Tom Froemming

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Gonsalves: 18 Game Score, 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 K, 4 BB, 60.0% strikes (54 of 90 pitches) Home Runs: Austin (15), Cave (8) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (3-for-5, 2 2B), Mauer (2-for-5, 2B), Kepler (2-for-5) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Garver .343, Cave .260 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Gonsalves -.234 That big fifth inning all started with a Tyler Austin home run, was highlighted by a Mitch Garver bases-clearing double and was capped off by a Jake Cave homer. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1035710317731373058 Cave had been struggling badly against same-sided pitching coming into this game. In 39 plate appearances, he had struck out 20 times with a line of .167/.231/.361 against lefties. In the fifth inning tonight, Cave blasted a go-ahead two-run homer off lefty Matt Moore in what was an eight-pitch at-bat. https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1035712204824342528 Stephen Gonsalves had a tough night, again. He issued too many free passes — four in just 3 ⅔ innings. He didn’t get any strikeouts and got just four swinging strikes on his 90 pitches. The shot that knocked him out of this game was a three-run homer on an 88.8 mph 1-0 fastball to Nomar Mazara. From there, the Twins’ bullpen did a great job. Matt Magill threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, followed by a clean frame from Gabriel Moya. Then Trevor May impressed by striking out four of the five batters he faced. Taylor Rogers struck out both of the batters he faced before Trevor Hildenberger finally gave up a run in the ninth. Final combined line for the bullpen: 5 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Very impressive. After the game, the Twins announced their first wave of September callups:https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1035743715283939328 Some familiar names on that list, but Andrew Vasquez comes as a bit of a surprise. Unlike some of the other relief options, he's not currently on the 40-man roster, and also has no previous MLB time. Vasquez is one of the front runners for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year, as he's pitched to a 2.34 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 14.0 K/9 over 69 13 innings between three levels this season. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Sat at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Yovani Gallardo Sun at TEX, 2:05 pm CT: TBD vs. Bartolo Colon Mon at HOU, 1:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games CLE 5, MIN 3: Odorizzi Fades, Busenitz Blows It MIN 4, CLE 3: Astudillo Gets First Homer, Mauer Scores 1,000th Run CLE 8, MIN 1: Where Did the Runs Go?

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Odorizzi: 55 Game Score, 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 56.4% strikes (53 of 94 pitches) Home Runs: Adrianza (6), Sano (13) Multi-Hit Games: None WPA of 0.1 or higher: Adrianza .218, Odorizzi .103 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.116, Busenitz -.416 Odorizzi’s third time through the order issues are well documented. He got off to a great start the third time through, striking out Francisco Lindor to end the fifth. He also got Michael Brantley to pop out to open the sixth. Then came the consecutive four-pitch walks and the hook, but Odorizzi still exited this game with the Twins up 2-1. Busenitz came in and gave up a game-tying single to Yonder Alonso and then a three-day homer to Jason Kipnis. All the Twins’ runs came via the longball, as Ehire Adrianza hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and Miguel Sano hit a solo shot in the ninth. Jorge Polanco's sat for the third straight game and Eddie Rosario left this one in the sixth inning due to a leg injury. This game was broadcast on Facebook, and their booth crew, including Glen Perkins, asked Paul Molitor during an in-game interview about future roster plans. He said a decision on Byron Buxton would be coming sometime in the next 24 hours and some of the specific names he mentioned among September callups were Tyler Duffey, John Curtiss and Zack Littell. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves vs. Drew Hutchison Sat at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Yovani Gallardo Sun at TEX, 2:05 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 4, CLE 3: Astudillo Gets First Homer, Mauer Scores 1,000th Run CLE 8, MIN 1: Where Did the Runs Go? OAK 6, MIN 2: Austin Goes Deep Twice in Loss

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 45 Game Score, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 59.6% strikes (56 of 94 pitches) Home Runs: Astudillo (1) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (3-for-5, 2B), Grossman (2-for-3, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Grossman .356, Rogers .261, Hildenberger .216, Rosario .171 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Adrianza -.115, Stewart -.124, Cave -.126 Astudillo, 26, has played 638 minor league games since debuting in 2009 as a 17-year-old in the now defunct Venezuelan Summer League. He bounced from the Phillies to the Braves to the Diamondbacks before landing with the Twins this offseason. All those years and he had never hit more than four home runs in a season. Astudillo broke out this year with 12 homers for Rochester, that combined with some good luck resulted in him getting the opportunity to finally reach the majors. Now he has his first big league home run. Stuff like this is why we continue to pay attention. https://twitter.com/BaseballByTom/status/1034956925102956545 Joe Mauer scored the first run of his career in his major league debut back on April 5, 2004. Astudillo was 12-years-old at the time. Kohl Stewart was nine. Joe is just the third player in Twins history to score 1,000 runs, joining Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew. Stewart gave up a pair of runs in the first, but appeared to settle in. From there, he held Cleveland scoreless for the next three innings, and even retired the first two batters he faced in the fifth. Jose Ramirez singled, Edwin Encarnacion drove him in on a double and Stewart was bounced from the game after 94 pitches with the Twins down 3-2. https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/1034979163881594880 Trevor May got the final out of the fifth and followed that up with a scoreless sixth inning, keeping the Twins in this one. In the top of the seventh, the Twins strung together a two-out rally that was capped off by a Robbie Grossman go-ahead single. Taylor Rogers followed that up with two scoreless innings of his own. May’s ERA is down to 2.08 and this was Rogers’ 16th straight scoreless appearance. The Twins had a great chance to tack on an insurance run, getting their first two batters aboard in the ninth, but could not score. Luckily that didn’t matter, as Trevor Hildenberger slammed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his fifth save. Jorge Polanco was on the bench for the second straight night due to tightness in his left leg. Postgame With Molitor https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1034999891515203585 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Sat at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games CLE 8, MIN 1: Where Did the Runs Go? OAK 6, MIN 2: Austin Goes Deep Twice in Loss OAK 6, MIN 2: Gonsalves Gets Burned on Mistake Pitch

Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 39 Game Score, 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 58.3% strikes (60 of 103 pitches) Home Runs: Cave (7) Multi-Hit Games: Mauer (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.101, Gibson -.126 Kyle Gibson didn’t give up much loud contact, as all eight hits he surrendered were singles, but he also walked three batters and was consistently getting into trouble. But, as has been the case frequently of late, it didn’t matter much what the pitching staff does when you can’t get much offense going. Carlos Carrasco gets overshadowed by Corey Kluber, but he’s a pretty incredible pitcher in his own right. He’s been among the best handful of starters in the American League over the past five seasons, and tonight he had his A game working. Carrasco held Minnesota scoreless over 7 2/3 innings and racked up 11 strikeouts. When Cleveland’s first four hitters are rolling (Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion), this is a very difficult team to beat. That quartet combined to go 11-for-17. Joe Mauer had a nice game, going 2-for-4 with a double, and Jake Cave delivered the Twins’ only run with a home run with one out in the ninth inning. Tyler Austin was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kohl Stewart vs. Adam Plutko Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games OAK 6, MIN 2: Austin Goes Deep Twice in Loss OAK 6, MIN 2: Gonsalves Gets Burned on Mistake Pitch OAK 7, MIN 1: Puckett 2,304, Mauer 2,086, Carew 2,085