Tom Froemming

My only disappointment is there wasn't a stronger market out there for Kintzler. The front office clearly played hardball to try and get the absolute max for him, waiting until the very final minutes, but there was no desperate mystery team that ever emerged. What can you do?

Another really poor baseball decision I forgot to mention originally was when Max Kepler ran into an out at third base. With the score tied and one out in the top of the ninth, Kepler was on second base when Miguel Sano sent a chopper to third. Kepler broke to third and was easily tagged out. I don't know if maybe Kepler thought he could beat the third baseman to the bag or if he thought there were two outs already (he entered the game as a pinch runner) or what, but that was a terrible play on his part in a huge situation. Just a lot of bad baseball all around for the Twins of late.

For the second-straight night, the Twins blew a lead and were thwarted by Oakland thanks to a walk-off homer. Yonder Alonso played the hero this time, blasting a homer off Tyler Duffey to win it in the 12th inning. This was the Twins last opportunity to make a positive impression on the front office prior to the trade deadline.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx630.png The Twins built up a 5-0 lead early but, once again, they failed to tack on. Taylor Rogers, who gave up the walk-off homer last night, came in to pitch the eighth today. He got the first two batters he faced out before issuing a four-pitch walk. Oakland pinch hit Rajai Davis, who just so happened to be the guy who hit that walk-off homer off Rogers Saturday night, and he delivered a clutch single. Rogers was lifted for Ryan Pressly, who gave up a game-tying double to Matt Chapman. In a situation that clearly called for a no-doubles defense (game-tying run at first base with two outs), left fielder Eddie Rosario was inexplicably playing in. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen730.png Monday Off The Twins get to spend another day off in California tomorrow. Not a bad deal. Tuesday evening they’ll open a quick two-game series at San Diego. Jose Berrios is scheduled to start against Jhoulys Chacin. The big news, of course, is the upcoming trade deadline, which is Monday at 3 pm CT. Be sure to be refreshing Twins Daily often, as we’ll keep you updated on any rumors or trade news between now and then. Click here to view the article

Brandon Kintzler was unavailable, so it was up to Taylor Rogers to protect a one-run lead. It would have been his first professional save on any level … would have been. Rogers walked the leadoff man, then gave up a walk-off homer to the next batter, Rajai Davis. Cleveland extended its winning streak to nine games, though the Royals’ winning streak was snapped. The Twins are seven games back in the division and four back in the wild card race.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx729.png Oakland struck first in this one, but the Twins built a 4-1 lead by the top of the fifth inning. The A’s climbed back into it by scoring a run on a two-out single in the fifth and a two-out solo homer in the eighth. Rogers came in to bail out Buddy Boshers, who gave up that homer, and recorded the final out of the eighth inning. He opened the ninth by getting up 0-2 on Adam Rosales, but eventually walked him. Then Davis blasted a 1-0 pitch into the night to finish off the Twins. This was Rogers’ fourth-straight appearance allowing a run. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen729.png Sunday Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Oakland (Jharel Cotton), 3:05 pm CT Sonny Gray was originally scheduled to start this game. He’s the hottest name on the trade market right now, so it’s no surprise to see the A’s opt not to roll him out there right before the deadline. Instead, the Twins will face Cotton in his first start since July 7 (blister). Cotton has struggled in 14 starts this year, posting a 5.17 ERA Colon has given up seven runs on 16 hits in his 9.0 innings pitched for the Twins over two starts. Bartolo spent the 2012 & 2013 seasons with the A’s, and has outstanding numbers at the Coliseum. In 224.1 innings, Colon has a 2.93 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in Oakland. Click here to view the article

Byron Buxton, whose walk-up song is Mark Morrison’s 1996 hit “Return of the Mack,” made a triumphant return to Rochester. He opened his rehab assignment by slugging a lead-off homer, then helped spark a game-winning rally in extra innings. Also tonight, Royce Lewis picked up two more hits, Fernando Romero dazzled, Gabriel Moya impressed in his Twins org debut, Tim Melville struck out 11 batters and Joe Cronin had a big game.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Toledo 1 (10 innings) Box Score Buxton popped the leadoff homer and Red Wings starter Tim Melville had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings, but Rochester couldn’t muster any more offense. Melville eventually gave up a run in the seventh, and the game went into extras. Buxton led off the 10th with a single, and after Mitch Garver struck out, Matt Hague singled to advance Byron to second. Niko Goodrum struck out, but ByungHo Park delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. The Wings added two more runs, as Daniel Palka tripled and Tommy Field hit a single. Melville was marvelous, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings in this one. He lowered his ERA to 2.44 over his 48 innings with the Red Wings. He was pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League earlier this year. Mason Melotakis pitched two perfect innings to pick up the W. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 2 Box Score Jonathan Rodriguez, who has a strong case to be the Southern League MVP this season, had yet another great night. The 27-year-old hit his 15th homer and 24th double of the season on a three-hit night in which he also scored three runs. Rodriguez entered the evening as the league leader in OPS by 21 points. The Twins signed Rodriguez as a minor league free agent over the winter. Fernando Romero went five innings yet again tonight, but it may not have been due to any kind of limits this time. There was a rain delay in the middle of the fifth, so it was a logical point to call it a night for the 22-year-old Dominican sensation. As we’ve come to expect at this point, Romero was outstanding. He struck out nine batters and surrendered one run on just three hits while issuing one walk. Gabriel Moya, acquired from Arizona for Joh Ryan Murphy, made his Twins organization debut. He struck out the side in the eighth inning and walked a batter. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two. Nick Gordon hit a double, drew a walk and scored a run. He also made a throwing error, his 21st error of the season. (UPDATE The official scorer has changed that play to a hit, so Gordon is still at 20 errors.) Fun fact: the Southern League record for errors in a season by a shortstop is 56. The player? Former Twins center fielder Otis Nixon in 1981. Andy Wilkins, Ryan Walker and Levi Michael all had two-hit games. T.J White hit a bases-clearing triple. Catcher Brian Navarreto hit his first career homer at the Double A level. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 0 Box Score Brady Anderson turned in a terrific start, the Fort Myers bullpen dominated and the offense manufactured a pair of runs. Anderson gave up five hits and a walk over 5.2 innings while striking out three batters. Andrew Vasquez, who has dominated like very few other pitchers in all of minor league baseball this season, struck out four batters over 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He’s now pitched 23.2 scoreless innings for the Miracle, and has 38 Ks against just four walks. Sam Clay finished things off in the ninth, striking out the side for his eighth save. Tanner English had a great game out of the leadoff spot. He drew three walks, stole second base twice and scored a run. The Miracle scored their runs on an error on a pickoff throw and a sacrifice fly. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3 Box Score Shortstop Joe Cronin hit a three-run homer and ended the night 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. That led a big offensive night for the Kernels, as Trey Cabbage also had three hits and Caleb Hamilton, Christian Cavaness and Gorge Munoz each had two hits. Domenick Carlini gave up three runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings. Ryan Madson was the first man out of the bullpen, and threw 3.0 scoreless innings, giving up a couple of hits while tallying three strikeouts. Hector Lujan earned his 10th save with a scoreless ninth inning. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Princeton 1 (Game 1, 7 innings) Box Score Bryan Sammons, the Twins eighth-round pick in this year’s draft, pitched 5.0 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, struck out six and didn’t walk anyone. Sammons, a lefty out of Western Carolina, has now pitched 24.2 innings and has only surrendered four earned runs (1.46 ERA). Colton Waltner, a 21st rounder in this year’s class, hit his first professional home run and stole a base. Shane Carrier had a pair of hits, boosting his average to .339, and Andrew Bechtold hit a double, drew a walk and scored twice. Elizabethton 3, Princeton 0 (Game 2, Suspended after 2 innings) Box Score The Twins were off to an excellent start in this one, but more rain came through and forced this game to be suspended. Jose Miranda and Carrier both hit homers and Bechtold had a triple. Edwar Colina had thrown two shutout innings with four strikeouts. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox 12, GCL Twins 7 Box Score The Twins built a 7-4 lead in this one, but typically rock solid bullpen arms Vadim Balan and Zach Featherstone combined to give up eight runs (five earned) over just 1.2 innings. Alex Robles had the big blast in this one, clubbing a three-run homer. The 22-year-old right fielder had a monster game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Royce Lewis had yet another big game, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run. This was his 25th professional game, he’s gotten multiple hits in 12 of them. Petru Balan started for the Twins and gave up three runs on four hits over 3.0 innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Tim Melville, Rochester (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Toledo, 6:05 pm CT, Hector Santiago (6.75 ERA, 1.75 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Birmingham, 6:15 pm CT, Felix Jorge (4.01 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:15 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (3.06 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) Cedar Rapids vs Clinton, 6:35 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.51 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) Elizabethton at Princeton, 6:00 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games. Click here to view the article

Seems as good a time as ever to revisit an article I wrote last Sept. about recent 100-loss teams. There have been 24 of them since the strike, and those teams averaged a 67-95 record the next season. Just two of them had winning records the next season, and the best was the 85-win '09 Mariners. With the Twins coming out the gate unexpectedly competent, the Royals scuffling and Cleveland failing to find its footing it kinda felt like we were playing with house money up until this week. No matter the circumstances, nobody expected the Twins to be in the hunt as long as they have. Now, after a poor week from the Twins and hot streaks from KC and Cleveland things appear to have separated. But as quickly as the Twins have fallen behind, they can get back in the mix with a good run coupled with a slump from one of the other contenders. There are still 62 games left and the Twins are only four back of the Wild Card. HOWEVER I think we would all agree the roster as it's currently constructed is unlikely to get the job done. Am I saying go be buyers? Not necessarily. The org has seemed to shy away from bringing up minor league talent, possibly because they feel the veterans are more dependable and likely to help keep this team afloat. Makes sense, you never quite know what you're going to get from a rookie. But, given that we're still really playing with house money (at least in my eyes), what's there to lose? I'd much rather see the team fade and miss the postseason because somebody like Stephen Gonsalves (or insert a dozen other names) faltered than miss the postseason because we were relying on Bartolo Colon. Call up the kids! That's a real controversial statement to make at Twins Daily ... on a Seth Stohs article, I know

Yup, great analysis. Going with an eight-man bullpen can make sense during certain parts of your schedule, but the Twins were just off last Thursday, are off today and off yet again this coming Monday. Plenty of opportunities for guys to rest. Plus, if you're carrying the extra arm, use him for crying out loud. Why ask your closer to get five outs?

The Twins held a 5-0 lead after three and a half innings, and were still up three runs heading into the bottom of the seventh, but the Dodgers stormed back to win on a Justin Turner walkoff single. Ouch. This loss puts the Twins a staggering 5.5 games back of first place in the AL Central. That happened fast. While the Twins have lost nine of their last 13 games, Cleveland has won six striaght and Kansas City has won eight in a row.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx726.png Ervin Santana pitched into the seventh inning, but there he gave up a huge two-out, two-run double to Chase Utley that put the Dodgers within a run. In the eighth, Zack Granite made a bizarre play on which LA scored the game-tying run. WIth runners on the corners and one out, Granite came in to catch a fly ball and instead of trying to throw out the man tagging from third base, he fired it back into first base to attempt to double off the runner. Well, nobody there. Joe Mauer was in position as the cutoff man on a potential throw to the plate, exactly where you’d expect him to be. Maybe that throw was symbolic of the Minnesota Twins 2017 season. With the game tied up in the top of the ninth and Kenley Jansen on the hill for the Dodgers, Max Kepler led off with a double. Ehire Adrianza (career .232 hitter, .626 OPS) grounded out, but Kepler advanced to third. Jensen then struck out Jason Castro (career .232 hitter, .697 OPS) and Jorge Polanco (career .247 hitter, .666 OPS) to end the threat. Brandon Kintzler, who pitched to three batters in the eighth, retired the leadoff man in the bottom of the ninth. After back-to-back singles, he got Corey Seager to ground out to second base for out No. 2. Kintzler got ahead of Justin Turner 0-2, but just when it looked like this thing was headed into extras, Turner battled back, worked the count full and delivered the game-winning hit. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen726.png Thursday Off The Twins get to spend an off day in California Thursday while Oakland will be playing an afternoon game in Toronto before heading home. Jaime Garcia is set to make his Twins debut Friday. Click here to view the article

A lot of folks in the game thread would agree with you, but I thought he was out. Also, I think if he had slid directly to home plate he would've been safe. I don't always love that wrap-around slide. My biggest issue with this decision is the innings factor. Bartolo is not going to go past five innings often, if ever. Gibson had pitched six or more in six of his last nine starts. When you have a very shallow bullpen, that's stuff is extra important. Actually, since the start of June Gibby has thrown more innings than anybody on the Twins and the 21st-most in all of baseball.

The development of Taylor Rogers into one of the most effective setup men in baseball has been one of the biggest stories of the 2017 season for the Twins. Cody Bellinger’s incredible rookie season has been one of the biggest stories in all of baseball. Push came to shove, and it was the Dodgers rookie who won their battle, as Bellinger blasted a go-ahead three-run homer off Rogers in the eighth inning.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx724.png Sometimes it just seems like we can’t have nice things, doesn’t it? Rogers, who leads all of baseball in holds, has now put together back-to-back poor outings. Saturday against Detroit he gave up a two-run homer to Justin Upton and Monday night the left-handed hitting Bellinger got him for a three-run homer. This was an especially tough loss to swallow after seeing the offense battle back. Bartolo Colon pitched well, but he clearly ran out of gas in the fifth inning. This is a 44-year-old pitcher we’re talking about here, so nobody should be surprised by that. The Twins built a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Colon gave up back-to-back homers followed by a triple in the fifth. The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead by the time that frame, and Bartolo’s night, was over. His final line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Eddie Rosario homered in the sixth to tie it up, then delivered an RBI double in the seventh to give the Twins a 4-3 advantage. Rosie was 3-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored. After this one ended, it was announced that Kyle Gibson was being optioned out to Rochester to make room for the recently acquired Jaime Garcia. The plan is for Colon to start again Sunday against Oakland. Postgame With Colon Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen724.png Tuesday Twins (Jose Berrios) at Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 9:10 pm CT Maeda, a right-hander, has been inconsistent this season, and has only pitched more than five innings just three times in 15 games started. His ERA is 4.23, but his 1.19 WHIP and 3.64 K:BB ratio suggest he’s pitched much better this season. He’s been very tough at Dodger Stadium, posting a 3.18 ERA over 133 career innings at Chavez Ravine. Berrios held the Yankees to one run over 6.2 innings his last time out. Even with that performance, July has still been by far his worst month this season (5.12 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, .895 OPS against). He’s given up 17 runs in 19.1 innings this month, though six of those were unearned. Berrios has struggled with the long ball on the road, giving up eight homers in seven starts away from Target Field (and just one homer in six home starts). Click here to view the article

Dug up some new numbers I figured I'd pass along. Since the All-Star break, the Twins have 20 PAs with the bases loaded, which is the most in all of baseball. They're 3 for 17 (.177) with a couple sac flys, a walk and five strikeouts. With RISP since the break, they have a 25.2 K% and .595 OPS. Ouch. I guess the good news is they're getting a lot of guys on base.

With an ugly loss to Detroit Sunday, the Twins dropped to third place in the AL Central, and they’re now 2.5 games out of first place. The team had its opportunities to win this ballgame, but just couldn’t put together a sustained rally. The bullpen giving up seven runs didn’t help, either.Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx723.png Download attachment: TopPlays723.png The Twins had a golden opportunity to seize this game in the bottom of the seventh. Down 4-2, Eddie Rosario led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a Joe Mauer pinch-hit walk. Max Kepler laid down a picturesque bunt on the first pitch he saw. There was absolutely nothing Detroit could do with it, as Max got a single to load the bases. Jason Castro came off the bench and was called out on strikes. Zack Granite hit a ball on the ground that should have ended the inning, but instead was booted by Ian Kinsler, allowing a run to score. Just as it seemed the Tigers were going out of their way to give this game away, Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar both struck out with the bases juiced. Escobar’s at-bat was an epic 13-pitch battle. So, just to review, the Twins managed to strike out three times with the bases loaded and hit a double play ball (that was misplayed) all in the same inning. That’s tough to do. Here is that Kinsler error: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen723.png Monday Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu), 9:10 pm CT Ryu, who made just one start over the previous two seasons, will be activated off the DL to make this start. He was recovering from a left foot contusion. The lefty has a 4.21 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 8.5 K/9 on the season. Rumors swirled about Colon considering retirement, and the Twins tried to add Jaime Garcia to the rotation, so you’d figure one way or another there’s a good chance this is Colon’s final start. In four career starts at Dodger Stadium, Bartolo has a 6.08 ERA. Click here to view the article

Twins pitchers have been much more successful this season when Jason Castro has been behind the plate. Are there stats we can point to that prove he’s a far superior game caller/pitcher whisperer than Chris Gimenez? Or are there too many variables that cloud the numbers?One of the fun parts that came from the Twins signing Castro as a free agent over the winter was we had numerous writers take deep dives into the value of catcher framing. Castro has long been considered to be excellent at presenting pitches, and the numbers indicate he’s having another good season. Castro ranks ninth in the league in framing runs above average, but what about his game calling and ability to manage a pitching staff? Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any good way of quantifying those things. Twins pitchers have performed significantly better when throwing to Castro than Gimenez. Is that trend likely to continue? That I’m not sure. In terms of framing, Gimenez is no slouch, either. He ranks 31st among the 83 catchers Baseball Prospectus has ranked. Gimenez also controls the running game well and, at least from the outside looking in, seems to be one of the more fun guys to be around on the team. Plus, he’s provided valuable versatility and has even hit better than Castro this year. If it sounds like I’m trying to butter him up before I drop the hammer, it’s because that’s exactly what’s happening. I like Gimenez, and think he’s a good backup catcher, but the following numbers don’t put him in a positive light. Overall team stats Pitching to Castro: 587.2 IP, 4.13 ERA, .758 OPS against, .286 BABIP Pitching to Gimenez: 267.9 IP, 6.30 ERA, .882 OPS against, .324 BABIP Castro: 26 of 65 starts (40%) have come against teams with OPS above league average. Gimenez: 10 of 31 (32.3%) starts have come against teams with OPS above league average. Broken down by pitcher (minimum 50 IP total this season) Ervin Santana Castro: 96.2 IP, 2.61 ERA, .664 OPS against, .244 BABIP Gimenez: 33. IP, 5.18 ERA, .745 OPS against, .172 BABIP Kyle Gibson Castro: 56.2 IP, 6.19 ERA, .879 OPS against, .323 BABIP Gimenez: 38.0 IP, 5.92 ERA, .912 OPS against, .342 BABIP Jose Berrios Castro: 42.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, .558 OPS against, .254 BABIP Gimenez: 37.2 IP, 4.06 ERA, .776 OPS against, .297 BABIP Adalberto Mejia Castro: 55.2 IP, 4.04 ERA, .754 OPS against, .279 BABIP Gimenez: 14.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, .915 OPS against, .308 BABIP Hector Santiago Castro: 60.0 IP, 4.65 ERA, .715 OPS against, .242 BABIP Gimenez: 10.1 IP, 11.32 ERA, 1.109 OPS against, .387 BABIP Phil Hughes Castro : 28.2 IP, 6.91 ERA, 1.046 OPS against, .388 BABIP Gimenez: 25.0 IP, 3.96 ERA, .709 OPS against, .263 BABIP I’m confident in concluding that Castro has been much better at the game calling/pitcher handling aspect than Gimenez this season. I’m less confident saying Gimenez has been downright bad at it. Santana has thrown by far the most innings for the Twins this season, so his numbers weigh heavily on the team stats. So this could be the case where, for whatever reason, Ervin is much more comfortable pitching to Castro and his splits have skewed the big picture. There is some debate whether looking at catcher ERA between two guys on the same team is even valuable, but it really doesn’t hold much value when comparing guys on different teams. I’m going to do it anyway. For what it’s worth (maybe nothing) Gimenez has the worst catcher ERA among all players with at least 10 starts behind the plate. If it sounds like I’m having a hard time drawing conclusions from all this info, it’s because I am. That’s where you come in. Let me know what you think. Full disclosure: I am a huge Mitch Garver fan, but I see no reason why he can’t coexist on the roster with both Castro and Gimenez (assuming they use a four-man bench). Along with catching, Garver has played some left field and first base down in Rochester. He’s having a fantastic season, but his ability to hit lefties (.996 OPS) would be particularly valuable on the big club. So I see Mitch more as a bench bat who can catch than a threat to take over as the primary backup catcher. Click here to view the article

Kyle Gibson had his longest outing of the season and everybody in the lineup recorded a hit, as the Twins celebrated a victory on the night they honored the 1987 World Series championship team. The Twins built a 6-0 lead and it appeared they’d coast to victory, but things got way too interesting in the final two innings.Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx722.png Download attachment: TopPlays722.png In his last outing, I thought Gibson looked pretty darn good against the Astros but that his defense let him down a little and he was left out there a batter too long. The result was that outing looked much worse on paper (6 IP, 4 ER). Well, it happened to Kyle again tonight. Gibson was shutting out Detroit through seven innings. He was sent back out for the eighth and got the first batter out. From there, he surrendered a single, a walk and an RBI double before finally getting lifted. Why Taylor Rogers came in at that point, I have no idea. The Twins had a five-run lead and Justin Upton, who entered the game with a .918 OPS vs. lefties, was due up. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess, but Upton cracked a three-run homer off the foul pole. So in a matter of minutes, Gibson went from having pitched seven shutout innings to giving up three runs over 7.1 innings. But to be fair, he seemed to benefit from a Miguel Cabrera-less Tigers team that had little interest in working at-bats. Gibson needed just 22 pitches to get through the third, fourth and fifth innings combined. To his credit, Gibson did pitch well and even managed to miss some bats. After failing to strike out more than four batters in seven-straight starts between June 8 and July 9, Gibby has now hit that mark in consecutive outings. Detroit managed to tack on another run in the eighth, but could not complete the comeback. The top of the ninth inning opened with a crazy play that at first looked like a foul ball, then appeared it would be a leadoff double, but Eddie Rosario gunned down the runner at second base.

I forgot to mention Eddie Rosario drew two more walks last night, extending his career high to 18. He came into the year with a dreadful walk rate of 3.3 percent, but it's up to 5.7 this season. He's got a .324 OBP.

This article beats around that bush in an almost annoying playfulness. I guess not.

Ervin Santana lasted just 3.1 innings, and it took him 95 pitches to get that far into the ballgame. The Twins couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole, but the loss didn’t cloud an exciting night at Target Field in which Tom Kelly’s statue was unveiled and the 1987 reunion weekend kicked off.Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx721.png Download attachment: TopPlays721.png Santana just never seemed to be pitching with the count in his favor, and ended the evening with his shortest start of the season. Victor Martinez did the most damage, slugging a solo homer in the second before blasting a two-run bomb in the fourth. This was Ervin’s 20th start of the year. He has given up two runs or fewer in 13 starts. He has given up five runs or more in seven starts. There is no in-between, he’s either been great or ghastly. Zack Granite had a great game all around. He was 2-for-4, got his first career stolen base, scored a run and had an outfield assist. Ehire Adrianza, who’s getting more and more starts at shortstop of late, had a nice two-out, two-run single. Miguel Sano was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. The only extra-base hit the team could muster was a Joe Mauer double. Matt Belisle was the first man out of the bullpen, and he was excellent. Really. He pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, gave up just one hit and struck out three hitters. He threw 36 pitches, which was the second time this season he broke 30. The last time Belisle had thrown more than 36 pitches was May 26, 2015. Belisle hit a low point on June 11 when he gave up four runs to the Giants, seeing his ERA balloon to 8.59. In his 14 appearances since, the 37-year-old has given up five runs over 17.2 innings, just one of which was earned. He has a 0.51 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over that span. What’s been the difference? Well, I’m sure it’s a combination of things, but he's clearly made adjustments. One thing I had noticed is that he’d been relying less on his slider and deploying his curve ball more frequently of late. Here’s a breakdown of Belisle’s pitch usage by month last season with Washington. Notice how he leaned more and more on his slider as the year progressed: Download attachment: Belisle2016.jpeg And here is a breakdown of this year. Notice how he has gradually gone away from throwing as many sliders: Download attachment: Belisle2017.jpeg In April, Belise threw 77 sliders and just 15 curve balls, in June that split was 54 to 28. But here's the weird thing, tonight he threw a ton of sliders, 18. Exactly half of his pitches. So maybe it's simply being less predictable and using a more diverse mix of pitches has helped Belise better keep hitters off balance. Postgame With Santana Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen721.png Saturday Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Detroit (Jordan Zimmermann), 6:10 pm CT Zimmermann is coming off a quality start, but over his past four appearances he’s given up 15 earned runs in 19.1 innings (6.98 ERA). In 10 starts on the road this year, the right-hander has just one win, a 6.29 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. He’s held Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer to a combined .217 average (5-for-23) with no extra base hits or walks. What can you say about Gibson at this point? We’ve seen him for 115 starts. He is what he is. Over his last five starts against Detroit, Gibby has yielded a 5.74 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 12 walks over 26.2 innings. Current Tigers hitters have a .267/.359/.398 (.756 OPS) line off Gibson. Click here to view the article