Hans Birkeland

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Dean Kremer: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (74 Pitches, 49 Strikes, 66.2%) Home Runs: Josh Bell (21), Royce Lewis (15) Top 3 WPA: Bell (0.23), Kremer (0.22), Luke Keaschall (0.09) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): It’s the final day of the regular season, and some of the games still mattered, including the Twins' tilt against the Rangers at Target Field. A Rangers win paired with an Astros loss would have meant Texas had a ticket to the playoffs, albeit as a sub-.500 team. There isn’t a lot to like about this Texas team, as they trotted out MacKenzie Gore to start in this must-win game. Gore has flashed some upside in the past—enough for the Rangers to target him over the offseason—but he’s never posted an ERA+ over 104. He was only allowed to face the Twins one turn through the lineup, and gave up a sacrifice fly to Josh Bell in the first following a Luke Keaschall walk and a Kaelen Culpepper single. Dean Kremer got the ball for the Twins, and looked pretty sharp in spotting his cutter and splitter on both sides of the zone. He allowed a rocket home run to Danny Jansen in the third, but was otherwise in control, continuing his run of being very Carl Pavano-ish. Had the rest of the team fulfilled their end of the bargain post-trade deadline, his acquisition would have been seen as quite the coup. There's little doubt left about whether he'll be back next year, anyway. After the Rangers lifted Gore with one out in the third, Chase Silseth came on and plunked Keaschall, before allowing a soul-crushing home run to Bell. Silseth was demonstrative after that result, but brother, it was a fastball middle-in, and you’re Chase Silseth, not Mariano Rivera... or Neftali Feliz... or heck, even Yoendrys Gómez. The venerable Jakob Junis came on for the fifth inning, allowed a single to Walker Jenkins and then walked three in a row to officially tank a sad, dumb season for the Rangers. The score stayed there until Elias Díaz homered off of A.J. Minter to start the eighth. By that point, Houston had built a commanding lead against the A's and the game had taken on a more exhibition-like feel. It ended rather quietly, despite a late Royce Lewis homer and a blow by Corey Seager to bring Texas back within striking distance in the ninth. Stuff I’m Tracking: Bell seemed to really want that 100th RBI, despite coming in needing seven to attain that number. He sure gave it a run, with three RBIs over the first three innings. Justin Morneau in the booth seemed really set on Brooks Lee being team MVP. A sub-.300 OBP would be my argument against that, but I do agree that he could be a starting third baseman on a winning team. You just don’t want him to be a focal point of said team. Keaschall now has a 122 OPS+ in over 800 plate appearances as a big-leaguer, with a .374 OBP. Have we considered putting him at first base next year? He’s been worth 3.0 fWAR, despite the defensive struggles. Lewis was caught stealing for the first time this year, making him 16-for-17. Hey, at least he's done all the little things besides be a good hitter, since apparently that’s off the table. His homer came in his final at-bat, which might be the last he takes as a Twin. Did anyone else find it weird how Texas was getting cute with matchups, lifting Gore early and using six pitchers over the first five innings? We’re not talking about a San Diego or Milwaukee bullpen here, just a lot of Kody Funderburk equivalents and a decent closer (Jacob Latz). It felt desperate, but then again, their situation was that and more. What’s Next: I have no idea. I’m intrigued by Byron Buxton getting his hip fixed after half a decade of playing through pain there. A lot of Victor Caratini. Some competent starting pitching on paper. Better defense on paper. Possibly a farewell to: Ryan Jeffers Bell Taylor Rogers Lewis Trevor Larnach Austin Martin Joe Ryan A.J. Minter Bailey Ober Tommy Nance Matt Wallner Maybe even Emmanuel Rodriguez if the Twins really shuffle the deck with him out of options Whatever's next, it's not coming right away. Today's a good day to savor the good memories this team gave us, and to lament the missed opportunity in such a wide-open American League. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 0 0 0 40 0 40 Morris 23 0 0 0 16 39 Gomez 24 0 0 9 0 33 Rogers 0 0 8 14 0 22 Funderburk 0 0 19 0 0 19 Minter 7 0 0 0 9 16 Nance 0 0 11 0 0 11

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Dean Kremer: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (96 Pitches, 60 Strikes, 62.5%) Home Runs: Alan Roden (1) Top 3 WPA: Kremer (0.28), Josh Bell (0.18), Roden (0.13) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): The Twins are in full "let's see what we have for next year" mode. Sunday found them finishing up a series against a team that is always planning for next year (though rarely making decisions that support that vision): the L.A. Angels. That meant Walker Jenkins hitting leadoff, the return of Alan Roden, and Ben Ross playing shortstop. Dean Kremer took the mound for the Twins, opposing Ryan Johnson—who, like many Angels pitchers, has had an encouraging second half. The Twins had a hard time squaring up Johnson, who has a funky, quick delivery with lots of side-to-side movement. There was a lot of weak contact on the ground until the third inning, when with one out, Jenkins legged out an infield single and Brooks Lee followed with a hard single to right. Josh Bell looped in a single to score Jenkins, and Roden delivered yet another single to score Lee. That made it 2-0 Twins. Kremer wasn't at his sharpest early, with his velocity down a bit and looking a little off in terms of command. But he bore down when he had to, getting the light-hitting Angels to chase and taking advantage of the fact they burned all their challenges by the second inning. They didn't collect their first hit until the fourth, when Vaughn Grissom singled, but he was quickly erased on a double-play grounder from catcher Moisés Ballesteros. Lee and Bell peppered Johnson with a couple more singles in the fifth, resulting in another RBI for Bell and chasing Johnson from the game. Kremer found his rhythm as the outing progressed, still staying out of the middle of the zone but throwing a few more strikes. He managed eight strikeouts through six innings, with a lot of whiffs on his four-seamer, despite touching 94 MPH just once. The top of the sixth was very on brand for the Angels. With two outs, Emmanuel Rodríguez doubled off Jose Siri's glove. It was a play that would have been lauded as really nice had Siri made the catch, but in reality, he had plenty of time and barely had to jump. Regardless, Rodríguez deserved the break; he has really struggled lately. Ross singled him home, then tried to steal second. For some reason, Ross decided not to slide, which turned from a poor to a perfect choice when the ball scooted into center field. He coasted into third, then realized the Angels were picking up the ball with little urgency, turned on the jets, and scored. The valiant visitors would add on in the seventh. Lee and Bell produced their third hits of the game, both singles. Roden then pulverized a first-pitch slider from lefty Sammy Peralta for a three-run homer. It's notable that Roden looked overmatched against Peralta in the fifth, eventually grounding out weakly, which shows a good ability to adjust on the fly. Bailey Ober was brought out for the seventh, with the Twins juggling their starting rotation for the last week of the year. He hit 91 MPH and carved up the Angels lineup for the final three innings, allowing only a single (that was really a misplay by Ross at shortstop). Stuff I'm Tracking: I'm going to miss the old version of the Angels, who were always all-in on the current season but made terrible baseball ops decisions, had a terrible culture, and apparently didn't even utilize pitch-tracking data until they revamped their pitching department this August. You just knew trading with them was playing chess while (former owner) Arte Moreno insisted his club play checkers. I still wouldn't have traded Kaelen Culpepper (plus more, reportedly) for Zach Neto, though. Royce Lewis looks cooked. No idea what the plan is for him next year. He did loop in a meaningless single in the seventh after striking out swinging his first three at-bats. Roden quietly has a .278/.349/.375 slash despite inconsistent playing time, this being his first game since August 26. You do root for a guy like him who hasn't done anything wrong; he's just been a victim of poor roster construction with all the left-handed outfielders on this team who need at-bats. Rodríguez is in the meat grinder, constantly behind in counts, and when he swings early, it's in play and an easy out. He did break an 0-17 with the double off Siri's glove in center. Is there a better pitcher in the league with a big lead than Ober? When he doesn't have to be perfect (and when he doesn't have to pace himself toward six innings), he looks great. What’s Next: The Twins head to San Francisco to take on the floundering Giants. Ober was the scheduled starter, but with him pitching in relief, it may be Zebby Matthews taking the turn. Whoever it is will face Landen Roupp (9-14, 4.01 ERA), a solid but unspectacular righty who will be making his 30th start of the year. The Giants have been beset by injuries, and Luis Arraez is still second on the team in bWAR even though he was traded at the deadline. Crazy how a team that thought of itself as a contender is this bereft of talent, despite Rafael Devers quietly having his best overall year. (He's out for the rest of the year with a core muscle injury, leaving the Giants' own core rather damaged.) Postgame Interviews: Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Gomez 24 18 0 24 0 66 Minter 22 14 0 8 0 44 Adams 34 0 10 0 0 44 Hoffman 16 5 0 19 0 40 Nance 14 0 23 0 0 37 Morris 0 13 0 15 0 28 Rogers 0 0 0 26 0 26 Funderburk 4 1 0 2 0 7

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (84 Pitches, 51 Strikes, 60.7%) Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (13) Bottom 3 WPA: Ryan (-0.23), Ryan Jeffers (-0.09), Brooks Lee (-0.09) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): The Twins are playing out the string here, in their fifth consecutive series against an AL Central opponent. They already lost three and needed a win Sunday to avoid dropping a fourth—an uninspiring response to a last chance to save your season. The lineup is a little thin, the rotation banged up, and the bullpen over-leveraged. Speaking of that banged-up rotation, Joe Ryan made his second start since returning from the IL—and immediately allowed a home run to Steven Kwan. The diminutive Kwan is a master of the ambush, but that was still a discouraging start to the day. The fastball he hit out was clocked at 92.5 MPH. Two more runners reached base in the first frame, and three more got on in the second as Ryan struggled with his command. He was able to bear down and get weak contact when he needed it. He seemed to be throwing a little of everything, just to get a sense of what he had working with his fastball—which didn't seem to be much. That bit him in the third, when Ryan tried to sneak a fastball by Jo Adell, who was ready and clobbered a middle-in fastball (again under 93 MPH) 450 feet to the third deck in left field. Meanwhile, Tanner Bibee took the mound for the Guardians and looked in control, despite some recent struggles and tepid run support from his offense. His north-south approach didn’t result in a hit for the Twins until the third inning, when Luke Keaschall grounded a ball to the hole at shortstop that Brayan Rocchio couldn't quite make the highlight-level play on. Kody Clemens followed with a double the opposite way to score the Twins first run. These are the Guardians, though, so naturally, they responded right away. Rocchio was hit by a slider at his feet with one out; Kwan doubled him home; and Travis Bazzana singled home Kwan. The pitch to Kwan was a hanging slider. The pitch to Bazzana was a fastball not elevated nearly enough, at 94 MPH. That was the end for Ryan, after 84 stressful pitches. Travis Adams came on in relief for the fifth inning and allowed a single to Nathaniel Lowe, before a double to Angel Martinez. He recovered to induce a pop-up from Angel Genao, before Patrick Bailey lined a ball right to Brooks Lee at third. Lee converted it into an easy double play. It looked like Adams might escape another jam in the sixth, after he began the inning by allowing a single to Rocchio and walking Kwan. He got Chase DeLauter to ground into an easy double play, but then hung a slider on the inner half to Bazzana, who unloaded for a two-run home run to right-center field. Suddenly, it was 6-1 Guardians. Trevor Larnach did smoke a home run in the seventh on a high, inside fastball from Bibee, but the Twins were unable to threaten any additional damage. Taylor Rogers and Tommy Nance combined to allow three more runs in the ninth, as if the Guardians would have any need for such insurance. Stuff I’m Tracking: You wonder what the plan is for Ryan the rest of the year. If he keeps getting knocked around, his trade value will continue to plummet. Maybe that's okay; it justifies keeping him around. He’ll probably have another good first half in his free-agent year. The Twins could then flip him, if they can convince another team to ignore his track record of performance after the All-Star break. Walker Jenkins has one hit in 34 plate appearances since collecting his first home run off a position player. I like the way Emmanuel Rodriguez takes pitches. He seems to have an understanding of what pitchers are trying to do to him, but it will be interesting to see if he makes enough contact for any of that plate discipline to matter. Rocchio is such a fascinating player. He makes plays at shortstop that defy belief, and accumulates clutch hits at a rate that makes you question how somebody with so much talent has never sniffed a .700 OPS. He also makes boneheaded plays at confounding moments that drive Guardians fans crazy—although him screening Keaschall making the turn at second base on Friday worked to his advantage for some reason. Is he the LaMelo Ball of baseball? Two of the most impactful bats in the Twins lineup are Clemens and Lee, and neither has an OBP north of .300. That will have to improve as both hitters are closer to Rougned Odor than Andre Dawson in terms of the low-OBP, high-SLG archetype of hitter. Royce Lewis exited the game with a shoulder injury, and you wonder if that's it for him this year. He stayed healthy for the most part, but overall, he put up a .690 OPS. He had just one month with an above-average OPS (.841 in June). This will be the third offseason in a row where we'll be hoping for a bounce back, with little evidence to believe it can actually happen. What’s Next: The Twins welcome the Yankees to Target Field for a three-game series, beginning with Will Warren (10-6, 4.05 ERA) taking on Bailey Ober (7-5, 4.28 ERA). These Yankees are much more about their pitching than their offense, with Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole and the triumphant return of Carlos Rodón (not to mention the steady work of Warren and Ryan Weathers). I still hate the way their lineup is built and cannot wait to see them fold again in the playoffs. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 42 0 0 0 36 78 Nance 24 0 24 0 21 69 Funderburk 22 0 15 22 0 59 Rogers 16 0 0 0 22 38 Minter 0 0 17 16 0 33 Hoffman 0 0 10 16 0 26 Gomez 0 0 21 0 0 21 Morris 0 0 0 17 0 17

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 4 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (84 Pitches, 50 Strikes, 59.5%) Home Runs: Brooks Lee (23) Bottom 3 WPA: Andrew Morris (-0.14), Josh Bell (-0.08), Kody Clemens (-0.08) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): Here we are again, with the Twins somehow still playing for their playoff lives despite not being able to sustain any level of consistent success. They turned to Bailey Ober Sunday night with the division-leading White Sox relying on a bullpen game. Ober was in trouble immediately, allowing a leadoff double to Sam Antonocci. But he bore down, striking out the dangerous Miguel Vargas before retiring Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi to end the threat. The second inning began with a strikeout to Colson Montgomery, but he would reach on a wild pitch. Braden Montgomery walked, then Ober went to work. He got Tristan Peters on a groundout, then got ahead of Chase Meidroth before getting five consecutive whiffs (one was a foul tip, to be fair) to pitch out of his second jam. The Twins, meanwhile, were flailing away at opener Bryan Hudson’s Ober impression (He stands 6’8” with minimal velocity). Hudson faced the minimum through 1 ⅔ innings, then gave way to hard-throwing Jordan Hicks, who struck out three of the four hitters he faced. The Sox got two men on in the third, but again, Ober pitched his best when he needed to, striking out Colson Montgomery on a nasty slider below the zone, moving his total number of stranded runners to five, with the White Sox 0-7 with runners in scoring position. Sox lefty Hagen Smith took over for the fourth and was nails, striking out four in three perfect innings. He doesn’t throw that hard but has some great ride on his fastball at the top of the zone- you can see why the Sox called him up for the stretch run. After an uneventful fourth, Ober allowed a second leadoff double to Antonocci in the fifth. This time, Murakami was able to scald a single into right field for the game’s first run, chasing Ober from the game. Kody Funderburk came on and quelled the threat. He would not be so fortunate in the sixth. Peters, who has killed the Twins, delivered a left-on-left double down the line, prompting Derek Shelton to insert Andrew Morris. Morris walked Meidroth before retiring Teel on a grounder. But Antonocci grounded a ball through the drawn-in infield to score two. He would be credited with his third double, as the ball deflected slowly into center field. The Twins put Murakami on, and lefty-masher Randal Grichuk (who had pinch-hit for Benintendi earlier against Funderburk) managed to rope a single into left field to extend the lead to four. Brooks Lee did deliver a long home run in the seventh off occasional closer Grant Taylor. Jeffers then walked, but the Twins wouldn’t be able to add any more traffic. The White Sox had no such issues against Taylor Rogers. They loaded the bases on a single, hit-by-pitch and a walk, then Shelton went to Garrett Acton to clean up the mess. He did not, walking Vargas on four pitches to force in the fifth Sox run. Acton has decent stuff, but he had no answers for the Sox lineup in the eighth. He allowed a leadoff homer to Grichuk (who went 2-2 with said homer and a walk), then walked both Montgomeries before Peters hit a ground-rule double to truly ice the game. Kyle Teel would later hit a three-run home run, in case anyone had any doubts. Stuff I’m Tracking: Ober’s evolution into the second coming of Paul Byrd is going pretty good. His ability to command the baseball is well known, but being able to frustrate hitters by never throwing what the batter expects is the next level. Pitching against the American League’s best offense in a hitter’s park, I’ll take his performance today. Walker Jenkins sure has a lot more swing-and-miss in his game than anticipated. It probably is too soon to bench him, but it sure would be nice if he could make some good contact ahead in the count. Morris should be a big part of the bullpen next year. This year, he’s cooked, mentally. Eric Hosmer gets to work national TV broadcasts now? I was under the impression that nobody liked him after he wore out his welcome in San Diego. What’s Next: The Twins head to Detroit for a three-game series with the Tigers. The Twins have not announced a starter, but it would figure to be Connor Prielipp’s turn—although his last start followed an opener with good success. They will have a rematch against the de facto ace of the Tigers, Troy Melton (7-4, 2.20 ERA), who they punished last week for five runs, including two home runs. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Funderburk 29 0 0 11 15 55 Nance 33 0 0 0 20 53 Acton 0 0 18 0 31 49 Gomez 15 0 0 7 20 42 Rogers 7 0 19 0 15 41 Minter 17 0 0 18 0 35 Hoffman 12 0 0 17 0 29 Morris 0 0 0 0 23 23 Adams 3 0 0 0 0 3

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews: 8 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (103 Pitches, 67 Strikes, 65%) Home Runs: Luke Keaschall (9) Bottom 3 WPA: Matthews (0.27), Josh Bell (0.16), Trevor Larnach (0.13) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): It's been strange watching this Twins team run out of gas, even while looking pretty interesting for next year and beyond. Luke Keaschall, Trevor Larnach, Kody Clemens and Brooks Lee have all looked pretty good, despite the offense going in the tank in the second half. Add in that Kaelen Culpepper and Walker Jenkins have impressed offensively in their limited action thus far, with Vahn Lackey and Marek Houston on the way. You can see the makings of a decent rotation with better injury luck, and the bullpen, on paper, should be fairly solid. But August has shown that assembling talent isn't everything. The Twins have scored when they don't pitch well and have pitched well when they can't score. Today, they bucked that trend, as Zebby Matthews looked great. Matthews stayed out of the heart of the zone for the most part, and his misses were competitive. As he showed in his last start when he induced 23 whiffs, Matthews has learned how to miss bats enough to at least keep hitters somewhat honest. White Sox hitters seemed caught between trying to ambush Matthews and trying to work counts. When they swung early in the count, the best Chicago could do was hit medium-deep fly balls, and you could see them press a little as Matthews settled in. The White Sox have had some starting pitching injuries and today relied on a bullpen game, with Jordan Hicks and his 100-MPH sinker getting the first inning. He started by walking Keaschall. Lee followed with a grounder back to Hicks, who threw to second to retire Keaschall, but Colson Montgomery's relay was terrible, allowing Lee to reach. Clemens then struck out, but Ryan Jeffers walked and Josh Bell singled home Lee. That prompted manager Will Venable to go to lefty Tyler Gilbert to face Larnach, who doubled sharply down the right-field line to score both runners. The second inning began with a solid single from Culpepper. Jenkins got a pitch to hit and lined it directly to Munetaka Murekami at first base, who stepped on first for the double play, ending the rally before it began. The third began with a Lee single, but he, too, was erased on a double play. Jeffers doubled off the wall in right-center, and Bell singled him home to extend the lead to four. Still perfect through four innings, Matthews kept throwing strikes and gave up some hard contact. Jenkins got his first real test in center, as he made a jumping catch at the wall to rob Andrew Benintendi of an extra-base hit. The sixth began with a dribbler off the bat of Tristan Peters, and though Matthews bobbled it, he recovered in time to retire the speedy outfielder. He would get to 5 2/3 innings perfect before allowing a 3-2 single to .142-hitting Drew Romo. Sam Antonocci followed with an excuse-me double, but Matthews bore down to retire Murakami on a fly out to end the frame. The sixth and seventh innings have been cursed for the Twins in August, but not only did Matthews escape the sixth, he also pitched an uneventful 1-2-3 seventh with his pitch count at 80. He allowed a Peters single in the eighth but worked around it, pitching to the bottom of the Sox lineup. Matthews got the nod to start the ninth, too. Despite getting ahead of Antonacci, he eventually allowed a sharp single up the middle to begin the frame. He retired Murakami for the fourth time, but Miguel Vargas laced a single to left to spell the end of the road for the Twins starter. Jeff Hoffman came on to face Benintendi and Brayden Montgomery. He got the former but lost the latter to an RBI single to break up the shutout. The other Montgomery (Colson) then popped out to end the game. Stuff I'm Tracking: Matthews was great today, but do you know who looked great at this time last year? Simeon Woods Richardson. Matthews needs to stack up these performances if he's going to be a long-term fixture in the Twins' rotation. His August has been a good start: five starts, all wins for the team, 31 IP with a 2.90 ERA. Jenkins looks really comfortable, despite not getting many good results thus far. Are we thinking Culpepper moves to third when Houston arrives? Or is the team concerned with jerking around Lee (note: they shouldn't be)? Culpepper has a great arm, but his instincts at shortstop make me a little nauseous. Then again, with less time to think, maybe Culpepper makes a great third baseman and Lee (theoretically) would make a great second baseman. The question, then, is what to do with Royce Lewis and Kody Clemens, but whatever they decide, it's a lot better than the Jose Miranda-Lee-Keaschall-Ty France thing we had going at points last year. Or anything involving Tristan Gray this year. Jeffers looks really slow running to first these days. Despite today's double, he hasn't hit much lately. I wonder if he's nursing some soft-tissue injury that catchers are legally required to play through lest they get labeled as something short of "the ultimate competitor." What’s Next: The Twins welcome the Detroit Tigers to Target Field with Taj Bradley (9-6, 3.97 ERA) taking on Jackson Jobe (1-1, 3.93 ERA). Jobe is back in the majors after a lengthy absence due to Tommy John surgery and his velocity has been good, averaging 97 MPH on his fastball. Bradley hasn't had many blow-ups outside of a rough appearance in the Field of Dreams game, but hasn't been as dominant as he was in April and July. If the team has any designs on a 2007 Rockies/2024 Tigers/2025 Guardians type run, Bradley will have to pitch his best. Postgame Interviews: Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THUR FRI SAT SUN TOT Morris 16 0 0 27 0 43 Rogers 0 0 38 0 0 38 Funderburk 18 0 18 0 0 36 Adams 0 0 26 0 0 26 Gomez 0 0 0 25 0 25 Minter 0 0 0 20 0 20 Hoffman 6 0 0 0 13 19 Nance 0 0 0 0 0 0

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (87 Pitches, 54 Strikes, 62%) Home Runs: Brooks Lee (20) Bottom 3 WPA: Jeff Hoffman (-0.32), Josh Bell (-0.09), Victor Caratini (-0.07) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): Last week, I described Sunday's loss to the Phillies, in which the team biffed a 5-0 lead to get swept at home, as the nail in the coffin of the season. What I did not take into account was that the American League is truly garbage, and that the Atlanta Braves would play like garbage. The Twins vaulted into the last Wild Card slot with the sweep of Atlanta—then proceeded to drop the first two against San Diego. The Padres are a good, serious team with talent throughout their roster. They are also opportunistic, as they showed in rallying from three runs down late in Saturday's game. To salvage a game from the series, the Twins turned to Bailey Ober on the mound, with San Diego countering with Walker Buehler. This wasn't vintage Buehler, but he has been healthy enough to make all his starts for the Padres. His ERA remains high and his under-the-hood numbers aren't great. He allowed a leadoff single to Luke Keaschall to start his afternoon. But a hobbled Byron Buxton grounded into a double play, and Buehler went on to face the minimum through three innings while consistently staying underneath the Twins' bats. Ober looked good early, generating some whiffs on his changeup and slider while staying out of the middle of the zone. The only hard contact was off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr., who looks unconscious right now. He lined out to lead off the bottom of the first at 115 MPH. Ober worked around a couple of walks to cruise into the third, when Tatis got him for a solo home run that was 10 MPH less firm off the bat than his earlier lineout. It was a hanging slider, and Tatis is not missing that pitch right now. Buxton managed a bloop hit in the top of the fourth, but did not entertain the thought of stretching it into a double, something even a healthy-ish Buxton could have managed easily. He then chose not to run on a 3-2 pitch to Josh Bell, causing an inning-ending double play with Buehler clearly chasing grounders. With Buehler cruising, it looked like it might be another slow death for the Twins lineup. He got the first two outs of the fifth inning, but Brooks Lee worked a 10-pitch at-bat that culminated with a laser to right field: a home run that tied the game and rattled the previously unshakeable Buehler. You saw Ober take a deep breath after retiring Luis Rengifo in the bottom of the fifth. Tatis fell behind in the count, but worked back to 3-2 before lining a single at 109 MPH. At that point, I thought to myself, nice. Getting past Tatis without putting him immediately into scoring position or letting him leave the yard felt like a win. But Jake Cronenworth popped a ball up to no-man's land. Lee should have had it, but got turned around, and it fell between him and Alan Roden, putting two on for Manny Machado. Ober bore down and struck him out on a 74-MPH sweeper and got Ty France to fly out to end the threat. The escape didn't come as easily as it should have, but Ober still finagled it. Kody Funderburk came on for the sixth, hwoever, and didn't have good control. He did induce a weak grounder off the bat of Jackson Merrill, but Kaelen Culpepper booted it. The Twins seemed to get a reprieve when Merrill was picked off leaving early, but Funderburk then walked Luis Campusano and Austin Hays before giving way to Jeff Hoffman. Hoffman, in turn, walked Xander Bogaerts, which brought the infield in. Rengifo then rifled a ball down the first-base line, just past a diving Royce Lewis, scoring two runs. That brought up Tatis, and if ever there was a time to walk a guy with a base open, this was the time. But Hoffman is probably considered a good matchup against Tatis, given his elite slider. Tatis laced a slider into center field, scoring two more and putting the Padres squarely in the driver's seat. Anybody who has ever watched Tatis during a hot streak (or Barry Bonds, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge etc.) knows that it's one thing to be a good matchup for a guy, and another to be a good matchup for that guy when he's this hot. Basketball teams know that when Steph Curry has hit five straight threes, you need to double him or get the ball out of his hands somehow, but in baseball we just have to watch our teams get bludgeoned and say, hey, it was the right call analytically. The Padres added on against Travis Adams in the seventh, with Merrill homering to deep right and Bogaerts doubling past the glove of Culpepper to bring in Hays, who had drawn the seventh walk of the game for San Diego. Furthering my point from earlier, Tatis homered off Taylor Rogers in the eighth. The hottest player in baseball with the platoon advantage against a veteran lefty playing out the string of his career? I would have been more surprised if he hadn't homered. He went 9-14 in this series, with more homers than strikeouts. Stuff I'm Tracking: I wonder if Buxton is consciously avoiding going full speed, with the thought that his swing is getting closer. That is quite a gamble, since a) he remains in a prolonged slump results-wise b) the Twins need his speed and defense and c) Walker Jenkins is homering every other at-bat for the Saints, or so it seems. Ober looked good and probably could have gone six or seven innings, if not for Tatis's heroics. He nibbled, but his control was so good he could afford to, and the Padres made tons of weak contact against him as a result. Hoffman looks out of whack and seems to be emphasizing his slider more. It's a great pitch, but even a great pitch isn't great when it's predictable. Culpepper made two rough misplays at shortstop. After his error in the sixth, he allowed a ball to skip by him in the seventh, leading to the seventh run for San Diego. What’s Next: The Twins head to Sacramento to take on the floundering A's. Zebby Matthews (7-8, 5.12 ERA) opposes Gage Jump (5-8, 4.83 ERA). Jump is a lefty, which tends to spell doom for the Twins' run-scoring prospects, but they are playing in Sacramento, one of the more lopsided parks in terms of favorability to hitters. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THUR FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 0 0 17 0 34 51 Nance 16 0 0 27 0 43 Hoffman 20 0 0 0 17 37 Funderburk 17 0 0 0 17 34 Rogers 0 0 11 0 15 26 Morris 0 0 0 19 0 19 Minter 10 0 0 8 0 18 Gomez 13 0 0 0 0 13

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Dean Kremer 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K (89 Pitches, 52 Strikes, 58.4%) Home Runs: Brooks Lee (18), Kody Clemens (21) Bottom 3 WPA: Andrew Morris (-0.58), Byron Buxton (-0.19), Ryan Jeffers (-0.11) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): For the eighth or ninth time, the Twins' season is on life support. After creeping above .500 with a win in Seattle, the team has gone 4-9, which hasn't impacted their place in the standings as much as it should, but has made winning 82-84 games a lot trickier. Perhaps no team out of the Twins, Detroit, Texas, Cleveland or Toronto ends up with a .500 record, but betting on that seems a risky proposition as non-contending teams start to phone in the rest of the season. The Phillies dominated the first two games of the series, despite not starting Zack Wheeler or Cristopher Sánchez. The weakness of the team is their reliance on the struggling Aaron Nola (who shoved in the Field of Dreams game) and Sunday's starter, Andrew Painter, both with ERAs well north of 5.00. It appeared that Painter might wriggle out of trouble in the first inning. He walked Trevor Larnach on four pitches, then fell behind Byron Buxton, but he induced a double-play grounder from the highly compromised Buxton. Fortunately, Josh Bell and Kody Clemens singled and Royce Lewis walked, bringing up Brooks Lee with the bases juiced. He nearly homered on a sweeper but was a hair out front. He then got a harder slider on 1-2 and smashed it into the right-field overhang for a grand slam. Dean Kremer started for the Twins, and his afternoon started with Kyle Schwarber launching a 3-1 fastball off the wall in right-center field for a double. But Kremer settled in (despite falling behind a lot of hitters early), retiring Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper on weak flyouts before Luis Arraez lined out to Clemens at second base for the third out. Kremer mixed his pitches well, giving roughly equal time to each of his five pitches while staying out of the middle of the zone. He got through the first four innings with 56 pitches, four strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Perhaps jealous of Lee (they tend to homer in the same games for some reason), Clemens homered in the third, a no-doubter to the pavilion in right field off a fat fastball from Painter. He has hit .106 since his historic game-winning grand slam against Kansas City, so it was good to see him square up the ball and get rewarded. The Phillies staged a rally in the sixth. Schwarber led off with a walk. Stott singled, and Harper drew another walk. Arraez dribbled a ball to second to score the Phillies' first run, but Clemens did convert the first out of the inning. Alas, Alec Bohm then tomahawked a splitter at the top of the zone for a three-run homer to trim the Twins' lead to one. That spelled the end of the day for Kremer, with Kody Funderburk coming on to record the final two outs of the inning. The teams traded zeroes for a spell, but with Andrew Morris on the bump in the eighth, the Phillies got to work. With one out, Harper singled. Arraez laced a ball to deep left that bounced off of Austin Martin's glove. A fan touched the ball, so it was ruled a ground-rule double, but Martin appeared to hurt himself on the play and had to leave the game with what the team called a left hamstring strain. Bohm then blooped a ball to shallow right field. It landed between Lewis and Keaschall, allowing Harper to tie the game. The Twins elected to walk Brandon Marsh to bring up the struggling J.T. Realmuto with the bases loaded; the game (and perhaps the season) on the line. Morris got him to pop up on a 3-2 pitch, but Bryan De La Cruz slapped a single the opposite way to score two runs. The Twins had the tying run on in their half of the eighth, and Brooks Lee served a ball up the middle that Stott made a diving stop on. He flipped to second, where Lewis was possibly safe, but he overran the bag and was tagged out trying to scamper back, a crucial baserunning blunder with the hot-hitting Keaschall due up next. Facing dear old friend Jhoan Duran in the ninth, Caratini drew a one-out walk, and Kaelen Culpepper worked a great at-bat before singling on the ninth pitch to bring up Ryan Jeffers. Jeffers struck out after being ahead 3-0, and Buxton predictably struck out to end the game. He's just not himself right now. Stuff I'm Tracking: Buxton looks rough, grounding into a rare (for him) double play despite being ahead in the count in the first; striking out on a ball at his eyes in the third; and swinging through a slider with runners on the corners in the fourth. He would later ground out weakly before his game-ending K in the ninth. The Twins couldn't get Painter included in the Jhoan Duran trade last year, opting for Mick Abel instead. Of course, Abel is hurt, but Painter looks more like a bullpen weapon at this point of his career, as he has allowed an .835 OPS against in his big-league career thus far. Victor Caratini has become a problem. His at-bats are non-competitive and he wasted both ABS challenges in the sixth in this one. Alex Jackson is now on the waiver wire, and I feel like he would be more productive as the backup catcher at this point. But Jackson has less of a track record, and the Twins owe Caratini $7 million next year with Jeffers (presumably) signing elsewhere. I sure hope Vahn Lackey develops quickly. What’s Next: The Twins welcome the Atlanta Braves to Target Field for a three-game set. Bailey Ober (7-4, 4.64 ERA) opposes Martín Pérez (8-6, 2.96 ERA) in a must-win series against a formidable National League opponent. Pérez hasn't allowed a run since July, as he continues to oscillate between being a borderline All-Star and being out of the league. Ober has animorphed into Chris Young, and we'll just have to continue seeing how that goes. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Morris 18 0 0 23 28 69 Adams 0 42 0 0 0 42 Hoffman 24 0 0 17 0 41 Minter 9 0 0 12 14 35 Rogers 0 10 0 0 16 26 Funderburk 0 0 0 16 4 20 Nance 0 16 0 0 0 16 Gomez 11 0 0 0 0 11

Box Score Starting Pitcher: Connor Prielipp: 5+ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (96 Pitches, 61 Strikes, 63.5%) Home Runs: Brooks Lee (17), Kody Clemens (20) Bottom 3 WPA: Austin Martin (-0.23), Royce Lewis (-0.22), Ryan Kreidler (-0.20) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): The Twins wasted a chance to take the series against the best-in-baseball Brewers on Saturday, as Milwaukee rallied to make today's game a rubber match. Unfortunately, the Twins would be tasked with beating the best pitcher in baseball, Jacob Misiorowski, who was as advertised. "The Miz" threw almost entirely fastballs the first time through the lineup, and the Twins couldn't catch up, as Misiorowski was able to locate at the top of the zone with 104 MPH cheese. The only Twins hitter to reach was Brooks Lee, who singled off Misiorowski's leg in the second. Meanwhile the Twins turned to Connor Prielipp for the unenviable task of beating the best team and the best pitcher. It started rough, as he fell behind Jackson Chourio 3-1 before throwing a fastball right where Chourio wanted it, as he took Prielipp opposite field for a leadoff home run, 387 feet. To Prielipp's credit, he really settled down after that. dotting his slider and fastball where Brewers hitters couldn't do damage, striking out seven through his first four innings, allowing just the one run. After looking helpless through the first four innings against Misiorowski, Lee got his (and the team's) second hit in the fifth, a solo home run 401 feet out to right field. Victor Caratini somehow ended his long 0-fer with a single but the Twins were unable to score him from second base. His pitch count in the mid 70's, Prielipp was not as crisp in the fifth, allowing an opposite field home run to Jake Bauers to lead off the inning. It was a sinker that caught too much of the plate, and Prielipp knew it immediately. He also allowed a fat sinker to Gary Sanchez for a double, and then with two outs, threw a middle-middle slider to the light -hitting David Hamilton on an 0-2 pitch, which Hamilton rocketed to the gap in right center field, scoring Sanchez to extend the lead to two. Misiorowski emphasized his breaking stuff much more the third time through the lineup, notably dotting two sliders on the black to start Royce Lewis 0-2 in the sixth. Lewis fought but ended up waving at a fastball at his eyes for his third strikeout of the game. It certainly looked like a shutdown inning for Misiorowski at that point, but Josh Bell drew a walk, and Kody Clemens got a mistake fastball low in the zone and smacked it out to the bullpen in right to tie the game. Somehow. Lee almost took Misiorowski deep a second time in the next at-bat, but Luis Lara made an incredible catch at the wall in right field to steal an extra-base hit and keep the game tied at three. Prielipp was allowed to start the sixth inning at 93 Pitches, which seemed a bit curious but he was facing a lefty in Turang. With the count 3-2 after Turang laid off some nasty sliders. The final pitch Prielipp threw was a slider called a ball that hit the zone with Caratini deciding not to challenge for some reason. Tommy Nance then came on and allowed a single to pinch hitter Garrett Mitchell. William Contreras then chopped to third and with Turang caught in no-man's land, Lee inexplicably decided to throw to first, allowing Turang and Mitchell to advance. Nance then got a pop-up from Bauers, and managed to strike out Lara to end the threat. The seventh began with Aaron Ashby relieving Misiorowski. The relief was palpable, as Luke Keaschall hit a ball to the hole at shortstop, where Turang was playing out of position after third baseman Andrew Vaughn was pinch-hit for in the sixth, prompting Hamilton to move to third and Turang to short. Turang skipped his throw and Bauers couldn't corral it, allowing Keaschall to reach second. Caratini then lined a ball down the line with some weird spin that caused Hamilton to boot it, putting runners on first and second with no one out. Austin Martin then pinch-hit and failed to get the bunt down, striking out on three pitches. Ryan Kreidler then struck out, as well, leaving the inning to Ryan Jeffers, hitting for Larnach. He drew a walk but Lewis struck out for the fourth time to leave the bases loaded. After A.J. Minter threw a scoreless seventh, the Twins went to work against righty Abner Uribe and his 99 MPH turbo sinker. With one out, Uribe walked Clemens, and then with Lee at the plate and Clemens running on a 3-2 pitch, Uribe got a comebacker and tried to get the force at second. The throw was late, and bad, and everyone was safe. Keaschall then chopped to short and somehow beat the double play relay, and Caratini walked to load the bases. Martin then bounced out to end the inning and potentially squander the Twins' chance to win the game. Minter stayed on to retire Mitchell to start the bottom of the eighth, then gave way to Andrew Morris, who walked Bauers but otherwise got the job done. After going down quickly against Trevor Megill in the ninth, Morris stayed on to face Sanchez, walking him on four pitches. That prompted Derek Shelton to turn to Kody Funderburk to face Jihwan Bae and Hamilton. Bae bunted pinch-runner Christian Yelich to second, Funderburk struck out Hamilton and intentionally walked Chourio to face Turang, a gambit that paid off in the seventh with Minter pitching. It worked again, as Funderburk got Turang swinging at a fastball on the outside corner to send the game to extras. The Twins looked like they would score the cherished two runs in the top of the tenth. With Lewis on second, Clemens seemed to get a hold of another one, launching a ball deep to right field. Lara lept and made perhaps a better catch than his grab in the fifth, preserving the tie for the second time. Lee then struck out to end the inning. Yoendrys Gomez got the first out by striking out William Contreras, but ahead 1-2 on Bauers, he threw a changeup on the outside corner, and Bauers served it into left field for a walk-off single. Stuff I'm Tracking: - Caratini threw out two runners, despite his well below average arm. He nabbed Turang in the fourth, and got Bauers trying to sneak into third in the second. The goal was definitely to run on Caratini, so credit goes to Prielipp for controlling the running game enough for Caratini's lobs to be in time. - Kaelen Culpepper had about as rough of a debut as one could have considering he homered on Friday. But having him as a right-handed bat is nice to have off the bench, with him, Martin and Jeffers available to pinch hit against a lefty in today's game. - Martin needs to practice his bunting if he's going to slug .310. Not sure about his place on this team- he's a low heartbeat guy playing a role that demands great situational awareness and grit. I could see the Twins cutting bait with him and he latches on with the Yankees and finally plays to his potential, similar to Aaron Hicks once upon a time. - It's crazy how Trevor Megill is closing games for the best team in baseball. I still remember the surly righty put into a long relief role with the Twins and trying to develop command of his breaking ball at the big league level. You can't argue with the results, as Megill has posted a 2.82 ERA and a 30.6% strikeout rate since joining Milwaukee. -Sal Frelick is hurt, and has a reputation as one of the best right fielders in baseball. They back him up with Lara, which must be nice. What’s Next: The Twins welcome the Baltimore Orioles to town for a three game set starting Monday. Dean Kremer (1-4, 5.93 ERA) throws against his former team and lefty Trevor Rogers (7-7, 4.20 ERA). Baltimore sold at the deadline despite having roughly the same playoff odds as the Twins, sending franchise catcher Adley Rustchman to the rival Red Sox and leadoff hitter Taylor Ward to the Mariners. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Funderburk 0 20 0 21 15 56 Hoffman 11 0 25 15 0 51 Nance 7 0 24 0 11 42 Morris 0 13 13 0 14 40 Gomez 0 18 12 0 9 39 Minter 12 0 3 0 16 31 Adams 0 0 0 15 0 15 Rogers 0 0 0 0 0 0