Theodore Tollefson

Take a look back at the Twins' top 30 prospects according to MLB.com in 2017. How have these former prospects had their careers pan out in the Majors since that time in which of these players are out of pro baseball completely now? Image courtesy of Tim Heitman, USA Today It’s been six seasons since the Derek Falvey and Thad Levine regime in the Twins Front Office began. When they took over in 2017, they inherited a farm system that Baseball America ranked as 21 out of 30 in Major League Baseball. A system ranked 10th best in 2016 during Terry Ryan’s last season as the general manager. The top 30 Twins prospects from 2017 on MLB.com’s list have all made their way to different levels of the game. Some finished their season at the Major League level, others hurt but played at the Major League level for the season, or found themselves out of professional baseball completely this year. Here’s how the top 30 Twins prospects from 2017 had their 2022 seasons end up. On Active Rosters for the end of 2022 1. Nick Gordon The Twins' top prospect in 2017 had his best season in the Major Leagues for 2022 during his sophomore season. For a while, it seemed that the Twins’ first-round pick in 2014 might not make it to the big leagues. Fortunately, Gordon appears to have reached his potential this season. He played in 138 games around the diamond for the Twins and had a triple slash of .272/.316/.427 (.743). Gordon’s future with the Twins seems all but secured until his free agency year in 2028. The team will likely look to him to be their super utility player. 10. Lewin Diaz The Twins parted ways with Lewin Diaz in July of 2019 when they acquired Sergio Romo from the Miami Marlins. Diaz has remained in the Marlins system since that time and played in 58 big-league games this season. Diaz has not seen too much success at the Major League level since first being called up in 2020. Although he played his most career games this season, Diaz had a .169 batting average in 174 plate appearances with five home runs and 11 RBI. He is a plus-plus defensive first baseman. Diaz has yet to find success in the Majors, but it's possible he can turn his career around at age 26 with the Marlins in 2023. 11. JT Chargois JT Chargois made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2016 and pitched in 25 games with 23 innings of work that season. However, the low amount of innings kept him qualifying as a rookie in 2017 and on the Twins' top prospect list. Chargois was claimed off waivers to the Dodgers in 2018 and made a career as a journeyman reliever including spending time in Japan. This season he spent with the Tampa Bay Rays and had his best year yet. Chargois pitched in only 21 games but posted a 2.42 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and walked only five batters in 22.1 innings of work with the Rays. Knowing how the Rays are with improving random relievers, Chargois may continue thriving in Florida as long as he remains with the Rays. 13. LaMonte Wade Jr. The Twins traded LaMonte Wade Jr. to the San Francisco Giants for reliever Shaun Anderson. The deal was certainly was a flop in 2021. Wade Jr.’s 2022 didn’t pan out as well as the previous season. He played in only 77 games and posted a triple slash of .207/.305/.359 (.665). Wade Jr. seems to remain in the Giants' plans as a backup outfielder and first baseman which may soon include the likes of Aaron Judge. He’ll certainly hope to improve in 2023 as he enters his final season in his 20s. 24. Jose Miranda Jose Miranda turned into the biggest rookie asset to the Twins' offense in 2022. He played in 125 games and split time between first and third base. Even with a slow start in his first 19 games, Miranda still slugged 15 home runs and led the Twins in RBI with 66. Miranda has lived up to expectations of being one of the Twins' top prospects in recent years but exceeded the expectations of someone ranked 24th in the system in 2017. There is still room for growth for Miranda as he looks to continue splitting time at the corners for the Twins in 2023. 25. Akil Baddoo The Twins left Baddoo off their 40-man roster after the 2020 season. He was lost in the December 2020 Rule 5 Draft to the Detroit Tigers. After a strong rookie campaign with Detroit in 2021, Akil Baddoo came victim to the sophomore slump. Baddoo played in just 73 games for the Tigers in 2022. His numbers completely plummeted, dropping to a triple slash of .204/.289/.269 (.558) in 225 plate appearances. The athletic outfielder is still very young and has much time ahead of his career having just turned 24 in August. 28. Luis Arraez Luis Arraez used to be an overlooked prospect in the Twins farm system. Now he is an American League Batting Champion. With one batting title now on his resume, many expect more from Arraez. The only question surrounding Arraez for 2023 is where he will play in the field? His versatility at different positions is not the same caliber as Nick Gordon, but he is proven capable at multiple positions. 30. Griffin Jax The most improved pitcher on the Twins 2022 staff, Captain Jax made a complete turnaround in the Twins bullpen this season. Pitching in 65 games for the Twins, Jax posted a 3.36 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 3.17 FIP in 72 1/3 innings pitched. He will certainly be a key asset to the Twins' bullpen plans for 2023, likely continuing his role of high-leverage opportunities to start the season. Played in 2022 but were mainly hurt 3. Alex Kirilloff His wrist injury continued to plague Alex Kirilloff in 2022. It kept him at St. Paul for some time in May and June. Having played in only 45 major-league games this year, Hopefully, Kirilloff's July surgery will have him ready for everyday play in 2023. The health of Kirilloff’s wrist will be the biggest concern in 2023, but as long as he remains strong, he can expect his first season with over 100 games in the big leagues. 15. Mitch Garver Garver was traded to the Texas Rangers before the season for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. The former Silver Slugger had season-ending surgery in July to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm. Prior to being sidelined with the torn tendon, Garver played in 54 games with the Rangers having caught in only 14 of those games. 23. Huascar Ynoa (Braves) Only making two starts with the Atlanta Braves, the former Elizabethton Twins pitcher that was traded for Twin-for-a-day, Jaime Garcia, had his 2022 season end with Tommy John surgery. Having the surgery done on September 7, Ynoa will not be returning to the Braves pitching rotation until 2024 in hopes of resurging his career from a successful 2021. Played in 2022, mostly in the Minors, Japan, or Indy Ball 2. Stephen Gonsalves This former top Twins pitching prospect had a short-lived 2022 season in the minors pitching in only eight games Triple AAA for the Iowa Cubs. His season ended early with Tommy John surgery. Gonsalves last pitched in the big leagues with the Red Sox for three games in 2021. 4. Fernando Romero Fernando Romero was once a high-hope pitching prospect for the Twins rotation. His 2022 was spent between Japan's Central League and Eastern League. Romero pitched in 28 games between the leagues with a 4.49 ERA. 5. Tyler Jay The Twins' top pick from 2015 had taken a leave of absence from baseball in 2020 and 2021. This year he found himself in Indy Ball playing in the Frontier League. He worked in 22 games and posted a 2.05 ERA with the Joilet Slammers. 7. Travis Blankenhorn Travis Blankenhorn got a cup of coffee with the New York Mets this season, playing in one game in July. Other than that, the majority of his season was spent at Triple AAA Syracuse where he played in 91 games. 12. Ben Rortvedt Flipped with Josh Donaldson to the New York Yankees in March, Ben Rortvedt battled injuries that kept him off the Major League active roster all season. When he was healthy, he spent his time between three of the Yankees Minor League affiliates playing in 48 games across the minors. 14. Daniel Palka Daniel Palka hasn’t played in the Major Leagues since 2019. He spent 2020 in Korea and has been working his way back to the big leagues in 2021 and 2022. This season Palka was with the Mets organization and played 109 games with Syracuse. 17. Wander Javier Wander Javier remains the only player from the Twins top 30 prospect list in 2017 that is in their farm system and has yet to make his major-league debut. Javier spent the majority of the year at High-A Cedar Rapids and finished the season playing seven games with the St. Paul Saints. He will become a minor-league free agent. Will the Twins bring him back? 18. Lewis Thorpe This former farmhand’s story isn’t pretty in 2022. Lewis Thorpe made one start with the St. Paul Saints in April and found himself let go by the organization he joined in 2012. After being cut, Thorpe spent the remainder of the season with the Kansas City Monarchs (American Association). He made 16 starts and posted a 4.96 ERA for the season. 19. Trevor Hildenberger One of the better minor-league stories of the season belongs to Trevor Hildenberger. Although he did pitch six games across the Giants system, he played a larger role toward the season’s end helping in the unionization of Minor League Baseball players. Hildenberger has been an active advocate in the unionization of Minor League Baseball for years and over the course of August, he spoke with many other minor league players to help advocate for them to vote yes for an election to make the unionization official. 20. Jake Reed Another former prospect who spent some time in the Majors this season with three teams, the Mets, Dodgers, and Orioles. In his 18 games in the big leagues, Reed posted an ERA north of 7.00. He pitched in 20 games between the Dodgers and Orioles minor league affiliates this season. He recorded his first MLB Save with the Dodgers this year. Out of Baseball by 2022 The list of players here did not play professionally at all in 2022 and have listed their last season playing professionally. 6. Kohl Stewart (Hasn’t pitched since 2021) 8. Adalberto Mejia (Hasn’t pitched since 2021) 9. Felix Jorge (Hasn’t pitched since 2018) 16. Nick Burdi (Hasn’t pitched since 2020), spent 2022 on the IL. 21. Mason Melotakis (Hasn’t pitched since 2021) 22. Zack Granite (Hasn’t played since 2021) 26. Lachlan Wells (Hasn’t pitched since 2019) 27. Randy Rosario (Hasn’t pitched since 2021) 29. Engelb Vielma (Hasn’t played since 2019) Here are the totals for where the Twins top 30 prospects of 2017 ended up with their careers in 2022. Totals: 8 players on Active MLB rosters 3 players who could be on Active Rosters but are hurt 10 players who are in the Minors, Japan, or Independent Ball 9 players completely out of baseball in 2022 The majority of these players are still in professional baseball, but only around a third of them (11 total) played roles on Major League rosters this season. Some of these players still have great chances of long careers (Arraez and Gordon). Others, not so much, but how do the current career payouts of these 30 players so far look to Twins fans? Leave your thoughts below. View full article

The Twins finished the last weekend series of the season in Detroit Sunday hoping to walk away with a series victory against the cellar team of the division. They sent out their top pitching prospect Simeon Woods Richardson to make his debut against Tiger lefty and fellow rookie Joey Wentz. Could the Twins get a win for SWR’s debut or hit like they usually have all season? Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (91 pitches, 61 strikes (67 strike %)) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Gio Urshela -0.188, Nick Gordon -0.123, Simeon Woods Richardson -0.118 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Better Late Than Never for Woods Richardson's Debut Sunday brought about the Major League debut for Simeon Woods Richardson, a long-awaited one for Twins fans over the dismal month of September. Woods Richardson’s first inning of work in the majors was a mountain to climb as he walked the leadoff hitter who later came into score on a fielding error by Jose Miranda at first. Then a single by Miguel Cabrera advanced the runner to third and he scored on a wild pitch to Jonathan Schoop. Fortunately, that was the end of troubles for Woods Richardson in the first as he retired Schoop on a double play. From the second inning on, Woods Richardson’s only trouble that followed as a solo home run he gave up to Tigers catcher Eric Haase in the third to put the Tigers up 3-0. He did also have base runners reach in the second and fourth that did not end up getting beyond first. Woods Richardson’s final inning was his best retiring the minimum in the fifth. Woods Richardson allowed five base runners (three hits, two walks), two earned runs, and three strikeouts for his MLB debut. His top velocity on a pitch for the day was a strike at 92.6 MPH to start off Haase’s second at-bat of the game when he hit a home run. Correa Hits But That’s it As common as ever this season the Twins bats didn’t show up beyond one-hitter in the lineup. Today it was Carlos Correa who went 2-for-3 with an RBI walk. The Twins' two runs were mounted on walks and a sacrifice fly from Nick Gordon in the fifth but couldn’t mount a bases-loaded opportunity to more runs. Luis Arraez did not play on Sunday against a lefty in Joey Wentz in addition to the hamstring issues he has been facing of late. Aaron Judge was 0-for-2 with a walk through six innings on Sunday afternoon. Strange Injuries Toward the End Today the Twins used a reliever who never threw a pitch in the game. Trevor Megill was called in to pitch the seventh but was removed after throwing a warmup pitch that ended up spiking in the dirt and having the seams land into Ryan Jeffers neck. Jeffers was okay and remained in the game but whatever Rocco Baldelli and the trainer saw from that spiked pitch. It was concerning enough to them to remove Megill from the game. Looked like an oblique or side injury. What’s Next? Twins go to Chicago’s Southside to end the season with a three-game series against the White Sox. Bailey Ober will be on the mound for the Twins Monday night against Johnny Cueto. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Sheet View full article

The Saints were the only Twins affiliate playing Monday night as they began the first of their final three games of the season. Simeon Woods Richardson was on the mound making his final start of the season while Ryan Jeffers continued his rehab assignment. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS None SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Omaha 6 Box score Woods Richardson Dominates Simeon Woods Richardson made his final start with the Saints Monday night, and he went all out with one of his best performances of the season. Woods Richardson dominated the Royals Triple-A hitters as he threw six innings of one-hit shutout baseball allowing only three walks and striking out seven on 91 pitches and 56 strikes. Having seven starts with the Saints for the season, Woods Richardson’s final numbers in Triple-A for the season include a 2.21 ERA, 38 strikeouts, and 10 walks in 36 2/3 innings of work. In total, Woods-Richardson posted a 2.76 ERA and has thrown 107 1/3 innings of work in 21 starts and one relief appearance for the 2022 Minor League season at both Double-A and Triple-A. Rehab Updates Only one of the three Twins hitters on the Saints roster for rehab assignments was in the lineup Monday night, and that was Ryan Jeffers. Jeffers played well. He went 3-4 and hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat to put the Saints up 2-0 in the first inning. Jeffers's double in the bottom of the seventh put the Saints up 6-0. Jeffers’s only mistake in the game was a fielding error in the top of the seventh which allowed Storm Chasers designated hitter Jackson Reetz to reach first base. With a healthy game for Jeffers Monday night, it is very likely he could be returning to the Twins lineup as early as Tuesday night. Trevor Larnach and Jorge Polanco were both off Monday night. Saints Bats Keep Up with Woods Richardson Jeffers was not the only hitter at the plate delivering for the Saints Monday night. Elliot Soto also went 2-for-3 with two doubles and drove in the Saints' fifth run of the game. Runs three and four came courtesy of an Andrew Bechtold two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. Bechtold had just hit a homer in the Saints game on Friday night against Indianapolis, making it his second home run in just three games. Just when it looked as if the Saints were done scoring in the seventh, they put up five more runs on the Storm Chasers with Jeffers double and a grand slam from Cole Sturgeon to give the Saints a 10-0 lead. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K (91 pitches, 56 strikes (61.5 strike %)) Hitter of the Day – Ryan Jeffers - 3-for-4, 2-Run HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K What’s next? The Saints play the second of their final three games on the season tomorrow against the Omaha Storm Chasers. First pitch is at 7:07 p.m. CT with Jordan Balazovic on the mound for the Saints against Angel Zerpa of the Storm Chasers. View full article

The Twins played their final game Sunday home game of the season to wrap up their series with the Los Angeles Angels. With Dylan Bundy on the mound and the lineup still depleted of everyday players, could the Twins get their first series victory since sweeping the Royals two weeks prior? Or do Twins Fans need to sleep off the remainder of September with another loss on hand? Image courtesy of Matt Krohn, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Dylan Bundy 3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (84 pitches, 57 strikes (67.8 strike %)) Home Runs: Caleb Hamilton (1) Top 3 or Bottom 3 WPA: Dylan Bundy -.388, Jake Cave -.124, Trevor Megill -.067 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The end for Bundy? Dylan Bundy had the start for the Twins Sunday afternoon and continued not to look his sharpest on the mound. Bundy’s control of his breaking ball pitches, specifically the curve ball. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani both hit well off of Bundy combing to go 3-4 in their plate appearances against him with Trout having a solo home run in the top of the third to make it 3-1 Angels. Bundy’s afternoon ended in the top of the fourth after giving up three singles and two runs to give the Angels a 5-2 lead. After a strong month of August where Bundy had a 2.63 ERA in five starts across 24 innings. Bundy’s September month has been the opposite, having a 7.48 ERA in five starts across 21.1 innings of work. The short struggles of Bundy’s Sunday performance skyrocketed his ERA from 6.38 to 7.48. With only nine games left in the season for the Twins, it is quite possible Twins fans have seen the end of Bundy’s time in a Twins uniform. Henriquez Pick Me Up After Bundy’s crumble of an outing, Ronny Henriquez came into the game making his second career appearance in the Majors. Henriquez had a couple of hiccups in his 4.2 innings of work with three hits and a walk but he kept all those Angel base runners from scoring and the Twins within three runs when he exited. Henriquez also had four strikeouts in his appearance while his fastest pitch topped out at 94.6 MPH against Michael Stefanic in the eighth. Henriquez’s longevity in the remainder of the game gave most of the Twins bullpen arms the chance to rest and fight for second place against the White Sox come Tuesday. Trevor Megill was in for the ninth facing Trout to start the inning. Trout had a lead-off double and Ohtani followed up with an RBI single to make it a 6-3 Angels game. That wouldn’t be the end for Megill as he surrendered a two-run double to Max Stassi putting the Angels up 8-3. The Stassi double was followed by another one from Livan Soto putting them up 10-3. Jovani Moran came into the game to get the Twins out of the jam. Moran successfully retired the last two batters adverting any further damage. Correa Leads the Offense Still not Enough for Win The Twins bats kept themselves from being completely shut out Sunday afternoon and many thanks to Carlos Correa. Correa went 2-4 with a double and scored the Twins' first run in the first inning. Alongside Correa with multi-hit games were Jose Miranda (2-4) and Gilberto Celestino (2-4, 2B). Even with nine hits on the day the Twins failed to get runners in scoring position home after the third inning going 0-2 in those opportunities. The bottom of the seventh was starting to look like one of those opportunities for the cold bats to break. A leadoff single from Miranda and from Gio Urshela was followed by Gary Sanchez being hit by a pitch. Nick Gordon came to the plate with an opportunity to tie the game with the bases-loaded. Unfortunately, that was not the case as Gordon struck out as well as Celestino to end the inning. Fortunately, the Twins did not stop scoring after the fiasco seventh as Caleb Hamilton finally scratched off his first big league hit with a solo home run to bring the Twins within a run of the Angels. Wake Twins Fans Up When September Ends? The Twins fall further down an abysmal hole that is September baseball as they dropped to a 7-17 record with Sunday’s loss. The Twins have also allowed 119 runs to opponents while only scoring 80 for themselves, their worse runs scored/runs allowed ratio on the season for a month. Only four games remain for the Twins this month with three at home against the White Sox and one in Detroit. At best, they’ll be 11-17, at worse 7-21. Either way, Twins fans may need to follow the words of Green Day and wait to wake up until September ends. What’s Next? Twins are off Monday with the final home series of the season to start Tuesday night against the White Sox at 6:40 p.m. Former Twin Lance Lynn is set to go against current Twin Bailey Ober for Tuesday night’s game. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Sheet View full article

The Twins played their final game at Kauffman Stadium for the season Thursday afternoon trying to avoid being swept by the Royals for the first time since August of 2020. Could the Twins hold off another loss or did the decline of the season show further digression in Thursday’s game? Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Josh Winder 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (89 pitches, 54 strikes (60.6 strike %)) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (-.0104), Gio Urshela (-0.083), Jake Cave (-0.079) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Hitting woes continue For the game's first five innings, the Twins bats did not get anything going aside from a Carlos Correa infield single in the fourth to stop Jonathan Heasley’s 10 up-10 down start to the game. Many of the Twins’ at-bats were wasted on flyouts and groundouts and not taking enough pitches each at-bat to draw walks as Heasley had 64 pitches and 41 strikes through five. The Twins mounted their first threat in the top of the sixth when Caleb Hamilton led off with a walk (his first career walk) followed by a Luis Arraez single which advanced Hamilton to third. Hamilton scored two batters later on a Nick Gordon sacrifice fly finally getting the Twins on the board down 3-1. The Twins hitters combined for a total of two hits and three walks with a run in Thursday’s game, continuing to miss opportunities to drive in runs when provided as in the sixth. Winder throws well with no support Josh Winder had the start for the Twins and had a solid first two innings of work surrendering only a double to Bobby Witt Jr. and walking to Salvador Perez. Both those batters got to Winder once again in the third as both singled on back-to-back at-bats with Perez driving in Witt Jr. to put the Royals up 1-0. Winder gave up solo home runs to Edward Olivares in the fourth and Drew Waters in the fifth putting the Royals up 3-0. Winder worked the sixth inning to give the bullpen a little extra rest, and aside from a two-out single to Kyle Isbel, he was able to retire all other batters on flyouts. Winder’s afternoon was done after the sixth inning. He threw 89 pitches and gave up three runs on six hits. He struck out four. An improvement from his previous start against Cleveland but still plenty of room for growth. End of season skid sees no end After the loss, the Twins have a 6-15 record for the month of September. They have not had this bad a record for the month of September since 2016 when they went 8-19 in the final full month of that season. The 2016 season was the worst in Minnesota for franchise history, this year has not been the case, rather the slow burn of falling apart since mid-June. This Twins team has also failed to really capitalize on any run-scoring opportunities as they have scored only 67 runs across 21 games. What’s Next? Twins return to Target Field Friday night to start the final homestand of the season with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Louie Varland is on the mound for the Twins against the best two-way player in history; Shohei Ohtani. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT. Postgame Interview Coming soon. Bullpen Usage Sheet View full article

Saturday brought another doubleheader for the Twins against Cleveland on the road for the second time this season. As Forest Lake native Matt Wallner made his MLB debut during the first game of the Twins doubleheader, the Twins needed a big victory to keep their postseason hopes alive. Could they manage to rebound from Friday night’s loss? Image courtesy of Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Louie Varland 5 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (91 pitches, 60 strikes (65.9 strike %)) Home Runs: Matt Wallner (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Louie Varland -.185, Jose Miranda -.091, Luis Arraez -.057 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Debuts Making his second big-league start for the Twins was North St. Paul native Louie Varland. Alongside him making his Major League debut in right field was Forest Lake native Matt Wallner. Varland and Wallner became a part of a unique club in MLB history in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader. The two are the second pair of Minnesota-born players to make their debuts back to back on the same team. The only other Minnesota-born players in this club are Carl Thomas and Dick Stigman who debuted three days apart in April of 1960 with the Cleveland Indians. Wallner ended up going 1-3 with a home run to make his mark in the Big Leagues. All Blues, No Rock N’ Roll for Varland Varland’s quickness on the mound was one of the few things the Twins had going for them all afternoon. Varland surrendered a home run to Jose Ramirez in the first inning to put Cleveland up 1-0. The third inning for the Twins' defense was very costly for them. After a lead-off walk to Myles Straw, Steven Kwan hit into what looked like a double play but after missing the second base bag and Jose Miranda fumbling at first with the throw from Nick Gordon. It advanced Straw to third and allowed Cleveland to get the game's second run. The Guardians lit up Varland once more in the bottom of the fourth as they tagged two more runs on thanks to three hits leading off the inning to make it 4-0. Varland pitched through the fifth without giving up any additional runs but still saw struggles giving up to singles and an intentional walk to Andres Gimenez. Varland’s afternoon was over after the fifth as he tallied 91 pitches and 60 strikes to get through his second MLB start. Big Hitting Woes Carlos Correa and Gio Urshela were the only hitters that had a hit through the first six innings of the game for the Twins. Gordon managed a single in the seventh but Bieber dominated the Twins through seven and kept Cleveland’s bullpen well rested ahead of Game 2. Fortunately for the Twins, the hitting woes ended in the top of the eighth as Wallner hit his first MLB home run to put the Twins on the board. They were still down 5-1 but Wallner’s homer made him the 12th Twin in history to hit a home run for his first MLB hit. Bieber did not pitch past the eighth but the Twins had to go up against Emmanuel Clause once again in the ninth to try and revive their hitting. The Twins had hit .188 and scored only one run off Clase before Saturday’s appearance. The hitting numbers decreased by the minimum as Clause closed out the victory for Cleveland. What’s Next? Twins will start game two of this doubleheader at 6:10 p.m. CT tonight with Josh Winder going against Konnor Pilkington of the Guardians. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Sheet View full article

The Twins entered Sunday three games behind the Guardians for the division lead after dropping two straight to them at home. Could the Twins snap a losing streak and regain ground in the division or would they continue to falter at the end with so many key players missing from the lineup? Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Josh Winder 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (67 pitches, 44 strikes (65.6 strike %) Home Runs: None Top 3 or Bottom 3 WPA: Kyle Garlick -.249, Jermaine Palacios -.186, Carlos Correa -.123 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Sunday saw Josh Winder starting on the hill for the Twins after getting recalled from St. Paul. He made his first appearance with the team since July 12th. The right-hander gave up a lead-off double to Steven Kwan but was the first Twins starter to not surrender any runs to the Guardians in the first inning in this three-game series. Even with a scoreless first, the Twins still fell behind early when Winder surrendered a solo home run to Andres Gimenez with one out in the second. The Guardians, more specifically Kwan, got the better of Winder again with another home run that put Cleveland up 2-0. Max Kepler was removed from the game after fouling a ball off his right leg in his one and only at-bat of the game. Gilberto Celestino came in to take his batting spot while Jake Cave moved to right field. Shane Bieber dominated the Twins through the first four innings and kept them to one hit. Josh Winder was done after four full innings. Winder only made two mistakes with two home runs surrendered but only allowed two additional hits and a walk on 67 pitches. It is not a surprise that Rocco Baldelli pulled Winder after four innings, but only two runs were surrendered on solo homers, one has to wonder why they couldn’t have let him go one more inning. Caleb Thielbar was the first out of the pen for the Twins and kept the Guardians scoreless in the fifth. Nick Gordon led off the bottom half of the fifth with a double off the scoreboard. Gordon scored on a pinch-hit from Gary Sanchez when Sanchez’s single bounced off third base and over Jose Ramirez’s to make it a 2-1 game. The Guardians mounted a threat in the seventh off of Michael Fulmer. Fulmer was removed with runners on first and second and two out in favor of rookie phenom Jhoan Duran. Duran walked Ramirez but retired the next batter to end the threat. The Twins responded with a threat of their own in the bottom half of the seventh with back-to-back singles from Gio Urshela and Nick Gordon and no one out. Unfortunately, no one advanced from their bases and the Twins wasted their best chance since the fifth to get the game tied. Already behind by a run, the Twins had Jorge Lopez in for the ninth. Lopez’s struggles only mounted in his relief appearance as he allowed two singles before recording an out. They intentionally walked Ramirez to load the bases for Josh Naylor, who followed up with a single driving in two more runs. Lopez intentionally walked Andres Gimenez as well before getting the final out, but the damage was done as Cleveland led 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. James, the hair flipper, Karinchak got the save opportunity for the Guardians in the bottom of the ninth. Karinchak continued his obsessive hair flip in this outing as he did Friday night (and always) during this outing as he now carries the title of the modern-day human rain delay as former Guardian Mike Hargrove was best known for. Celestino received a lead-off walk to start the ninth and Gordon reached base on a one-out walk later in the inning. The Twins failed once again to get these runners home as Karinchak struck out Jermaine Palacios for the final out. In the words of Patrick Reusse, “This was a bad loss.” Which can be said for the whole series. What’s Next? Monday is an off day for the Twins as they will start a three-game series at Target Field against the Royals. Joe Ryan is the scheduled starter for the Twins against Kris Bubic of the Royals with a game start time of 6:40 p.m. CT. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Yankee Stadium has never been a friendly atmosphere for the Twins. In fact, it's been pretty awful for the team. With the Yankees playing poor baseball in the second half of the 2022 season, can the Twins finally get a shining light of hope in a city that has beaten them down for so long? Image courtesy of Tom Horak, USA Today Sports If the Twins 2022 season has been a journey descending into Hades, they are now entering the final descent as they start a four-game series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Ever since the opening of the second Yankee Stadium in 2009, the Twins have managed a measly 10-31 record against the Evil Empire in their sanctuary. 41 games and only 10 wins to show for it. Will the Twins finally have a chance to get their series win in Yankees Stadium since 2014 this week? Or even their first-ever four-game sweep in New York? The good news is the time to win at Yankee Stadium has never looked so favorable for the Twins. The Yankees have the second-worst record in the American League since the All-Star break at 16-26. Only the Detroit Tigers have played worse with a 14-28 record. The Twins record in the same timeframe isn’t the best or worst. They’re dead center in the AL Central with their second-half record at 18-20. This does not discount the woes the Twins have faced post-All-Star Break. Fortunately for the Twins, the Yankees have played much worse baseball of late with a 4-6 record in their last 10 games and scoring only three runs in their last 31 innings. The Twins on the other hand are 6-4 in their last 10 games with nine runs in their last 31 innings played. This factoid and the laws of baseball give great chance to the baseball gods to have one of these teams win by a blowout score, the question is, which team will it be? The cold streak of Yankee runs fell on all their hitters except Aaron Judge with three solo home runs accounting for all Yankees runs in that time. Still, many Twins fans have already taken to Twitter to be pre-miserable (copyright to The Sportive Podcast and secondary copyright Aaron Gleeman on Gleeman and the Geek) about facing the Yankees for four games. Of course, an example could be put here, but why bother looking when the evidence will flood into many Twins fans' Twitter feeds over the next few days? With how bad the Yankees have been playing and the Twins beginning to get on a roll for the final stretch of the season. There is a reason for optimism here. Judge is the only Yankee who has been hitting the ball at all over the last week with a .450 batting average and four homers over the previous six games. His only other teammate that the Twins pitching will face in this series that has hit over .200 in those six games is Twin for a day, Isaiah-Kiner Falefa at .250. The Twins on the other hand have only two of their everyday starters hitting below .200 in their last six games; Carlos Correa and Gilberto Celestino. Hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium can be a benefit to raise their numbers for the season. Speaking of Correa, Yankee Stadium is home to the hellhounds that never stop screeching from the stands or getting into opposing fans' faces to try to remind them of 27 RiNgS. These hellhounds are commonly known as Yankee fans. In Correa’s case, these hellhounds will treat him as the worst cheater in the game whenever he comes to the plate as Yankee fans will never let go of the 2017 ALCS. It is ironic for Yankee fans to be booing a man like Correa when they have had bigger cheaters on their rosters over the years. In 14 career games at Yankee Stadium, Correa has four homers, 10 RBI, and a .250 average in the regular season. Who's to say that he cannot be the Twins hero that brings them into real playoff contention? And that is what this series represents for the Twins, a significant challenge that can keep their postseason hopes alive or destroy them. Yes, the Twins only have one non-divisional series left after this one. But the Yankees can be a momentum killer or confidence boost depending on how the series goes. Until then, knowing that the Twins have been better in the second half than the Yankees, why waste the time expecting the worst to continue? Why be pre-miserable? There are signs of hope the Twins can battle with a series split or even a series win. Have a little optimism for once. And if the Twins don’t end up splitting the series or better, this writer will take all the criticism that is warranted. View full article

Remember Brian Buchanan? One of the four players the Twins received in the Chuck Knoblach trade to the Yankees in 1998. Well, he's doing quite well as Theo Tollefson caught up with the Royals Triple AAA hitting coach prior to the Saints game Saturday night. Image courtesy of Theo Tollefson ST. PAUL - 20 years ago, Brian Buchanan started his season with the Minnesota Twins squad that defied all odds to win the AL Central, advance into the 2002 ALCS, and keep the team in Minnesota for the decades to come. The downside for Buchanan with the '02 Twins squad was him being traded on July 12, 2002, for future Twins shortstop, Jason Bartlett. Now Buchanan is in his fifth season as the Royals Triple AAA hitting coach with the Omaha Storm Chasers. He sees a lot of resemblance of his old Twins teammates in the many prospects that the Royals have had going to the Majors the last two seasons. “There’s a lot of comparisons with what’s going on here to that 02 team. We all played together in the minor leagues and came up together. They’ve all played together, they’re going up there now, getting the experience, and they’ve all been playing together for at least four to five years,” said Buchanan. Having personally gone through what many of the Royals top prospects are experiencing now, Buchanan has been one the best mentors the Royals prospects can have when it comes to the mental side of hitting. One prospect in particular that has benefited from Buchanan’s coaching this season is outfielder Brewer Hicklen. Hicklen is leading the Storm Chasers this season in home runs (27), RBI (78), batting average (.257), and OPS (.893). The success for Hicklen has earned him a couple of cups of coffee with the Royals this season, and he attributes much of his success to Buchanan. “Each day we just make sure I go up to the plate with a plan, process and approach and trust that each and every day. One thing he’s big on is just forgetting what happened yesterday and each day is a new slate. It's a clean page, you know? Just make the most of that opportunity you have that day. Brian’s a positive guy who is always there for us,” said Hicklen. Royals prospect Brewer Hicklen at the plate against the Saints on 9-3-22, a player who has gained a lot from Buchanan's tutelage, Photo Taken by Theo Tollefson Buchanan’s coaching method is primarily focused on the mental side of hitting. As at this level of playing the game, Buchanan says, “Your swing is your swing and there's not a whole lot of tinkering you can do.” “Hitting is mostly about game planning, decision making, swinging hard at stuff that you can hit and picking up on stuff you can’t. At the Triple-A level, the pitching is a little different than the Majors. Pitchers can pitch you backward at times two-one sliders, three-one sliders, some off-speed stuff for heaters, counseling. You just got to help them with how they're gonna pitch you in certain situations that come up during the game,” said Buchanan. Buchanan is now in his 12th season as a coach in the Royals farm system spending the majority of that time as a hitting coach. When Buchanan began coaching in the Royals system in 2011, he started at the Royals rookie-level affiliate Idaho Falls, missing out on coaching the prospects that would later be a part of their 2015 World Series squad. He has still seen a fair share of talent come through the Royals system in recent years that are now with the Major League Squad. Those players include MJ Melendez, Drew Waters, and Bobby Witt Jr. “Bobby was here last year. He's as great as an athlete you can have. MJ Melendez is right up there too. He came down here and had a really good year last year and this year he came here and he struggled a little bit. All those young players that are up there now that were here, they're all very, very talented. The sky's the limit for those guys. At this point, it's just a matter of those guys getting up there and getting the experience.” With the Royals still in rebuild mode for their Major League squad, experience against MLB pitching is needed for the talent they want to build their franchise around according to Buchanan. “Not that the triple-A pitching isn't good. The step from this level to the big leagues is night and day. All those guys up there are throwing harder than ever and these guys we have, have the potential to be very good, big league players.” Looking back on his time with the Twins, Buchanan is grateful for what the club provided after an unexpected trade for Chuck Knoblauch to the Yankees. “I think that was a big success in the 2002 season when they finally went to the playoffs. They all knew each other, it was a great clubhouse and everyone was cool with each other. There's always a soft spot in your heart for the team that you came up with. I got traded over there and I'm very grateful for the opportunities that they gave me in this game and to always be with them.” View full article

Following a depressing one-hit shutout Saturday night, the Twins had ground to make up in the division race in their Sunday finale against the White Sox. Could the Twins avoid the sweep or did the White Sox manage to have a renaissance against the Twins for their second straight series matchup? Image courtesy of David Banks, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Dylan Bundy 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (66 pitches, 47 strikes (71.2 strike %)) Home Runs: Carlos Correa (16) Top 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran .384, Dylan Bundy, . 275, Carlos Correa .231 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The first three innings of this game were all pitching. The Twins and White Sox gathered two hits a piece with Kyle Garlick ensuring Lucas Giolito couldn’t have a no-hit bid going in the top of the second. Dylan Bundy had great command of the strike zone once again in the first three innings and kept the White Sox hitters looking like fools with his slider. Bundy compiled three strikeouts and issued no walks in the first three frames of the game and hoped to continue his success for a longer outing. In the top of the fourth, the Twins managed to make their first threat of scoring against Giolito thanks to singles from Jose Miranda and Gio Urshela. Nick Gordon followed up with a two-out walk, giving Gary Sanchez an opportunity to do damage with the bases loaded. Sanchez would not do anything as he struck out looking on a pitch that was a few inches out of the strike zone. No one could blame him for looking. Bundy responded well to the lack of run support in the bottom of the fourth as he retired the minimum on a flyout and two groundouts. The Twins broke the shutout in the fifth thanks to Carlos Correa’s 16th homer of the season to put the Twins up 2-0. In addition to Correa’s homer, the Twins worked Giolito’s pitch count up to 95 through five innings ending his afternoon there. With the Twins in the lead, Bundy did his best to enter cruise control for the fifth, he only hit one speed bump while in cruise control issuing a walk to A.J. Pollock. Aside from that, Bundy remained in command of the strike zone to keep the Twins up 2-0. Giolito was done after five and the Twins didn’t stop hitting in the sixth as Jake Cave led off the inning with a pinch-hit triple in Kyle Garlick spot. Cave’s chance to score was wasted though as Sanchez hit a ball to short that Cave ran on but was thrown out easily. However, the Twins wouldn’t let the White Sox walk away with the out as they challenged the call at home due to Yasmani Grandal’s blockage of the plate. From an objective perspective, Grandal blocked more of the plate than Sanchez did a month ago in a devastating loss to the Blue Jays. But the umpires would not give way to their call of Cave being out at home and the score remained 2-0. Even with Bundy dealing through five innings on 66 pitches. Rocco Baldelli’s fear of Bundy facing the batting order a third time greatly outweighed his fear of going to the bullpen too early after Saturday night's blowout. Griffin Jax was given the ball for the bottom of the sixth. Jax proved those fears unfounded in the sixth on eight pitches. Michael Fulmer who followed, did not. Fulmer only got one out on 14 pitches in the seventh giving up three hits and the Sox first run of the game. Jhoan Duran came into the game to get the Twins out of their jam in the seventh without any further damage. Duran went out again for the eighth with another insurance run added from Max Kepler scoring on a wild pitch to make it 3-1, Twins. Duran pitched a stellar bottom half of the eighth. The Twins threatened again in the top of the ninth with Billy Hamilton, who pinch ran for Arraez, was at third and Correa at second. Fortunately, both Hamilton and Correa scored the Twins final two runs to give them some breathing room for the bottom of the ninth. Jose Miranda laced an RBI double to left-center field to make it 5-1 Twins. Caleb Thielbar was the Twins man to get the final three outs of the game. The first two hitters went down on a flyout and strikeout before Seby Zavala hit a ball to the left field fence for a single. Thielbar got the next batter out on the very next pitch to cement the Twins 5-1 win. What’s Next? The Twins head into the heart of the Evil Empire Monday afternoon to begin a four-game set against the New York Yankees. Chris Archer has the start of the Twins as the Yankees will send out Jameson Taillon. The first pitch is scheduled to start at 12:05 p.m. CT. Postgame Interview (Bally Sports Tweets) Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Twins are making their way back into first place slowly but surely and they have (at least) four pitchers to thank for their performances in August that helped kept them in postseason contention. The Twins received much needed additions to their rotation at the start of August with Tyler Mahle, Jorge Lopez, and Michael Fulmer. As great as these three pitches have been for the Twins, none of them pitched as well as four others who have been with the team all season. These four Twins have been crucial arms keeping them in the race for the division title and a trip to October. Without further ado, here are the Twins Daily rankings for pitcher of the month. Honorable Mention #3: Dylan Bundy Bundy had his best month with the Twins over the course of August. The transition from a brutal month of July where Bundy posted an ERA just under 6.00 and had an opponent's baBIP of .300, he became the Twins second most reliable starter in August. Over his five starts, Bundy posted a 2.63 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, walked only five batters, and brought his opponent’s baBIP down to .244. Bundy also pitched a one-hitter against the Rangers on August 19 when he went five and a third innings to get the Twins their only win in that series. Bundy’s consistency of hitting the strike zone was key to his success for the month of August. As long as he can maintain that consistency in September and work as many innings as possible per start, Bundy’s arm will be critical in getting the Twins to the postseason. Honorable Mention #2: Caleb Thielbar Thielbar has continuously improved on the mound each month as the Twins season has gone on. August was without a doubt some of the best pitching Twins fans have ever seen in Thielbar’s career in Minnesota. For August, Thielbar made 13 relief appearances and pitched 12 innings. He only allowed 10 base runners on eight hits and two walks. And only one of those base runners scored off Thielbar bringing his ERA for the month to 0.75. The Twins front office are relying on Thielbar to be the key lefty for the remainder of this season in the Twins bullpen. Jovani Moran is back to give him support but as long as he keeps up the success of August for the remaining games, he should be a big threat to opponents in the postseason. Honorable Mention #1: Sonny Gray Gray carried the Twins starting rotation for the month of August over the course of his five starts. Working 26 2/3 innings, Gray managed to keep opponents from gaining more than seven runs against him as he posted a 2.03 ERA for the month. In addition to the low ERA, Gray had an impressive 30 strikeouts averaging 10.1 K per nine, along with an opponent's batting average of .189 for the month. The only real concern for Gray in August was allowing the most walks in a month on the season with 13. However, five of those came in his first start of the month on August 4 against the Blue Jays. Now that August is over, Gray makes the first start from the rotation in September. As long as the walks decrease and the strikeouts keep coming, Gray could be the ace to get the Twins into the postseason. Twins Daily Pitcher of the Month: Jhoan Duran Duran may have earned this award for throwing the fastest off-speed pitch in MLB history alone. But he deserves the recognition for much more than that. Over the course of August, Duran was practically untouchable. He posted a .171 opponent batting average over the month, struck 17 of 44 batters faced, and only walked three. And only one of those runners came home to score against Duran giving him a 0.77 ERA for the month in 11 2/3 innings. Duran has been the best Twins pitcher overall in the second half of the season as he has made 15 relief appearances in that time with a 0.66 ERA, 13.5 K per 9, and hitting the fastest pitches on the radar gun in every relief appearance. The sky certainly seems to be the limit for the Twins' top rookie as he will only continue to set records for Twins relievers as the final month of the season begins. What do you think? Was Duran the right choice, or maybe one of the starters? August was much better to Twins pitchers than July, and June, and... Let us know what you think in the comments below. View full article

As the Twins returned to .500 baseball in August, four Twins hitters deserve recognition for their performances this last month. For a team that saw many holes in their lineup over the month, these four players were key to keeping the team from having three months in a row with a losing record. August was a streaky month for the Twins hitting core. The team had their first month with a record of .500 or higher since May, finishing August with a 14-14 record. Some of that is to the core four of the Twins hitters that have kept them in contention and earned honors in the discussion for Twins hitter of the month. Without further ado, here are the four Twins hitters up for hitter of the month for August. Honorable mention #3: Luis Arraez Arraez had his first month hitting below .300 in August, posting a .269 batting average. He still was one of the more clutch hitters for the month, hitting two home runs, driving in 11 runs, and posting a .710 OPS in 25 games. The biggest positive for Arraez’s month is that he only struck out five times, dropping down from nine times in July. August is certainly the low point of the 2022 season for the American League batting leader, but for someone who had not hit below .314 or posted an OPS of .783 in any month prior to this one. It would be expected for Arraez to have a cooling-off period. If Arraez returns to his all-star hitting form, he will need to hit the ball to all gaps in the field rather than right to the left fielder as he did most of the month of August. Honorable mention #2: Jose Miranda Miranda, like Arraez, saw his first dip in production for the season since his May 30 recall from St. Paul. Miranda cooled off in August posting a .259/.325/.380 (.705) slash line, but he managed to hit three home runs, drive in 17 runs and had a .325 batting average on balls in play. The good news is that Miranda played in every single game for the Twins in August. The 24-year-old is due for an off day in September but that doesn’t mean he won’t rebound from a lower production month. The biggest split for Miranda’s production on the season is his triple slash in wins and losses. In games the Twins lost, Miranda has hit .203/.230/.311 and posted a .540 OPS in 49 Twins losses he has played in. In the 43 games Miranda has played in for the Twins that they won, he has hit .352/.421/.607 with a 1.028 OPS. If the Twins keep finding ways to win and make September/October their first month over .500 since May, Miranda will be a key player at the plate to make that happen. Honorable Mention #1: Carlos Correa Correa’s month of August was refreshing for Twins fans and Correa himself after an abysmal month of July when he had a .175/.264/.350 in 21 games. In August, Correa posted a .283/.392/.385 triple slash line, a .776 OPS. Although the run production numbers had not gone up much in August from July for Correa only hitting two home runs and nine RBI. Correa took more opportunities to get on base, having the most walks for a month on the season with 18. Correa might also be getting hot at just the right time for the Twins. The Twins still have a 36% chance of making the postseason according to Baseball Reference and Correa is the player on the team with the most experience in getting to the postseason. If Correa can put together his best month at the plate in September in the final five regular season games in October, he could be the biggest difference maker in the Twins' overall record for the year. August Hitter of the Month: Nick Gordon After his best night at the plate, hitting a grand slam and driving six runs against the Red Sox on Tuesday, August 30. There was no question that Nick Gordon would earn the honors for Twins hitter of the month. In a month that had so many holes in the Twins everyday lineup and was overfilled with left-handed bats, Gordon proved to be the best of them all. On top of his best day at the plate, Gordon posted a .321/.360/.531 triple slash and career high for OPS in a month at .891. The Twins super utility man brought his season numbers to .279/.323/.439 for his triple slash and now has a 119 OPS+ for the year. With Byron Buxton out for the next couple of weeks, Gordon is still expected to see playing time every day for the Twins and will look to continue his hot streak at the plate into September. What do you think? Who would get your award for Twins Hitter of the Month. Leave your own rankings below. View full article

After snapping a six-game losing streak Friday night, the Twins hoped to begin a new winning streak against the Giants and keep their postseason hopes alive Saturday night. With pitching carrying the weight for most of the game, the Twins had to walk their way around the bases to win this one. Box Score SP: Sonny Gray 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (90 pitches, 53 strikes (59 strike %)) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Jake Cave .665, Jhoan Duran .304, Carlos Correa .231 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) With Sonny Gray on the mound, the Twins had a good start to their Saturday evening, keeping the Giants shutout through the first two innings. Gray only allowed one base runner in the first two innings on a walk to Thairo Estrada. In the bottom of the second inning, the Twins mounted a two-out threat against Giants starter Alex Cobb. Max Kepler and Gilberto Celestino reached base on back-to-back walks, but with two outs, a ground out to first ended the threat. Even with no runs scored, the Twins still managed to get Cobb to throw 31 pitches in the second inning alone. He tallied 49 pitches in two innings of work. Gray faced trouble for the first time in the third when he walked back-to-back batters with one out. Fortunately, he got out of the jam by striking out former Twin LaMonte Wade Jr. and getting Wilmer Flores to ground out. The Twins once again mounted a two-out threat in the bottom of the fourth inning with singles from Gio Urshela and Kepler. A strikeout ended the inning. Gray started the fifth with another walk to Austin Slater, his fourth of the game. Slater took a risky lead off first and was picked off for the first out of the inning. The pickoff was only the seventh of Gray’s career. The next at-bat saw Giants left fielder Luis Gonzalez get hit on the foot to reach base as Gray’s command continued to slip in the middle innings. Gray’s no-hit bid ended in the next at-bat when he gave up a double to Joey Bart to put runners on second and third with one out. The Giants took advantage with a Tommy La Stella sacrifice fly that scored Slater and put the Giants up 1-0. The Twins remained scoreless through five innings, but they were able to push Cobb’s pitch count to 99 pitches for the evening. Carlos Correa was the last Twins hitter to get a hit off him for the day. Caleb Thielbar was the first reliever for the Twins, and he pitched an effective 1 1/3 innings, facing just four batters. When Thielbar was removed for Griffin Jax with one out in the seventh, Jorge Polanco also exited the game with a bum knee. Nick Gordon shifted to second base and Jake Cave came into the game in left field to bat in Polanco’s spot. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Max Kepler reached base for the third time in the game with an opposite-field single. The Twins struggles continued as the inning ended with a double play. Gary Sanchez came on to pinch hit for Leon and walked to keep the seventh alive. Luis Arraez came up looking to end his cold streak of one hit in his last 20 at-bats. Unfortunately, the streak continued as Arraez flew out to end the seventh. The Twins and Giants sat threw a 51-minute rain delay putting the eighth inning on hold. Once the delay was lifted, Trevor Megill came into the game for the Twins and retired the side on 11 pitches. A rain delay might have been just what the Twins needed. Carlos Correa led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single and advanced to third on a Cave single. But again, scoring opposite wasted. Megill remained on the mound for the ninth and ran into trouble. He gave up three singles which were followed by a Slater sacrifice fly which put the Giants up 2-0. Megill got out of the jam, but the Twins now needed to score at least two runs in the bottom of the ninth just to keep the game alive. Kepler led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but the next two batters got out. Arraez was the last hope for the Twins and kept the game alive with a walk. That brought up Correa for the opportunity to do what he does best (even though he hasn't very often this season). Shine in big moments. Could he walk-off for the Twins for the first time all season? He didn’t walk it off, but the Twins caught a break on a base running communication that ended up with Kepler scoring and Arraez at third. Now down by just one run, Jake Cave came to the plate and delivered his biggest hit this season, a single to left to tie the game at 2-2.. The Twins were headed to extra frames for the sixth time in the month of August. Jhoan Duran was given the ball for the 10th. The Twins caught a huge break when the Manfred Man left second on a ground ball to Correa. The shortstop threw the ball to third base for an easy first out. Joey Bart, a slower runner, was left at first base with one out. Duran retired the next two hitters without another runner making it to first base. He was throwing hard and his fastest pitch at 102.3 MPH against Evan Longoria. Caleb Hamilton came into the game as the ghost runner in place of Jose Miranda. Nick Gordon placed a sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance Hamilton to third, Gio Urshela followed with a walk and Kepler was given an intentional pass which loaded the bases with one out for Gilberto Celestino. He was unable to record a big hit but only because the Giants reliever Dominic Leone threw four pitches nowhere near the strike zone. Celestino took four pitches, jogged down to first base and Caleb Hamilton cross home plate to give the Twins a 3-2 victory. What’s Next? The Twins concluded their series against the Giants at 1:10 tomorrow afternoon. Aaron Sanchez is on the mound for the Twins against Jakob Junis. Postgame Interviews The game was a nationally-televised game on Fox. No Bally Sports North broadcast, so no postgame video. Bullpen Usage Sheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Megill 8 0 23 0 35 66 Pagán 14 0 0 28 0 42 Fulmer 0 23 0 12 0 35 Duran 0 0 20 0 13 33 Smeltzer 0 27 0 0 0 27 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 22 22 López 0 0 18 0 0 18 Jax 0 0 6 0 8 14 View full article