Hans Birkeland

Coming off a tough loss in the middle game of a three game set in Detroit, the Twins got a gem from Bailey Ober, who coasted through a depleted Tigers lineup, allowing one hit in eight innings to give the Twins a win in both the series and the season series against Detroit. Image courtesy of © Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K (98 Pitches, 65 Strikes, 66.3%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Ober (.471), Matt Wallner (.101), Manuel Margot (.091) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a "scheduled" loss against the magnificent Tarik Skubal, the Twins embarked on a rubber game featuring the surging Bailey Ober, against the dregs of the Detroit Tigers bullpen. Of course, the Tigers are feisty, as indicated by them winning the season series in 2023, and by them splitting the series so far in 2024. The afternoon started off with the first two Twins batters reaching. However, the second of those was José Miranda, fresh off the IL, and he took a 95-MPH shot to his head from Tigers opening pitcher Alex Faedo. It was gruesome in real time, but Miranda did walk off the field under his own power and passed initial concussion tests. The Twins let Faedo off the hook by not scoring that inning, and the son of former Twins first-round pick Lenny Faedo likely was pleased with his outing. He was asked to pitch to Manuel Margot to start the second, and Margot greeted him with a sharp single. Faedo then gave way to lefty Easton Lucas, who wasn't able to retire Max Kepler. Brooks Lee nearly hit a three-run home run, but instead settled for a sacrifice fly to make the game 1-0. Ober was cruising, even in the context of facing a mediocre lineup without its two best hitters in a cavernous ballpark. After a 12-pitch first inning, he needed only six pitches to complete the second, 11 for the third and 12 for the fourth. His changeup looked filthy, and played well off of his cutter. The fastball sat at 91-92 MPH, but with good location. At some points, it seemed like Ober could throw anywhere in the zone and Tigers hitters would not be able to square the ball up enough to do any damage in massive Comerica Park. There were quite a few 350 foot fly outs to center field. The Twins added another run in the third, with Carlos Santana bringing in Willi Castro with another sacrifice fly against Kenta Maeda. It was sort of nice to see Maeda have some success, though. The sac fly by Santana was charged to Lucas, and Maeda ended up completing four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out three, with his fastball sitting 91-92 MPH. The Tigers sent Maeda out for a fifth inning, and that's when he ran out of gas. Castro led off with a single, and Austin Martin, who replaced Miranda in the first, rocketed a ball to left field on which left fielder Ryan Vilade made a leaping catch. Wallner then tested Vilade again, but this time with a liner more toward the gap in left center. The ball hopped off the wall and easily scored Castro from first. Ober had to work a little harder as the outing progressed, with Tigers hitters adjusting to try and work counts, but he still didn't allow a Detroit runner into scoring position. He struck out the side in the eighth inning, and ended upon getting 12 whiffs on his changeup while throwing it a total of 31 times. The Tigers brought their closer, Jason Foley, into the game in the ninth behind 3-0. Christian Vazquez greeted him with a single up the middle, and Castro walked. Martin doubled into the gap to bring home Vazquez, and Foley's day was done. Royce Lewis pinch hit for Wallner with lefty Andrew Chafin coming in, and was intentionally walked. The struggling Ryan Jeffers then blooped a single to left to score Castro on a first pitch slider to make the score 5-0, surely making Baldelli ponder the idea of letting Ober finish the game. 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 Ober's pitch count at 98, Baldelli made the rational decision to pull his starter and let Caleb Thielbar finish the win. The Good: -Ober was amazing. His changeup has looked like an elite pitch for a while now and his command was exceptional. -Castro had three hits plus a walk and survived getting decked by Wallner as they grappled for a foul flyout to end the sixth. -Margot had three hits, all off righties. The Bad: -Ryan Jeffers looks completely out of whack, striking out on three pitches multiple times. He does have a foot injury but its not listed on any injury report. This looks like to me like one of those classic instances of a player saying he's fine until the season ends and then he explains his poor stats by saying he was hurt the whole year. -You have to feel bad for Miranda. After going through his shoulder injury last year and falling out of the Twins' plans, he resurfaces and becomes arguably the teams best hitter only to have his back injury stall his momentum. And now we wait to see how his brain recovers from today's hit by pitch. What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.27 ERA) goes against the team that drafted him, the New York Mets, as they counter with lefty José Quintana (5-6, 4.02 ERA) to start the series in Queens on Monday. The Mets have been on a fast-food mascot inspired tear lately, and are in playoff position, so they will not be rolling over for anyone. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Thielbar 22 0 16 0 25 63 Staumont 0 0 17 21 0 38 Durán 10 0 0 0 0 10 Stewart 17 0 0 18 0 35 Okert 14 0 0 21 0 35 Jax 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The Twins and Brewers always play each other tough, and coming off a back-and-forth 12-inning game Saturday, Sunday's game did not disappoint, with several lead changes and dramatic home runs. In the end it was a late home run off the bat of journeyman catcher Eric Haase that proved the difference as the Brewers completed the two-game sweep. Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (88 Pitches, 65 Strikes, 73.9%) Home Runs: Byron Buxton 2 (11), Trevor Larnach (10) Bottom 3 WPA: Caleb Thielbar (-.311), Ryan (-.160), Manuel Margot (-.147) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The Twins began the second half of the season with a disheartening extra-inning loss to the Brewers, getting thoroughly out-executed despite some late-inning heroics from Carlos Santana and Diego Castillo. After a brief rain delay, the Brewers turned to recent Twins punching bag Aaron Civale opposing Joe Ryan. Ryan cruised early as he sought to put his history of poor second halves behind him, hitting 95 MPH with his fastball and getting whiffs and strikeouts with his sweeper along the way. Civale immediately gave up a ringing double to Willi Castro, but the Twins leadoff hitter got greedy and was thrown out trying to stretch for a triple. That inning ended quietly from there, but the second inning was anything but, despite zero hits being recorded. Max Kepler and Santana led off the frame with walks, and with two outs Edouard Julien drew another walk on a 3-2 pitch that appeared to clip the zone. Civale then induced a soft liner up the middle from Christian Vazquez, but stud fielder Bryce Turang inexplicably tried to get Julien at second instead of throwing to first to retire the slow-footed Vazquez. The feed was wide, and two runners scored on the play. Ryan continued to roll along, but perhaps forgot that Brewers catcher Eric Haase is a notorious Twins killer, as he obliterated a middle-middle sweeper from Ryan to cut the lead in half. Byron Buxton brought the lead back to two in the third. After being fooled by a breaking ball away, Civale threw a backup slider that stayed inside and Buxton demolished it 411 feet. That was an extra good sign as it was Buxton's first hit since he had missed a few games with an elbow injury. Ryan ran into trouble in the fifth. After a Rhys Hoskins bloop single, Garret Mitchell laid down a perfect bunt with one out, bringing up wunderkind Jackson Chourio. The 20 year-old Chourio didn't chase on a couple of close pitches and eventually got a 2-2 fastball thigh high that he roped into the left center gap, scoring two. Haase wasn't done, either, as he tapped a ground ball up the middle that ticked off Castro's glove into center field to score Chourio and give the Brewers the lead. That would not hold, as following a leadoff walk to Castro, the never streaking (never hot, never cold, just .740 OPS) Trevor Larnach jumped all over a hanging curveball to take the lead back. Ryan could have conceivably gone out to start the seventh, but with a one-run lead the Twins opted to turn to Jorge Alcala. The problem was that Chourio led off the inning, and he jumped on a 1-0 fastball and pummeled it 443 feet to tie the game, Alcala's first allowed this year. After the Twins threatened but did not score in the seventh, Hoskins made Griffin Jax pay for a hittable fastball ahead 0-2 and crushed it for a two-run home run to give the Brewers a 7-5 lead. The Twins had a golden opportunity to claw back in the eighth. Facing hard-throwing reliever Elvis Peguero, Brooks Lee led off with a single, Matt Wallner singled, and Julien drew a walk. But Manuel Margot flew out while Castro and Jeffers struck out to extinguish the threat. The Good: Buxton is going to need to carry this offense with Miranda, Correa and Lewis out, and it looks like he is up to the challenge. Ryan pitched well, but made two key mistakes to Haase and Chourio that tarnished his final pitching line. The Bad: Austin Martin has been piling up strikeouts in both games post All-Star break, struggling to make contact on breaking balls away. There is a reason why Detroit stopped playing Castro at shortstop. He is serviceable there, but he doesn't transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing arm particularly quickly, leading to a couple of Brewers hits in the series. He also could have smothered Haase's hit in the fifth and prevented a run. He did reach base four times, however. Every Twins reliever gave up a home run. What’s Next: Bailey Ober (8-5, 4.14 ERA) goes against Phillies All-Star left-hander Ranger Suarez (10-4, 2.76 ERA) as the Twins host the Phillies for a three game set starting Monday. Philadelphia boasts the best record in baseball, with a dominant rotation and star-studded lineup that has gotten healthier lately, welcoming back Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto in the past few weeks. Postgame Interviews: (Coming Soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Sands 0 0 0 10 0 10 Jax 0 0 0 14 15 29 Durán 0 0 0 12 0 12 Staumont 0 0 0 20 0 20 Alcalá 0 0 0 17 16 33 Henriquez 0 0 0 0 0 0 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 16 16 Okert 0 0 0 11 0 11 View full article

The suddenly depleted Twins looked dead on arrival against a resurgent Blake Snell. Although their pitching kept the game close, the lineup was a few bats short. They made some noise in the ninth, briefly tying the game, but the Giants immediately walked it off on a triple from Mike Yastrzemski and a decisive error. Image courtesy of © D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Chris Paddack : 5 IP 5 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K (90 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 65.5%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Durán (-.368) Willi Castro (-.220), Brooks Lee (-.152) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Fresh off a wild victory in game two of the series, the short-handed Twins entered Sunday's rubber match with a lot of discouragement for a team that had won six series in a row, with a chance for seven. José Miranda has turned into a lineup force but is on the IL now with back soreness. Byron Buxton is having an incredible resurgence, but is out for the second day in row with elbow soreness resulting from a crash into the center field wall at Oracle Park on Friday. Worst of all, news came out on Sunday that Carlos Correa now has plantar fasciitis in his other foot. With Royce Lewis already on the IL, the Twins were left without their top four right-handed hitters going against reigning Cy Young winning lefty, Blake Snell. Snell got a late start to the year, as teams balked at his asking price. He has incredible stuff (last year's Cy was his second) featuring an electric change-up and curveball, but doesn't pitch deep into games and does not give in to hitters, preferring to walk them over throwing something hittable to get back into the count. His walk rate and overall efficiency suffer for this and teams were thus leery of investing 200M in him. The Giants ended up giving him a two year deal March 19th with an opt out after the first year and with no spring training, he has struggled, with a 7.85 ERA entering play and two IL stints. The Twins stood no chance early on, as Snell was perfect through four innings. Twins hitters tried to sit on Snell's fastball, but the velocity on that pitch was in the 96-97 MPH range with good carry, and induced quite a few whiffs. Opposing Snell was Chris Paddack making his second start since his IL stint for shoulder fatigue. His command looked decent early on but the velocity of his fastball sat in the 92 MPH range, dipping down to 89-90 MPH at various points. Hitters were able to be patient and lay off Paddack's change-up when thrown out of the zone. The Twins defense was responsible for the first Giants run in the second inning. With one out, and on Michael Conforto on first, Matt Chapman rolled over on a pitch and grounded to shortstop Willi Castro. The feed and relay were crisp, but the usually solid Carlos Santana dropped the ball at first, allowing Chapman to reach. After a walk to Mike Yastrzemski, the ice cold Thairo Estrada jumped on a first pitch slider from Paddack and singled sharply to left, bringing home Chapman. The Giants added another in the third. After Lamonte Wade Jr. crushed a one out double off an elevated change-up, Patrick Bailey jumped on the first pitch, another elevated change-up, and blooped a single to score Wade and double the lead. Outside of that, Paddack stayed out of the middle of the zone and was able to get enough weak contact to keep the Twins in the game. Meanwhile Snell was on cruise control, keeping a low pitch count and not walking a single Twin. That part was surprising given Snell's track record, but he also did not allow an exit velocity over 100 MPH his entire outing, which is more on brand. Also part of Snell's brand is a propensity to struggle the third time through a lineup (famously held against Snell in game six of the 2020 World Series), and Manuel Margot looped a single to left to lead off the seventh inning, ending Snell's chance at a perfecto. No rally ensured, however, as Willi Castro quickly grounded into a tailor-made double play. The Twins went down quietly against reliever Tyler Rogers in the eighth, but the game changed in the ninth against flame-throwing closer Camilo Doval. New 40-man addition Diego Castillo led off with a walk, and pinch-hitter Trevor Larnach then roped a double down the right field line. Matt Wallner struck out, but Margot launched a ball into the left-center field gap to score both runs and tie the game. The Good times would not last, however, as four pitches into Jhoan Duran's outing in the bottom of the ninth, Yastrzemski drove a ball into the gap that Margot dove on and missed, allowing Yastrzemski to reach third. Lee's throw to third was unnecessary and bad, ending up in the dugout and giving Yastrzemski another base, ending the game. The Good: -Paddack's command -Jorge Alcala continues to excel in a fireman role, retiring Estrada with runners on second and third in the sixth. -Margot hasn't been bad in quite a while, and woke everyone up with his double in the ninth. The Bad: -Paddack's velocity -Steven Okert has had an up and down year, and today gave up a walk and a double to the two lefties he faced in the sixth. -Brooks Lee was hitless in the series, had a bad at-bat with the go-ahead run on second in the ninth, and then made the error that lost the game in the bottom of the ninth. He's a rookie; it happens. What’s Next: Willi Castro and (maybe) Carlos Correa represent the Twin at the All-Star game, held on Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Twins will get an extra day off and resume the season on Saturday at home against Milwaukee, The starters will presumably be Pablo Lopez (8-7, 5.11 ERA) facing Freddy Peralta (6-5, 4.11 ERA). Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Sands 28 0 0 16 0 44 Jax 18 0 0 13 8 39 Durán 10 0 0 16 4 30 Staumont 0 0 22 0 5 27 Alcalá 11 0 0 7 2 20 Funderburk 0 0 17 0 0 17 Thielbar 0 0 14 0 12 26 Okert 9 0 0 0 18 27 View full article

After some captivating baseball in the first two games of the series, the rubber match featured some good pitching, bad baserunning and another multiple hit game for Brooks Lee. And all three runs were driven in by Christian Vázquez, with one of those being the result of a walk-off home run off of Josh Hader. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 6 IP 3 H 2 ER 2 BB 4 K (88 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 67%) Home Runs: Christian Vázquez (4) Top 3 WPA: Vázquez (.353), Matt Wallner (.143), Jhoan Durán (.136) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): After a chippy first two games of the series against the red-hot Astros, the Twins turned to Houston native Simeon Woods Richardson as they hoped to win two of three for the fifth series in a row. Woods Richardson has seen middling results lately, with hitters punishing his change-up in particular. Spencer Arrighetti took the ball for Houston, a rookie with a good strikeout rate and not much else. Woods Richardson looked pretty good, stuff-wise. After an easy first inning, however, the patient Astros laid off numerous chaneg-ups and sliders on the corners that were called balls in the second. After a Jon Singleton single, SWR walked Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick. A sacrifice fly followed for the first run, and then SWR made his only true mistake of the inning, an elevated change-up to Jose Altuve, and that's been an automatic hit for the second baseman for about 12 years. Jeremy Pena was retired quickly afterward, limiting the damage. The Twins had trouble stringing together hits against Arrighetti, but had consistent traffic throughout the day. A scary moment occurred when the Houston rookie lost his grip on a fastball and hit Carlos Correa on the hand (because of course it hit his hand). Correa exited the game but X-rays were negative. In the second, Byron Buxton, who is hitting in the .270's these days, rolled a single through the right side and then the newly-recalled Matt Wallner worked a ten pitch at-bat that ended in a walk, fouling off some high fastballs we are all used to him swinging through in the past. Christian Vázquez then looped a single over (definitely not his listed 6'0") Alex Bregman's head to cut the lead in half. Vázquez wasn't done. After a Jose Altuve error (later changed to a base hit) allowed Brooks Lee to reach, Wallner scorched a 117 MPH line drive into the right-center gap to put runners on the corners with no outs. Vázquez grounded to Bregman, who probably could have started a traditional double play as he threw to second to retire Wallner. But Altuve threw home to try to cut down the advancing Lee, who would have been out by several steps had catcher Cesar Salazar held on to the throw, but he instead dropped the ball three separate times as Lee slid in to tie the game. Vazquez then was caught too far off first base for some reason so that two outs were, in fact, recorded on the play. SWR continued to command the ball well, and got several quick pop outs in the middle innings to extend his outing, generally just by pumping fastball after fastball in good locations. He retired 13 in a row to end his day. He only allowed three hits to one of the hottest offenses in baseball over the past month, albeit one without Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. Jose Miranda didn't start the day following the conclusion of his historic hitting streak, but was called up on to pinch hit for Farmer in the seventh and promptly lined a sharp single to left. He then got a great jump off of reliever Bryan Abreu but had a poor slide and was thrown out stealing, courtesy of a seed from Salazar. 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 Astros led off the top of the eighth with a double from folk hero Joey Loperfido, but even with Altuve, Pena and Bregman coming up, they could not get a hit against Griffin Jax. Altuve was caught looking at a 3-2 fastball and Bregman swung through a beautiful sweeper to end the frame. The Twins then led off their half with a walk from Kepler, and an infield hit from Buxton. Lee then rolled a ball up the middle that Pena made a great play on, taking it himself to retire Buxton and firing to first to nab Lee for the double play. Manuel Margot then grounded out to end the threat. After a nice inning from Jhoan Duran, at least stuff-wise, Vázquez led off the bottom of the ninth against all-world closer Josh Hader. Naturally, he drove in his third run of the game with a walk-off bomb into the flower beds in left field; a thrilling end to a great series against a hot opponent. The Good: -SWR had a good combination of stuff and command. His fastball reached 95 MPH and he had very few misses over the plate. -Josh Staumont has pretty pedestrian underlying numbers, but has hit 99 MPH in his last outing, and hit 101 MPH today. I can't think of any other pitcher with Thoracic Outlet Surgery who has recovered this well. I can't even think of anyone who lasted more than a couple of years in the league after that surgery. -Wallner only got two plate appearances, but both were excellent in quality. -Vázquez has been taking more competitive at-bats lately, and was rewarded for it today. The Bad: -Correa may not have broken a bone, but a deep bruise could easily still result in a few days off, or even an IL stint, which is exactly what happened in 2022 when Royce Lewis was first called up. Lee did move over to shortstop in the eighth after Miranda pinch-hit for Farmer. What’s Next: Chris Paddack (5-3, 5.29 ERA) starts the first of a three game set in Chicago opposing Chris Flexen (2-7, 5.08). Chicago, you may have heard, is pretty bad this year. Flexen was once a good number four starter for the Mariners, but has played for several teams since then and hasn't been the same. Paddack had a difficult last few starts, and was placed on the IL with shoulder fatigue, which may have just been a way to give him a break and limit his innings. Facing a bad offense like the White Sox might be the perfect confidence boost. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Funderburk 37 0 26 0 0 63 Winder 0 0 43 0 0 43 Sands 0 14 0 28 0 42 Alcalá 0 0 24 2 0 26 Thielbar 9 0 0 9 0 18 Jax 0 0 0 0 16 16 Durán 0 0 0 0 22 22 Staumont 13 0 0 0 9 22 Okert 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The Twins have been winning their rubber matches lately, but they certainly made it difficult today. Depending on your point of view, five to seven Mariners hitters reached due to Twins misplays, but Trevor Larnach crushed the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the bullpen held on for the hard-fought win. Image courtesy of © John Froschauer-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB 10 K (99 Pitches, 73 Strikes, 73.7%) Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (8) Top 3 WPA: Larnach (.400), Ryan (.135), Austin Martin (.102) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): With an offense that has been clicking in June, and some improvement on the pitching side lately, the Twins looked to triple-up on their road series winning formula of lose-win-win against Luis Castillo and the Mariners. Joe Ryan has been the Twins' most reliable starter in 2024, but he took the ball coming off of a rocky outing against the Diamondbacks. In that appearance, Ryan gave up four runs in the first two innings, then looked dominant over the last four, at one point retiring 13 batters in a row. He also antagonized Joc Pederson by giving him the crane pose after striking him out, for no apparent reason (perhaps they are the same fantasy football league?). Today started quite a bit better, despite a misplay by second baseman Austin Martin in the first putting runners on the corners with one out in the first. Ryan pitched around that trouble by striking out Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley, featuring some dotted fastballs. Following a leadoff single from star leadoff hitter Willi Castro and subsequent stolen base, the snakebit Trevor Larnach finally found some good fortune and blooped a single to center to score the game´s first run. Castillo tends to struggle in the first inning, and Larnach has had some success against him, with a big triple last summer. In the second, Ryan, who entered todayś game with one hit batter all year, hit both Mitch Garver (who had to exit the game, forfeiting Seattle's DH) and Ty France, but he struck out Dylan Moore on a splitter and then got J.P. Crawford to fly out lazily to end the threat. The fourth started with a Raley ringing double, but Ryan recovered again by striking out the pitcher Castillo (who wasn't swinging), Jorge Polanco and Ty France. This all proved pretty important because Castillo was pitching well after generally struggling in June to this point. His fastball was hitting 97, and the Twins were not putting good swings on his slider. That is, until the fifth, when following a Max Kepler scratch single, Martin jumped on a hanger and nearly hit it out to left-center field, instead settling for an RBI double to double the score. After a Christian Vazquez sacrifice bunt, Castro struck out, which brought up the blistering-hot Jose Miranda, who worked the count full before delivering a flare single to left for the game's third run. 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 bottom of the fifth was one of the weirdest half innings I have ever seen. It began with a sharp triple off the bat of Moore, just out of the reach of Buxton's outstretched glove (who smartly did not dive). Crawford then lined a ball to Kepler in right field, which fooled Moore into coming off the base, and he was unable to tag up and score. Rojas then grounded back to Ryan, who tried a play I have not seen since I once executed it as a poor fielding little league pitcher- throwing home on a comebacker with the runner not breaking home, and Vazquez was unable to retire the batter at first on the relay. The fun didn't stop there. Rodriguez hit a ball back to Ryan again, who bobbled the ball and was unable to retire Moore at home (after review- it was initially called an out). Raleigh then lifted a fly ball to Buxton, who lost the ball in the sun and allowed the Seattle catcher to reach, but without a run scoring. Raley then grounded to Martin at second, but Carlos Santana dove for it, and Ryan didn't cover first, allowing the second run to score. To Ryan's credit, he bounced back to strike out pinch-hitter Ryan Bliss, and then got Polanco to pop out. Somehow, the Twins still had the lead after Ryan, if you really think about it, got seven outs in the inning. After the Twins went quietly in the top of the sixth, Ryan got the first two batters and was then lifted for the struggling Caleb Thielbar. Thielbar was squeezed on a couple of pitches but ultimately walked the first two batters, Crawford and Rojas, that he faced. Mercifully, Rodriguez's line drive found Santana's glove for the final out. They wouldn't be so fortunate in the seventh. After Raley singled following a ten pitch at-bat with Steven Okert, he avoided a double play by running on a ground ball off the bat of Victor Robles. Polanco then launched a 3-0 fastball from Cole Sands over Kepler's head in right for a long single, bringing in the tying run. The game wouldn't be tied for long. After a Miranda one out single, Larnach demolished a Ryne Stanek change-up 406 feet to make the score 5-3. Clinging to that two run lead, the Twins chose to go to Kody Funderburk in the eighth over Josh Staumont. With Crawford and Rojas the first two batters up, the choice was defensible. It looked even better once he retired them and Rodriguez easily on weak ground balls. Jhoan Duran pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. The Good: -Ryan had great stuff despite his and his teammates fielding deficiencies. Seattle's lineup isn't that formidable with Rodriguez slumping, but it was still encouraging. -Miranda is stinging the ball all over the place. The leap we were hoping for last year has certainly arrived. -It's really nice to see Charlie Brown Larnach get rewarded for his good contact. The Bad: -Despite his protest, Lewis is not dictating his at-bats and is in a 1-23 slide. He may need to be reminded that even the greats have slumps. Yes, even Derek Jeter. He did make two excellent fielding plays. -The rest of the team's fielding was atrocious. Ryan made three mistakes in the fifth inning alone, Martin booted a grounder, Buxton lost a ball, and Vazquez went 0-3 cutting down stolen base attempts. What’s Next: The Twins have an off day Monday, then return home to face Cy Young front-runner Tarik Skubal (9-3, 2.32 ERA) on Tuesday. Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.41 ERA) goes for the Twins as they face the Tigers for the first time since they were on death's door in April (a loss to Detroit made them 7-13 on April 21st). Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Alcalá 0 0 10 21 0 31 Jax 0 0 25 13 0 38 Okert 19 0 0 17 16 52 Funderburk 0 34 0 0 10 44 Sands 0 9 5 0 15 29 Thielbar 0 19 0 0 16 35 Durán 3 0 15 0 19 37 Staumont 5 0 0 0 0 5 View full article

Honestly, what is their deal? And why do they keep beating teams with twice as much talent? Image courtesy of © David Richard-USA TODAY Sports Have you ever played tennis against someone just one step worse than you? Not saying you’re Roger Federer and they’re Jerry’s tennis instructor on Seinfeld, but y’know, you have a real stroke to your shots, you can put some top spin on them, maybe you took some lessons at some point. And your opponent is just running around trying their best to block the ball back to you, using a racket they bought in 2006. Anybody who’s played knows what happens: your good shots get returned back to you, and you keep hitting good shots back until you make a mistake. You lock in and start trying to hit winners back since nothing that's being hit to you is hard to get to, at all. You get one in, you feel vindicated. This is gonna be a breeze. The next shot you hit is just out. You hit another good one, but your opponent just gets to it and is able to lob it back to you. You try an overhand smash and it goes right into the net. You lose the match, or set, or whatever you’re playing. You tried your best, but you just made too many mistakes. It happens; tennis can be a random game sometimes. But the pain isn’t over. Your opponent doesn’t interpret the results that way. They beat you, which means that in their mind, they are a better tennis player than you. Au contraire, you say! You try to explain why your own mistakes caused the result, but that sure sounds like sour grapes. You then think, I can explain this by focusing on my opponent. They can’t say they’re a better tennis player than you when their serve goes 45 MPH. Again, sour grapes, and a little vindicating to your opponent, who now thinks they dominate the mental game. But it’s true! You know its true! You put the time in to become an okay tennis player. They didn’t! Maybe it doesn’t matter who’s better. Maybe we just need to enjoy the game and stop trying to evaluate the games of you and your friends like you’re trying out for Wimbledon. But you’re not trying out for anything. You’re just a fan of the Minnesota Twins watching the Cleveland Guardians tap the ball back to you, their old-timey pluckiness and outsized confidence sucking all the joy you gain from sports, while kicking you repeatedly in the balls and making you doubt your soundness of mind, as the events play out like some George Will fanfiction: “Of course the Twins choice to insert their closer into the eighth inning would backfire, as our hero José "the Prizefighter" Ramírez steps to the plate. They said the shift rule would never need to be enforced, but they never met Carlos Correa.” I mean look, the Guardians have holes all throughout their lineup; their second-best starter has a torn UCL; and their best starter is out for the year for a torn UCL. Their best young pitcher has a torn UCL. Their best fielders don’t play premium defensive positions. They still don’t have much hitting in the outfield. Their center fielder is a shortstop just pretending. But they know how to beat teams with more talent than them. As I write this, Cleveland has just beaten the mighty Orioles 10-8, after their starting pitcher went three innings and allowed six runs. Last year, the talent disparity almost felt a little closer than it does now, considering Shane Bieber was available the whole year. Naturally, the Guardians won the season series and put a scare into the Twins long after the division should have been decided. The year before that, they won four or five games against Emilio Pagán alone. And that was before the Twins lost 19 players (approx.) to season-ending injuries. (It’s quite the opposite of the Twins’ parlays with the Yankees over the years, in which it is pretty clear, in most years, that the Yankees are in another class of talent. But the Yankees don’t play tennis; they play Calvinball or something.) It’s like when Homer Simpson rises to the top of the boxing world because his skull is so thick that everyone gets tired trying to knock him out. The Guardians keep fouling pitches off, extending innings and making nice defensive plays until they look up and the Twins haven’t scored a run in seven innings, and Will Brennan’s two-run tapper down the line in the fifth has won them the game. The Boxcar Twins fall again. Is it fair? It’s more than fair; the Guardians are operating with about $40 million less in payroll than the Twins have. Is it good for baseball? Besides José Ramírez’s contract depressing third base salaries for a generation, I’d say it's nice to have a different fundamental approach to the game than most other teams. The fact that they are actually successful means we may get another Michael Lewis book out of the deal. It's fun to see a powerful team like the Orioles or Yankees succumb to death by a thousand paper cuts. If I wasn't a Twins fan, Minnesota-Cleveland matchups would be the absolute best, in terms of pure baseball content. Power versus singles hitters. Athletic Specimen versus 5'7" Kinda Chubby Guy. Two goofy brothers versus three first overall picks. Is it good baseball? It’s incredible baseball. It's a football team winning entirely because of special teams and turnovers. It's a little blue-collar. It’s Seve Ballesteros combined with Robert Horry. It will make little sense, until we can start quantifying Confidence+ on Fangraphs. Furthermore, the rise of sports betting has created a certain arrogance in certainty that the Guardians fly in the face of. What passes for analysis these days is saying “Looking at the National League this year, there are thirteen teams that are close to the playoff picture, but it's the top six in the standings that have really impressed thus far.” Teams like the Guardians screw up that recent-results-based calculus, making betting experts and even MLB Network goons have to consider, “well, they are the Guardians.” That’s beautiful. It would be even prettier if it stayed the [redacted] away from me and my own favorite team. View full article

The Twins bullpen got a nice day off on Saturday, with Bailey Ober pitching his first career complete game. Pablo López decided to extend that vacation (except for Griffin Jax) coming off one of the worst stretches of his career, striking out 14 across eight shutout innings. Byron Buxton had a homer and an RBI double to fuel the offense. Image courtesy of © D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo López: 8 IP 2 H 0 ER 1 BB 14 K (102 Pitches, 68 Strikes, 66.6%) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (5) Top 3 WPA: López (.473), Buxton (.169), Willi Castro (.056) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Coming off a brutal stretch that saw his ERA swell to 5.66, Pablo López was approaching the point where some uncomfortable discussions would need to be had if he couldn't bounce back and deliver an encouraging start against the A's on Sunday. Pitchers with that kind of (lack of) run prevention over 15 starts are either cooked, injured or not that good, no matter what their underlying metrics would indicate. López came out like a man eager to prove that he was healthy, obviously in his prime and still really good, starting by emphasizing his fastball heavily in the first inning. It looked good sitting at 94-96 MPH, and he appeared to command it pretty well. The A's were clearly hoping to hit some sweepers and changeups, as the run value of those pitches has come in at the third and fourth percentile, respectively, thus far this year. López and Christian Vázquez responded by mixing in some sinkers and curveballs to keep the A's off-balance. He was tentative with the changeup at first, throwing them for chase pitches while he tried to gain a feel for the pitch. He ended up striking out seven of the nine batters he faced in the first three innings. It would improve in depth and the conviction it was thrown with as the outing went along. 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. Opposite López was lefty Hogan Harris, who got off to a shaky start against the Twins' lefty-mashing lineup. Manuel Margot led off with a sharp single, Carlos Correa was hit by a pitch, and Royce Lewis lifted a hanging curveball to deep left field. Fortunately for Harris, the fly ball was caught at the wall by Miguel Andujar, the former Yankee slugger who now multiple teams have tried to hide defensively. Andujar then made a heads-up throw to third base to nab a tagging Margot, and all of a sudden there were two outs and just a lone baserunner. However in the second, Harris wasn't able to escape throwing a flat fastball on the outside edge of the plate to Byron Buxton, as Buxton torched it 112 MPH over the left field wall for a solo shot. Harris settled in after that, setting down the next ten batters by commanding his 93 fastball at all corners of the zone. The Twins were close to barreling him up, but were just off much of the time, resulting in quite a few medium-deep fly balls. Harris was able to play his curveball and his slider off of each other to decent effect, whereas he entered the game with his slider being pummeled thus far. By the fifth inning, López was starting to feel some confidence in his changeup, starting off All-Star DH Brent Rooker in the fifth with a right-on-right change for a strike, and then finishing Rooker off with another changeup down and in. He carried a perfect game into the sixth, and struck out the first two batters with challenge fastballs. Lawrence Butler then jumped on a first pitch curveball and lined a clean single to right, ending the perfecto and the no-hitter. In a one run game, Max Schuemann then inexplicably bunted back to López for the third out. The Twins were finally able to add on in the seventh. After Carlos Santana waited back on a fastball and punched it back through the right side for a leadoff single, Willi Castro blooped a ball off his hands into center field, with Santana aggressively taking the extra base and reaching third when J.J. Bleday bobbled the ball, Buxton then delivered his second RBI of the day, rifling a slider into the left-center gap for a double that scored Santana and left with Twins with runners on second and third and nobody out. Kyle Farmer then grounded a ball up the middle, and second baseman Zach Geloff smartly threw to third base to nab an advancing Buxton. it did appear that third baseman Tyler Nevin obstructed the base as Buxton slid in, but after conferring, the umpire crew decided the out call would stand. The third run did score on the play. López fell behind in a few more counts in the seventh and eighth innings, but was able to make enough quality pitches to emerge unscathed before Griffin Jax took over in the ninth. The Good: -López pitched as angry as I have ever seen him. it reminded me of the episode of the Simpsons where Ned Flanders gets mad and cusses out the whole town. I half expected him to tell Rooker, ¨I don´t know you but I´m sure you´re a jerk" after he struck him out with 97 MPH down the middle in the seventh. The Bad: -Kyle Farmer made another out on the bases, ending the rally in the seventh by getting thrown out attempting to steal second, his fifth caught stealing of the year in eight tries. -Lewis was due a bad game, and went 0-4 while striking out on a pitch at his eyes in the eighth. What’s Next: Joe Ryan (5-5, 3.13 ERA) goes against Brandon Pfaadt (3-6, 4.37 ERA) as the Twins begin a series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. Ryan looks to build on his case for his first All-Star selection, while Pfaadt, who was a highly touted prospect and started games in the World Series last year, looks to get his season going after some middling results thus far. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Alcalá 20 0 16 0 0 36 Durán 10 0 19 0 0 29 Sands 23 20 0 0 0 43 Okert 19 15 0 0 0 34 Staumont 32 0 0 0 0 32 Jax 0 20 0 0 15 35 Funderburk 0 0 22 0 0 22 Thielbar 0 14 0 0 0 14 View full article

Following Saturday's rainout, the Twins immediately went to work against a team designed to lose. Bailey Ober showed a lot of encouraging signs and ended up pitching deep in the game, and Carlos Correa showed no signs of slowing down, clobbering two of the team's four home runs in a solid win. Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (96 Pitches, 64 Strikes, 66.6%) Home Runs: Carlos Correa 2 (8), Royce Lewis (6), Carlos Santana (11) Top 3 WPA: Ober (.220), Correa (.213), Lewis (.073) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): It's been quite a homestand for the Twins thus far, featuring the triumphant return of Louie Varland; (perhaps) the end of Caleb Thielbar; the Buxton-Correa-Lewis trio clicking for the first time.. ever; Flo Rida; and an overall record of five wins in six games. After Saturday's game was rained out, the Twins turned to the scuffling Bailey Ober in game one of a Fathers Day twinbill. Ober seemed to be on the cusp of settling into one of his patented grooves in his last start, until Henry Davis and Andrew McCutchen wore him down with two outs in the fifth, seeing 17 combined pitches with each batter walking. Bryan Reynolds and Connor Joe made Ober pay, ruining his pitching line for the day. This, after he pitched his guts out in New York, beaten only because of a jam shot off the bat of Aaron Judge. Ober started the day well, spotting a fastball that has proven more hittable this year. It was consistently 93 MPH, and his changeup looked as good as it has been this year, even to righties. Overall, the change accounted for four of his eight strikeouts, with eight whiffs on that pitch alone. He cruised the first time through the lineup, but then faced the visitors' best hitter, old friend Brent Rooker, in the third with two men on. This time, Ober did what he couldn't in Pittsburgh, dotting a change-up below Rooker's bat to end the threat. Also unlike in Pittsburgh, the defense made some excellent plays behind him. Opposing Ober was A's lefty J.P. Sears, a really nice number four starter they acquired for the husk of Frankie Montas at the 2022 trade deadline. However, in a change from the rest of the post-COVID Twins teams, this one can hit lefties. The resurgent Manuel Margot drew a tough walk to start the game against Sears, and then Carlos Correa unloaded on a high fastball for a two-run home run that surprised no one, given how unconscious Correa has been since that fateful tweet from a certain former-beat-reporter-turned-columnist whose distance from the center of things is starting to show. 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. And then Royce Lewis did something even less surprising, homering on the first pitch to the overhang in right field. Correa wasn't done, though, as he back-legged a sweeper from Sears in the fourth 408 feet for his third hit of the day, making the game 4-0. And with Ober in his biggest pickle of the day in the sixth, Correa made the unassisted double play off a hot ground ball from Soderstrom to preserve the shutout and hopefully give his starter something to build off of. After Daz Cameron spoiled Ober's quest for a seven inning shut out by hammering an elevated change-up to make the score 4-1, Carlos Santana provided the insurance with a home run off lefty Brady Basso. Jorge Alcala pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings before giving away to Cole Sands to finish off the win. The Good: -Correa's dominance is great, but for me as a fan of Larry David, the spite aspect of his "raking" makes it even better. -Ober was not at his absolute best, but reversed a few trends in this start. He finished hitters off, as his eight strikeouts attest, and his changeup was a weapon.. until the last one he threw to Daz Cameron. -Of Alcala's 22 pitches, 17 were strikes. Considering how high-octane his stuff is, that's real nice. The Bad: -Not a lot of bad stuff here, but Kyle Farmer made another out on the bases, which you would like to see less of. -Sands struggled after he attempted to make an acrobatic play on a ball hit off of his body to start the ninth. After allowing two hits and a walk, Jhoan Duran was summoned in a 6-2 game to get the final out. What’s Next: Chris Paddack (5-3, 4.79 ERA) opposes Joey Estes (2-2, 4.78 ERA) as the Twins look to sweep the doubleheader and the series. Estes is a 22-year-old right-hander who has held his own thus far in his career, but features below-average fastball velocity and was the eleventh ranked prospect in Oakland's fairly weak farm system entering the year. Paddack was much better against Colorado last time out, and his velocity has been on the rise since he battled a dead arm period a few weeks ago. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Sands 0 0 25 0 27 52 Jax 0 19 23 0 0 42 Thielbar 22 0 0 0 0 22 Durán 16 0 20 0 9 45 Staumont 0 0 15 0 0 15 Alcalá 10 13 0 0 22 45 Jackson 22 0 0 0 0 22 Okert 18 0 0 0 0 18 View full article

What began as a 3-0 lead for the Twins against one of the more promising young starters in baseball, quickly turned into a brutal war of attrition after an impressive fifth inning rally bounced Bailey Ober from the game. Twins batters were hit by five pitches and finally broke through in the tenth with seven runs off soon-to-be former Pirates reliever Ben Heller. Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 4 2/3 IP 7 H 4 ER 2 BB 5 K (85 Pitches, 57 Strikes, 67%) Home Runs: (None) Top 3 WPA: Manuel Margot (.241), Royce Lewis (.150), Jhoan Duran (.143) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Riding the roller coaster of the 2024 Twins, we've hit the fourth or fifth low point, with the offense having its water completely shut off over the past week. The starting pitching performances, after a rough go-around in New York, have been excellent in the series against Pittsburgh thus far, yet the losing streak stands at five. Today, the Twins turned to Bailey Ober and his suddenly-hittable fastball, while the Pirates countered with flamethrowing rookie Jared Jones. Things couldn't have begun better, despite Rocco Baldelli inexplicably turning to Carlos Santana in the leadoff spot. Against a righty, against whom the switch-hitter has a .639 OPS. Predictably, Santana made the first out, but that was followed by a hard hit single by Trevor Larnach after falling behind 0-2, a ringing single from Carlos Correa that a Connor Joe error in left turned into a two base hit, and a Max Kepler walk to load the bases. Jose Miranda worked an excellent at-bat that resulted in a walk, and Alex Kirilloff grounded out to drive in the second run. Perhaps making up for some of the abhorrent calls made against the Twins in Saturday's game, a foul ball off the bat of Byron Buxton was then ruled a passed ball, allowing Kepler to score the third run. Ober, meanwhile, pitched fairly well. locating his fastball with velocities up to 94 MPH, and throwing his change-up and cutter equally as much as the heater. He left a few cutters towards the middle of the plate, but the power deficient Pirates could only manage a few singles and a Rowdy Tellez double in the early going, resulting in one run. Correa made all three outs in the third, making an incredible stop and bounce throw on this grounder from Henry Davis, nearly making an equally great stop on a ball up the middle from Andrew McCutchen, and then taking the double play himself on a shot up the middle from Bryan Reynolds. Jones seemed to make an adjustment starting in the second inning, relying heavily on his changeup and getting into a rhythm versus a Twins team whose game plan seemed to be to jump on Jones early in counts, since has essentially been a fastball-slider pitcher thus far in his career. The changeup emphasis put the Twins hitters just a bit off balance, and were held scoreless in innings two through five, despite putting traffic on the bases in every inning. Ober cruised through four innings and got two quick outs in the fifth. But Davis and McCutchen worked excellent at-bats, seeing 17 pitches between them and refusing to chase as they each walked. Reynolds lined a double into the corner to score Davis, and Connor Joe then tripled to the gap to score two more runs, chasing Ober from the game. It's hard to fault Ober for not giving in to Davis and McCutchen, but at a certain point you have the get the third strike and the third out, and as good as Ober has looked at times this year, that has been a pain point for him. The Twins quickly tied the game back up, capitalizing on some wildness from reliever Kyle Nicholas, who issued a single to Jeffers, hit Willie Castro with a pitch, threw a wild pitch and walked Santana. Royce Lewis was called upon to pinch hit for Larnach, and hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Jeffers. After a Correa walk, Kepler grounded out weakly against lefty Justin Bruihl to end the threat. After a few quick innings, the Pirates brought in Aroldis Chapman to start the ninth. With the score still 4-4. Lewis launched a 98 MPH fastball into the left-center gap for a double. Correa did everything in his power to hit a ball to the right side of the field, but ended up popping out in that direction. Kepler lined a ball to center that old friend Michael A. Taylor made a nice read on, and Miranda flied out to end the scoring chance. After a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth from Jhoan Duran, Manuel Margot led off the tenth (only the second extra innings game of the year for the Twins) with a triple to the gap in right-center to score ghost runner Kyle Farmer. Pirates reliever Ben Heller then drilled Buxton in the back and allowed him to steal second. Jeffers then worked an excellent ten pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk, bringing up Castro with the bases loaded. Castro was hit by a pitch, his second of the game and fourth time he had been hit in the series. Going back to last year's series against the Pirates, where Matt Wallner earned the nickname "Cement-Bones," Pirates pitching has hit Twins hitters approximately 700 times the past two years. Santana then broke through with a two-run double, Correa added a two-run single and Kepler a run scoring single to break the game open. Not to be outdone, Heller then hit Kyle Farmer for his third of the inning. Given that the Twins scored seven runs and none of the hit-by-pitches resulted in injury, I have never been happier seeing a man's career end, as he has no reason to remain a big league pitcher. The Good: -Correa took smart at-bats, roped two hard hit singles and made several great defensive plays. -Lewis still can do no wrong, with a crucial RBI and a leadoff double in the ninth. -Cole Sands, Thielbar, Griffin Jax, Jorge Alcala and Jhoan Duran all pitched scoreless appearances, and all looked good doing so. The Bad: -Ober was good to start, but his inability to finish off innings and hitters bit him badly. Both rallies by the Pirates came with two outs already recorded. -Santana can provide value to a team at this stage in his career, since he can hit lefties and play a great first base. The Twins are not putting him in a good position to maximize that value right now. What’s Next: Chris Paddack (4-3, 5.26 ERA) will try and bounce back against righty Dakota Hudson (2-7, 5.25 ERA) as the Twins return home to face one of the sorrier teams in the National League, the Colorado Rockies. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Alcalá 0 30 0 12 17 59 Staumont 20 19 0 0 10 49 Castillo 32 0 0 11 0 43 Jax 0 0 19 0 24 43 Sands 0 16 0 0 19 35 Durán 0 0 0 19 15 34 Thielbar 0 12 0 0 2 14 Okert 12 0 0 0 0 12 View full article

I wasn't finished. Roughned Odor, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, Mike Ford, Andrew Velasquez, Jay Bruce, Estevan Florial, Gary Sanchez, Josh Donaldson, Thairo Estrada, Erik Kratz, and frequently DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres. Ask any Yankees fan, the problem with the team since 2019 has been the lack of lineup depth behind Judge. They scored under 700 runs last year. They are doing better this year because the role players are hitting a little better in addition to Soto being Soto, but mainly they are pitching their brains out.

No offense but have you been alive the past 3-4 years? Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Oswaldo Cabrera, Franchy Cordero, Jose Trevino, Aaron Hicks, IKF, Billy McKinney, Greg Allen, Kyle Higashioka, Harrison Bader, Oswald Peraza, Joey Gallo, Marwin Gonzalez, Miguel Andujar and Tim Locastro would like a word

I'm not into whataboutism, but bad pitch sequencing led to all three Houston runs

Fair, definitely something I debated. Looking back it feels like he wasn't bunting on his own, and if so he did his job.

Facing the team that ended their 2023 playoff run, the Twins battled the Astros in a game that was tight from the start on Lou Gehrig Day. Through a lot of high-leverage moments, it was José Miranda who proved to be the difference, driving in the tying and winning runs. Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (66 Pitches, 45 Strikes, 68.2%) Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (6), José Miranda (6) Top 3 WPA: Miranda (.368), Jhoan Durán (.199), Steven Okert (.145) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): After being humbled in Joe Ryan's worst start of the year, losing the middle game of the three-game series in Houston 5-2, the Twins sent out rookie Simeon Woods Richardson, hoping to complete a 5-2 road trip. It was a homecoming for the Sugarland, Tex. native, and he looked good, striking out Alex Bregman and Jeremy Pena in a solid first inning. Opposing Woods Richardson was attempted Justin Verlander clone, Hunter Brown. Brown doesn't draw as many JV comparisons these days, and in fact, has altered his pitch mix since stumbling down the stretch last year and coming out of the gates as one of the worst starters in MLB this year. He has implemented a sinker in an attempt to neutralize right-handed hitters (who entered Sunday's game with a .910 OPS against Brown). That would prove to be a good adjustment, but in the early going, it was the Twins' left-handed hitters who did damage to Brown, beginning with Trevor Larnach hitting a leadoff homer on a cutter left middle-in. Another lefty fighting to not be demoted upon the return of Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, hit a hanging sinker from Brown off the fence in right-center in the second inning to score Willi Castro from first, making the game (briefly) 2-0. That lead would be cut in half when Victor Caratini hit a changeup from Woods Richardson on an 0-2 count into the right-field stands. The stuff looked good from the rookie, but Houston's experience and baseball IQ were better. Woods Richardson threw three consecutive changeups before Caratini's homer, and with a man on an inning later, he tried to flip a first-pitch curveball to Alex Bregman. Bregman was expecting just that, and obliterated the pitch beyond the Crawford boxes to make the score 3-2. Brown started to settle into a rhythm following the Kirilloff double, establishing his sinker and allowing zero hits or walks from Twins righties through four innings. The pitch hit 97 MPH and was complemented well by his splitter and curveball. In Kirilloff's second at-bat, Brown didn't even go to the fastball, throwing two splitters in the zone to get ahead 0-2, and then getting Kirilloff to swing through a curveball to strike him out. Woods Richardson kept the score where it was, but with the off day Monday, he was not allowed to pitch to the Houston lineup a third time, finishing with 66 pitches. Caleb Thielbar came in and was able to retire Kyle Tucker and Bregman to complete the fifth 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. Brown nearly got through his outing with six innings and only two runs allowed, but Miranda had other ideas, demolishing a four-seamer on the upper outside corner 406 feet to tie the game at three. The Astros attempted to rally against Jorge Alcalá in the seventh. After Caratini launched a ball that Byron Buxton made a leaping catch on, he allowed a walk and a bunt single to bring up Tucker. Steven Okert relieved Alcalá and got Tucker to pop out. Bregman singled, but Okert threw some excellent pitches to Alvarez before inducing a weak flyout to retire the side. The Twins immediately pounced on the opportunity. Larnach took five balls (one called strike was not close) to draw a walk leading off the inning against Ryan Pressly. Jeffers bunted to advance pinch runner Manuel Margot to second, which would have been a very questionable decision had Miranda not stepped to the plate and ripped a double to give the Twins a 4-3 lead. Max Kepler lined out, and Buxton came about five feet from hitting a ball off the Crawford boxes, with Alvarez catching the fly ball to end the threat. Griffin Jax and Jhoan Durán both pitched 1-2-3 innings to seal the victory. The Good: -Woods Richardson threw well, but poor pitch sequencing led to all of the runs against him. Still, he showed good composure and his fastball registered as fast as 95 MPH. -Larnach, Miranda and Kirilloff, all potential roster casualties upon Lewis's return, had good at-bats and all drove in runs with authority. -Steven Okert, who has given up a couple of big hits thus far in 2024, retired both Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez in a key spot in the seventh. The Bad: -Ryan Jeffers did not record any hits, and his pitch calling led to three Houston runs. -Thielbar just can't get Alvarez out, as he scorched a single 110 MPH off of him to lead off the sixth. What’s Next: Bailey Ober (5-1, 3.02 ERA not against the Royals, 5-3, 4.89 ERA overall) faces former Twins farmhand Luis Gil (7-1, 1.99 ERA) as the Twins open a series in New York on Tuesday. The Yankees swept the Twins at Target Field in May, and are playing quite well, easily leading MLB in runs allowed despite losing Gerrit Cole to start the year, with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto more than making up for a lack of lineup depth. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Castillo 29 0 0 34 0 63 Durán 0 20 0 0 17 37 Sands 18 0 13 0 0 31 Alcalá 0 13 0 0 19 32 Jax 0 10 0 0 14 24 Staumont 0 0 0 10 0 10 Okert 8 0 10 0 16 34 Thielbar 0 12 0 0 9 21 View full article

Riding a four-game winning streak after stealing Saturday's game late, the Twins couldn't stretch that string through the weekend. Pablo López was shelled, with Rangers slugger Corey Seager leading the charge. Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo López: 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (92 Pitches, 60 Strikes, 65.2%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: López (-.265), Edouard Julien (-.077), José Miranda (-.069) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The vibes were good after Saturday's come-from-behind victory over the defending champion Rangers. The winning streak had reached four, and today's pitching matchup certainly favored the Twins, as staff ace Pablo López faced career minor-leaguer Gerson Garabito, who was making his major-league debut. Could they complete the sweep and establish positive momentum going into a series with the surprisingly good Royals? López started strong, striking out Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia in the first on elevated fastballs; the one to Garcia registered 96 MPH. He then pitched a 1-2-3 second, with another strikeout added in. Things shifted in the third. After two fairly easy outs, Lopez battled with leadoff hitter Marcus Semien, an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. That brought up Seager, who demolished a López curveball (to the tune of a 109-MPH exit velocity) to make the score 2-0. Seager has been hot since his brutal start to the season (.631 OPS in April), and he would not be done. López's fourth inning was even worse, his changeup being hit particularly hard. Following a hit-by-pitch to García, López allowed two sharp singles and a double en route to the Rangers doubling their lead. Home runs gave way to a series of base hits last outing, as well. Garabito looked decent early, flashing a plus slider and working around some shaky command to put up a couple of zeroes. He walked three through his first three innings, but did not allow a hit, with no Twin able to register an exit velocity 100 MPH or greater. Carlos Correa and Max Kepler changed that storyline quickly to start the fourth, with Correa singling and Kepler nearly homering (18/30 ballparks) to make the game 4-1. After two outs, Garabito walked Carlos Santana, and his day was done. Normally, getting into a weak Texas bullpen in the fourth inning would be considered a good sign, but Jonathan Hernandez retired the slumping Edouard Julien to end the threat. Seager rendered Kepler's double meaningless by jumping on López's first pitch to start the fifth and launching it into the right-field pavilion. A double and two outs later, López was done. He did not get a single whiff on non-fastballs all afternoon. The Twins attempted to mount rallies against the underbelly of Texas's struggling bullpen, but managed only a run before José Leclerc was brought in. Leclerc has struggled this year, but was nails in the playoffs last year, and his slider remains elite. He pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the win. The Good: -Kepler and Correa are doing damage in the middle of the order right now, putting up quality at-bats and not missing their pitch. -Bullpen whipping boy Jorge Alcalá threw well, his slider looking sharp at 92 MPH and his fastball reaching 99 MPH. Seems like a weapon to me, but what do I know? -Josh Staumont struck out Seager with a 98-MPH sinker. Maybe there have been advances in Thoracic Outlet Surgery, because generally, velocity and command do not return to those who have undergone the procedure. Staumont never had much command, so if his velo is back, his signing is a steal for the Twins, who have him under team control for two years after this one. The Bad: -López needs to be perfect with his fastball command if his secondaries are going to be as hittable as they were today. The Twins also may want to review film to see if he is tipping his non-fastballs. -Julien is scuffling badly, striking out in the zone, or rolling over and hitting grounders to the right side. It may be time to let him work through these struggles in the minors, with Miranda hitting well, and Royce Lewis (as well as Brooks Lee) on the mend. -Miranda made errors in consecutive innings, neither of them particularly pretty. What’s Next: Joe Ryan (3-3, 3.15 ERA) goes against Alec Marsh (4-1, 2.74 ERA) as the Twins open a four game series against a confident Royals squad, currently at 14 games above .500. Marsh was a second round pick of the Royals, and never had good minor league numbers, but nonetheless represents a developmental success story for a team with very few of those. Postgame Interviews: Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Thielbar 15 0 12 0 0 27 Jax 6 0 10 0 0 16 Durán 15 0 15 8 0 38 Okert 14 0 5 0 0 19 Staumont 0 0 0 0 19 19 Funderburk 14 0 0 25 19 58 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 38 38 Sands 0 0 0 22 0 22 View full article