Nate Palmer

The beginning premise was that Pham is an option if the Twins spend big money on Correa or other SS or a starting pitcher. If this is the only move, I agree that would be very disappointing.

I just saw 1 yr, $6MM floated. Considering how big a problem hitting LHP was last season, duplicating Garlick's ability to hit LHP seems like a good thing.

A bulk of the Minnesota Twins payroll could go to filling needs other than a right-handed bat. If that is the case, Tommy Pham could be a more affordable option with some upside. Image courtesy of David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports It is Big Bat Week at Twins Daily, and this player may not indeed qualify in that category, but it is a veteran right-handed bat. Since the Twins will potentially be big-game hunting in the shortstop and pitching markets, they may need to fill the need for a right-handed bat in a slightly less expensive way. Tommy Pham, who was traded mid-season to the Boston Red Sox, could represent that sort of bat. Pham started the 2022 season with the Cincinnati Reds, and the Red Sox brought him in at the deadline to try and salvage their season. Over his career, Pham has been a respectable bat, but 2022 wasn’t the type of year he likely expects of himself. He slashed .237/.312/.374 (.686) and hit 17 home runs. What is intriguing about Pham is that he could provide a similar ability to hit left-handed pitching as recently-resigned Kyle Garlick does. In 2022, Pham hit .273/.338/.446, a .784 OPS, and six home runs against lefties. The difference between Pham and Garlick is that Pham has shown a much higher upside than Garlick. Pham has also, at age 34, been showing some discouraging signs of decline. In 2022, Pham’s walk rate dropped to a low 9.0% while his strikeout rate climbed to 26.8%. One likely contributing factor to those shifts is that Pham has been diagnosed with keratoconus, a cornea-thinning eye issue. He believes he is beyond the issue and has it corrected. If the Twins believe the same, they could buy low on Pham and at least get another platoon outfield bat and maybe more. In addition to another right-handed bat to roll out against left-handed pitchers, Pham would also allow Gilberto Celestino time to finish refining his game in the minors. Pham is also a more realistic replacement as a starter for Max Kepler if the worst-case scenario presents itself. That being that Trevor Larnach or Alex Kirilloff struggle to return to the lineup, and Kepler doesn’t find more success with his bat even after the changes to defensive shifting. A Pham signing certainly would come with some risk. Seeing that the Red Sox already declined his $12 million option for 2023, he would seemingly come at a price tag well below that. That lower price tag will prove valuable if the Twins pull off a Carlos Correa or similar signing and, at the same time, address the glaring need for a bat that can hit left-handed pitching. If the Twins do sign Pham, they will want to be careful that they review all the Fantasy Football league rules ahead of his involvement. View full article

Thanks bighat! Appreciate your support and kind words!

From everything coming out of Rocco's interview it seems he is simply just that hurt. The interview is added to the article now for easy listening.

The Minnesota Twins were able to watch Bailey Ober have a good outing. Gio Urshela and Carlos Correa also provided some offense. It ultimately wasn't enough as the White Sox took the first game in season's final series. Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Bailey Ober: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (82 pitches, 54 strikes (65.8%)) Home Runs: Gio Urshela (13) Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-.168), Nick Gordon (-.103), Mark Contreras (-.093) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Twins entered into their final series for the 2022 season Monday night. A series with the division foe Chicago White Sox that was circled at the beginning of the season as a series that should have had the two heavyweights of the division duking it out for first place. That isn’t the case, with both teams licking wounds and looking towards the offseason. The Twins and us fans do have one thing to keep an eye on tonight, Bailey Ober. Last time out against this same White Sox lineup Ober struck out 10 batters. Since returning from the IL, Ober has thrown 17 ⅓ IP, collected 18 strikeouts, and walked only three batters on his way to a 1.56 ERA. With nothing to play for, the storyline for the Twins will be to see how Ober can follow up his ten strikeout game against that same lineup. A task that usually leans in favor of the offense. Urshela hits career mark in the first inning The Twins offense got an early jump by spotting Ober a 2-0 lead. It could have been larger if Carlos Correa hadn’t been thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Instead, with Nick Gordon on base after his own double, Gio Urshela hit his 13th home run of the 2022 season. It also happened to be his 140th hit for the Twins this season, setting a career-high for the third baseman. With Urshela also flashing his leather in the third inning, he is doing his best to make a case that he is well worth what his arbitration number will be this offseason. It will undoubtedly be one of the many off-season decisions we will all keep our eyes on. Ober solid in five innings While it was not dominant like his last outing, Ober still put together a solid five innings against the White Sox. Josh Harrison got to Ober with a two-run home run which tied the game up 2-2. It was a great way to see Ober finish out the season. Especially after missing so much time on the IL. The Twins will certainly be looking for him to fill a role next season, and this stretch to close the season should only add to Ober’s confidence as he does so. Cueto hits a groove, works fast Something that was obvious and commented on during the broadcast was that Johnny Cueto was working fast. Every good dad would have likely asked him if he was late for a date as fast as he was moving. Whether he was getting ready for the new pitch clock rules or something else, Cueto found a groove and kept the Twins off the scoreboard beyond the first inning. Even after Cueto's exit, the White Sox bullpen kept the Twins off the scoreboard, leading to eight scoreless innings. All it took was Griffin Jax allowing a run to cross the plate in the seventh inning to give the White Sox the 3-2 win to start the series. The Twins did show up in the ninth inning to make things interesting against White Sox closer Liam Hendriks. The Twins loaded the bases with two outs and sent Mark Contreras to the plate. Even though Hendriks seemed to be struggling to command some of his pitches, he was able to strike out Contreras to close out the win for Chicago. What’s Next? The Minnesota Twins will send Josh Winder to the mound for Tuesday’s game. He will face off against Lucas Giolito, who overall has had a disappointing season and would love nothing other than to shut down the Twins one last time. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Jax 14 0 0 12 21 47 Henriquez 0 0 40 0 0 40 Pagan 0 30 0 0 5 35 Thielbar 18 0 0 0 15 33 Lopez 14 0 0 18 0 32 Fulmer 5 0 0 26 0 31 Moran 0 23 0 0 0 23 Megill 17 0 0 0 0 17 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The Minnesota Twins continued to be a magnet of bad news Monday afternoon. Starter Sonny Gray left early after re-injuring his hamstring and the Guardians dominated the Twins by scoring eleven runs. Image courtesy of Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Sonny Gray: 2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (44 pitches, 26 strikes (59.1%) Home Runs: Nick Gordon (9) Bottom 3 WPA: Sonny Gray (-.281), Mark Contreras (-.243), Ronny Henriquez (-.121) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Guardians grab lead early The Guardians wasted no time in putting runs on the board Monday afternoon. Quickly Amed Rosario and Jose Ramirez found themselves in scoring position. It didn’t matter where they were on the base paths as Josh Naylor got a hold of a Sonny Gray curveball and launched it into the right field seats giving the Guardians an early 3-0 lead. Gray exits after second Not only were the Twins behind early 3-0, but there were other signs that Gray's outing was going poorly. The radar gun showed that his average fastball speed was down about two miles per hour. We later learned what was ailing Gray was a return of the hamstring tightness that recently plagued him. Henriquez debuts With Gray out, Ronny Henriquez came into pitch, making his major league debut. Early on, his stuff was on display. The movement that the 22-year-old pitcher creates is impressive. Henriquez even flashed his glove as he was welcomed to the big leagues by a screaming Ramirez liner right back at him. The gloves behind him could have been a bit more sound as they helped create a bases-loaded situation that Henriquez was able to escape without allowing any runs to score. Henriquez is currently ranked as Twins Daily’s #16 prospect in the Twins system after coming over to the Twins in the Mitch Garver trade with the Texas Rangers. Since the trade, there has been an eye on Henriquez as a possible bullpen arm for the Twins in 2022. Finally, here in September, he is getting his chance. The debut was promising through three innings as Henriquez was able to hold Cleveland scoreless. In his fourth inning of work, the opposing bats were able to get to him. Including the exclamation point of an Amed Rosario three-run home run. Twins find some runs in the fourth Carlos Correa led off the fourth inning with an opposite-field single. Jose Miranda followed up with a similar opposite field hit for a double, setting the Twins up with runners on second and third with no outs. In a game full of infield hits, it was two hits that stayed in the infield that would bring both Correa and Miranda in to score. Those two runs cut the Twins deficit down to two with a 4-2 tally on the scoreboard. Opportunity missed in the sixth With the Twins down 4-3, they had the perfect opportunity to take the lead. With the bases loaded and one out, the Twins chased Guardians starter Cal Quantrill from the game. Nick Sandlin took his place, and Mark Contreras came in as a pinch hitter for Caleb Hamilton to try and drive in some runs for the Twins. Instead, Contreras lined out to first baseman Naylor, and Matt Wallner was doubled off to end the inning and the scoring threat. In the end, Cleveland would score two more runs after Rosario hit his three-run home run, bringing the final score to 11-4. In a week following the "official" end to the Twins playoff chances, there wasn't much to be excited about. Nick Gordon hit his ninth home run, and the first three innings of Henriquez's debut were good to see. Beyond that, any Twins fans watching got another look at why the Guardians are poised to win the division, and the Twins are not. What’s Next? The Minnesota Twins will make their way to Kansas City to open up a three-game series against the Royals. Dylan Bundy will take the mound for the Twins, while the Royals will send veteran Zach Greinke to the mound. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Henriquez 0 0 0 0 0 73 73 López 0 0 0 32 0 34 66 Moran 40 0 0 15 5 0 60 Jax 0 18 22 13 0 0 53 Duran 0 19 16 0 17 0 52 Sanchez 0 0 0 49 0 0 49 Fulmer 0 21 11 17 0 0 49 Pagán 0 0 0 31 0 15 46 Thielbar 0 12 15 0 0 0 27 View full article

Not having Alcala is an aspect of this season that I have come back to often and wondered "what if?" His presence and development just seems to be a core piece of how the bullpen was supposed to be constructed and without him we saw how quickly the 'pen became shallow. And yes, the FO put themselves in that position of lacking depth.

The Minnesota Twins were able to extend their winning streak to four games Monday night. Dylan Bundy and the bullpen were able to hold the Red Sox bats at bay and Gio Urshela got the go-ahead, bases-clearing double to secure the victory. Box Score SP: Dylan Bundy: 4 2/3 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (86 pitches, 62 strikes (72.1%)) Home Runs: N/A Top 3 WPA: Gio Urshela (.464), Caleb Thielbar (.113), Nick Gordon (.103) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Twins enter into Monday night’s game on the heels of a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants. That sweep had the hometown nine two games back of Cleveland for the AL Central lead. The Twins need to keep things going against a Boston Red Sox team whose record does not look great, but there are plenty of dangerous names up and down their roster. Prior to Monday's game there was a notable bullpen move. Devin Smeltzer was optioned back to St. Paul while fellow lefty Jovani Moran was brought back to the Twins. Before we get to the game, could you take a moment to let us know more about how you like to engage with minor league coverage at Twins Daily? Red Sox break through first, Bundy limits damage As the game ventured into the third inning, the Red Sox began to hit the ball hard. Tommy Pham reached on a line drive single. Alex Verdugo followed up with another hard-hit ball but for a double this time. The double was enough to score Pham. With the score 1-0, Xander Bogaerts would follow up with a single to make it runners on first and third with one out. The inning looked headed straight towards a crooked number, Bundy somehow limited the damage and got out of the inning without allowing any more runs. The fourth inning felt much the same as the third. The Red Sox were going down the lineup and collecting hard hits and hard contact. With one out it was a soft bloop double by Reese McGuire that scored Trevor Story. Once again, it felt like an inning was going sideways for the Twins. Insert Bundy. With a ground out and strike out the Twins starter was able to close out the inning with only one run scored. Cave produces again Red Sox starter Brayan Bello has had very good minor league numbers this season. His ERA has been ugly in the majors at 7.36. At the same time, with a 3.03 FIP it seems there is something better underneath what has happened on the scoreboard for Bello this season in the majors. The right-hander also simply has some nasty stuff. For three innings, Bello looked purely like the 3.03 FIP version of himself. Finally, in the fourth inning, the Twins were able to get their bats going and loaded the bases with no outs. One of this weekend’s heroes, Jake Cave was able to drive in the Twins' first run on a sac fly to center field which brought Jose Miranda home. Unfortunately, that was the only run the Twins could score in that RISP situation. Brings to the forefront again one of the biggest frustration with the Twins' offense this season. Gio with the go-ahead The Twins were able to chase Bello in the fifth after he walk both Luis Arraez and Carlos Correa. After a weird Max Kepler swinging bunt that barely rolled to the front of home plate advanced the runners to second and third, Miranda collected a walk of his own. Kyle Garlick pinch hit for Nick Gordon but wasn’t able to come through after striking out. Then Gio Urshela stepped up to the plate with a fresh John Schreiber brought in to face him. With the count full, Urshela went down and got a low and away slider and was able to poke it down the right field line to clear the bases and put the Twins up 4-2. Bullpen Cruises Monday night was a night where we once again saw the beauty of deadline bullpen addition at work. Caleb Thielbar first came in to help Bundy get out of a jam. Just as Thielbar has done many times again, he did just that getting the final out of fifth and handled the sixth inning as well. Jhoan Duran then came in to take on the heart of the Red Sox lineup. He did so with his patented high-velocity heat. Duran wouldn't have been able to take on that spot if it wasn't for the deadline additions, as he would have been needed to potentially close. Griffin Jax got the eighth and made quick work of it giving up only a single to Story. It was then Jorge Lopez's turn and shut the door with authority getting two ground outs and a strike out to secure the victory for the Twins. What’s Next? The Twins will face off against another young Boston arm in Kutter Crawford. The right hander sports a 5.30 ERA this season over 73.0 innings. The Twins will counter with Chris Archer. Archer will look to bounce back after a rough start against Houston where he surrendered five earned runs. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Megill 23 0 35 0 0 58 Pagán 0 28 0 22 0 50 Duran 20 0 13 0 14 47 Thielbar 0 0 22 0 15 37 Jax 6 0 8 0 17 31 Fulmer 0 12 0 15 0 27 López 18 0 0 0 9 27 Moran 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Editing error. Sorry. It is fixed now.

Tomorrow's starter announced.

The Minnesota Twins came into Monday night needing a win. The defense came through with the season's second triple play, but continued struggles from the offense and an early exit from Byron Buxton led to a loss. Box Score SP: Sonny Gray: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (69 pitches, 47 strikes (68.1%)) Home Runs: N/A Bottom 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (-.225), Luis Arraez (-.150), Max Kepler (-.145) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) As the Minnesota Twins have scuffled through what was supposed to be an easy part of their schedule, they looked to even up the series with the Rangers Monday night. Continuing to sit in second place in the AL Central standings, Monday’s night game felt like a must-win game for the Twins. If not must-win, very important. The struggle to hit with RISP continues The Twins struggle to get hits with runners in scoring position has been well documented. That struggle was highlighted early on Monday night in almost identical fashions. In the first inning, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton reached base and stood on second and third with only one out in the inning. It looked like the Twins were cruising to an early lead. Instead, Jose Miranda struck out, and Max Kepler continued his struggles by pulling a pitch into a ground out to end the inning and the threat. Once again, in the third inning, Correa was again standing on third base and Buxton on second. This time it was with two outs after Jose Miranda grounded into a fielder’s choice to put the two Twins stars in those positions. Kepler’s overall batting struggles were highlighted once again as he couldn’t muster anything more than a fly out to center field. Twins turn second triple play of season The fourth inning started in a way that did not look favorable for the Twins. Starter Sonny Gray who was off to a great start sending the first nine batters faced down without incident, wasn’t as fortunate as the lineup turned over. Marcus Semien broke through with a single for the first hit off of Gray Monday evening. Corey Seager followed up with a walk putting runners on first and second with no outs. Not only did Gray look to be in trouble, but he looked so with the middle of the Rangers lineup due up. With Nathaniel Lowe at the plate, Gray caused the left-handed batter to pull a liner right at Miranda. Miranda was able to step on first for out number two. Miranda then spun and fired down to second where Correa had to leap to snag the throw and was still able to come down and get Semien out to complete the Twins second triple play on the season. The 17th in franchise history. Nick Gordon breaks through To start the fourth inning, Gio Urshela gave the Twins their second lead-off triple after sending a pitch the opposite way down the first baseline. Nick Gordon came to the plate and nearly broke through to start the run-scoring with a true exclamation point. Gordon sent a moonshot down the first base line that just hooked foul. It was called so live on the field and was later confirmed by a crew chief review. Gordon wouldn’t be fully denied. He came back and lined the ball down the third base line to score Urshela and add a double to his resume. That double brings Gordon up to 18 for the 2022 season. Middle-inning pitching struggles The Twins have seemingly been plagued repeatedly by starting pitchers struggling in the middle innings of games. That was again the case Monday evening as Gray saw all the damage done against him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. In fairness, Gray was able to mute the actual damage done, leaving the game with the Twins down 2-1. The solo homerun by Adolis Garcia and RBI-single from Corey Seager did carry much more weight as the Twins offense could only muster up one run of support for Gray. Buxton leaves after 6th inning Buxton had two significant instances where it was evident his hip was once again bothering him. After swinging through a pitch during an at-bat in the 5th inning, it could be seen on Buxton's face that it was painful. Then again, after attempting to dive to catch a fly ball, he was slow to get up. It has been well documented that Buxton has been working extremely hard to make it onto the field each day he plays. It does not remove the frustration present as the Twins best player is sidelined and sidelined in a game where they desperately needed some offensive firepower. What’s Next? The Twins will catch a late-night flight to Houston, where they will open a three-game series against the always-tough Astros. It already was an important series, and became that much more important with Monday's loss, as the Twins try to keep pace in the central and compete with a playoff-caliber team. Currently, the probable starters lineup as follows: Tuesday: Aaron Sanchez vs. Justin Verlander Wednesday: Dylan Bundy vs. Framber Valdez Thursday: Chris Archer vs. Luis Garcia Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Thielbar 0 17 11 0 12 40 Pagán 0 0 0 39 0 39 Megill 0 24 0 15 0 39 López 0 20 9 0 0 29 Jax 0 0 11 0 14 25 Fulmer 0 0 0 0 12 12 Duran 0 10 0 0 0 10 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

I would actually think that there is a strong possibility every arm is available again. There may be a preference to try and not use Duran and Lopez, but in a pinch both could probably go. Everyone's work load was (and has been) about as minimal as you could hope for.

Max Kepler found his bat, and Caleb Thielbar got two huge outs as the Twins open the home series with a win. Box Score SP: Joe Ryan: 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (80 pitches, 54 strikes (67.5%)) Home Runs: N/A Top 3 WPA: Caleb Thielbar (.226), Max Kepler (.158), Jose Miranda (.136) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) After a rough road trip to LA, the Minnesota Twins needed to return home and find some home cooking. A familiar division foe in the Kansas City Royals awaited them. Only playing the game would let us know if the Twins would take advantage of an easy stretch in their schedule. Royals New and Old A familiar Royals bat and a new royals bat teamed up in the first inning to give the visiting team an early lead. Joe Ryan has struggled as of late and was looking to find the front-line starter form that he had exhibited early in the season. That form looked to have returned as Ryan struck out the first two batters of the night. That changed as usual Twins killer Salvador Perez, broke open the hitting with an opposite-field single. Something the Twins will take as Perez has made loud contact against the Twins more often than anyone wants to remember. While Ryan avoided loud contact against Perez, he didn't, with Vinny Pasquantino facing the Twins for the first time. Pasquantino squared up a Ryan fastball and dropped it in the right field bleachers to give the Royals an early 2-0 lead. Breaking Streaks Max Kepler’s bat has been absent since coming back to action after breaking his toe. Coming into the evening, Kepler was 0 for 29. With runners on first and second, Kepler would slap the ball to the opposite field. The hit had just enough run to bring Jorge Polanco around to score and bring the Twins within one run. While snapping his individual hitless streak, Kepler also snapped the Twins 0-19 streak with runners in scoring position. The new haircut Kepler was sporting will certainly receive lots of attention and credit through the evening as Kepler went on to go 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI. Ryan hits the century-inning mark As Ryan steadied his form after the first inning home run, in the middle of the fifth inning, he hit a significant number on the season. Ryan became the first Twins pitcher to log 100 innings in 2022. The Minnesota Twins were also the last remaining MLB team to have a pitcher hit that mark. A further display of the struggles in the rotation when it comes to both health and having any starters who can pitch deep into games. The Rookie and Polanco show up in the fifth As the Twins bats struggled through much of the game to get going against Royals starter Kris Bubic, in the fifth, the Twins finally began to string some hits together. Jose Miranda added an exclamation point by singling to right-field to score Luis Arraez to tie the game. Polanco followed with a sac-fly to score Carlos Correa to give the Twins a 3-2 lead. Thielbar slams the door in the sixth As Ryan was making his way a third time through the Royals lineup, he ran into trouble. After a walk to Pasquantino and a near homerun to Michael Massey there were runners on second and third with no outs. Ryan was able to strike out Nate Eaton before being lifted for Caleb Thielbar. Thielbar came into the game to face former Twin Brent Rooker and forced him to fly out. The lefty then slammed the door on the Royals scoring opportunity by striking out Michael A. Taylor to strand two Royals runners in scoring position. That outing from Thielbar set up the bullpen to do what it is designed to do. That is shut down the opposing lineup as it goes through Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran, and lastly Jorge Lopez to finish out the win. What’s Next? Tomorrow evening the Twins will send Sonny Gray to the mound. Gray will be looking to put together a complete outing after falling apart late last time out. The Royals will counter with veteran Zack Greinke. Greinke has not been the same pitcher as he has been in previous seasons, and the Twins bats will look to capitalize on that. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Duran 0 15 19 0 10 44 López 0 10 19 0 13 42 Fulmer 0 12 0 20 0 32 Jax 0 0 13 0 14 27 Megill 0 0 0 26 0 26 Thielbar 0 0 13 0 8 21 Pagan 0 0 9 10 0 19 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The Minnesota Twins got a solid start from journeyman Aaron Sanchez. The bats were quiet most of the night, but they came alive in the late innings and ended it in the 10th frame with the exclamation point coming from the happy new dad, Gio Urshela. Box Score SP: Aaron Sanchez: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (81 pitches, 51 strikes (62.9%)) Home Runs: Gio Urshela (10) Top 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (.536), Gio Urshela (.231), Jharel Cotton (.089) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Twins returned home on trade deadline eve to face off against the Tigers. While the hope was that the Twins may have acquired some pitching help via trade by this point in time, the reality is they were forced to turn to recent minor-league signing Aaron Sanchez for the start Monday evening. Since joining the Twins organization, Sanchez has made eight starts for the St. Paul Saints while sporting a 4.26 ERA with 11 walks and 26 strikeouts over 38 innings. Sanchez’s time in the majors this season came with the Washington Nationals, where he struggled to an 8.33 ERA in seven starts this season. Tigers Strike First The second inning may have quickly been giving Sanchez flashbacks to how his season began in Washington. A walk and then a single quickly put runners on the corners with one out. Then facing Tucker Barnhardt, a ground out to the right side of the infield was able to score Jeimer Candelario to give the Tigers the early 1-0 lead. The positive to that second inning is that with a runner still in scoring position, Sanchez bounced back and struck out Akil Baddoo to end the inning and minimize the damage. Free baserunners came back to haunt Sanchez again in the 4th inning. A walk to Miguel Cabrera and hitting Willi Castro with a pitch set Barnhart up for his second RBI of the night. The catcher took advantage of that opportunity by lining a single to center field to bring Cabrera home and extend the lead to 2-0. Even though the free passes hurt Sanchez, he did limit the damage by striking out Baddoo again to end the inning. Garlick exits game Kyle Garlick, who was in the game to try and fulfill his customary role as lefty masher, exited the game early with what the team has called rib inflammation. Alex Kirilloff came off the bench to replace him, but there is lots of concern on whether or not Kirilloff should have been in the game himself. He still suffers from pain in his wrist while he swings the bat. With Max Kepler still out due to his toe and Gilberto Celestino on the paternity list, options became limited fast, with the only other outfielder available being Byron Buxton. Buxton was on a scheduled rest day Monday evening. In the eighth inning, Tim Beckham pinch hit for Kirilloff and took over in leftfield, which gave relief to the concerns. Sanchez with solid outing There was plenty of speculation around what exactly the Twins would get out of Sanchez in his first start for his new team. The one-time dominant starter has not looked like that for some time. Monday evening, he provided a lift to a banged-up Twins rotation that needed it. Sanchez made it through five innings. He struck out eight Tiger batters and induced 14 swings and misses while allowing two runs. Bats finally come alive in the eighth For most of the night, the Twins bats were quiet. Outside of what Nick Gordon was able to do, it felt like the bats were lifeless. That was until the eighth inning when Michael Fulmer took the mound. Jorge Polanco got the hit parade started. Consecutive hits by Polanco, Carlos Correa, Luis Arraez, and a two-run single from Jose Miranda put the Twins on the scoreboard. Miranda’s single evened the score at two. Base-running error shuts down the ninth The Twins looked to be making a bid to walk off the ball game in the ninth inning. Gordon provided some more spark to start the inning and was on third base with Correa up to bat with two outs. Correa worked a walk, but on ball four, the ball kicked away from Tigers catcher, Tucker Barnhardt. Gordon started to move toward home. Two steps in changed his mind, but he couldn’t make it back to third in time before being thrown out. Luis Arraez would have been up with the bases loaded and two outs. Instead, the Twins took the field as the game went into extra innings. What will certainly also be questioned about the ninth inning is why didn’t Buxton pinch-hit for Mark Contreras. On to the tenth Griffin Jax was given the tenth inning, with Willi Castro standing on second. After a diving catch by Contreras in right field off the bat of Eric Haase that moved Castro to third base, Baddoo, who had struck in each of his three previous at-bats, hit the ball up the middle, past the drawn-in infield to score Castro and give the Tigers the lead. Urshela walks it off The Twins weren't ready to return to the field for the eleventh inning. With one out, Jose Miranda came up big again with an RBI single to tie the game. With two outs, Gio Urshela walked up to the plate with Miranda on second and made sure there was no doubt the winning run would cross the plate. Urshela, fresh off the paternity list, hit his tenth home run of the season to give the Twins the win. The injuries and their effect on the team were again evident Monday night. Also, once again, the Twins figured out a way to scrape together the win. Hopefully, through tomorrow the Twins will add via the trade deadline, but for tonight Aaron Sanchez looked like he wants to be one of those deadline additions to help the Twins down the stretch. What’s Next? The Twins will look to right the ship tomorrow against the Tigers. This time they will send right-hander Chris Archer to the mound for his 18th start of the 2022 season. The Tigers will send right-hander Matt Manning to the mound. It will only be Manning’s third start of 2022. After eight total innings in his previous two starts, Manning currently sits at a 2.25 ERA. The hope will be that the Twins bats will bump that up by the end of Tuesday evening. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON FRI SAT SUN SUN TOT Moran 0 25 0 16 0 41 Cotton 0 13 0 0 27 40 Pagan 0 0 20 20 0 40 Jax 0 0 11 0 20 31 Megill 0 0 7 23 0 30 Duffey 0 0 28 0 0 28 Duran 0 0 11 0 10 21 Smith 0 0 0 0 3 3 Cano 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

To kick off an important series in Chicago, Arraez showed up with three hits and the most important in extra innings. Buxton hit another home run. The combination of the two helped the Twins record another win against an AL Central opponent. Box Score SP: Dylan Bundy: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (58 pitches, 41 strikes (70.7%)) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (22) Top 3 WPA: Luis Arraez (0.268), Byron Buxton (0.136), Dylan Bundy (0.135) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) For some time this offseason, Twins fans were under the belief that Johnny Cueto was close to becoming a Twin, adding an interesting wrinkle to Monday night’s game. Coming into the game, Cueto had been pitching relatively well with a 3.33 ERA over 54 innings pitched coming into the night. Through four innings, Cueto was able to hold the Twins from scoring even though he surrendered some hits and allowed four walks. After an ample missed opportunity in the first inning, it almost looked like Cueto had the Twins locked into one of those nights where the offense would go absent. Until the fifth rolled around. Buxton’s feelin’ 22 Luis Arraez led off the game in the first inning with a double. In the fifth, he hit another. In the first, Buxton missed the opportunity to bring Arraez around, but he did not waste any time regarding the same situation in the fifth. Buxton got a hold of a Cueto offspeed pitch and planted it in the left-field seats for his 22nd home run of the season. Bundy completes a solid five innings While Cueto kept the Twins at bay until the fifth inning, Dylan Bundy was also pitching well. Bundy produced 12 swings and misses while striking out six White Sox batters. The Twins starter also only allowed one walk. There were some loudly hit balls, and thankfully the Twins defense came through for Bundy multiple times to keep runners off the bases and runs off the scoreboard. The one ball that the defense couldn’t do anything about was in the second inning off of the bat of Jose Abreu. Abreu tagged Bundy for a home run that just missed Max Kepler’s glove and landed on the other side of the fence instead. Jax struggles in his second inning The Twins called on Griffin Jax to relieve Bundy to start the sixth inning. After cruising through the sixth, he was asked to continue into the seventh. The seventh would prove to be a very tough inning for Jax to navigate. After a potentially missed hit-by-pitch call, Abreu was once again a thorn in the Twins side and reached base by way of a double. Gavin Sheets then occupied first base after being hit by a pitch of his own out of the hand of Jax. With those runners on first and second, Yoan Moncada came to the plate with no outs and singled the ball to left field. That single allowed Abreu to come around and score as the White Sox tied the game up 2-2. The seventh inning could have been disastrous if it wasn’t for a big break in the form of the Twins franchise 16th triple play. AJ Pollock gave a Jax pitch an excellent ride to right-center field, where Buxton, in a majestic way, tracked the fly ball down. With Adam Engel and Moncada running with no expectation of the ball being caught, once Buxton got the ball into the infield, Gio Urshela could make easy work of outs two and three. Hendriks, Graveman prove to be too tough of a task The Twins saw firsthand why the White Sox were picked to have one of the best bullpens entering the 2022 season. Liam Hendriks came into the eighth inning fresh off the IL and struck out the side. He sent Correa, Kepler, and Polanco all packing. While Nick Gordon was able to get on base against Kendall Graveman, that was all the Twins were able to do against the White Sox reliever. Setting the scene for Emilio Pagan to once again pitch in relief for the Twins with a walk-off opportunity ripe for the taking for the opposing team. Pagan holds the ninth Every Twins fan collectively had nightmarish-type visions of what happened against Cleveland as Pagan took the mound in the bottom of the ninth. For one night, Pagan righted the ship. With two-outs, danger lurked as the right-hander walked Engel to bring Moncada to the plate. Engel attempted to steal second base off of Pagan, but Ryan Jeffers had other thoughts as he made a fantastic throw to second. It was met by an equally incredible tag by Carlos Correa. Initially, Engel was called safe, but after a challenge, the call was overturned to end the ninth inning. Arraez, Twins bats with extra-inning magic The Twins began the tenth inning with Gilberto Celestino on second base. Arraez would have the first crack at bringing the speedy Celestino around to score. There may not have been a more perfect setup for the Twins. With a 2-1 count, Arraez took a Joe Kelly curveball to center field to bring Celestino around to give the Twins a 3-2 lead. Jorge Polanco would add to the lead with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that moved every runner up and plated Arraez. It was then Alex Kirilloff's turn to get a hit off of Kelly as he sent the ball through the left side of the infield to score two runs and increase the Twins lead to 6-2. Those runs allowed Jhoan Duran to come on to finish off the game. After allowing the lineup to turn over and Time Anderson to hit again, Duran ultimately only allowed the spotted runner on second to come around to score and cut the winning score down to 6-3. What’s Next? Tomorrow evening the Twins will get set for game two of this series against the White Sox. Chris Archer will toe the rubber for the Twins as he looks to continue his string of solid performances and improve upon his 3.08 ERA. The Twins could have a challenging task ahead of them in White Sox right-handed starter Michael Kopech. Kopech is only 2-5 on the season but will bring to the table a 2.78 ERA. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Duffey 28 0 0 0 13 41 Cotton 0 0 38 0 0 38 Moran 20 0 0 18 0 38 Pagán 0 0 10 0 18 28 Jax 0 0 0 0 26 26 Duran 0 0 0 0 20 20 Thielbar 0 12 0 0 0 12 Megill 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The swing was checked and at least the broadcast initially put it up as a ball. Maybe that isn't what the call would have been, but in the moment that is what I saw.