Hans Birkeland

Coming off a win that has been described as both "gifted" and the "best win of the year," the Twins decided to take game one of today's doubleheader off. Nick Pivetta dominated them on the mound and Triston Casas outscored the Twins by six runs by himself. Image courtesy of © Eric Canha-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB 3 K (86 Pitches, 56 Strikes, 65.1%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Lopez (-.315), Willi Castro (-.060), Trevor Larnach (-.056) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a merciful rainout of Saturday's game, there was a lot on the line in game one of a doubleheader against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Pablo López, who carried a 1.12 ERA over the past month (almost exactly coinciding with the team's freefall), faced a Boston lineup now lacking its $300-million superstar, Rafael Devers, who finally called it quits on the season after playing through injuries in both of his shoulders for the past few months. The Twins got right to work against Red Sox starter, Nick Pivetta, who is as likely to strike out 10 as he is to serve up five home runs in a start. Byron Buxton led off by flipping a single to right field. Trevor Larnach advanced him to second with a hard smash that was expertly gloved by Boston's first baseman, Triston Casas. Carlos Correa walked, and Buxton advanced to third on a curious interference play. Pivetta tried to pick Buxton off of second base, and in catching the ball, shortstop Trevor Story put his knee down to block Buxton's access to the base. The umpiring crew conferred and granted Buxton third base, much to Boston manager Alex Cora's chagrin. Cora made a whole production out of his displeasure and was ejected from the game pretty quickly. That may have given Pivetta the breather he needed, as he struck out Matt Wallner, walked Royce Lewis and induced a popout from Willi Castro to end the threat. That momentum swing was compounded when, after an impressive strikeout of Jarren Duran, López induced a weak dribbler from Romy Gonzalez, which hit first base and popped into Carlos Santana's chest for a gifted single. Looking for a ground-ball double play, Lopez got the grounder off the bat of the slow-footed Masataka Yoshida, but it scooted past the shifted Lewis for another single. Story struck out on a high fastball, but Casas was waiting for a fastball and got one down in the zone that he crushed for a three-run home run. After an uneventful second inning, López got Gonzalez to ground out to start the third. Yoshida and Story both singled on elevated offspeed pitches, which brought up Casas once again. This time, López started him with a changeup, naturally, but with the count 2-2, he tried to sneak a fastball by him up and away. Casas lifted it the other way, over the Green Monster for another three-run bomb. Red Sox 6, Twins 0. López's velocity had been trending up recently, with some of his fastest career pitches coming in the past month. Today, he threw quite a few 93-MPH fastballs and topped out at 95 MPH. The Twins scratched across a run in the fourth, with a Castro infield single, groundout, sacrifice fly and error. Buxton ended the inning with a line shot toward the Pesky Pole, which right fielder Wilyer Abreau made a tremendous catch on as he ran into the wall. What looked like maybe a 6-3 game with Buxton's ball in the air quickly became 7-1. Duran singled and stole second, and Gonzalez hit a five-hopper up the middle to score the speedy leadoff man. López was done after four, and newly recalled Brent Headrick got to make his season debut against... Triston Casas. Headrick's second pitch of his year was a fastball at the top of the zone that Casas pummeled 423 feet, past the triangle in center field for his third home run in five innings. Casas, who tore his rib cage cartilage in April and missed four months, is a big reason why the Red Sox feel confident about their future (in addition to three top-25 global prospects in the high minors). He posted an .856 OPS his rookie year in 2023 and added about 80 points to his 2024 OPS just today. The Twins had traffic in each of their five innings against Pivetta, but went down 1-2-3 against fungible reliever Luis Garcia in the sixth, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to throw in the towel and remove Correa and Buxton from the game. They made nary a whimper the rest of the game as the Boston bullpen, almost 100% responsible for their fall from contention as a team, cruised to victory. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📉 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📈 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📉 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Cole Irvin 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Brent Headrick 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-3, 6.30 ERA) goes against Kutter Crawford (8-15, 4.19 ERA) as the Twins try to salvage a split of the double header. Crawford is a good pitcher despite the inflated surface numbers, as opposing hitters have hit a combined .220 over the past two seasons. He does like to give up home runs, however, allowing a league-leading 33 of them this year in 171 innings pitched. And yes, he does throw a cutter. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Headrick 0 0 0 0 60 60 Varland 10 16 13 0 0 39 Sands 0 17 16 0 0 33 Durán 11 0 20 0 0 31 Irvin 0 30 0 0 0 30 Jax 0 15 8 0 0 23 Thielbar 0 12 10 0 0 22 Blewett 0 0 12 0 7 19 Tonkin 2 0 14 0 0 16 View full article

It wasn't without some scary moments, but the Twins held everything together this time, collecting a much-needed and relatively straightforward win in Cleveland. Image courtesy of © David Richard-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews: 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (76 Pitches, 47 Strikes, 61.8%) Home Runs: Willi Castro (12) Bottom 3 WPA: Matt Wallner (.250), Castro (.205), Matthews (.121) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Full disclosure: I wouldn't have watched this game if I wasn't assigned to report on it. Watching the Guardians is excruciating, worse than any Yankee game, including the playoffs. If I have to watch the Twins carry a one- or two-run lead to the late innings and that godforsaken Will Brennan gets one more bloop hit to set off a rally, I will not be in a healthy place mentally. I would gladly prefer that José Ramírez, whom I dislike personally for the market impacts of his contract (as well as his flagrant assault of Tim Anderson), actually win one of these games for Cleveland, instead of going 0-4 and letting some weird-looking rookie drive home the go-ahead run for the 40th time in three years, after the Twins blew easy scoring chances in each of innings two through six. Just for a change of pace; I expect to lose, just mix it up a little. Sometimes when you lose all hope, that's all you need. Today's game featured two rookies, Zebby Matthews for Minnesota, and Gavin Williams for Cleveland. Williams was much-heralded as a prospect, and watching him pitch with his hammer curve, 94 MPH cutter and 98 MPH fastball, its hard to imagine how he has an ERA over 5.00, but he has given up a lot of hard contact. Matthews is still figuring out how many strikes to throw and when, and if tonight didn't go well, I wouldn't have been surprised if newly signed Cole Irvin takes his final two starts of the year. Matthews certainly looked like he was pitching for his job at the start, hitting 97 MPH with his fastball and retiring the first five hitters he faced. After a walk to Monday night's hero, Kyle Manzardo, Brennan delivered his customary bloop hit, but Matthews struck out Bo Naylor on a sharp slider to end the threat. Williams pitched well against the Twins in August, and cruised through the first few innings, getting a lot of chase from aggressive Twins hitters. Ryan Jeffers broke the seal with a swinging bunt to start the third, and after two outs, Byron Buxton worked a walk. That brought up Matt Wallner, who was in a 0-17 skid. He fell behind 0-2, but took a tough cutter for a ball and then stroked a mistake fastball into right field to score Jeffers. Matthews allowed a runner into scoring position for Ramírez with two outs in the third, but struck out Cleveland's third baseman with a darting slider way out of the zone for the third out. But hey, if these games were won in the first three or four innings, the Twins would be 8-2 in these match-ups, not 2-8. Right on cue, Lane Thomas demolished a fastball 424 feet from Matthews in the bottom of the fourth. Matthews didn't let that snowball, however, and retired the side after the homer, including a challenge strikeout of Brennan on a middle-middle fastball. The Twins responded with two outs in the fifth. Buxton, whom we were all concerned would be rusty and/or limited physically coming back from his hip injury (which is by no means healed), rocketed a ball 107 MPH into the gap and easily turned the hit into a double, despite the ball being cut off by the center fielder. Wallner then fought a ball off his hands over Andrés Giménez's outstretched glove to score Buxton. Matthews allowed a leadoff hit in the fifth, but got a key double play from Brayan Rocchio, who was initially attempting to bunt. Facing the lineup a third time, he allowed a sharp single to Angel Martinez, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to turn to his new acquisition, lefty starter Cole Irvin. Irvin got Giménez on a one-hopper to Royce Lewis, and the game marched on, a slow drumbeat toward the inevitable--or so it seemed. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. With one out in the top of the seventh, Buxton drew his second walk of the game. Baldelli was then faced with a test: Wallner was due up and the Guardians were bringing in lefty Tim Herrin. Manuel Margot has more range in right field and is employed to hit lefties, but he is 0-28 pinch-hitting this year. Make that 0-29, as he chopped into an inning-ending double play. The drumbeats grew louder. Baldelli made, perhaps, an even more curious decision in the bottom of the frame, with Ronny Henriquez taking over for Sands. This was partially a result of an even stranger decision from the front office: the optioning of Jorge Alcalá. Manzardo bleeds a single up the middle. Myles Straw pinch runs (he's fast). Brennan bats. Henriquez picks to first and... Straw is OUT? Has the curse been broken? With no momentum to capitalize on, Brennan actually makes an out. That brings up Cleveland's no-hit, no-field catcher, Bo Naylor. He grounds out. What is going on here? Is Henriquez an answer? Did the offbeat choice to go to a middle reliever in a high-leverage spot throw off the cruel universe's rhythm? The Guardians then brought in their most flammable reliever, Nick Sandlin. He got Santana to pop out and fooled Lewis so badly on a slider that trainers came out to check on the oft-injured slugger's wrist. But there is a reason Sandlin is the bane of every Cleveland fan's existence: Larnach stroked a single and then the struggling and forgotten Willi Castro murdered a fastball middle-in to change the game and give the Twins a three-run lead. What am I talking about? A three-run lead late against Cleveland is more like a two-run deficit. In any case, Jhoan Durán was brought in to keep them in the game. But he didn't let the leadoff hitter on. He got the next guy, too, with a tremendous diving stop from Santana robbing Martinez of a sure hit. Then Giménez, who exists only to play defense and torment the Twins, struck out on an excellent Durán curveball. This one was really going to hurt. It felt like that scene in the Lord of the Rings when the stupidest hobbit drops the chain down the well. It looked for a bit like the Twins' most hobbit-like reliever, Louie Varland, was coming in to close it out, but this was a clever ruse by Baldelli, who opted to use Durán for another inning. To no one's surprise, Ramírez doubled. The good Naylor struck out. Lane Thomas worked the count to 3-2. Durán's pitch count got to 30. A close pitch was called ball four, and Griffin Jax was summoned with the tying run at home plate. All-Star David Fry was summoned to pinch-hit. Jax manhandled him, striking out Fry on four pitches. But Brennan was next, and despite having little power, you could tell he was trying to tie the game up with one swing. Instead, Jax got him to tap a ball to Brooks Lee, who booted the ball, giving the Guardians life. Visions of the hole in C.J. Cron's glove whirled around my head. But before the moment could sink in and sink the Twins, Bo Naylor swung at the first pitch and tapped back to Jax, who took the ball himself for the game-winning out. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Cole Irvin 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -This team has very little speed to work with. With Larnach, who can't run due to a hamstring issue, on first in the eighth, the Twins pinch-running options were Christian Vazquez, Jose Miranda and the footless Carlos Correa. Ouch. -How hurt is Miranda exactly? He hasn't played either of the Cleveland games and Margot was the choice to pinch-hit for Wallner. He had a back issue in July and when he returned got drilled in the head by a fastball. Perhaps it is some combination of those maladies, or perhaps a new issue has surfaced? What’s Next: Bailey Ober (12-7, 3.90 ERA) opposes Tanner Bibee (11-8, 3.60 ERA) in game three of the series. Ober has been pretty great outside of a couple of fluke outings and fluke innings, and dominated the Guardians at Target Field in August. Bibee has been no slouch himself, and is likely the de facto ace of the Guardian's staff. He has had plenty of success against the Twins, with a 2.73 ERA over six starts in his career. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Sands 0 0 36 0 14 50 Blewett 0 41 0 0 0 41 Thielbar 0 27 0 13 0 40 Durán 0 0 0 0 30 30 Varland 0 29 0 0 0 29 Jax 0 0 0 21 8 29 Tonkin 28 0 0 0 0 28 Henríquez 0 0 17 0 10 27 Irvin 0 0 0 0 3 3 View full article

In a game the Twins had to win, they certainly set things up to mirror their recent losses, with a short start from a rookie pitcher and a sleepy lineup for the first five innings. They turned it on from there, though, with a big RBI single from the struggling Brooks Lee and a huge home run from human security blanket Carlos Santana. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: David Festa: 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (72 Pitches, 40 Strikes, 55.5%) Home Runs: Carlos Santana (22) Top 3 WPA: Santana (.252), Brooks Lee (.224), Ryan Jeffers (.162) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The Twins were teetering once again, following two rough losses to a mediocre Reds team. Their stars, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, returned over the weekend, but couldn't overcome major blowups from Jorge Alcalá and Louie Varland. Prime Barry Bonds wouldn't have helped, either. Today, both players were given the day off to get them as fresh as possible for Monday's pivotal series in Cleveland. Early on, it looked like David Festa was going to throw a gem. He was locating, and his stuff looked electric, aside from throwing the first pitch right off of a cyst on Jonathan India's elbow. India quickly pulled a Torii Hunter and stole second and advanced to third on a groundout from Elly De La Cruz. He tried to come home on the contact play, but was gunned down by Royce Lewis for the second out. Festa then struck out TJ Friedl on a nasty changeup to end the frame. He got three more easy grounders in the second, but then struck out Noelvi Marte, India and De La Cruz in convincing fashion in the third. The second time through the lineup, however, was not as crisp as far as location. He left a changeup up to Tyler Stephenson and a slider on a platter to Spencer Steer in the fourth. Stephenson lined a sharp single and Steer lined a triple hard off the scoreboard for the game's first run. Ty France then delivered a sacrifice fly to double the deficit. That looked tragically difficult to overcome, since this lineup has struggled against non-Angels pitching in recent weeks. Opposing Festa was the Reds' first-round pick from last year, Rhett Lowder. The rookie was selected two picks after the Twins took Walker Jenkins, so Reds fans are pretty jazzed about the guy, and he looked great. It is odd to see pitchability be a carrying trait for a young pitcher, but Lowder was as-advertised, pitching to all quadrants of the strike zone with a darting two-seamer, fading change and sweeping slider. The Twins made some hard contact in the first, including a Lewis 108-MPH single, and a Trevor Larnach 112-MPH lineout to end the inning. But that's how the script has been lately. They couldn't get anything going for a while following that promising first inning, and Festa didn't end up getting the final out in the fourth. Determined not to give up the big hit and big inning that has plagued the Twins lately, Festa tried to be too fine and walked his last two batters. He exited with the bases loaded, and ask Zebby Matthews or Simeon Woods Richardson how that has gone lately. Fortunately, in this case, Ronny Henriquez induced India to hit a grounder up the middle that Kyle Farmer made a nice play on, and that I would feel queasy imagining Edouard Julien attempting. The Twins quickly got things going in their half of the fourth. Lewis led off with another sharp single, and Carlos Santana got him to third with a single of his own. With no outs, the Twins could afford to be conservative with their baserunning, but Lewis had no interest in that- Larnach dribbled a ball up the first base line, and first baseman Ty France gloved it, stepped on first and then threw to home to get Lewis in a rundown, a crushing double play. Fortunately, Willi Castro flipped a single on the next pitch, scoring Santana and getting something out of the inning. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. The Reds greeted Henriquez in the fifth with consecutive singles from De La Cruz and Stephenson. However, De La Cruz got greedy trying to stretch a bleeder up the middle into a double, and was thrown out by Castro, with an athletic, spinning tag from Brooks Lee securing the out. Henriquez was able to turn that good fortune into a scoreless inning, and the Twins were through five with only two runs allowed. The Twins finally chased Lowder in the sixth, as the young righty appeared to tire, allowing a sharp lineout to Lewis and a double to right from Santana, followed by a walk to Larnach. Tony Santillan came in, struck out Willi Castro and got ahead of Ryan Jeffers 0-2. Jeffers hung in against some tough pitches and eventually got hold of a hanging slider, roping it to left for a game-tying double. That brought up the struggling Lee, who looked bad on a couple of swings en route to a 2-2 count against the high-octane Santillan. He ended up getting on top of a high fastball, though, lacing it into center field for a game-breaking two-run single. Cole Sands had entered the game in the sixth and delivered a scoreless frame with two strikeouts. He returned for the seventh, and that inning started forebodingly, as De La Cruz walked and was looking for his 100th career stolen base (he has not played two full seasons yet). Sands did a decent job of varying his delivery and De La Cruz got a mediocre jump. Jeffers threw high, but Farmer tagged the speedy Reds shortstop on the backside, and the out was called after a coach's challenge. Sands then struck out Stephenson (who is a menace when healthy) on a fastball in on his hands, and Steer popped out to end the inning. Santana added some insurance in the seventh. After Lewis drew a two-out walk, the Twins first baseman lifted a Justin Wilson cutter off the facing of the second deck in left field. Larnach followed with a ringing double off the lefty, Castro was hit by a pitch, and Jeffers singled to load the bases back up for Lee, who now has only three hits in his last 28 at-bats. All three have produced multiple RBIs, as Lee cleared the bases from the left side with a line shot down the first base line that ended up a triple. Not since Brandon Inge was still hobbling around for Detroit has a less productive hitter produced so many big hits in such a short time. Jorge Alcalá threw two scoreless innings to seal the victory after bleaching his hair. He did look less tense, although the lead was established by the time he came in. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Matt Wallner hit leadoff and had some excellent at-bats with nothing to show for it. -The Twins have suffered significant player injuries against the Reds in recent years. In 2020, Buxton was hit in the head by a Lucas Sims pitch and his presence in the postseason that year was depressing as a result. In 2021, Buxton was just returning from a hip injury and got hit on the hand by Tyler Mahle and missed two more months. In 2023, Correa sustained the rupture in his plantar fasciitis in Cincinnati, while Lewis strained his hamstring which put his postseason status in doubt. -Larnach was really laboring around the bases today, with his turf toe injury still lingering. He barely made it to second on his seventh inning double. What’s Next: Pablo Lopez (15-8, 3.88 ERA) faces off against the Guardians' Matthew Boyd (2-1, 2.18 ERA). Teams have thought they could "fix" Boyd for a decade now, and wouldn't you know it, the Guardians may have actually found something in him just in time to prop up their rotation for the stretch run. The Twins need a series win in the four game set in the worst way, not to catch Cleveland, but to maintain their tenuous hold on the sixth wild card spot. Postgame Interviews: (coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Alcalá 14 0 9 0 31 54 Sands 16 0 0 0 36 52 Thielbar 18 0 0 27 0 45 Blewett 0 0 0 41 0 41 Varland 0 0 0 29 0 29 Tonkin 0 0 28 0 0 28 Durán 22 0 0 0 0 22 Jax 20 0 0 0 0 20 Henríquez 0 0 0 0 17 17 View full article

The Twins uh, haven't been great lately. Fortunately for them, the Angels haven't been a functional team for a decade. Kyle Farmer roused the rally sausage out of retirement with a big three-run home run, and Pablo Lopez survived a mid-game rally to continue his roll as the Twins finally got an easy(ish) win. Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (105 Pitches, 70 Strikes, 66.6%) Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (5), Matt Wallner (12), Carlos Santana (21) Top 3 WPA: Santana (.236), Farmer (.192), Lopez (0.42) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following the Twins latest loss, this time to the woeful Angels of Anaheim, it was fair to ask if this was rock bottom. A 6-14 stretch will prompt those kinds of questions, but if Monday was the bottom, that meant Tuesday had to be better by default. Two factors supported that argument: Pablo Lopez has been great in the second half, but unbeknownst to many, so has Kyle Farmer, or at least since his return from the IL in August. He has a .568 slugging percentage since that point, and following a rare series of singles to start the second inning, demolished a three run homer to give the Twins a comfortable lead for the first time since the series finale in San Diego several weeks ago. But Lopez set the tone early, showcasing the increasingly potent raw stuff he has featured lately. He pitched around a double from Zach Neto in the first, and was in control from there, leaning heavily on his fastballs, but also commanding his secondary pitches well, including quite a few curveballs. Hitters that came up with an aggressive approach never got the pitch they were looking for, particularly the Angels' young catcher, Logan O'Hoppe, who struck out twice on a steady diet of offspeed stuff. Hitters that worked the count couldn't get the barrel on the ball, either. Meanwhile the Twins had little trouble getting out of their funk facing Angels righty Griffin Canning, who had a mild amount of hype as a prospect, but hasn't really developed into anything, with a 4.71 career ERA around a multitude of injuries and demotions. Matt Wallner hit a massive home run in the third, a healthy 448 feet, and Ryan Jeffers delivered a sacrifice fly later in the frame to make the game 6-0. But this team is still fighting it, and in the fifth, with Lopez still cruising, Edouard Julien got in front of a hot smash from Angels rookie Bryce Teodosio, picked up the ball and then glitched before firing to first, allowing Teodosio to reach with two outs. The hot-hitting Taylor Ward then hit a long single off the limestone in right field, and Neto then destroyed a Lopez sinker 428 feet to dead center field, quickly making the game 6-4. The pitch Neto hit wasn't terrible, a sinker up and away, but the young shortstop got his arms extended and the outcome was never in doubt. In recent weeks, the Twins MO would be to go down quickly the following inning and hand the ball back to their starter before he can catch his breath from the inning before. It appeared that sequence would come to fruition again, with Wallner and Jose Miranda making quick outs. But Trevor Larnach laid off some tough pitches before drawing a walk, and Carlos Santana made sure that would matter, as he reached out on a Canning change-up and launched a home run over the high right-center field wall to put the Twins back in control of the game. Defensive miscues from young players has been a recurring theme during the Twins recent cold stretch, but not in the sixth, with Lopez looking for a quick inning. Former first overall pick turned fifth outfield Mickey Moniak lined a ball to center that I immediately knew Austin Martin, Manuel Margot and Willi Castro wouldn't get to, but DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was out there tonight, and made an excellent diving catch for the first out of the inning. Brooks Lee has looked listless lately, but ranged to grab a grounder from O'Hoppe deep in the hole, and looked like prime Derek Jeter with a beautiful throw on the run to nab the Angels catcher. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know thats a promise we make good on. The Twins piled on in the sixth. Farmer drew a one out walk, and Julien singled with two outs. Wallner then lifted a double off the wall in right-center for a double to get the lead back to six. The Angels are just a rich man's White Sox, but it was nice to see the Twins add on late in a game they had to win. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -With Christian Vazquez on the paternity list, Jeffers made a rare back-to-back catching appearance and drove in two runs. -Royce Lewis, in the midst of an 0-20 slide, was not in the lineup. Lee is now 0-18 and his at-bats have been dreadful, so he might be the next player to take a breather. -Louie Varland made his 2024 relief debut (not counting bulk appearances) and touched 101 MPH with his fastball as he made mincemeat out of the Angels Quad-A lineup, striking out two and breaking the bat of the other hitter he faced. He came back out for the ninth, but his velocity was down to 95 MPH and the Angels were able to string some hits against him. -Keirsey Jr. got his first big league hit in the eighth, dribbling a ball past the pitcher's mound and beating the feed from the pitcher easily. What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-3, 7.36 ERA) tries to justify his spot in the rotation as he faces young Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz (2-4, 4.89 ERA). Kochanowicz was a third round pick in 2019, but hasn't really had much success in the minor leagues and has only twelve strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings thus far for Los Angeles, a ratio which would make Carlos Silva blush. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Henríquez 13 0 0 29 0 42 Varland 0 0 0 0 35 35 Blewett 0 0 19 13 0 32 Tonkin 0 0 0 31 0 31 Sands 0 0 30 0 0 30 Thielbar 19 0 0 0 0 19 Durán 0 17 0 0 0 17 Alcalá 0 0 11 0 0 11 Jax 0 8 0 0 0 8 View full article

The Twins lineup was lifeless, and barely put up a fight against a dominant Michael Wacha as the Royals cruised to a sweep. Next week's series at Fenway Park is starting to loom, despite Boston losing to *checks notes* the White Sox today. Image courtesy of © Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (70 Pitches, 44 Strikes, 62.8%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Edouard Julien (-.223), Trevor Larnach (-.124), José Miranda (-.116) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Visions of 2022 were swirling in my head as I absorbed last night's loss to the Royals. The team has been losing games and losing players at a rapid pace. We aren't quite at the "Nick Gordon hitting cleanup against a lefty" stage yet, but we have entered the "every reliever turns into the worst version of Emilio Pagán when it matters" portion. The "Byron Buxton has a great year before going down in August with a hip issue" might be the hardest pill to swallow, but nevertheless, the team is eight (or so) wins away from clinching a playoff spot, with 20 games remaining. Today's game featured underrated veteran Michael Wacha opposing the scuffling rookie, Simeon Woods Richardson. The recent lineup formula for the Twins has been to get traffic on early, squander an opportunity or two, and then go silent for the last seven or eight innings, and, well. Today began with a one-out single from Jose Miranda and then a ringing double from Trevor Larnach. It looked like Hunter Renfroe had a little trouble picking the ball up in right field, but Miranda is not fast and third-base coach Tommy Watkins had gotten desperate; Miranda was thrown out fairly easily. Matt Wallner then walked, so all was not lost, but Royce Lewis sure is, and he flailed away at a belt high fastball he crushes when he is right. Woods Richardson is a confident guy, and came out of the gates on a mission, commanding his fastball and throwing a lot of sliders and curveballs. His misses were close and he looked locked in. Through the first four innings the Royals only managed a harmless MJ Melendez double (off a change-up, naturally). The Twins' lineup averaged about 45 seconds per inning against Wacha, with the changeup artist eliciting early (and weak) contact that allowed him to cruise through five innings with just 69 pitches. When Twins hitters managed to survive to two strikes, Wacha threw dotted fastballs up in the zone, or his famous change-up down to strike them out. The game was tied through four and a half, but it felt like the Twins were facing a deficit the moment Miranda was thrown out at home in the first. That came to fruition in the fifth. Melendez drew a walk on a questionable 3-2 change-up right on the black. Freddy Fermin then singled the other way, and Maikel Garcia was sent up to bunt. Garcia failed at this, but when things are going well, you get a hit on the next pitch, which is exactly what happened. Garrett Hampson nearly hit a grand slam next, but it turned into a deep sacrifice fly, making the score 1-0. After walking Tommy Pham, Woods Richardson was done, with Cole Sands coming in to face Bobby Witt Jr. with the bases loaded. Somehow, Sands threw a cutter by Witt to strike him out, but he still had to face the Royals only other good hitter, the legendary Salvador Perez. He chased a cutter outside the zone, because Perez, for all his accomplishments, has no plate discipline. However, because these are the Twins, Perez hit a dribber up the third base line that somehow did not go foul as it rolled to a stop by Royce Lewis' feet. Sands got squeezed on a call to the next hitter, Michael Massey, resulting in a 3-1 count, but bounced back to retire him on a fly out to right field. Christian Vazquez got an excuse-me single to start the sixth, but Wacha pitched around it and got Miranda to hit into a double play to end the threat before he broke a sweat. After Sands pitched a quick bottom half, the Twins went even quicker with the middle of their lineup (Larnach, Wallner and Lewis) going down without any semblance of a fight. Wacha smelled blood and used his experience and surprisingly lively stuff to carve up Twins hitters desperate to make something happen. Reliever Kris Bubic pick ed up where Wacha left off, and set down Castro, Jeffers and Lee easily in the eighth. Vazquez again led off with a single in the ninth, but Julien struck out, Miranda grounded out and Larnach popped out. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Brooks Lee made a great play with Witt on second following a leadoff ninth inning double. Perez grounded up the middle, Lee smothered it and threw to third to get WItt in a rundown, where he was retired without Perez advancing to second. -The bullpen was excellent, with Sands, Alcala, and Scott Blewett stifling the Royals through the later innings, allowing just three hits. What’s Next: David Festa (2-5, 4.75 ERA) goes against the Angels' Reid Detmers (3-6, 5.87 ERA) as the Twins look to get on track against one of the few teams that have looked more pathetic than themselves recently. Detmers is a decent lefty but with good raw stuff, but has struggled this year, even spending time in the minor leagues. Festa has been pretty good since his second call to the big leagues, with an ERA in the low 3.00's and elite strikeout numbers. Postgame Interviews: (Coming Soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Blewett 43 0 0 0 19 62 Varland 59 0 0 0 0 59 Sands 0 0 0 0 30 30 Durán 0 12 0 17 0 29 Henríquez 12 0 13 0 0 25 Jax 0 13 0 8 0 21 Thielbar 0 0 19 0 0 19 Tonkin 17 0 0 0 0 17 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 11 11 View full article

With Cleveland playing better ball, and Kansas City in freefall, the Twins looked to keep pace in the Central standings. They took a brief lead against Tampa Bay and starter Jeffrey Springs, but their lineup couldn't muster much of anything the rest of the way, finishing with just four hits as the Rays scraped together just enough offense against David Festa to take game two of the series. Image courtesy of © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: David Festa: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB 7 K (90 Pitches, 57 Strikes, 63.3%) Home Runs: Carlos Santana (19) Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-.229), Willi Castro (-.211) Ryan Jeffers (-.145) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a gutty win over the Rays at the "Trop" on Labor Day, the Twins once again found themselves in second place in the AL Central, and were suddenly winners of three of their last four games (do not look up their run differential in that span). A series split with the Rays in St. Petersburg would have to be considered a minor victory, and the Twins had a chance to clinch at least that result on Tuesday. Lefty Jeffrey Springs took the mound for the Rays, in his seventh start back from Tommy John surgery. That injury was unfortunate, because before it, Springs (who had no prospect pedigree and was acquired from Boston for next to nothing in 2021) had posted a 2.26 ERA over 151 1/3 innings across 2022 and 2023. His fastball was never elite in terms of velocity, but he is averaging less than 90 MPH this year, after sitting close to 92 MPH prior to his surgery. Springs looked pretty good tonight, mixing in his slider and changeup with well-located fastballs that sat 89-93 MPH. He couldn't get a 90 MPH fastball inside enough to Carlos Santana in the second, and the Twins first baseman made him pay, demolishing that pitch 395 feet for the game's first run. David Festa opposed Springs, and looked a little wobbly with his command from the start. He did throw a scoreless first three innings, but the Rays got to him in the fourth. Junior Caminero began the inning with a single, and Josh Lowe walked. Festa got Johnny DeLuca to pop out, but Jonathan Aranda blooped a single just in front of a diving Austin Martin, who didn't appear to get a great break on the ball. Jos'e Caballero then grounded to Brooks Lee at short, and the rookie made an athletic play to cut down the speedy Lowe at home plate, who was running on contact. It was all for naught, though, as rookie catcher Logan Driscoll--making his major-league debut--rocketed a ball at Santana, and the usually sure-handed first baseman had the ball deflect off of him into right field to allow Aranda to score. Festa's best sequence may have been his last, as he struck out uber-prospect Caminero on a fastball up and in to end his evening. He began this at-bat with two sliders, two changeups, two more sliders and then the piece de resistance, a fastball with big carry that the talented Caminero had no chance on. Neither team threatened much in the middle innings, with Springs Tommy John rehab partner Drew Rasmussen taking over in the seventh and throwing fireballs at Twins hitters for two innings. Caleb Thielbar and Michael Tonkin held the Rays in check. The Twins made some noise in the ninth against Edwin Uceta. Santana led off with a single, and Edouard Julien blooped a single just over second base to put two men on for Lee. Lee looked overmatched as Uceta poured fastballs by him in different quadrants, striking him out on three pitches (with a pitch clock violation thrown in for fun). Willi Castro then struck out on a ball at his feet, and Christian Vazquez grounded out to end the game. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michale Tonkin 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Michael Helman collected his first major league hit, a grounder in the fifth that Caballero threw wildly to first on, but which the speedy Helman likely would have beaten out even with a good throw. -Tonkin gave the Twins some good work and allowed them to keep the game close in the middle innings, getting four outs and striking out two without allowing a hit. -The Twins and Rays have played to a one run result in every matchup thus far this year over five games. That's pretty weird. What’s Next: In game three of this key series, the Rays send Cole Sulser to the mound. It's unofficial, for the moment, but the Twins appear poised to counter with Louie Varland, who comes back from yet another stint in St. Paul still stretched out and starting. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Tonkin 0 37 0 0 21 58 Blewett 0 54 0 0 0 54 Jax 3 0 27 18 0 48 Durán 11 0 13 14 0 38 Thielbar 0 19 0 0 19 38 Alcalá 0 0 0 32 0 32 Sands 0 0 13 17 0 30 Henríquez 0 0 0 20 0 20 Castillo 8 0 0 0 12 20 View full article

I just started doing it when I was talking to my wife, who hadn't watched any games recently at the time. She said how is so and so doing? Who's hurt? Are x and y playing better yet? So I made the chart. The injuries are speculative, but we know Castro has been dealing with a back issue, Jeffers hurt his foot, Larnach still has turf toe, Lewis was running real gingerly a few games ago, and this allows me to track those sorts of injuries even when they don't show on any injury report. I might change the wording on performance/impact level because I don't think that is saying what I want it to..

The seventh- and eighth-best teams in the American League aren't good. There is a non-zero chance that Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, and Carlos Correa will start Game One of a playoff series. David Festa and Louie Varland can be the bullpen bridge that the team lacked in August. Buckle up. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports The Twins have been really bad for the past few weeks. Well, just for three series, really, going 2-7 against the Padres, Cardinals and Braves. It was ugly, with three of those games lost via late bullpen implosions. Homerism is punishable by law in Minnesota--I get that--but when you look at the outlook for the rest of the season, a couple of things stand out. One: the team likely won’t face much resistance in clinching at least the sixth seed in the American League. And two: the top end of this roster is nothing to sneeze at, especially if guys like Louie Varland, Chris Paddack and David Festa are put in the best position to succeed. More on that later. The threats to the Twins holding the sixth seed in the playoffs are the Red Sox, Tigers and Mariners. Of those teams, only the Tigers are playing well, and they are five games back of the Twins, only recently climbing above .500. They also have no head-to-head games against Minnesota remaining, with the Twins holding the tiebreaker. The Mariners can’t hit, and the Red Sox can’t build upon any success they have, currently a half-game ahead of the Tigers. Another reason why that four-and-a-half-game lead over Boston is bigger than it appears, is what you saw against the Blue Jays, with Toronto showing the warts of a team playing out the string. There is plenty of talent left on their roster, but with George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho available to pinch-hit in the eighth and ninth innings Sunday, none were called upon. Springer also got Friday off. It just doesn’t make sense for teams that are out of it to put their best team out there; those clubs are better off seeing what they have in their young guys. When the Twins play the Reds and Marlins in a few weeks, those teams won’t be pushing their best starter an extra inning, and guys like Elly De La Cruz and Xavier Edwards might get one of the three days off. That doesn’t mean the Twins will magically play better. It also doesn’t mean the lesser opponents they face in September are going to phone it in. But the Twins are playing for something, and those opposing managers have to be thinking of 2025 and beyond, not just winning a meaningless game in September by throwing your best reliever on a back-to-back. Additionally, while it might seem like terrible, no-good, very bad luck that Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are currently on the IL with murky return timetables, the truth is that the team doesn’t need them to make the playoffs. They probably need them to catch Cleveland, but then again, the Guardians have been terrible since the All-Star break, so who knows? The silver lining is that the later those two stars return (and it seems almost a certainty that they will at some point), the less chance they have to get another injury prior to the postseason, which could be crucial to their availability in October. Again, I’m not saying the Twins deserve the good fortune of being able to play mediocre baseball down the stretch and still limp comfortably into the playoffs, but who cares whether they deserve it? At the rate things are going, their first-round matchup may very well be Cleveland or Kansas City, with Houston just a couple of games back of Cleveland right now for the second seed and finishing their season with a series at Progressive Field. So what happens if the Twins back into the playoffs? Surely, that means that they will be totally gassed and won’t be able to do anything of note. I would push back on that argument, based on the fact that the Twins have two really good starting pitchers in Bailey Ober and Pablo López, with each capable of dominance on any given night against any given opponent. They also will likely have Buxton and Correa back. I’m not counting on either of them being in an offensive rhythm when they return, but it does seem likely that they will return and stabilize two of the most important defensive positions on the diamond, and we have seen in recent weeks just how important that can be. The most important hitters for the Twins down the stretch will be Royce Lewis, José Miranda and Matt Wallner. If each of those guys is playing decently enough that pitchers have to stick to their approach against them, anything Buxton and Correa can provide will be gravy. The Twins will also have the clutch duo of Carlos Santana and Trevor Larnach (.822 and .949 OPS in high-leverage spots, respectively); hopefully a rested Willi Castro; and maybe a little of Austin Martin and Brooks Lee. One of Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez are usually on a hot streak, as well. My point is, not everything has to go right for the lineup to be formidable in a short postseason series. If Buxton and Correa are clicking, think back to how fun June was, when the team could score six runs a game in their sleep. What about the back end of the rotation, and the bullpen? Honestly, I think this sorts itself out pretty cleanly. Simeon Woods Richardson is your third starter. He’s a gutty competitor, and when the lights are brightest, he can give you four or five innings of decent ball. He limits home runs pretty well, and keeps the team in the game almost every time out, and that is what a number three playoff starter has to do. Do I wish this was Joe Ryan, stuff and experience-wise? Sure, but temperament-wise, I like the rookie over the more mercurial, one-bloop-hit-can-really-rattle-his-cage Ryan. I also think that David Festa’s skillset plays best as a playoff relief ace--one of those guys who, when they don’t have to worry about pacing themselves, can go through a lineup once and be utterly dominant, especially against a team that hasn’t seen much of him. Imagine a scenario wherein Woods Richardson goes four innings and gives up one run, while Festa comes in and goes 2 ⅔ shutout frames to give the game to Cole Sands, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Durán. That works, at least in theory. I don’t trust Zebby Matthews as much in that spot, and he might be the best choice for fourth starter--who goes through the lineup once, if he’s needed at all. Do keep in mind that Varland has done nothing as a starter to argue against his relief résumé. His cutter and fastball jump up a couple of ticks in relief, which gives him the margin for error in his command that he just doesn’t have as a starter. He’s a relief weapon, until proven otherwise. Chris Paddack, for all his trials and tribulations, was good as a playoff reliever last year, going 3 ⅔ innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six. His return timeline is pretty similar to his timeline last year, as well. This team has a bad middle relief corps right now, but pooled together, they have enough arms to have that not be a weakness in the playoffs. As for Durán, this year just hasn’t been kind to him. He has struggled to pitch with reduced stuff, but at the end of the day, he has blown just two saves all year (one being the Edouard Julien fiasco against St. Louis) with his FIP being basically identical to last year’s 3.22. His strikeout rate is down, but so are his walk rate and his home-run rate. He’s still a good reliever, and good relievers who throw 102 with low walk rates can get hot in October in a hurry. If he ends up being a liability, which is certainly possible, then the Twins won’t go anywhere in October--simple as that. He’s a roll of the dice, but what about the other AL teams? Do Yankees fans feel great about Clay Holmes? Do Oriole fans like the idea of Craig Kimbrel or Seranthony Dominguez closing games in October? How about the Royals with, um, Lucas Erceg? Even Josh Hader of the Astros has a higher FIP than Durán, and has allowed a whopping 10 home runs this year. The Twins should be fighting for their playoff lives. But they aren’t, and have the luxury of being able to (more or less) coast to the finish line--where their top-end talent can shine its brightest. We might as well just enjoy the ride. View full article

The Twins have been leaking oil lately, but entered Sunday's rubber match with a chance to pick up a much-needed series win against the Blue Jays. Bailey Ober rebounded from his disaster against Atlanta on Monday, allowing only one hit. It seemed for a while that that hit, a home run in the first, would hold up, but Royce Lewis turned the game around. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (94 Pitches, 62 Strikes, 65.9%) Home Runs: Royce Lewis (16) Top 3 WPA: Lewis (.586), Ober (.194), Jhoan Duran (.161) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The nice thing about team sports is that losing by 15 is the same as losing by one--most of the time, anyway. In stroke play golf, losing 15 strokes means you will not win the tournament. With the Guardians, Royals and Red Sox all losing Saturday, though, the Twins' playoff prospects slightly improved, despite their own shellacking. Not only that, but losing a blowout means your best relief arms were not used. Which is all to sugarcoat the fact that this team is not playing well, and if the Red Sox were operating with any sort of functionality, the sixth playoff spot would be in serious danger. Instead, the Tigers are threatening to overtake Boston in the standings as they won their three-game weekend series at Fenway Park. The Twins received some reinforcements with rosters expanding for September. Diego Castillo returns to the bullpen, and Brooks Lee returns to shortstop, while Michael Helman had his contract purchased in the wake of Manuel Margot's injury. Castillo and Helman are depth pieces, but Lee's return means the Twins will play a pure shortstop rather than Willi Castro or Kyle Farmer. The former lacks the instincts, the latter lacks the range and arm, but Lee has shown flashes of being a B+ level shortstop. He also pushes Castro to more of a utility role, which helps with pinch-hitting and defensive replacements later in games. Today's game pitted Bailey Ober against Blue Jays rookie Yariel Roodriguez. The game started auspiciously, given Ober's most recent start, and the Twins' most recent game, with Ernie Clement taking Ober deep on a first pitch fastball up in the zone. But Ober did settle in after that, with no real threats in the Jay's lineup (Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho had the day off). Rodriguez turned some heads in the World Baseball Classic pitching for Cuba. There was a minor bidding war for his services after he became an international free agent, but what the Jays ended up getting was middling performance around a spinal injury and a brief demotion to Triple-A. He began Sunday's tilt by getting a favorable call on a 3-2 pitch to Willi Castro, then allowing a hit and two walks before retiring Royce Lewis on a warning track fly ball. Rodriguez was not long for the game, leaving after three innings in favor of career bulk pitcher, lefty Ryan Yarbrough. The last time the Jays removed a pitcher early at Target Field in favor of a lefty for unclear or dubious reasons, it did not go well for them. Today, Yarbrough started by hitting Austin Martin, who advanced to second on a grounder from Lewis. Max Kepler then popped up, and second baseman Leo Jimenez made a Derek Jeter-style diving catch, jumping into the stands with no concern for his well-being. Lee then popped out to end the threat and keep the game at 1-0. Ober coasted through much of the game, keeping the Jays off balance with a mix of his fastball and change-up. After an impressive ten pitch at-bat resulting in a walk from Nathan Lukes leading off the sixth, Lee misplayed a little soft liner from Clement to put runners at first and second with no one out. That brought back memories of a week and a half ago, where Jake Cronenworth's blooper set up Manny Machado's game-breaking homer off Ober. This time, with no borderline Hall of Famers to contend with, Ober struck out the side, two on fastballs, one on a beautiful change-up to right fielder Addison Barger. Ober did not allow a hit following the first inning home run. As it started to feel like one run would be too much to overcome for the Twins' lineup, Lewis began the seventh inning by drawing a walk. A stitched together husk of what used to be Max Kepler then struck out, bringing up Lee to face lefty Brendon Little. Lee grounded to the third baseman, Luis De Los Santos, who threw wildly trying to get the lead runner, with the ball ending up in right field. That put runners on the corners for Santana, who dribbled a ball up the third base line to score Lewis and tie the game. Castro then drew a walk, but Miranda struck out to end the frame. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. The Jays put pressure on Griffin Jax immediately in the eighth. Lukes drew a walk on a questionable 3-2 call that went Toronto's way, and Clement then smacked a single the other way, bringing up Spencer Horowitz, one of the heroes of Saturday's disemboweling. Horowitz lined out to deep center on a 3-1 pitch, and Barger drew a walk. Jax then hit Jimenez with the first pitch of the at-bat, scoring Lukes and handing the lead back to Toronto. Joey Loperfido then hit a run scoring chopper to score Clement. Jax had not allowed an earned run the entire month of August. You may have heard that the Jays' excellent closer, Jordan Romano, has been injured and ineffective this year. He remains out, but former Yankee errand-boy Chad Green has stepped into the closer role and been excellent, with a 1.61 ERA entering the day. He allowed back-to-back hits to Jeffers and Martin and got into a lengthy battle with Lewis, who fouled off some tough pitches and missed hittable ones before getting a slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and launching it just over Lukes' outstretched glove for a three-run, game-changing home run, a 60% change in win-expectancy. Jhoan Duran was then called up on to protect the newfound lead. He locked up De Los Santos with three curveball but hit backup catcher Brian Serven with a 102 MPH fastball. He then got Lukes to dribble the ball back to the mound, where Duran non-chalantly gathered and threw to first, barely retiring Lukes and prompting a challenge from the Jays' bench. The call was confirmed and Duran retired Clement to seal the desperately-needed series win. Trends: Healthy Hurt High Impact Medium Impact Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -I thought they might do it, with Carlos Santana pinch-hitting for second baseman Edouard Julien in the fifth, and they did it, switching Santana to first for Miranda, putting Miranda at third and inserting Lewis at second. It went well, with Lewis making two putouts in the seventh inning behind Cole Sands. What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.85 ERA) goes against former Twin Zack Littell (5-8, 3.89 ERA) The Rays sold off everything that wasn't nailed down this past trade deadline, but remain the Rays and have hung around the .500 Mark, a hot streak away from jumping back into contention. SWR deserved better his last time out against the Braves, and is looking to finish strong as he makes his case to be the Twins' number three starter for a potential playoff run. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Tonkin 25 0 0 37 0 62 Blewett 0 0 0 54 0 54 Thielbar 16 0 0 19 0 35 Jax 0 0 3 0 27 30 Durán 0 0 11 0 13 24 Henríquez 19 0 0 0 0 19 Sands 0 0 0 0 13 13 Alcalá 8 0 0 0 0 8 View full article

Even with a 90% or so chance of making the playoffs, the Twins have seemed to teeter on the brink of collapse, with the weight of their injuries testing their depth to its breaking point. They fought hard to get back to level in this game, but ultimately, the Braves lineup was too much for Jhoan Duran. Atlanta pulled away in the 10th. Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (91 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 60.4%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.472), Royce Lewis (-.223), Austin Martin (-.202) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Things have been rickety in Twinsland lately. The past three games I have personally recapped have been the Jorge Alcala implosion in Texas, the swan song of Steven Okert's Twins career in San Diego, and the Eddy Julien 9th inning error leading to a loss at home to St. Louis. Last night, Bailey Ober went from being very likely to receive Cy Young votes to a guy with an ERA over 4.00. Nine earned runs will do that. Now the Twins were tasked with facing a hot (and battle-tested) Braves team needing to win two in a row to take the series. Chris Sale looms in Wednesday's finale, so that would seem unlikely. But don't overlook Tuesday's starter, rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, who has been hot since the All-Star break and features premium raw stuff, hitting 98 MPH with his four seam fastball, and 95 MPH with his cutter (which is absurd compared to anyone except Emmanuel Clase). Simeon Woods Richardson took the ball for the Twins, coming off a start against the Padres in which he showed a lot of moxie. Staked to a huge lead, SWR started pumping fastballs and nothing else to the Padres hitters, and taking about three seconds between pitches. He was dancing and strutting off the mound, but even the old heads couldn't say he was disrespecting the game- he threw strikes and came right at every hitter- and he gave the Twins exactly what they needed after dropping the first two of that series. SWR looked good again tonight, at least stuff-wise. He located all three of his primary pitches and looked in control of what he was doing. After a quick first inning, he allowed the red-hot Matt Olson to lace an opposite field double on a decent enough slider. He fell behind Michael Harris II but rebounded to force a full count after six straight fastballs. He then threw a dotted slider, down and in on the black, and Harris dropped the bat head on it and lined it 424 feet. I bring up the Will Harris cutter to Howie Kendrick in the 2019 World Series a lot, because it is instructive that a pitcher can throw the absolute best pitch he can possibly throw, and if a hitter guesses right, it just won't matter. In tonight's game, it meant a 2-0 deficit. The Twins worked Schwellenbach hard, resulting in him throwing nearly 30 pitches in the first (he still struck out the side). They put runners on second and third in the second via a Carlos Santana single and Ryan Jeffers double, but Austin Martin struck out on a borderline pitch to end the threat. Matt Wallner doubled off the wall in the third, but Julien tapped out to end the frame. In the fourth, Max Kepler reached on a swinging bunt, and Santana doubled to the right field corner. Kepler is a notoriously unaggressive baserunner, but he also has been nursing a knee injury- either way he didn't score, although he was animated in discussing with third base coach Tommy Watkins afterward. Jeffers then hit a liner that deflected off of Schwellenbach's glove, high in the air and landed... right in Whit Merrifield's glove. Martin then struck out to make the inning a total waste. The baseball gods just hate me in particular, I guess. SWR's mettle was tested in the fifth. After Ramon Laureano singled, the lovely Gio Urshela flew out to right. Orlando Arcia had two painted pitches called for balls, and ended up drawing a walk, prompting SWR to start chirping a bit at the home plate umpire. He locked in on the next batter, Merrifield, who had five hits the night before. That was to SWR's detriment, as Laureano and Arcia executed a double steal. Merrifield did end up striking out, but Jorge Soler laid off some tough pitches and drew a walk, ending the night for the Twins rookie. Jorge Alcala has excelled in the fireman role this year (not as much when given a clean inning), but Marcell Ozuna jumped on the first pitch he saw and roped a single to left, doubling the lead. It's okay to hate Marcell Ozuna. The Twins got Schwellenbach up to 106 pitches, with two-out walks to Wallner and Julien ending his night. The slumping Royce Lewis jumped on the first pitch he saw from Dylan Lee, but was a hair out front and lined it foul. He ended up striking out on three pitches to end yet another threat. Caleb Boushley made his return to the big leagues in the sixth and although Harris hit a ball so hard (114 MPH) off the right field wall he couldn't even reach second, Boushley gutted his way through two innings, allowing three hits. 41-year-old Jesse Chavez was called up on to pitch the sixth and seventh innings. After a Willi Castro bloop single, Trevor Larnach lined a double that skipped past the mercurial Jared Kelenic's glove and scored Castro. The ever predictable Wallner got a (cookie) cutter on 3-1 and smacked it 105 MPH off the right field wall to score Larnach. That prompted the Braves to take the game seriously and brought in former Tigers punching bag Joe Jimenez to stop the bleeding. He wasn't successful, at least not at first. Julien worked the count to 2-2 before getting a slider from Jimenez to his liking and yanked it down the line past a diving Olson, scoring Wallner. The scuffling Lewis popped out, while Kepler and Santana followed by whiffing on sliders they knew were coming. The first two batters for the Twins the next inning were retired quickly, but Willi Castro squared a ball up and doubled to right-center, bringing up Trevor Larnach to face a new pitcher, the Braves elite closer, Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias is a change-up artist, which would seem to be a bad matchup for Larnach, and perhaps got Rocco Baldelli considering pinch hitting Jose Miranda. He stuck with Larnach, and he delivered, blooping a change-up off the plate outside that landed in front of a diving Kelenic to tie the game. After going quietly in the ninth, Ozuna greeted Jhoan Duran with a double to right-center that Kelenic misread (does this guy have any baseball instincts?) and only advanced to third on. Olson broke his bat and grounded to second, which Julien threw home on, not even coming close to nabbing Kelenic at the plate. It wouldn't matter, as Travis D'Arnaud rifled a ball up the middle to score pinch-runner Luke Williams from second, and Laureano doubled to score two more. The Twins at least brought the tying run to the plate in their half of the 10th, with Miranda and Castro collecting hits to give Larnach a chance. He delivered an RBI hit for the third at-bat in a row, this time against Pierce Johnson. That brought Wallner to the plate as the potential winning run, but he swung through two hittable pitches before striking out on a nasty curveball. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Great Fine Poor IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Caleb Boushley 📈 Stray Notes: -Kepler is out of sorts. He is usually pretty good at not chasing, but he chased outside the zone several times today trying to cheat on fastballs. -After a six pitch shut down eighth inning, Cole Sands has a WHIP of 0.97. Imagine the Twins bullpen without him this year, sheesh. -Larnach has been a curiosity in that he has hit well enough to keep his spot, but never seemed to get truly hot. To his credit, he never really slumped, either. He entered play with an .871 OPS in August, which plays pretty well. -Santana made two incredible defensive plays. The first is below: The second was even more impactful. With Griffin Jax on to hold the score at 4-4 in the ninth, Merrifield hit a one out looper that looked ticketed for right field, the exact kind of lucky, rally-starting hit that has bitten Jax in the past. Instead, Santana got a great break on the ball and made a somersaulting catch for the second out. Extension candidate? What’s Next: David Festa (2-3, 5.20 ERA) goes against NL Cy Young front-runner Chris Sale (14-3, 2.62 ERA and I advocated for acquiring him prior to 2023 but who's counting). The Twins will need to reach into their bag of tricks from the mid 2010's, when they were somehow able to solve Sale on a consistent basis. Postgame Interviews: (Coming Soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUES TOT Durán 0 16 25 0 19 60 Jax 0 19 12 0 10 41 Blewett 0 0 0 39 0 39 Alcalá 25 0 0 0 8 33 Henríquez 0 0 0 32 0 32 Sands 0 0 26 0 6 32 Boushley 0 0 0 0 32 32 Thielbar 18 0 0 0 8 26 View full article

With an important series win on the line, the Twins pitched well the entire game, and Royce Lewis delivered a key RBI double to put his team ahead in the eighth. However, a crucial error by Edouard Julien gave the Cardinals life in the ninth, and they capitalized, turning the game on its head and taking the series to go. Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (86 Pitches, 57 Strikes, 66.2%) Home Runs: Willi Castro (11) Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.658), Austin Martin (-.294), Manuel Margot (-.160) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): I was in attendance for Friday's 6-1 loss to the Cardinals, and although it was not a particularly poorly played game by the Twins, it was about as bad a viewing experience as one could get. One thing the Rocco Baldelli-led Twins have been good at, however, is bouncing back from embarrassing or gut-punch losses, and they certainly accomplished that against Sonny Gray on Saturday. With the AL Central race tightening with Cleveland's poor play and the Royals' recent surge, winning a home series against a dysfunctional Cardinals team was imperative. Zebby Matthews gave his best effort. The rookie righthander struck out six batters through three innings, showcasing his slider as a viable out pitch against both lefties and righties. He allowed leadoff singles in the second and third, but struck out Lars Nootbar on a tight slider to end the second, and got Matt Carpenter to pop out to end the third. Opposing Matthews was Erick Fedde, who had dominated the Twins in his two starts with the White Sox and was acquired for a hefty price by the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Fedde hasn't been great since switching uniforms, with his middling strikeout rate dropping to 15.8% as a Cardinal and his ERA at nearly 5.00. He began his day by trying to sneak a cutter inside to leadoff hitter Willi Castro, and Castro yanked it 417 feet onto the pavilion in right field. The Twins quieted down after that. Edouard Julien led off the third with a base hit, but Austin Martin rapped into a double play, with second baseman Brendan Donovan making a slick play to graze the base with his foot as he fired to first. Minnesota loaded the bases in the fourth, with José Miranda being hit by a pitch, followed by two-out walks to Ryan Jeffers and Carlos Santana. Manuel Margot, starting in place of the injured Max Kepler, swung through a high fastball to end the threat. Matthews was cruising for a while. After a 1-2-3 fourth inning, he got two quick outs in the fifth, bringing up rookie center fielder Victor Scott II. Scott is fast and looks good in center, but he was hitting .219 in Triple A, and .147 in the majors. He took a hack at a Matthews's slider, which the fellow rookie left up in the zone, and demolished it--to everyone's surprise, including Scott's. It looked kind of like a golfer who had been hitting their driver in the woods all day, so they just decide to swing as hard as they can and somehow it ends up right down the middle. Meanwhile, Fedde was really settling in, and benefiting from a fairly wide strike zone. He used his sinker to induce ground balls, while Twins hitters were happy to pop up and/or get jammed on his cutter. He left a few offspeed and breaking pitches in the zone, but only when the Twins hitter was looking for the sinker or cutter. It was a really nice performance for the former first-round pick, who ended up having his first taste of success in Korea, and who began the year pitching for (perhaps) the worst team in history. He then gets traded to one of the more respected franchises in sports, only for them to immediately free-fall out of contention. The Twins were certainly happy to see him exit the game following the sixth. Andrew Kittredge, who has had closing experience with some good Rays teams of recent memory, allowed one-out singles to Margot and Julien, putting runners on the corners with one out. Martin has been swinging it well lately (.346/.414/.462 line in August), but quickly grounded into his second double play of the day. After a strong two scoreless innings from Cole Sands, the Twins turned to Griffin Jax for the eighth, who struck out two in a brief 1-2-3 inning. That's well and good, but it likely means that the Twins will be without Sands, Duran and Jax for the first game of the Atlanta series, so expect a lot of Jorge Alcalá and Caleb Thielbar. Facing an effective lefty reliever in JoJo Romero in the eighth, Castro started the frame with a walk. Royce Lewis was called upon to pinch hit for Trevor Larnach and wasted no time, crushing an 0-1 change-up 107 MPH into the left-center gap to score Castro and regain the lead. After a fly ball from Miranda that moved Lewis to third, the Twins had a golden opportunity to add some insurance. Kyle Famer was called to pinch-hit for Matt Wallner, and the Cardinals countered by bringing in a right-hander, Shawn Armstrong. This decision could be questioned, since Wallner has been hitting, and Romero had been struggling. Instead, you have a cold Farmer facing a fresh Armstrong with a key run on third. Famer ended up popping out on one pitch, and Ryan Jeffers then grounded out to end the threat. Jhoan Duran came out for the ninth, and started by striking out Carpenter on a 99-MPH fastball. Then the fun started. Nolan Arenado singled off of Julien's glove, and Donovan tapped a two-hopper to Julien in the next at-bat. Going for the force out at second, Julien threw wide. The ball sailed into left field, putting runners at second and third with just one out. Facing Tommy Pham, Duran buried two splitters to get ahead in the count, and locked Pham up with a curveball right down Broadway. It was an extraordinary recovery, in an at-bat where one could have made a fine case for just issuing a free pass. Nootbar would not be so kind. He swung at a first pitch splitter up in the zone and bounced it through the hole the other way to score both baserunners, flipping the game and giving the Cardinals the lead. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Great Fine Poor IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📈 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Trevor Richards 📉 Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 What’s Next: Bailey Ober (12-5, 3.54 ERA), looks to bounce back from a frustrating outing against San Diego, in which he was pinpoint and dominant until Manny Machado hit a two-run home run that tied the game. Ober will face Atlanta's Max Fried (7-7, 3.57 ERA), who has had a great career but has struggled with injuries in his final year before he enters free agency. and carries a 6.10 ERA for August. The Braves have been beset by an abnormal amount of injuries this year, and that has caused their performance to crater, though they remain in playoff position. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Richards 0 0 44 0 0 44 Durán 0 0 0 16 25 41 Sands 15 0 0 0 26 41 Thielbar 17 0 18 0 0 35 Jax 0 0 0 19 12 31 Alcalá 0 0 25 0 0 25 Henríquez 17 0 0 0 0 17 Blewett 0 13 0 0 0 13 View full article

The Twins feasted off of former Twin Martín Pérez, but some baserunning mistakes and the soft underbelly of the Twins' middle relief corps cost them, as the Padres scored six late-inning runs to secure the series win. Image courtesy of © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (83 Pitches, 56 Strikes, 67.4%) Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (20) Bottom 3 WPA: Steven Okert (-.721), Ober (-.160), José Miranda (-.147) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): In what felt like a blink of an eye, a four-game winning streak and a four-run lead in Texas Sunday became a two-game losing streak. As opposed to the dysfunctional Rangers, Tuesday's opponent was the red-hot San Diego Padres, who authored the second half of what the Twins hoped would be only a miniature backslide. On the plus side, Bailey Ober was starting for the Twins, and he has been outrageous since June, with the changeup becoming a signature pitch for the massive righty. Opposing Ober was Martín Pérez, an enigmatic relic from the Bomba Squad days. Pérez has periodically been good for a handful of teams throughout his career, and was periodically good in this game, as well. The Twins started quietly, with the first five batters being retired in order without much hard contact to speak of. Similarly, Ober started efficiently, retiring the first five hitters in 18 pitches. Wünderkind Jackson Merrill (Is it me or does his batting stance look exactly like Freddie Freeman's?), who almost singlehandedly won the game and ruined Zebby Matthews Day on Monday, managed to lace a two-out double into the gap, and scored on a grounder up the middle from veteran David Peralta. The Twins appeared to counter quickly, with Max Kepler and Austin Martin starting the third inning with singles. Manuel Margot was not told (or chose to ignore it, if he was; let's assume the former, for everyone's sake) to bunt, and that decision was certainly defensible, but he grounded into an easy double play to kill whatever rally there was. They capitalized, instead, in the fourth. Following a leadoff double from Carlos Santana, Pérez left a cutter in the middle of the plate that Ryan Jeffers demolished for his 20th home run. Meanwhile, Ober was lulling the Padres to sleep. He relied on his usual routine of coaxing soft enough contact early in counts that Padres hitters were caught in between jumping on pitches early in counts and hitting medium-deep fly balls, or working the count and risking the wrath of his wipeout change. This one, in particular, made on-base machine Jurickson Profar look like a blindfolded Chris Parmelee: The top of the fifth began the same way as the top of the third, and the results were almost as disastrous. With Kepler and Martin aboard and no outs, Margot again chose (or was told) not to bunt, but this time singled to left (and all the analytics nerds went wild). That brought up Royce Lewis to face Pérez (.386 BAA the third time through the order). Lewis delivered a sacrifice fly to score Kepler. Martin aggressively took third, and the ball got away from Manny Machado at third. Martin tried to score, but he was thrown out easily, putting a damper on another rally that was extinguished when Santana grounded out to end the frame. The bottom of the seventh saw Jake Cronenworth open the frame with a bloop double placed perfectly between Miranda and Matt Wallner, in left. That portended doom, with Machado stepping to the plate, and the six-time All-Star did not disappoint his home crowd, launching a no-doubter to left-center to tie the game at 3-3 and end Ober's night. Ober's command was sharp all night, but his 0-1 cutter to Machado was middle-middle. The Twins got right back to work in the next half-inning against the prize of the trade deadline, lefty reliever Tanner Scott. Lewis led off with a single off the glove of shortstop Tyler Wade, Santana laced a hard single to left, and Jeffers smoked a single up the middle. That brought up Miranda, who popped out after being reprimanded by home plate umpire Malachi Moore for protesting a check-swing call. No matter, as Christian Vázquez pinch-hit and stroked a single to left to score Lewis and Santana. Jeffers was thrown out at third on an incredible play by left fielder Profar, who delivered an accurate throw while running toward the left field stands at top speed. So instead of one out and runners at second and third, it was two outs and a runner at second. Willi Castro then attempted to bunt and was thrown out easily to end the inning. The two-run rejoinder should have given the Twins and their fans a lot of confidence going into the bottom of the eighth, but these Padres haven't exactly been rolling over when behind late in games. The legend Donovan Solano led off as a pinch-hitter against Steven Okert, who took over for Griffin Jax, and hit a sharp single on an 0-2 pitch. The even more legendary Luis Arráez flipped a single to left, and just like that, the segment of the lineup that had made Okert an appealing choice for Rocco Baldelli had slipped by without an out being recorded. Profar, who had struck out three times against Ober, golfed a go-ahead three-run homer faster than you could say Kody Funderburk. Okert actually produced a worse WPA in this game than Jorge Alcalá posted Sunday, at -.721. For the season, Okert sits at -1.82. The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against Robert Suarez to end it. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Great Fine Poor IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📉 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📈 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Trevor Richards 📈 Caleb Thielbar 📈 Steven Okert 📉 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Stray Notes: -Miranda is hitting a lot of balls on the ground, and although he managed a single in the sixth, he was picked off of first base. That was one of three key outs on the bases -Jeffers joins an exclusive club of 20-homer Twins catchers. Mitch Garver, Joe Mauer and Earl Battey are the only other members. What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (4-3, 3.77 ERA), faces knuckleballer Matt Waldron (7-10, 4.29 ERA) trying to salvage the series. Waldron has been a godsend for the Padres, posting 138 solid innings for a rotation that has been decimated by injuries thus far. Waldron doesn't just throw knucklers, although that pitch does constitute 39% of his pitches. It will be interesting to see the Twins' approach against a pitch that no one else in the majors throws in a very important game. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Richards 0 0 13 27 0 40 Jax 19 0 9 0 10 38 Henríquez 0 27 0 0 10 37 Alcalá 0 9 19 0 0 28 Sands 18 9 0 0 0 27 Thielbar 18 0 0 9 0 27 Okert 8 0 0 0 19 27 Durán 13 0 6 0 0 19 View full article

The Twins have not excelled on getaway days this year. Sadly, Sunday's tilt proved no exception, despite knocking former Twin Tyler Mahle out of the game after the third inning. Jorge Alcalá did not have it, and although Carlos Santana once again brought his team back with a late-inning home run, his misplay at first base allowed the Rangers to walk it off in the 10th. Image courtesy of © Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo López: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (107 Pitches, 66.3%) Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (19), Carlos Santana (18) Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Alcalá (-.686), José Miranda (-.247), Matt Wallner (-.108) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a three-game span in which the Twins insisted on kicking the defending champs while they were down, they were greeted in the fourth game of the series by old friend (or perhaps nemesis?) Tyler Mahle, making his third start of the year since returning from a UCL tear suffered while pitching for the Twins. That part went well for the Twins, at least. Mahle only made nine starts for the Twins after being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline. I normally would never blame an individual for the injuries they suffer, especially pitchers. However, with Mahle, it was reported that he didn't do the shoulder strengthening exercises prescribed to him during the 2022 stretch run, and his insistence that he was "fine" despite throwing his fastball in the mid-80s (he sat in mid-90s at his healthy best) certainly rubbed me and many Twins fans the wrong way. Despite all that, he performed pretty well for the Twins, posting a 3.64 ERA. So it was a little cathartic to see Mahle throw quite a few fastballs at 88-89 MPH, while facing the Twins in a game that could vault Minnesota to within a game of Cleveland for the division lead. Rocco Baldelli stacked right-handers against Mahle, who has reverse splits for his career, and following a strikeout by leadoff man Willi Castro, José Miranda rifled an 89-MPH fastball just over left fielder Wyatt Langford's glove for a triple. He would score on a Trevor Larnach double, before Ryan Jeffers jumped on a 90-MPH fastball at the top of the zone and deposited it in the bullpen from a 21-degree launch angle (translation: he hit a 2-iron). The balls put in play in the first inning in terms of exit velocity: 105, 110, 105, 92, and 103 MPH. How was Mahle feeling? He'll never tell. Besides his fastball, his split-changeup had very little action, and he only threw his slider six times, all taken for balls. Meanwhile, Pablo López was sweating through multiple jerseys trying to keep the under-performing but powerful Rangers lineup off the board. Marcus Semien greeted López with a soft single, and all-world shortstop Corey Seager struck out on a perfectly placed sinker. A single, fly-out and a walk loaded the bases for one of the stars of last year's playoffs, Josh Jung. But Jung flew out weakly to end the threat. López threw 31 pitches in the first inning, all told. He issued a leadoff walk to Langford in the second, but stranded him at third base, with Semien popping out to end the frame. He entered the third inning with over 50 pitches thrown, and at that point almost largely abandoned his sweeper in favor of his curveball. He started allowing more contact, but none of it was damaging, and López got through the third and fourth innings efficiently. His fastball had good life and velocity all day, sitting at 95-96 and hitting 98 MPH on occasion. Mahle allowed an RBI single to Jeffers in the third, and following an inning-ending double play from the suddenly cold Matt Wallner, Mahle's afternoon was over, as Armando Garabito took over to start the fourth. The Twins had a hard time adjusting to the live arm of Garabito, who had previously started games for the Rangers, and went scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. López usually struggles when hitters can eliminate his sweeper from consideration, and it looked like his luck might run out in the fifth, with Semien singling to start the frame, bringing up Seager, who rarely lets a pitcher get him out three times in a row. He took some prodigious hacks on Lopez's best velocity of the day, but ultimately got jammed on an inside fastball, softly lining a ball up the middle. López initially tried to snag it, but pulled his glove down just in time, allowing Castro to field the ball on the bounce, right at second base, and relay to first for an easy double play. I was thinking that Baldelli might pull López before the sixth, but with no off day until Thursday, they tried to squeeze another inning out of him. Adolis García greeted him with a screaming liner off the wall in left. He then hit Nathaniel Lowe on an 0-2 pitch. López was allowed to face Jung, who rapped into what was initially called a double play, but was overturned on review. Langford then flew out weakly, bringing up the hot-hitting Carson Kelly. With the count 2-2, the Twins' ace threw a 97-MPH fastball by Kelly on his 107th pitch, somehow completing six scoreless innings despite oodles of traffic and a 3/3 strikeout/walk ratio. It's a good thing the Rangers were scoreless to that point, because Jorge Alcalá's afternoon started with a single to the nine-hole hitter, Leody Taveras, then a ringing double off the bat of Semien, followed by another sharp double from Seager. After retiring Josh Smith on a fly ball, Alcalá tried to sneak a 2-0 fastball up and away to García, who pummeled it 389 feet to tie the game in the blink of an eye. After striking out Lowe on a nice changeup, Alcalá again got too much of the plate, this time to the always-hacking Jung, who smashed a 1-2 fastball 420 feet to give the Rangers the lead. It didn't look good, with the Rangers having the dominant David Robertson and Kirby Yates available to close the game out. Robertson, for his part, pitched a shutdown eighth inning, but Yates, after taking the loss in Thursday's game, gave up a mammoth home run to Carlos Santana to tie the game at five. It was the first blown save of the season for Yates, and approximately the 17th time this year Santana has brought his team back from the dead in the late innings. Griffin Jax came on to pitch the ninth. For a moment, it looked like Garcia hit a walk-off home run with two outs, but he was just a hair out front on a changeup, and flew out to the warning track in left. Facing lefty Andrew Chafin in the 10th, Castro advanced the zombie runner, Edouard Julien, to third, but Miranda grounded into the drawn in infield and Julien was retired at home plate. Christian Vázquez then pinch hit for Larnach and struck out, handing the Rangers a golden opportunity to walk it off. Jhoan Durán was called upon for the fourth time in five days, and predictably, he did not have his A stuff, sitting 98-99 MPH with his fastball. He did strike out Lowe swinging for the first out, but then Jung hit a tapper to Miranda that evoked some memories of the 2004 ALCS in which Alex Rodríguez swatted away a ball that was in pitcher Bronson Arroyo's glove as he covered first. In that case, the play was called an out, but today Santana caught the ball and made a swipe tag of Jung. Unlike A-Rod, Jung did not make any sort of swatting motion, but the ball was jarred loose by his body and the ball trickled away, allowing García to score the winning run. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Great Fine Poor IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📉 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📈 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Trevor Richards 📈 Caleb Thielbar 📈 Steven Okert 📉 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Stray Notes: -Willi Castro has been dealing with some sort of back issue in recent weeks, and appeared to aggravate his injury beating out an infield single in the third. He was checked out by trainers in the dugout but remained in the game. -After stealing a crucial base against closer Kirby Yates in game one of the series, Wallner timed up Garabito and stole second again without a throw in the sixth. Wallner's sprint speed is decent (27.2 MPH) and I wonder if he has taken some pointers from Carlos Santana, who seems to really enjoy opportunistic base-stealing. What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-0, 3.60 ERA) faces Michael King (10-6, 3.19 ERA) as the Twins head to San Diego to take on the surging Padres. Those Padres have the game's best record since the All-Star break, and are putting a scare into the perennially great Dodgers in the NL West division. King is a converted reliever having a lot of success now that he has been given a chance to start, quite similar to the Royals' Seth Lugo. Matthews makes his second career start after delivering an impressive performance against the Royals last Tuesday. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Durán 22 18 13 0 6 59 Alcalá 0 20 0 9 19 48 Richards 33 0 0 0 13 46 Jax 0 15 19 0 9 43 Sands 0 0 18 9 0 27 Henríquez 0 0 0 27 0 27 Okert 15 0 8 0 0 23 Thielbar 0 0 18 0 0 18 View full article