lead for five innings as the Twins beat the Yankees 8-6 Monday night at Target Field.Box Score Perez: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 63.3% strikes (50 of 79 pitches) Bullpen: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Garver 2 (20), Polanco (14), Cruz (20), Kepler (25) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (3-for-4, 2 HR), Polanco (2-for-3, HR, BB) Top 3 WPA: Garver .207, Polanco .166, Cruz .152 Here's the triple play, which happened in the top of the first inning. The bomba squad was fully assembled as Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz smacked solo home runs in the first inning. Max Kepler and Mitch Garver joined the party with homers of their own in the fourth inning, as the Twins jumped out to a 7-3 lead. Martín Pérez lasted four innings and walked four. Pérez entered tonight giving up just 0.7 home runs per nine innings, the lowest in the American League. Gio Urshela, Luke Voit and DJ LeMahieu each homered off him on Monday. LeMahieu narrowed the Twins lead to 7-6 with his blast in the fifth. The Yankees sent veteran CC Sabathia to the hill in his final regular season start in Minneapolis. Sabathia has pitched very well against the Twins, owning a 20-9 record in 39 starts. History would not repeat itself, as Sabathia was tagged for four home runs. The lefty lasted four innings and allowed six runs. Luis Cessa relieved Sabathia and Mitch Garver took him deep in the sixth for his second homer of the evening. Cessa settled down and struck out six. Jonathan Holder pitched a quiet eighth inning for New York. The Twins bullpen came up huge against one of the best lineups in baseball. Tyler Duffey pitched a scoreless fifth inning. Lewis Thorpe returned from Rochester to throw 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run and striking out a pair. Taylor Rogers survived a scare on his way to save number 15. Kyle Gibson faces off against Domingo German in the second game of this series tomorrow night at Target Field. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

Written by Nash Walker Saturday was a whirlwind for the Twins. You watched it. You read about it. Let's move on. Final: Minnesota 4, Oakland 5 Series Score: Minnesota 1, Oakland 2 Central Division: Minnesota by 3 over Cleveland MIchael Pineda takes the hill Sunday and is enjoying a spectacular July. In 12 innings, Pineda has struck out 12 and walked one. Pineda struggled in April and May, but his ERA has plummeted this summer. He is an efficient pitcher, allowing just two homers in his last eight starts. The Twins realistically have three (maybe four) available relievers to follow Pineda. Ryne Harper warmed up on Saturday but did not enter and should be ready after throwing 29 pitches on Friday. Kohl Stewart has yet to make an appearance after being called up and is seemingly the freshest arm in the pen. Trevor May has not pitched since Wednesday. Taylor Rogers is the only other reliever who would not be pitching for their third straight day. Daniel Mengden will start for Oakland and has done so seven times this year. He owns a 4.21 ERA and 1.3 WHIP. Mengden faced the Twins two weeks ago and allowed eight hits and five runs. Mengden walked 16 and struck out 34 in 47 innings this season. The Twins are batting .321 against Mengden in 53 at-bats. Jason Castro and Miguel Sano are 4/8 with a homer each. The Athletics are hitting a cool .172 with 10 strikeouts off Pineda in 29 at-bats . Khris Davis is 0/5, and Mark Canha is 0/3 with two strikeouts. Twins projected lineup: Assuming Buxton remains out (concussion) 1. Max Kepler CF 2. Marwin Gonzalez RF 3. Jorge Polanco DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. C.J Cron 1B 6. Luis Arraez 2B 7. Ehire Adrianza SS 8. Miguel Sano 3B 9. Jason Castro C Prediction: Nelson Cruz gets a day off before the Yankees. Michael Pineda rides his strong history to six more good innings of work. The Twins beat up on the porous Mengden. Kepler hits a bomba, Marwin has a big day, Polanco knocks in a few runs and Castro adds insurance late with a triple decker. Score: Minnesota 7, Oakland 3 Enjoy your Sunday!

Written by Nash Walker Game one recap: Eddie Rosario was the hero on Thursday, golfing a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 4-3 lead. Kyle Gibson pitched well and earned the victory on the bump. Mitch Garver and C.J Cron added much needed insurance in the eighth with solo homers. The final: 6-3 Minnesota. Series score: Minnesota 1-0. Game two is set for tonight and we will see Jake Odorizzi face off against Chris Bassitt. Odorizzi returned from the break with 89 pitches in Cleveland. Odorizzi could not get through the sixth but allowed just one run and picked up the victory to improve to 11-4. The All-Star was yanked after allowing a grand slam in his first meeting with Oakland on July 2nd. Odorizzi was hurting with a blister on his right middle finger. He was sent to the 10-day IL after the loss. Odorizzi is enjoying the best season of his career, sporting a 3.06 ERA and 9.4 strikeouts per nine. These numbers have actually regressed over the year. In early June, Odorizzi had a 1.92 ERA and a 10-2 record. In his last 23.2 innings (five starts), he has allowed 17 runs. Odorizzi has a 6-0 record and 2.27 ERA at home in 2019. Oakland sends right hander Chris Bassitt to the hill. Bassitt owns a 4.42 FIP and his BABIP of .253 is the lowest of his career. In 15 starts, Bassitt is 6-4. His last appearance was against the White Sox, where he pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Once again, Nelson Cruz has the largest history against the starter. He is 3/7 with two doubles. The Athletics have had some success against Odorizzi. The team has five homers in 72 at-bats. Two of those belong to Khris Davis, who has struggled mightily for over a month. His .718 OPS is the lowest of his career. This is a chance for Minnesota to strike early after finishing strong last night. It will be important to force Bassitt into tough situations and get to the relievers early. The A's bullpen pitched 1.2 innings last night and allowed three runs. Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario should return to the lineup and I suspect Jason Castro will start behind the dish. I do not believe Jonathan Schoop to be healthy enough to return, so Arraez figures to start at second. Buxton remains out with a concussion, so Jake Cave may get the start in right field with Kepler in center. Projected lineup: 1. Max Kepler CF 2. Jorge Polanco SS 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. C.J Cron 1B 6. Luis Arraez 2B 7. Miguel Sano 3B 8. Jason Castro C 9. Jake Cave RF Prediction: Minnesota rides Odorizzi, who holds down Oakland for the second straight night. The lineup scores a few on Bassitt and does enough to win. Final: Minnesota 3, Oakland 1

The stunning streak is over. Your Minnesota Twins finally fell for the third straight time on Wednesday, losing 14-4 to the Mets. Through 94 games, Minnesota is 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the first seed in the playoffs. This is the toughest stretch of the second half for the Twins. Oakland comes to town this evening for a four game set, and the Yankees will follow next week. Both teams are well above .500 and Oakland is red hot with a +31 run differential in five wins since the break. Perspective would suggest they pounded on poor teams, as the White Sox and Mariners are among the many rebuilders this season. Still, Oakland snatched two of three from Minnesota in their last meeting and the Twins losing series' is notable with how well they have performed. The opener will send Oakland's top man to the hill in Mike Fiers. The right hander has a 3.61 ERA in 20 starts. Fiers has strung together 10 straight quality starts, and hasn't given up more than one run since early June. Fiers went six full against the Twins on July 3rd, striking out four and allowing 5 hits. Twins Daily writer Ted Schwerzler acknowledged where this recent slump in the Twins lineup is coming from. It isn't Miguel Sano, who has built his average back up to .233. Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and C.J Cron all have sub .750 OPS numbers since the end of June. The usual producers aren't producing and relying on the developing young star Luis Arraez is exciting but detrimental. Kyle Gibson is also in a spot to return to form. Gibson could not get through the fourth in Cleveland after rolling to start the game. Fortunately, Gibson has been tremendous at Target Field in 2019. His 3.69 ERA and 5-1 record show this. Gibson has allowed just three home runs in 46.1 innings at home. He may have trouble navigating Matt Chapman and Khris Davis, but this Oakland lineup is manageable. In the last meeting, former Twins Robbie Grossman and Chris Herrmann went 12 for 18 with six RBIs. Herrmann is a career .208 hitter. Grossman has just 28 RBIs on the season and a total of 221 in his 7-year MLB career. This is a large opportunity for the Twins to post on Fiers, get to the Oakland bullpen early and for Kyle Gibson to confidently handle this strangely dangerous Athletics lineup. I foresee the cream rising to the top this evening. Nelson Cruz owns a .353 average and .929 OPS in 17 appearances against Fiers. Game 1 prediction: 6-2 Minnesota.