Tom Froemming

The Twins made their share of mistakes Monday night, but Eddie Rosario managed to force the Brewers into a blunder that ended up being the difference in the game. While on third base and no one holding him on, Rosario flustered the pitcher into committing a run-scoring balk that went down as the game-winning run.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx87.png Rosario’s run made the difference, but the other big stories of this game were Jorge Polanco breaking out of his slump and the bullpen delivering another great performance. Polanco went 4-for-4 and hit a huge two-run double. It was his first multi-hit game since July 1 and just the second time all year he’s had more than two hits. Polanco had as many hits tonight as he did all last month. He’s opened August with a five-game hitting streak after going 4-for-51 (.078) in July. Paul Molitor has gone back to running Polanco out there at shortstop everyday again, and it appears to be paying off. Ervin Santana went 6.0 innings, was only credited with two earned runs of the four he gave up and had six strikeouts. For the second straight night, the bullpen shined bright. Trevor Hildenberger struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up a single to Ryan Braun. After Buddy Boshers recorded the last out of the seventh, it was Ryan Pressly who came in for the eighth. He walked the first man he faced on four pitches, but miraculously had a seven-pitch inning. His fifth pitch on the frame turned into a double play and he got the final out on a fly ball to end a two-pitch at bat. Molitor turned to Matt Belisle again for the save, despite the fact that he entered the night with a 9.85 ERA, 2.10 WHIP and 1.045 OPS against when working on zero days rest. Belisle answered the call and got the job done. Here’s the bullpen’s line from the past two games: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. All’s well that ends well, but this was not a very pretty win. The Twins had a difficult time scratching across runs tonight, going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position while leaving 11 men on base. They left runners on second and third in both the third and fourth innings, then left the bases loaded in the fifth. In the sixth, they got runners on first and second base with no outs. Those runners were stranded. In the seventh, Rosario was at second with no outs after Milwaukee right fielder Domingo Santana appeared to lose his fly ball in the lights. With no outs, Paul Molitor had Buxton bunt him over to third. Rosario managed to induce the balk, but the Twins left two more runners on that inning. Twins W-L Record Overall: 54-56 (.491) Last 10: 5-5 (.500) Last 20: 8-12 (.400) Last 40: 18-22 (.450) Last 80: 38-42 (.475) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups87.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen87.png Looking Ahead Tuesday: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Brewers (Matt Garza), 7:10 pm, CT Old friend alert! After a couple of underwhelming and injury-riddled seasons, Garza is back to being an above average pitcher this year. He has a 3.68 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and hasn't given up more than two runs in five straight starts. Mejia is having an encouraging rookie season, but he's going to need to start pitching deeper into games. In his 17 starts this year, he's thrown 100 pitches just three times and has gotten an out in the sixth inning in six of those starts. Click here to view the article

I have a few more things to add this morning. -There are some people out there still pointing to the fact that the Twins are only 3.5 games back of the wild card. That's true, but there are also four other teams closer to KC for that second wild card spot (the Rays, Mariners, Orioles and Angels). -At the same time, both KC and Cleveland have cooled of late. The Royals have dropped five of their last seven games and the Cleveland club has lost five of their last six. Just something to keep an eye on. -The Twins bullpen has not been a strength, but on the year the unit ranks fifth in BB/9 (3.06) and eighth in ground ball rate (46.2%). They've also been overworked all year. The Twins have the fourth-worst quality start rate (37%) and fifth-lowest IP/start (5.4). -The Twins rank 24th in wRC+ vs. LHP (85), and have the fifth-worst slugging percentage vs. lefties at .379. Southpaw Brent Suter, who is starting for the Brewers tonight, has held same-sided hitters to a .573 OPS this year. For more on Suter, check out this great profile at Beyond the Box Score. He throws really slow and works really fast. Suter is a Harvard product, but was not a teammate of current Twins prospect Sean Poppen. Suter was with the Crimson from '09-'12 while Poppen pitched for them from '13-'16.

The Twins were down 5-0 before they even came to bat, but home runs by Max Kepler, Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario got them back in the game. Jose Berrios got off to a rough start, but got back on track, and Matt Belisle earned the team’s first save since Brandon Kintzler was traded away to Washington.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx86.png This game got off to a terrible start for the Twins, as Berrios gave up a three-run homer to Adrian Beltre and a two-run shot to Joey Gallo in the first inning. But the Twins answered with a pair of second inning homers of their own, as Kepler and Dozier each hit two-run blasts. Rosario provided a solo shot in the third to tie it up. Twins W-L Record Overall: 53-56 (.486) Last 10: 4-6 (.400) Last 20: 8-12 (.400) Last 40: 17-23 (.425) Last 80: 38-42 (.475) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups86.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen86.png Looking Ahead Monday: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. Milwaukee (Brent Suter) Tuesday: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Milwaukee (Matt Garza) Next Series: Twins head to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

I highly doubt Mauer requested a day off. Here's what he told reporters prior to the season: “I think there’s certain times of year it makes sense,” Mauer said of sporadic rest. “You guys know me, you ask me I want to be in there every night. There’ll be times when it makes sense [to sit] but I don’t think that’s a part-time deal. “You’re not going to play 162 [games] but my conversations with Mollie, it’s been upwards of that number. Not anything less. Like I said, I think our best chance is when I’m on the field and I’m trying to stay on the field.” This quote is from a February piece by ESPN 1500's Derek Wetmore.

Yeah, I should've said Mauer's absence was understandable in a vacuum, because 1) I wanted to see him sit more this year, especially vs. LHP, and 2) baseball has no business being played inside a vacuum I would not have assumed, however, Mauer sitting would mean shortstops playing first base, but heck, Molitor has stuck shortstops everywhere else on the diamond during his time here, so why not?

The Twins third and fourth hitters were Eduardo Escobar and Chris Gimenez. Ehire Adrianza was the starting first baseman. Also, Cole Hamels was on the hill for Texas. How many runs could we have expected them to score?Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx85.png Hamels had his way with the Twins, carving up an “interesting” lineup. The veteran lefty pitched a complete game, with the only run he surrendered being unearned. Joe Mauer was getting an off day against a tough lefty and Miguel Sano was forced to sit after being hit in the wrist/hand by a pitch on Friday night. Both of their absences were 100 percent understandable, but since the Twins are still carrying an eight-man bullpen, Paul Molitor was very limited in his options for replacements. Kyle Gibson returned from Rochester, where he pitched quite well, to give up three runs over 5.1 innings. He threw more pitches (97) in that brief of an outing as Hamels did pitching a complete game (96). Gibby gave up seven hits, walked two batters and had four strikeouts. The Twins offense mustered just four hits. Jorge Polanco hit a double, the team’s only extra-base hit. That was especially nice to see, since he entered the night with a .465 OPS vs. lefties on the season. Dozier singled and drew the team’s only walk, but was also picked off while trying to steal second base to end the third inning. Eduardo Escobar hit a single in the fourth, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. Buxton scored the only run on a weak tapper to first after he stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. The really fun highlights from this one came from the defense. The Twins, starting three shortstops in their infield in this game, resulted in some predictable problems in terms of generating offense, but the glove work was a thing of beauty. In the fourth inning, Jorge Polanco started a gorgeous inning-ending double play. Twins W-L Record Overall: 52-56 (.481) Last 10: 3-7 (.300) Last 20: 7-13 (.350) Last 40: 17-23 (.425) Last 80: 37-43 (.463) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups85.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen85.png Looking Ahead Sunday: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez), 1:10 pm CT It’ll be interesting to see if whether or not Sano is able to get back into action for this one. In three career plate appearances against Martinez, he’s hit two homers. Martinez was hammered for seven runs over 5.1 innings in his last start. Berrios has been able to do an outstanding job at keeping the ball in the park at Target Field this year. He’s given up just one home run at home and has a 2.61 ERA. On the road, he’s surrendered eight homers and has a 4.38 ERA. Jose was phenomenal in his last outing, pitching 7.0 two-hit innings while giving up one run. Monday: Twins (TBD) vs. Milwaukee (TBD) Tuesday: Twins (TBD) vs. Milwaukee (TBD) Next Series: Twins head to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

Thank you. Happy to hear people are enjoying these. Definitely gives me fuel to keep rolling.

In 19 starts he has a 2.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 6.0 K:BB ratio. He's holding opposing hitters to a .221/.257/.333 line (.590 OPS). Personally, I don't care if he's 24 or 34, that kind of performance certainly demands some attention. This is his first full professional season, so it doesn't seem all that weird he's in Cedar Rapids. In fact, the prospect handbook projected him to spend most of this season in EST/E-Town. Being a 33rd rounder as a fifth-year senior, no, it's not likely he'll skyrocket up the prospect rankings, but I would still consider him a "real" prospect.

What planet is Bartolo Colon from? Seriously? Because there’s no way he’s an earthling. Colon, a 44-year-old man pushing 300-pounds who pumps 90 mph fastballs up to the plate, pitched a complete game for the Twins in a much-needed victory. And it was a fun one.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx84.png How great is baseball? We have giants like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. We have little guys like Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts. And we have extraterrestrial pitchers like Bartolo Colon. Colon’s previous current season high in innings was 7.0, and the longest he had gone in his three starts with the Twins was 6.1 innings. He had also thrown over 100 pitches just once this season, way back on April 21. Tonight he threw 106, 78 of them for strikes. Colon got off on the wrong foot, giving up two runs in the first inning. But Brian Dozier popped an opposite field leadoff homer and Robbie Grossman added a three-run shot in the bottom of the first to give Big Sexy new life. From innings 2-8, Colon held the Rangers to one run and gave up just five hits. Carlos Gomez cracked a solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning, but all that really did was add more drama. Just when you thought there was no way Bartolo was going to make it, he coaxed a ground ball that Joe Mauer made a great play on for the final out. Twins W-L Record Overall: 52-54 (.491) Last 10: 3-7 (.300) Last 20: 7-13 (.350) Last 40: 18-22 (.450) Last 80: 38-42 (.475) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups84.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen84.png Looking Ahead Saturday: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels), 6:10 pm CT Hamels is coming off a strong July in which he posted a 3.66 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 4.57 K:BB ratio over six starts. Joe Mauer is 0 for 12 with no walks and three strikeouts against Hamels. Gibson was excellent in his three starts down in Triple A. He had a 2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 23 strikeouts over 17.1 innings pitched. A lot people point to the first pitch being a big key for Kyle, which is certainly true, but he also needs to do a better job getting the first batter of each inning out. Batters who leadoff an inning are hitting .315/.394/.598 (.992 OPS) off Gibson this season. Sunday: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

Clark Beeker threw 8.2 shutout innings for Cedar Rapids tonight, extending his scoreless streak to 25.2 innings. It was in an epic pitcher’s duel, which the Kernels unfortunately lost 2-0 in 10 innings. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Syracuse 2, Rochester 1 (7 innings) Box Score Dietrich Enns’ Minnesota org debut will go down as a complete game. Sure, it was only a six-inning outing, but it still counts. Enns, whom the Twins acquired from the Yankees in the (second) Jaime Garcia trade, gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four. Niko Goodrum hit his 22nd double of the year and drew a walk. Engelb Vielma hit his eighth two-bagger since being called up from Chattanooga. Daniel Palka was 1-for-2 with a walk. Both managers got ejected from this one, in separate incidents/innings and even by different umpires. Had to make it a little awkward to go back out there for Game 2. Game 2: Rochester 3, Syracuse 2 (7 innings) Box Score Mitch Garver was 2-for-3 with a double and sparked the game-winning rally. With the score tied in the top of the seventh (and final) inning, Garver hit a leadoff single. That was followed by a Leonardo Reginatto double. Consecutive walks by Niko Goodrum and J.B. Shuck forced in the go-ahead run. Nik Turley got off to a great start, striking out three batters in three scoreless innings, but a rain delay knocked him out of the game. Drew Rucinski gave up two runs over 2.1 innings. Jake Reed pitched 1.2 scoreless innings for his first win of the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 1 Box Score Nick Gordon hit his eighth home run and Stephen Gonsalves pitched 6.2 shutout innings to help lift the Lookouts to victory. Gordon also stole his 13th base and drew a walk. He has five more homers than he’s ever hit in a season, and both his current OBP (.357) and slugging percentage (.431) would represent career highs by a large margin. Gonsalves has been incredibly consistent this season. Tonight was his 13th start. You know how many times he’s given up four runs? Zero. Tonight was just his second scoreless outing, however, and the second consecutive game he’s pitched into the seventh inning. Third baseman T.J. White has also been essential to the special season Chattanooga is putting together. He was 2-for-2 tonight with a double, a homer and two walks. Max Murphy also had a pair of hits. Todd Van Steensel continued his excellent season by striking out a pair of batters over 1.1 scoreless innings. Gabriel Moya, recently acquired in the John Ryan Murphy trade, gave up a solo homer, but managed to earn the save. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 0 Box Score Lewis Thorpe struck out nine batters over five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits and walked three. Thorpe threw 97 pitches on the night, 59 for strikes, as he lowered his ERA to 2.79 on the season. The nine K's was a season high, and Thorpe has now racked up 64 strikeouts in 58.0 innings this season. Here’s what Thorpe told Seth Stohs of Twins Daily after his outing: “Slider was working tonight. And the fastball. It wasn't really the plan but in the first two innings we figured out they were gonna be aggressive.” The K's kept coming, as Michael Theofanopoulos had four over his two innings and Williams Ramirez had three over his two frames. So it was a 16-strikeout game for the Miracle pitching staff. Plus, catcher Kevin Garcia was 2-for-4 with a couple of RBI. Nelson Molina was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. This was a huge win for Fort Myers, as it put them a half game in front of Jupiter for the Flordia State League South division lead. After finishing the first half two games under .500, the Miracle are 25-16 so far in the second half. KERNELS NUGGETS Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 0 (10 innings) Box Score Clark Beeker was phenomenal, as he’s been all season for the Kernels. The Davidson product pitched 8.2 shutout innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. He gave up four hits, all singles. He gave up a two-out single in the top of the ninth after he had surpassed the 100-pitch mark, so it seemed logical that was as far as he was going to pitch in this one. This was the 24-year-old’s third-straight scoreless start. He pitched a complete game shutout on July 29 after throwing six shutout innings in July 23. Unfortunately, Cedar Rapids just couldn’t get anything going offensively. Seth also found time to catch up with Beeker tonight, here’s what he had to say about his marvelous performance: “The game plan was very similar, mix in all counts and use the changeup early to set up the fastball later in at-bats. It was the third time facing these guys so I had a decent idea of how I wanted to pitch some of their hitters. I'd be lying if I said I completely ignored the scoreless streak, but I try not to think too much about it. I just know if I put up scoreless innings, it gives our team the best chance to win and keeps the bullpen fresh.” Colton Davis gave up a couple of runs in the top of the 10th inning, but it appeared for a moment the Kernels might mount a comeback. Ben Rortvedt drew a leadoff walk. After Trey Cabbage struck out, Hank Morrison hit a deep fly out to center field. Jordan Gore singled, but Rortvedt was thrown out at the plate for the game’s final out. That run wouldn’t have mattered much, so it was a bit of a head-scratcher. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 10, Burlington 5 Box Score Catcher Robert Molina had a big game, going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Akil Baddoo was on base four times, hitting two singles to go with a pair of walks. Multi-hit games also came from Shane Carrier, J.J. Robinson, Ariel Montesino and T.J. Dixon. Brusdar Graterol, who turns just 19 later this month, picked up his first Appy League victory, giving up a pair of runs over five innings. He struck out three batters. Randy Dobnak, who was recently signed out of the United Shore League, earned the save by throwing the final four innings. He gave up three runs and struck out five. E-Town improved to 27-15 on the season, extending their lead in the Appy League West to 4.5 games. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 9, GCL Red Sox 8 Box Score Jean Carlos Arias, a 19-year-old Dominican center fielder, was 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Emmanuel Morel, Benjamin Rodriguez, Alex Robles and Jared Atkins all had two hits a piece. Rodriguez drove in three runs. Altogether, the Twins had 14 hits, eight walks and stole five bases. They were also 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Royce Lewis had his second-straight three walk game, stole his 11th base (in 13 attempts) and scored a pair of runs. He’s now played 30 games. He has 32 hits, 16 walks and 34 runs scored. Lewis’ slash line is .291/.405/.445 (.850 OPS). Carlos Suniaga started and gave up two runs (one earned) over five innings. The Twins built an 8-4 lead before their bullpen sputtered a bit, letting the Red Sox back in this game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Clark Beeker, Cedar Rapids (8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: T.J. White, Chattanooga (2-for-2, HR, 2B, 2 BBs SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Syracuse, 6:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.34 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Jackson, 6:15 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:05 pm CT, Anthony McIver (2.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT, Anthony Marzi (2.27 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) Elizabethton vs. Burlington, 5:00 pm CT, Bailey Ober (0.00 ERA, 0.55 WHIP) GCL Twins vs, GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Dozier last 37 PAs: .135/.135/.243 Buxton last 37 PAs: .353/.389/.500 I dunno, letting Buxton lead off for a few games may be an interesting way to try and jump start the dragging offense.

Well, I believe started these when they were out in Seattle. They had a 29-24 record at that point. So, looks like they're 22-31 since ... sorry

The Twins managed just three hits and Joey Gallo blasted a three-run homer for Texas. That about says it all. Adalberto Mejia lasted just four innings, but that was in part due to the fact that his teammates made a couple of crucial misplays.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx83.png Brian Dozier and Max Kepler, the top two batters in tonight’s order, have both really been struggling of late. Dozier was 0 for 4 tonight, and is now 5 for 37 (.135) since the start of that West Coast road trip with 13 strikeouts and no walks. Kepler, 0 for 3 tonight, is now 11 for 66 (.167) since the All-Star break. It was a weird night for Mejia. He walked the first batter of the game, then gave up back-to-back singles, putting Texas up 1-0 before the Twins even recorded an out. But then just like that, Adalberto struck out the next five batters he faced. After a 30-pitch first frame, Mejia faced the minimum in both the second and third innings. Things got messy in the fourth, however, as his defense misplayed a couple of balls. After retiring the leadoff man, Mejia gave up a “double” to Mike Napoli that bounced out of a sliding Eddie Rosario’s glove. Baseball Savant had the hit probability on that ball at just three percent. Twins Record Overall: 51-55 (.481) Last 10: 2-8 (.200) Last 20: 6-14 (.300) Last 40: 17-23 (.425) Last 80: 37-43 (.463) A couple of big stories to follow over these final two months will be who is playing shortstop and how young players like Zack Granite are being used. Things will get even more interesting once rosters expand. With that in mind, these game recaps will also include some info on recent starting lineups. Enjoy. Defensive Lineups Here's a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups83.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen83.png Looking Ahead Friday: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Texas (Martin Perez), 7:10 pm CT In four second-half starts, Perez has a 7.03 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. But the southpaw has great numbers against current Twins hitters, holding them to a .189/.267/.208 line over 61 PAs. As a team, the Twins have a .697 OPS vs. LHP. League average is .744. Colon is coming off his best start as a Twin, having held the A's to three runs over 6.1 IP. Adrian Beltre, who recently recorded his 3,000th hit, has an .844 OPS and six homers off Colon over his career. Saturday: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels) Sunday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

I'm going to see how long this can last. My prediction for tomorrow: Don't Need a Closer When You Hit 5 HRs

Ervin Santana pitched his fifth complete game of the season and set a new season high with nine strikeouts. He also delivered at the dish, driving in a pair of runs. Word is he’s also going to prepare a five course meal for the entire team, fly the jet back to Minneapolis and serve as a one-man grounds crew to prepare Target Field for tomorrow’s game. Ok, those last three things weren’t true, but it seems like the guy can do it all.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx82.png What a performance. Santana gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He lived in the strike zone all game, throwing 82 of his 110 pitches on the day for strikes. But that wasn’t all. Santana also did something that has been seemingly impossible for the regular lineup to do. He got a hit with two outs and the bases loaded. With the game scoreless in the top of the second inning, Ervin chopped a two-run single past the first baseman. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen82.png Looking Ahead Thursday: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Texas (A.J. Griffin), 7:10 pm CT Griffin will be making his first start off the DL. His last outing was May 27. He’s been recovering from an intercostal strain. The right-hander has only made eight starts in 2017, posting a 5.77 ERA. He’s served up an eye-popping 12 home runs over just 39.0 innings (2.8 HR/9). You’d usually expect a 24-year-old rookie to be inconsistent, but Mejia hasn’t given up more than four runs in eight straight starts. In five starts during July, Big Bert had a 3.49 ERA and 2.75 K:BB ratio. He still hasn’t found that Ervin-like knack for pitching deep into games (to be fair, who has?), but if that’s our biggest concern, that’s a pretty great situation to be in. Friday: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Texas (Martin Perez) Saturday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Cole Hamels) Sunday: Twins (TBD) vs. Texas (Nick Martinez) Next Series: Twins host the Brewers in a two-game series before heading to Milwaukee for two games. Click here to view the article

Jose Berrios was outstanding, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but the Twins offense got shut out for just the second time all season. The bats could muster only three hits, all of them singles, to go along with a pair of walks. The bright side: At least one of the base knocks came from Byron Buxton, who was playing his first game back off the DL.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx81.png This was an encouraging night for Berrios and Buxton, which in the big picture is really what’s important for the remainder of this season. Berrios gave up just one run over 7.0 two-hit innings. He walked two and struck out four, throwing just 75 pitches, 46 for strikes. If this was an AL game, there’s little doubt Jose would have gone out for the eighth inning, but he was pinch hit for as the leadoff man in the eighth inning. Paul Molitor has been an easy target of late, but I think that’s a move that had to be made in a 1-0 game at the time. Along with going 1-for-3, Buxton also stole his 17th base of the season. Eduardo Escobar was a bright spot as well, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Zack Granite had a rough night at the plate, hitting into two double plays, but he also made a nice catch at the wall in left field. Joe Mauer made the play of the game with this sweet over the shoulder basket catch. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen81.png Wednesday Twins (Ervin Santana) at San Diego (Luis Perdomo), 2:40 pm CT Over his last five starts, Perdomo has given up 21 runs in 25.1 innings, though only 15 of those were earned (5.33 ERA). The right-hander has yielded an .895 OPS and has a 15:9 K:BB ratio over that same stretch. Lefties have hit .331/.407/.494 (.901 OPS) off him this season. Santana followed a terrible June with a more respectable, yet still uninspiring July. In four starts he had a 4.68 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Through his first 11 starts, Erv had a 1.75 ERA. In his 10 starts since, his ERA is 5.46. Click here to view the article

Great, great stuff. Awesome, super valuable information. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There will be a lot of tough decisions, but the front office has had a great grasp on the market so far, successfully slipping Park and Melotakis through waivers. I'd love to see some of the guys on the fringe who are in their mid- to late-20s get a look in the bigs before the end of this season.