Hans Birkeland

for this bullpen yea

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (104 Pitches, 75 Pitches, 72.1%) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (29) Top 3 WPA: Ryan (.276), Buxton (.180), James Outman (.050) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): As their listless, depressing season enters its final month, the Twins have given a surprising amount of fight to the division-leading Blue Jays and (now) the recently NL West-leading Padres. And, in a sentence I haven't been writing much lately, the Twins had the advantage on paper, with Joe Ryan taking the mound at home against a Padres team without the IL-bound Xander Bogaerts, running a bullpen game. The Twins went quietly in the first two innings against right-handed reliever David Morgan, but the Padres turned to lefty Kyle Hart to start the third. Austin Martin drew a one-out walk (his OBP is up to .363, in case you weren't paying attention), and Byron Buxton pulverized a 2-2 change-up on the outside edge for his career-high 29th home run. Ryan looked back to his old self after a few uncharacteristically rough outings, relying mainly on his fastball but keeping hitters honest with his offspeed stuff. He ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth following an error by Royce Lewis that allowed leadoff batter Manny Machado to reach. Ryan O'Hearn followed with a single, and you started to wonder if history was repeating itself. But Ryan rebounded to strike out Ramón Laureano (who has 22 homers and a .900 OPS?) and Gavin Sheets, before getting Jake Cronenworth to pop out weakly to end the threat. The Twins even decided to add on! After working ahead of Luke Keaschall 0-2, Hart plunked the Twins second baseman. Ryan Jeffers then worked a tough one-out walk against stud reliever Jeremiah Estrada, before James Outman lined a single into the gap to extend the lead to 3-0. Ryan worked a nine-pitch fifth inning, setting the Twins up to feast against new reliever Wandy Peralta in the bottom of the frame. Peralta's first pitch was driven to the right-center gap by Buxton, and only a fine play by Fernando Tatis Jr. prevented it from becoming a triple. Keaschall singled to bring home Buxton, Kody Clemens produced a sacrifice fly, and Royce Lewis singled up the middle to take the lead to six. Ryan walked Machado in the sixth and allowed a two-out hit to Laureano to put runners on the corners for Sheets, but the resurgent former White Sox flied out harmlessly to left to end the inning. He hung a breaking ball to Cronenworth to begin the seventh, and Cronenworth advanced to second on a grounder. Ryan was upset at a couple of borderline ball calls to Freddy Fermin before striking him out on a high fastball at 96 MPH. He battled Tatis, and eventually struck him out on 96 down the middle to complete his seven scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin took over for the eighth and worked a clean inning, but began the ninth by allowing a single to Sheets, hit Mason McCoy with a pitch and fell behind 3-0 to José Iglesias. Tonkin battled back against Iglesias to induce a grounder to Lewis at third, who stepped on the bag and fired to first for a nice double play. Fermin then doubled in McCoy to break the shutout. Another run would score before Tonkin finally sealed the game via flyout by Arraez, on his 37th pitch. Stray Observations: -I feel like so much is made of Martin's poor defense at every position he plays that we forget what he actually contributes offensively. He had a few good moments last year and kept his head above water, with a 90 OPS+. His slash line for 2025 now sits at .271/.363/.371. For all those clamoring for Luis Arraez to return, the Padres' first baseman sports a .282/.316/.386 line, for comparison. Martin can contribute on the base paths, too. It would be a weird DH profile, but this figures to be a weird team no matter what happens this offseason. -Today's game was broadcast on Roku, who curiously pair one team's color commentator with the other team's play-by-play analyst. It's pretty interesting to have someone calling the game who is plugged into the inner workings of the opponent, and having Cory Provus diplomatically explain the Twins to an innocent bystander is a pretty fun watch. The Twins seem to play on Roku a lot. What’s Next: The Twins welcome the White Sox to town for four games beginning Monday. Bailey Ober (4-7, 5.14 ERA) starts for the home nine, while Chicago will scrounge up someone from the minors after losing would-be starter Aaron Civale on waivers earlier Sunday. First pitch is at 1:10 PM CT. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Abel 0 0 0 59 0 59 Tonkin 15 0 0 0 37 52 Kriske 0 0 0 44 0 44 Cabrera 11 0 0 31 0 42 Funderburk 18 0 23 0 0 41 Sands 17 0 17 0 0 34 Hatch 26 0 0 0 0 26 Topa 0 0 24 0 0 24 View full article

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Box Score Starting Pitcher: Taj Bradley: 5 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (88 pitches, 54 Strikes, 61.4%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Bradley (-.364), Luke Keaschall (-.035), Kody Clemens (-.033) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): It could have been an exciting weekend—almost as exciting as games could be, for a team that has gone in the tank. The Twins won a thriller on Friday, then had the debuts of Mick Abel and Taj Bradley to look forward to. Well, Abel got obliterated yesterday, and today, Bradley was even worse, at least at the start. He began by allowing a base hit to Mike Tauchman, followed by singles to Miguel Vargas and Kyle Teel, the latter scoring the game's first run. Eventually, Edgar Quero singled in two more, and there were no silver linings. Bradley couldn't locate his fastball and was hesitant to throw his splitter, which the White Sox hitters picked up on right away. His fastball has good velocity, but it's hittable, especially when the hitter knows it's coming. Bradley tried emphasizing his curveball a little more, but he missed the zone with it more times than not, and only got one swing and miss. Meanwhile, Twins hitters were up against Yoendrys Gomez, a journeyman swingman on his third team of the year. He looked good, though, sitting in the mid- to high 90s with a moving fastball. The Twins really had no answer for him, outside of a Trevor Larnach double in the first and an Austin Martin lineout in the fifth on which Luis Robert Jr. made a great diving play deep in the left-center gap. The bottom of the second inning began lineout-single-walk-single for Bradley, before the impressive rookie Colson Montgomery jumped all over a fastball on the inner half of the plate, making it a 7-0 game for what felt like the 13th game in a row. The third began with a single to Andrew Benintendi, but Bradley was bailed out with a double play off the bat of the next hitter, Chase Meidroth. He got out of that inning unscathed, and actually pitched a decent fourth inning, giving up fairly hard contact but retiring Tauchman, Vargas and Teel in order. His fastball started burning more edges, and he emphasized his secondary pitches early in counts, getting some weak contact and efficient outs. After throwing over 50 pitches in the first two innings, he finished the fifth at just 88 total. It's historically been hard to read a lot into a starting pitcher's performance against the White Sox, but they are getting a little more fun, with Teel, Quero, Vargas and Montgomery offering a legitimate glimmer of hope for the long-suffering Sox. They also seem to have rejuvenated Robert, who is hitting like a decent player again since the All-Star break. Bradley has historically struggled in the early innings, and he did legitimately look better as the game went on. But the hitters never made a dent against Gomez, drawing a couple of walks but otherwise playing into his hands. They worked counts at times, but in the few instances in which they actually made hard contact, the ball found Sox defenders' gloves. Gomez was done after a dribbler of a single from Byron Buxton in the fifth, finishing with four and two-thirds innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out six. Facing reliever (Brandon Eisert) in the sixth, Brooks Lee walked, and with two outs, Ryan Jeffers roped a double over the head of Tauchman in right field. Somehow, Lee barely made third base on the play. Is he really this slow? The metrics certainly think so, with a 16th-percentile sprint speed; it just doesn't seem like he's ever really sprinting. Even a slow runner should really score on a two-out double to the wall, though. Anyway, Royce Lewis struck out on three pitches to end the threat. Pierson Ohl finished the game with three solid innings, while a trio of Sox relievers kept the Twins lineup on silent mode. Stray Observations: -Pierson Ohl threw a couple more knuckleballs. I guess his search for a secondary pitch to complement his changeup has arrived at the gimmick stage. At least he understands the assignment for the stretch run with this team: do something interesting. -Luke Keaschall made two errors. One came on a relay throw that flew over Edouard Julien's head; the second was a booted ground ball. Hopefully, this is not the start of a trend. He did record a double and a walk to keep his OPS above .900. His fielding percentage is above that, too—for now. -Kody Clemens went 0-4, and although he has been a nice story, if he finishes the year with an OPS under .700, it becomes a little harder to justify handing him a roster spot for 2026. What’s Next: Joe Ryan (12-6, 2.77 ERA) takes on Max Scherzer (4-2, 3.60 ERA) as the Twins make their annual trek to Canada to take on the AL East-leading Blue Jays on Monday. Scherzer has been reborn into a serviceable starter once more at age 41, allowing just eight runs over his past five starts and going at least six innings in each turn. Ryan had one of his more regrettable starts last time out against the A's, and will be looking to bounce back against one of the best lineups in baseball. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Hatch 0 0 0 54 0 54 Topa 20 0 32 0 0 52 Ohl 0 0 0 0 46 46 Cabrera 20 0 17 0 0 37 Tonkin 0 32 0 0 0 32 Sands 17 0 14 0 0 31 Funderburk 7 0 21 0 0 28 Kriske 16 10 0 0 0 26 View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn- Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Thomas Hatch: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (81 Pitches, 46 Strikes, 56.8%) Home Runs: Royce Lewis (6), Byron Buxton (25), Brooks Lee (12) Top 3 WPA: Lee (.182), Buxton (.157), Lewis (.127) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): Well, things have certainly taken a turn over the past week. A week ago, the Twins were playing inspired baseball (relative to how much talent was left on the roster). Fast-forward to today, and the team had lost five of the past six games, while their charming ownership group decided to pull the team off the market and sell an undisclosed amount of equity in the franchise in exchange for paying off the Pohlad's substantial debt. Fans who were heartened that, at least, the Pohlads would no longer be in charge after this dismal season were left looking for new coping strategies. I'm sure that can't feel great for the players, either. Nobody wants to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates 2.0. They lost the first three games of a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, from whom they took a road series a week and a half ago. And if they could have lost four out of those three, they would have. Today, all the Twins had to throw at the Tigers was fungible waiver claim and swingman Thomas Hatch. Hatch has shown some gumption, to his credit, but his low-90s sinker-cutter combo can only survive for so long—or so it would seem. He looked good at the start, including an impressive strikeout of Barry Kerry Carpenter on a biting cutter, and catching Spencer Torkelson looking on a nice two-seamer to end the first. The second inning began with a walk and a single, before Javier Báez rapped into an easy double play and Trey Sweeney eventually flied out to end the threat. Royce Lewis hit his first home run at Target Field this year in the bottom of the inning, teeing off against old friend Chris Paddack, who is just trying to give the Tigers innings at this point. Paddack would work his way out of that inning, but in his Jekyll-and-Hyde season, he would prove to be the latter this afternoon. Hatch allowed a ringing double to Colt Keith in the third, and after Carpenter singled him home, one had thoughts that perhaps another jaunt through Detroit's order would not come without a lot of pain for the veteran journeyman. But Hatch wriggled out of it again, walking Torkelson but retiring Riley Greene and the hot-hitting Wenceel Pérez to end the frame. It proved to be Paddack who couldn't handle the Twins the second time through. Byron Buxton greeted him with a second-deck home run to left field, and Trevor Larnach scorched a double into the right-center field gap. Luke Keaschall got a bloop single and, after an out, Ryan Jeffers also contributed a jam-shot single. Lewis worked a long at-bat, coming back from 0-2 to draw a walk, loading the bases for Brooks Lee. Lee got ahead in the count 2-0 and then looked foolish drawing a sword against a Paddack cutter. Glen Perkins, on the broadcast, thought this indicated that Lee was cheating to the fastball. As is typical of Paddack, he was bullheaded and threw a four-seamer up and in on Lee that the shortstop demolished to the right-field overhang, giving the Twins their first grand slam of the year, and a 7-1 lead. Hatch seemed to appreciate the rest, and set down the Tigers quickly in the fourth. Buxton recorded his third hit in the Twins half of the inning, stole second, and scored on an attempted double play relay, giving the Twins ownership another reminder that they don't deserve his loyalty. Hatch worked an even quicker fifth inning, and has now looked pretty great in two of his three appearances for the Twins thus far. Paddack finished his outing with five and two-thirds innings and allowed eight earned runs. If Enrique Jimenez so much as makes the majors, getting him for two months of Paddack and Randy Dobnak's salary is a legitimately great value trade. Michael Tonkin and Cole Sands lived up to their new roles, striking out the side in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. The rest was cruise control. Stray Observations: -Lee has an outside shot at 20 homers this year after hitting his 12th today in 360 at-bats. His defensive miscues and sometimes lifeless at-bats have been pretty annoying, but contributing 15-18 home runs despite that would be one silver lining. Power was his biggest question mark as he rose through the minor leagues, and with his defense looking decent at shortstop, we might look back at his 2025 season as a harbinger for the kind of success that was once projected of him. -James Outman did a lot of swinging early in counts. His third time facing Paddack, he did launch a triple off the outstretched glove of Pérez in right. I don't think there is a more favorable matchup than a lefty facing Paddack for a third time when he isn't on his game. -Making his Twins debut was Génesis Cabrera, once a top prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals, who has bounced around since then with control issues capping his upside. The lefty reliever hit 97 MPH and recorded a 1-2-3 eighth inning. What’s Next: The Twins welcome the Sacramento A's to Target Field beginning Tuesday, with Joe Ryan (12-5, 2.75 ERA) taking on Jacob Lopez (6-6, 3.30 ERA). The A's are one of the few teams behind the Twins in the American League standings, so this may become a battle of 2026 draft position. It is a pretty good pitching matchup, though, with Ryan having one of the better starting pitcher seasons in the Target Field era, and Lopez working his way into the rookie of the year mix, not allowing a single run over his past four starts while striking out 28. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Hatch 0 0 0 0 81 81 Ureña 0 0 76 0 0 76 Topa 26 0 0 27 0 53 Kriske 0 11 0 29 0 40 Tonkin 0 9 0 15 16 40 Sands 0 25 0 0 14 39 Ramírez 0 11 8 0 16 35 Funderburk 6 13 0 10 0 29 Cabrera 0 0 0 0 9 9 View full article

If I were to expand on this piece, I would delve into how expectations have historically not been good for this club. The Twins have always had their most success when they catch lightning in a bottle while also playing with house money. Correa is the antithesis of both of those (admittedly highly subjective) concepts. But you're right he can't be entirely to blame- he was enabled by the entire coaching staff and even the front office calling him an "assistant gm."

Its quite possible that's what got him there if my theory is correct. But it is just a theory. I also think Miranda getting hit in the head right out of the All-Star break in 2024 may have effected him more than was let on. Sad story either way.

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: José Ureña: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (73 Pitches, 36 Strikes, 49.3%) Home Runs: Ryan Fitzgerald (1), Luke Keaschall (2) Top 3 WPA: Michael Tonkin (.619), Keaschall (.429), Pierson Ohl (.224) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): Well, the team has been showing positive flashes lately, and it's definitely due to my own prognosis. Or, maybe it's just Luke Keaschall, who had (ahem) a pretty decent game. The Twins finished up the series against Kansas City today, going for a second straight series win against a team ahead of them in the AL Central standings. I was at Friday's game and witnessed more key RBI hits than occurred in all of 2024. Alas, yesterday, Noah Cameron shut them down, which was a reminder that they are still going to struggle against lefties in the absences of Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Willi Castro and Harrison Bader. It looked like they might be facing a huge early deficit with José Ureña on the mound. He allowed a leadoff walk to Mike Yastrzemski, followed by a sharp single to Maikel García. Fortunately, Vinnie Pasquantino then scorched a ball to Kody Clemens at first, who recorded the out and stepped on first for a crushing double play. Especially crushing because a walk and a single would follow. All in all, just the one run would score. The second inning looked even bleaker for the Twins and Ureña, who walked the first two hitters he saw. Kyle Isbel then bunted the runners over, bringing up the top of the lineup. Yastrzemski hit a sharp line drive... right to Luke Keaschall at second base. Ureña then fooled García with a weird, screwball-type pitch to set him down looking and end the inning. The Royals countered with a much more impressive arm, Ryan Bergert, whom they acquired from the Padres by trading away one of the heirs apparent to Salvador Perez, Freddy Fermin. Bergert has a couple of nice pitches, but stalled in the high minors before the Padres gave him a look in a swing role. He excelled in that capacity, with a 2.78 ERA over 35 innings, and shut down Boston over 5 2/3 innings in his Royals debut, allowing just two hits and two runs. Bergert made quick work of the Twins in the first two innings, showcasing an impressive changeup-slider combo, but committed the cardinal sin of walking Mickey Gasper to begin the third. That brought up Ryan Fitzgerald, still looking for his first big-league hit, and he capitalized, crushing a cement-mixer slider into the flower beds in right field for a two-run home run and giving the Twins the lead. Ureña was done after three innings, throwing a whopping 73 pitches and walking four batters. Any gambler knows to quit while you're ahead, and Ureña leaving with a lead was nothing short of a miracle. Kody Funderburk threw a scoreless fourth inning and gave way to Pierson Ohl in the fifth, who pitched 2 2/3 uneventful, scoreless innings of his own. It should be noted that the Royals were sitting Bobby Witt Jr., and without him, this offense is just a wannabe Whitey Herzog team: fast, contact-oriented, lousy. Meanwhile, Bergert was racking up strikeouts (eight in total) with exceptional command and efficiency. He had Twins hitters playing defense, working the edges with his fastball and then mixing in the changeup and slider to great effect. Keaschall and Jeffers, two of the better two-strike hitters on the team, were both fooled by changeups right down the middle for strikeouts. He would exit after 5 2/3 innings, and looks like a steal for Kansas City—without factoring in the other pitcher the Royals got in the Fermin deal, Stephen Kolek, who also figures to contribute at the back half of the rotation in the near future. Now the Twins got to a scenario we were all worried about: a slim lead in the late innings. Ohl began the seventh inning with two quick outs, and was relieved by Cole Sands. García singled, though, and Pasquantino then launched a two-strike curveball to flip the game. The Twins had an opportunity to answer back in the eighth. With one out, Austin Martin hit a sinking liner that scooted under the glove of left fielder John Rave and ended up as a triple. Kody Clemens hit a pop-up, not quite deep enough to score Martin, and things looked bleak. Fortunately, Jeffers was up next, and the hot-hitting catcher roped a single to left to tie the game against Royals relief ace Lucas Erceg. The ninth began innocently enough, with Justin Topa retiring Isbel and Yastrzemski on called strikes. The relentlessly troublesome García doubled, however, and Pasquantino was put on intentionally. Certainly, Perez was ready to punish them for such a decision—but he was hit by a pitch, bringing up Adam Frazier, who already had collected four hits to that point. Frazier was all over the next Topa sweeper, but lined out to deep right field. Crisis: averted. The Twins went down in six pitches in their half of the ninth, so it would be an extra-inning affair. The Twins called on Michael Tonkin, and he was effective, inducing a groundout that didn't advance the runner from Jonathan India, striking out Rave and working around a walk to pinch-hitter Nick Loftin by getting Isbel to pop out to end the inning. Gasper began the home 10th by drawing a 3-0 count. He tried to bunt on each of the next three pitches, and was unsuccessful each time. The Twins would also go scoreless, pushing the contest to 11 frames. That's fine, because Tonkin was made for extra innings, apparently. He would strike out Perez to end the top half of that inning scoreless, as well. He's been shelved most of the year by injuries, but when right, he's a rubber-armed multi-use reliever. In a sentence I didn't think I would ever utter, number two hitter Kody Clemens was walked to bring up number three hitter Ryan Jeffers to begin the bottom of the 11th. It started well, as Jeffers went ahead 3-0. Eventually, Jeffers would fly out, but Manfred Man Martin did not tag immediately, and was thrown out trying to advance to third. Things weren't looking good, with Martin walking off the field even though the Twins (unsuccessfully) challenged the call. Never fear; Luke Keaschall hits fourth now. He launched a Carlos Estévez fastball over the big wall in right-center field for a walk-off home run. This team has juice, if nothing else, and there truly may be nothing else. Stray Observations: -This was Mickey Gasper's first game starting behind the plate, and the first time anyone besides Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vázquez has started there since 2022. Needless to say, Gasper does not possess much of a throwing arm, allowing two early steals. He didn't miss any balls and his framing looked decent, however. -In the eighth, following Jeffers's tying hit, Royce Lewis (out of the lineup to begin the day) was in the on-deck circle. However, the batter at the time, Keaschall, popped out to end the inning. The next inning, Edouard Julien got the at-bat instead. I suppose it makes sense, as you would prefer Julien to begin an inning and Lewis to finish one, but with Julien struggling, it was eyebrow-raising, especially once Lewis was used as a pinch-runner for Brooks Lee in the 10th. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (3-3, 5.17 ERA) takes on Will Warren (6-5, 4.44 ERA) as the Twins take their yearly sojourn to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have had some of the same issues as the Twins these past few years (put pressure on the other team? Nah, look how optimized my swing is), but thanks to Aaron Judge in the regular season and Giancarlo Stanton in the playoffs, their results have looked a bit better. Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Ohl 61 0 0 0 36 97 Tonkin 0 0 0 18 38 56 Hatch 54 0 0 0 0 54 Kriske 14 0 17 0 17 48 Adams 0 0 43 0 0 43 Topa 0 0 0 15 20 35 Ramírez 0 0 0 21 0 21 Funderburk 12 0 0 0 9 21 Sands 0 0 9 0 9 18 View full article

Image courtesy of © Ken Blaze-Imagn Images My first reaction to last Thursday was denial. Surely there were other prospects thrown into the Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart trades. Then came anger—because there weren’t. I even wrote a screed blasting the whole thing as a conspiracy to sell the team to a private equity conglomerate of ghouls who’d move the franchise to Nashville. Thankfully, the good editors at Twins Daily politely declined to publish it. Then came coping: “If Pablo López comes back and Connor Prielipp shoves out of the bullpen, we’re really only seven games back of the Wild Card…” Nope. That was bargaining. Any series in Cleveland is depressing, but this one gave me some clarity—or at least enough to revisit my own theory: this team has been maddeningly inconsistent because it’s full of J.D. Drews. Drew was a tinkerer. Talented, but not exactly a spark plug. That, to me, has been the Twins' hitting identity for a while now. We didn’t expect this offense to be dominant coming into the year—not even with Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Matt Wallner, Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, Willi Castro, Ryan Jeffers, and more waiting in the wings. We figured that if the team succeeded, it’d be on the back of the pitching staff. Other fanbases might look at that same group and see a potentially strong lineup. We knew better. We knew the lineup would be less than the sum of its parts—and I’d argue that’s been a defining feature of the Correa era. I’m not saying the team will be better now that he’s gone, but I do think the offense might be. Correa was never the type to just roll out of bed and go 3-for-4. He needed the right conditions: good health, a hitting coach he vibed with, a long ramp-up period, warm weather, and some BABIP luck. Like J.D. Drew, he’d be great on a team where he wasn’t the guy. But as the centerpiece? It doesn’t work. And you don’t really want younger players modeling themselves after that. How many times have we heard guys like Brooks Lee, Wallner, and Jeffers say their swing “sucks,” or that they’re making some minor tweak, or trying a different bat? That’s the culture Correa brought in, intentionally or not. During his peak in Houston, Correa wasn’t the alpha. The tone-setters were José Altuve and Yuli Gurriel—guys who saw the ball, hit the ball, and adjusted on the fly. Correa complemented that. After pitchers were worn down by Altuve and Gurriel slapping hits on balls a foot outside the zone, Correa would punish the mistake. He often did his best work lower in the lineup. It’s like a golfer who plays "golf swing" instead of playing golf. A team can survive having one or two of those guys. Some teams have so many resources that they can field a whole lineup of swing technicians and still win—like the Yankees. But even they caught backlash in 2024 for leaning too hard into metrics, swing mechanics, and defensive WAR, instead of just… playing the game. They were even exposed in a minor scandal for rewarding minor leaguers based on batted-ball data instead of actual results. That’s not inherently a bad thing. If you have a lineup full of guys who smash the ball, great. I get that. There’s just a spectrum here. On one end, you’ve got the Yankees and Correa. On the other, you’ve got guys like Doug Mientkiewicz preaching baseball instincts. You can’t skew too far in either direction. Can we at least agree on that? Too many Twins hitters are playing against themselves, focused on process while smart teams are focused on results. Anecdotally, I think Austin Martin and José Miranda have been hurt by this philosophy. Miranda in particular was Correa’s protégé. Their natural strengths—reacting and putting the ball in play—got pushed aside in favor of swing optimization and decision trees. Which is why I’m okay with Correa leaving. It already feels like the hitters are freed up. Martin got caught stealing third the other night, and yeah—it looked bad. But the team was ahead, and he was trying to force the issue. (Maybe just don’t run on Jake Rogers next time.) On Sunday, Kody Clemens dropped down a bunt to drive in the winning run. Not because bunting is part of his offensive profile or the numbers said to do it, but because he recognized the moment. That’s playing the game. And wouldn’t you know it—the team’s leader again is Byron Buxton, the ultimate see-ball-hit-ball guy. I like the idea of Emmanuel Rodríguez and Walker Jenkins coming up and learning from him. If they need to make technical tweaks, that’s what the coaches are for. I’m not saying the Twins are going to win this year or next. And I’m not naïve enough to think the technocratic Correa philosophy will vanish overnight. Correa is a proven winner, a champion, and he made some critical high-IQ plays that helped break the team’s playoff curse. But his presence shaped the team’s approach in a way that didn’t work for everyone—especially for younger players like Miranda and Lee. Without him, those guys now have the option to go back to being who they were. Whether that’s a hair-on-fire type like Luke Keaschall, or a passive mistake-hitter like Rodríguez. Everything now hinges on the next ownership group. The roster still has talent, and it’s suddenly cheap. We could get bought by Scrooge Capital, trade away Joe Ryan and López, and become the Cayman Island Twins. Or we could get an owner who invests—say, $10 million in bullpen help, signs a real first baseman, and locks up a couple of core guys. If we get that owner—or even just get the payroll to $120 million—I’ll be jazzed about next year. The curse is still broken. The Pohlads are gone. Sign me up. View full article

Image courtesy of Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Box Score Starting Pitcher: Jose Urena: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (69 Pitches, 62.3%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Matt Wallner (.146), Kody Funderburk (.137), Trevor Larnach (.130) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): A new era of Twins baseball has begun, and it has looked pretty similar so far, with two one-run losses to the Guardians on Friday and Saturday. They've been a more interesting watch, however. In my mind, frisky baseball is a lot more watchable than the lawyer ball that represented the Carlos Correa era in Minnesota. With the bullpen arms they have now, I doubt we'll see a lot of winning, but it will hopefully be more fun. The Guardians are the kings of pesky small ball, so we may have to give the Twins (players, not owners) some grace while they acclimate to putting some actual pressure on an opposing pitcher. Today began promisingly, with Austin Martin getting a leadoff single, Ryan Jeffers dropping in a blooper, and Matt Wallner lining a single up the middle to score Martin. Royce Lewis brought in third baseman Jose Ramirez by showing bunt and then lined a double over his head for the game's second run. Baby steps. Joey Cantillo was pitching for Cleveland, and after a mound visit following Lewis' double, started emphasizing his curveball and struck out Kody Clemens and Brooks Lee. That felt familiar, but Trevor Larnach then pulverized a hanging curveball into the gap in right center field to score two more runs. Jose Urena started for the Twins, and if you aren't familiar with his work, you clearly have no appreciation for the 2017-2018 Miami Marlins, where Urena started 59 games with a 3.90 ERA. But his strikeout percentage peaked at 18.3% during that time and hasn't reached that level since. This despite a a fastball that can reach the upper 90's. I remember the Twins facing Urena when he was with the White Sox in 2023 and thinking it must feel rotten to have to watch Urena pitch for your team. Well karma giveth and taketh away, and Urena got absolutely rocked the first few pitches in a Twins uniform. Steven Kwan barreled up a fastball that would have easily left the yard were the wind not blowing in at Progressive Field. Daniel Schneeman laced a single and Jose Ramirez jumped all over a Urena fastball and launched it 406 feet through the wind to cut the lead in half. Urena settled down from there and actually showed some positive signs as his outing went along. Meanwhile Cantillo focused on his changeup and curveball while the Twins swung in vain hoping for his very hittable fastball. He has reverse splits and proved why, as he allowed five hits and two walks to the contingent of lefties the Twins trotted out in Wallner, Larnach and Clemens. He would strike out nine over five and two thirds innings. Urena was done after four innings and 69 pitches, and kept the Twins ahead by inducing some weak contact featuring a ton of sliders and sinkers. As auspicious as the start to his day was, he gave Baldelli what he needed and may have bought himself another week or two on the 40-man roster. The teams traded zeros, with both lineups taking an aggressive approach early in the count. It wasn't a winning strategy on either side, however. After twelve straight scoreless half innings, Wallner reached out and poked a triple to right center field off of Jakob Junis to begin the eighth, with the ball deflecting off of center fielder Angel Martinez's glove. Lewis struck out, but Clemens dropped a bunt up the first base line that drew a throw home far too late to retire pinch runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr. as the Twins scored their first insurance run in Cleveland since 2019. Cole Sands pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Michael Tonkin was brought in to protect the 5-2 lead. It didn't go that well. .216 hitter Nolan Jones drew a walk and rookie CJ Kayfus hit his first career hit, just over the outstretched glove of Alan Roden in right field. Bryan Rocchio singled to left and all of a sudden it was a 5-4 game. Tonkin retired Steven Kwan and was then relieved in favor of the legendary Erasmo Ramirez. He retired Schneeman and Ramirez on pop ups like it was nothing. Stray Observations: The back of the Twins bullpen has obviously been eviscerated. However, last year at this time Cole Sands was an ascendant eighth inning guy, while Justin Topa was acquired from Seattle to pitch late in games as he did successfully in 2023. Michael Tonkin quietly has his best season in 2024, throwing 79 1/3 innings with 85 strikeouts. For a team that just traded away its five best relievers that could look a lot worse. Yeah, I'm coping. Wallner has shown some life lately, going 7-21 over his past seven games with three homers, a triple and five walks. What’s Next: The Twins travel to Detroit to take on the division-leading Tigers. Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.24 ERA) was set to oppose Casey Mize (9-4, 3.43 ERA) to start the three game series. However, SWR has a stomach issue and Monday's starter is TBD. Mize is a former number one overall pick and is having his first real run of sustainable success following some initial struggles and Tommy John surgery that knocked out his 2022 and 2023 seasons. He has been terrible lately though, with a 6.32 ERA over his past four outings, and lasting only an inning and a third his last time out against Arizona. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Ureña 0 0 0 0 69 69 Sands 13 0 20 0 21 54 Ohl 0 0 0 52 0 52 Topa 22 0 13 0 15 50 Funderburk 0 0 11 0 35 46 Davis 31 0 0 0 0 31 Tonkin 0 0 11 0 14 25 Ramírez 0 0 0 0 9 9 Adams 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting (Bulk) Pitcher: Travis Adams: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (83 Pitches, 48 Strikes, 57.8%) Home Runs: Matt Wallner (12) Bottom 3 WPA: Travis Adams (-.360), Willi Castro (-.099), Royce Lewis (-.077) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): You could have argued that there were three instances of the Twins season effectively ending since the All-Star break: Losing two of three to the worst team in baseball, the Rockies. Griffin Jax walking pinch-runner extraordinaire Esteury Ruiz to punt away what would have been a revitalizing series win in LA against the Dodgers. Saturday night, with their ace on the mound against a rebuilding but feisty Nationals team, Brooks Lee misses a pop-up and then makes an error on the relay, leading to three back-breaking runs. I turned the game off at that point, meaning I got to miss the part where Byron Buxton left with an injury. You can't go into a rebuild phase with this roster—not with the talent it still possesses and with Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins and Luke Keaschall all nearly ready to contribute. If rebuilding is your contention, you may be confusing this sport with one where that is far more beneficial. What you do is trade away the expiring contracts and see what the young guys have over the next two months. In 2017, that led to a playoff berth. This year, it probably won't, but it would be nice to have some positive juice when a theoretical new ownership group comes in. Sunday was a bullpen game, because David Festa was placed on the IL with renewed shoulder soreness. The first pitch Cole Sands threw was crushed by CJ Abrams over the high wall in right-center. Sands settled down after that, and then Trevor Larnach led off the Twins half with a single against Minnesota native Jake Irvin—which was immediately erased by an easy double-play grounder off the bat of Willi Castro. Irvin has settled into being a decent back-end starter for the Nats. Nothing stands out metrically about him except some elite extension from his 6-foot-6 frame, but he pitched 187 2/3 solid innings last year and generally throws strikes. He threw two fastball strikes to fellow Minnesota Matt Wallner in the second, and Wallner made him pay with a 452-foot blast to tie the game. Abrams manufactured another run for the Nats in the third, though. He singled past Kody Clemens at first, stole second, and then stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Luis García Jr. Pretty impressive for the third-most productive piece of the Juan Soto trade thus far, who also has an All-Star appearance on his resume. The Twins would return the favor, thanks to Harrison Bader. The center fielder singled up the middle and was running when Christian Vázquez grounded to shortstop. Bader hesitated a bit to make sure shortstop Paul DeJong wasn't paying attention, then kept on running and made third easily. He would then score on a sacrifice fly from Larnach. Washington quickly reclaimed the lead against Travis Adams in the fourth. Daylen Lile split the gap in right-center field with a rocket line drive (105 MPH), and yet another sacrifice fly—this time from DeJong—scored the Nats' third run. Adams would continue to struggle in the fifth. He hit Abrams to lead off the inning, walked the struggling James Wood, and gave up a blooper to García. Josh Bell then smoked a single through the left side. Adams retired Nathaniel Lowe on a ground ball to Brooks Lee, who made the decision to come home rather than take the sure double play at second. The broadcast was split on the decision, but Alex Call then grounded a ball off the pitcher's mound that fooled Lee, scoring two more runs. With a pitcher who cannot induce swing-and-miss to save his life (like Adams), I think the better move is to get as many outs as possible, even if it costs a run. A sacrifice fly would then score Lowe to make it 7-2 Nationals. The rest of the game was a slow death, with Irvin completing seven innings of two-run ball, despite recording only two strikeouts. The Twins never really threatened. Stray Observations: -Lee has the hands, arm and instincts to be a really good fielder, including making an incredible jump throw to retire Nats catcher Riley Adams in the eighth. But he rarely makes the right decision, and seems to panic in big moments, struggling to get the ball out of his glove, dropping the ball on the transfer, and generally just being a heart attack out there. He's basically a rookie. If we can be patient with Rob Dillingham, we can be patient with Lee, but he sure makes it hard. -You try and squint to see what Adams could offer a team if everything broke right for him. Like, if the Rays picked him up, what would they focus on as far as pitch tweaks and sequencing? I kind of like his cutter, I guess. What's Next: The Twins begin a three-game series against the Red Sox at Target Field Monday night. Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.14 ERA) takes on Richard Fitts (1-4, 4.86 ERA), as the Twins look to showcase their tradable players one last time with the deadline looming. Fitts has not been overly impressive and is a righty, so maybe the Twins could offer some resistance. Woods Richardson has been good since his most recent call-up, as he looks to retain his rotation spot once Pablo López and Bailey Ober return from injury. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 0 0 0 0 83 83 Coulombe 16 0 11 0 20 47 Jax 20 0 25 0 0 45 Funderburk 0 0 0 39 0 39 Topa 0 0 0 27 0 27 Sands 0 0 0 0 27 27 Varland 15 0 0 0 11 26 Durán 0 0 6 0 17 23 Stewart 0 0 0 0 9 9 View full article

Image courtesy of © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K (88 Pitches, 67 Strikes, 76.1%) Home Runs: Matt Wallner (11), Royce Lewis 2 (4), Harrison Bader (12) Top 3 WPA: Ryan (.307), Kody Clemens (.116), Bader (.086) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): The roller coaster hit a little dip these past few days. After riding some positive momentum into the All-Star break that included some key series wins against good teams and Byron Buxton going bananas, the Twins headed to Coors Field to play a Rockies team that made the 2024 White Sox look competitive—and lost the first two games. Then, Royce Lewis threw some barbs at the team for benching him, in a single game, during a season in which his OPS starts with a '5'. On the plus side, these are still the Rockies, and All-Star Joe Ryan was starting for Minnesota. Ryan looked sharp and was remarkably efficient, requiring just 44 pitches to complete the first four innings of his outing, and 88 pitches overall in seven innings. He left one ill-advised sinker up to the hot-hitting Mickey Moniak in the third, but was otherwise in total command, locating his fastball and mixing in his splitter and slider just enough to keep Rockies hitters honest. The Twins were tasked with facing Germán Márquez, and fortunately, this isn’t 2018, which was the last time he had an above-average strikeout rate. Márquez walked two in loading the bases in the first inning, but Matt Wallner struck out on three pitches in non-competitive fashion to end the inning. A nifty hit-and-run with Harrison Bader and Christian Vázquez led to another scoring chance in the second, but Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play to end yet another threat. They would break through in the third. Willi Castro drew a leadoff walk, Kody Clemens tripled and although Clemens was tagged out on the contact play in the next at-bat, Wallner atoned for his earlier failure by launching a two-run home run that seemed to still be rising as it soared into the first row in right field (112 MPH). Lewis would also atone for his vent sesh with Dan Hayes by hitting a towering 451-foot home run in the fourth against lefty reliever Ryan Rolison. Harrison Bader would add a solo shot of his own an inning later, a rare opposite-field homer for the center fielder. Meanwhile, Ryan was on cruise control, as the historically bad Rockies offense could not make contact against his fastball. Ryan induced 12 swings and misses on his fastball, and it felt like more, as he seemed to ditch the concept of waste pitches. That was validated in the seventh, as Ryan tried to sneak a two-strike curveball past the Rockies' most established hitter, Ryan McMahon, and it got blasted for a double. He would recover with a strikeout and weak pop-up to finish off his day. Lewis would add his second homer in the eighth inning, off a hanging changeup from Jimmy Herget. Stray Observations: Lewis has a knack for giving some of the most disturbing quotes to the media. Talking about a cascading effect of all his injuries with Hayes, saying he doesn't slump, that he doesn't want to play second base, and talking about ignoring game plans in favor of doing his own improv at the plate have all left us with weird tastes in our mouths. Maybe this multi-home run game will get him to talk less, for his own benefit. Willi Castro had an interesting game, cutting down a runner at second trying to stretch a single into a double, then hitting a long fly ball in the ninth that looked like it might carry over the fence. He would get a triple instead, and then score on the throw to third for a Little League homer. What’s Next: David Festa (3-3, 5.25 ERA) faces Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.00 ERA) of the Dodgers as the Twins face a slight shift in competition. Ohtani is amazing, but has only pitched in short stints so far this year returning from Tommy John surgery. Last time out was a three-inning outing, his longest of the year. Festa has been mostly good of late, since he got his head knocked in against Milwaukee in June. Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Topa 0 0 17 16 0 33 Sands 0 0 22 0 0 22 Misiewicz 0 0 0 21 0 21 Durán 0 0 0 0 16 16 Coulombe 0 0 0 12 0 12 Stewart 0 0 0 9 0 9 Jax 0 0 0 0 8 8 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Image courtesy of © Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images The Twins are in a predicament to end all predicaments. The trade deadline looms just 13 days away, and the team is under .500, but just barely. To add more fuel to the gas fire of uncertainty regarding the team’s direction, they appear to be getting closer to a sale to a new ownership group. They have also been playing better lately, taking series from the Rays, Cubs and Pirates in succession heading into the break. They are also getting healthier, though that is always a jinx-ridden statement. Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Luke Keaschall and Zebby Matthews being available could certainly change how the front office views the team’s chances. Matthews looks likely to re-join the club this weekend, with Keaschall and Ober beginning rehab assignments simultaneously in St. Paul. However, the trade value of Joe Ryan has never been higher, and he could fetch a 2020 Mike Clevinger-type haul (more on that later). The team faced a similar dilemma in 2017, the first year of the Derek Falvey-Thad Levine regime. The core of Miguel Sanó, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and José Berríos were together and keeping their collective heads above water. On July 19, their playoff odds had “surged” to 23.4% (per Baseball Prospectus) after winning a home series against the Yankees. The upside was palpable, and with veterans Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer, Ervin Santana and Robbie Grossman all performing well, the front office felt the need to acquire a starter. Maybe someone who could give quality innings in a playoff series, and who perhaps would come cheaply, given injury concerns. Enter Jaime García. García was a few years removed from his peak, when he posted a 161 ERA+ for the Cardinals in 2015 across 20 starts. That came with the lowest strikeout rate of his career, so the sustainability of that performance was questionable. Pitching for the Braves in 2017, his ERA+ was a much more middling 101, but that was enough for the Twins to take a swing on the lefty. Famously, Garcia made one start for the Twins, and the team won! But that came amidst a 2-6 stretch heading into the trade deadline, and García was flipped—as well as the team’s de facto closer, Brandon Kintzler. The team’s playoff odds had decreased to 7%. From there, the team’s offense surged and the pitching bent but didn’t break. That is, until the Wild Card game at Yankee Stadium. Coming out of the All-Star break this year, the Twins have an 8.8% chance to make the playoffs according to Baseball-Reference. However, FanGraphs puts their odds at 23.1%, suspiciously close to the 23.4% Baseball Prospectus figure from 2017, while BP now gives them a 28.3% chance. The latter two odds give deference to the talent present on the roster, rather than the team’s actual performance (over the past 100 games is BR’s formula), which speaks to the main issue here: the team still feels like it has the pieces to be pretty good. The team’s results (for nearly a year now) say otherwise. Does the front office look at the 8.8% chance and sell, similar to how they acted following the 2-6 stretch post-García acquisition in 2017? Or do they view that juicy 28.3% chance from BP as legitimate, and add to their roster? The 2023 Angels went for it and paid a huge price, losing Shohei Ohtani for a draft pick and depleting an already bad farm system, while the 2015 Mets added Yoenis Céspedes and made the World Series. Their odds at the All-Star break? 26.7%. The real question might not be at what specific point the team no longer believes their playoff odds justify investment in the team, but rather, what they think their odds really are. After all, the Twins have their own internal evaluations of themselves and the rest of the league. Whether their self-perceptions match the pseudo-objective estimates of outside entities is unclear. The default answer is that Falvey and company will stand pat, unless the team really tanks over the next 10 days. Last year, their odds at this time were 82% per FanGraphs and all we got was a lightly charred Trevor Richards, so winning every game from now until July 31 won’t necessarily change the calculus. Like 2024, there may just not be enough money in the budget to take on even a middling salary. What we haven’t seen from this front office is a retooling trade, whereby the team sold high on a valuable asset (such as Ryan or Jhoan Duran) that infused enough talent to set the team up better for the future while not necessarily punting on the current year. Think about that Clevinger trade, which brought the Guardians Josh Naylor, Gabriel Arias, Cal Quantrill, Joey Cantillo and Owen Miller. Naylor was then flipped this past offseason for Slade Cecconi, who has made 10 good starts for the Guardians. Other examples include the Brewers trading Josh Hader in 2023 or the Guardians (again) unloading Trevor Bauer in 2019. Truly, only the Rays, Guardians and Brewers make these types of trades, as they are all cash-strapped, on the cutting edge of analytics and have little concern for what their fans think. Do the Twins view themselves in such a mold? What do you think? Should the Twins add, stand pat, retool, or sell? View full article

Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (77 Pitches, 57 Strikes, 74%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.302), Willi Castro (-.168), Brooks Lee (-.163) Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs): It was rather circuitous, but the Twins entered Sunday’s game with a chance to improve their record to 48-48 entering the All-Star break. With the team’s other stars all failing to post their usual numbers, Byron Buxton has carried the load, punctuated by his posting the first-ever cycle at Target Field during Saturday’s romp against Pittsburgh. The team remains just three games out of a playoff spot, despite losing every series in June and the fifth spot of their rotation becoming a recurring bullpen game. At some point, the team will have to pitch and hit at the same time for extended stretches, but for now, Buxton has put them in a position where a hot stretch out of the All-Star break will get them right back where they need to be. First, though, they had to finish off a sweep against the Pirates, and despite the Bucs' deficiencies in most areas, they do have a couple of legitimate starting pitchers—including Sunday’s starter, Mitch Keller, who offers an array of quality pitches and a 96-MPH fastball. He's also been one of the most durable starters in baseball over the course of his career. Opposing him was Simeon Woods Richardson, the cause of one of Aaron Gleeman’s more embarrassing (though correct) recent crashouts. Woods Richardson has been nails since his recall, ditching his changeup for a splitter and posting a sub-1.00 ERA in his past five starts. He didn’t look all that amazing against the Pirates’ lineup, giving up some hard contact. The game plan was clearly to swing early to take advantage of his trying to get ahead. But the only damage came on an ambush by veteran Tommy Pham, who dove out over the plate and crushed a slider 421 feet to give Pittsburgh a brief lead 1-0 in the second. Keller seemed to have little trouble with the Twins lineup, mixing his slider, four-seamer and sinker to great effect. But a bloop from Harrison Bader (who should maybe sign an extension at this point, since he would probably be my third choice for first half MVP) put Buxton at the plate with a runner on. The Twins' star slugger did his usual routine, working the count and then barreling up a breaking ball that Keller should just be thankful stayed in the yard. It ended up being a double off the left-field wall that scored Bader and tied the game. Woods Richardson danced around raindrops for a while before allowing a couple baserunners with two outs in the fifth. After allowing his starter to face the top three batters in the Pirates lineup a third time, Baldelli turned to Louis Varland, who finished off the inning with a single pitch. (Gleeman began scouring and searching for folks with incorrect opinions on the matter.) Keller continued to cruise, finishing six innings with just the one run allowed on four hits. Varland pitched a scoreless sixth, working around a Jack Suwinski single by picking him off first base. Brock Stewart worked a scoreless seventh, working around a single by striking out Twins killer Andrew McCutchen on a nasty cutter to end the inning. Lefty Caleb Ferguson is still around and pitching well for the Pirates, and he worked a 1-2-3 seventh in relief of Keller. Griffin Jax then worked a 1-2-3 eighth, in dominant fashion. It figures, as he allows a .532 OPS in tie games and a .773 OPS when protecting a lead this year. The Twins made some noise in their half of the eighth, with consecutive singles by Christian Vázquez and Buxton putting two on base with one out, and prompting Baldelli to lift Vázquez for a pinch-runner. That immediately backfired, as Castro hit a nubber that Pirates catcher Henry Davis pounced on and threw out the lead runner (now DaShawn Keirsey Jr.) at third base for the second out. Trevor Larnach then flied out to end things. After throwing 34 pitches on Saturday, Jhoan Duran was called upon to pitch the ninth. He allowed a jam shot single to Ke'Bryan Hayes, and an infield hit to Oneil Cruz, the latter of which came when a dribbler got past a reaching Duran at the mound. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then delivered his fourth hit of the game, a clean single to center to load the bases. Spencer Horwitz, on an 0-2 count, got a far-too-hittable pitch that he smacked right to Brooks Lee in a drawn-in infield. A double play looked possible. The ball got stuck in Lee's glove, however, and he was only able to retire Horowitz at first base. 2-1 Pirates. David Bednar put Carlos Correa on to start the bottom of the ninth but then flummoxed the Twins with his curveball. What’s Next: The All-Star break is here! It begins with the Home Run Derby on Monday featuring Buxton and no, he won't be cursed or get hurt. I mean, he might, but aren't sports supposed to be fun? Buxton and Joe Ryan will then represent the American League in the All-Star game on Tuesday. The Twins will resume their season on Friday in Coors Field against the woeful Rockies (22-74). Postgame Interviews: Coming soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 0 0 0 68 0 68 Durán 9 0 0 34 17 60 Stewart 15 0 23 0 13 51 Varland 12 0 19 0 14 45 Jax 14 0 0 12 9 35 Coulombe 9 0 11 14 0 34 Sands 0 0 5 19 0 24 Topa 0 16 0 0 0 16 Wentz 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (97 Pitches, 68 Strikes, 70.1%) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (20), Harrison Bader (10) Bottom 3 WPA: Justin Topa (-.407), Griffin Jax (-.340), Royce Lewis (-.139) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The Twins seem intent on delaying their time of death, winning in dramatic fashion against a good Rays team on back-to-back days to start this holiday weekend series. Despite all the losing and all the injuries, the team entered Sunday's game four games back of a Wild Card spot. The one remaining consistently good pitcher the Twins can trot out every fifth day is Joe Ryan, and he took the ball hoping to deliver a sweep and (maybe) earn an All-Star nod for himself. He started strong, hitting 97 MPH with his fastball and striking out the side in the first. Drew Rasmussen started for the Rays, and was immediately rocked by Byron Buxton pulverizing a cutter 414 feet to start the game off 1-0. Rasmussen is pretty good, and worked through the rest of the inning unscathed. He also had the luxury of emptying the tank early, as he was scheduled for just two innings of work to preserve his twice-surgically-repaired elbow ahead of the All-Star break. The Rays are opportunists, and the light-hitting Taylor Walls got a split-change from Ryan in the second that hit the corner down and in, rather than down and away. Thus, the pitch floated right into Walls's bat path and traveled 368 feet to tie the game at one. Ryan said after the game that he liked the pitch call from Christian Vázquez, and accepted responsibility for the failure to execute. The visitors struck again in the fourth. After Jose Caballero blooped a single that landed on Trevor Larnach's foot, Jonathan Aranda got an 0-2 fastball that got a bit too much of the strike zone, and the breakout first baseman lashed it into the right-field corner to score Caballero. Ryan did settle down from there, striking out Josh Lowe on a brilliant little backdoor slider before getting Walls to pop out on the first pitch. The bulk pitcher for the Rays was Joe Boyle, a reclamation project they acquired by trading one of their more successful reclamation projects in Jeffrey Springs. Boyle flashed good stuff, sitting 98-99 with the fastball and mixing in an effective split-change and slider. He pitched around a Buxton single and a Willi Castro walk in the third by striking out Larnach and Carlos Correa, before carving up Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis in the fourth, the latter two striking out haplessly. Ryan showed some good poise in the sixth. He thought he had struck out Junior Caminero on a slider on the black, and was taking his customary strikeout stroll. He then realized the pitch was called a ball, and allowed a single on the next pitch. After starting the next hitter, Aranda, 2-0, Vazquez called for a chat to settle his pitcher down. But the umpire ruled that Ryan was attempting to start his delivery before Aranda made eye contact with him, so a pitch clock violation was called on Ryan. That made the count 3-0, but Ryan recovered to induce a pop-up, then retired Mangum to end his outing. The Twins finally made some noise against Boyle in the sixth. Larnach squibbed a double down the left-field line, and Lee hit a sharp grounder off Caballero's glove. As the ball trickled away, Larnach tried to score and slid in just safe, confirmed after a Tampa Bay challenge. The teams traded zeroes until the eighth, when Griffin Jax got into his usual trouble, allowing two seeing-eye singles to begin the inning before a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. Caminero then hit a tapper in front of the mound that Vázquez tried to field and tag the pinch-runner, Christopher Morel, at home—too late. Aranda then hit a similar tapper that scooted past Jax's glove, because of course it did. In a hard, vessel-straining blink, it was 4-2 Rays. But the Rays forgot that Harrison Bader was available off the bench. Hard-throwing lefty Mason Montgomery struck out Buxton to start the bottom of the eighth, but walked Castro. Bader came out hacking, missing a 99-MPH fastball to begin the at-bat, but on the third pitch, Montgomery left a slider to Bader's liking, and he demolished it just inside the left-field foul pole. Tie game. Louis Varland and Pete Fairbanks pitched scoreless ninth innings to send us to the 10th. Justin Topa immediately allowed Tampa to take the lead once more, with Yandy Díaz lacing a liner to the wall in right-center. Caballero then bunted again, and it wasn't even a good bunt, but Topa still managed to field and throw the ball past Kody Clemens at first, allowing Caballero to reach third and, yes, score on a sacrifice fly the next at-bat. That made it 7-4 Rays. The Twins would get the tying run to the plate in the bottom half, but Brooks Lee tapped out to end it. Stray Observations: -Christian Vázquez threw out two runners, the pretty fast Jake Mangum in the second, and the ultra-fast Chandler Simpson in the third. He's been really good of late against the running game. -Boyle finished five innings with zero earned runs and seven strikeouts. Pretty good for Triple-A depth. -Can we stop with the stat-washing of Griffin Jax (Glen Perkins actually tried to make an All-Star case for Jax at the start of his inning)? He has not been good this year, despite, yes, having good pitches and being a talented pitcher with great peripheral stats. His mental game is very poor, and has been since he entered the league. Remember 2023? The game plan has to be, put the ball in play, get him rattled, and pounce on the inevitable mistake. It's a winning formula until he proves it's not. What’s Next: After an off day Monday, Simeon Woods Richardson (4-4, 4.41 ERA) will take on the Cubs' Shota Imanaga (5-2, 2.78 ERA) at Target Field. Imanaga has just returned to action after missing time with a hamstring strain, but has been a good find for the Cubs. Woods Richardson has been pretty good since his first start following his demotion against Texas, with a 1.71 ERA in his last four. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Adams 0 0 0 68 0 68 Stewart 15 0 23 0 12 50 Durán 9 0 0 34 0 43 Varland 12 0 19 0 9 40 Jax 14 0 0 12 13 39 Coulombe 9 0 11 14 0 34 Topa 0 16 0 0 9 25 Sands 0 0 5 19 0 24 Wentz 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article