Tom Froemming

Game 2 Box Score Stewart: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 63.3% strikes (57 of 90 pitches) Home Runs: Cron (9), Gonzalez (3) Multi-Hit Games: Cron (4-for-5, 2B, HR), Rosario (3-for-5), Gonzalez (2-for-4, HR, BB), Buxton (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Cron .243 WPA of -0.1: None (chart via FanGraphs) Through his first 10 games with Minnesota, Cron had just a .508 OPS and Twins fans were starting to compare him to the other former Tampa Bay first baseman who flopped with the team. After a big day at the plate, Cron’s OPS is all the way up to .839. He’s been on an absolute tear. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1127390273347055617 With two more hits in this game, Gonzalez is now 12-for-33 so far in May (.364). He had just 13 hits in all of April. And, of course, some of the other usual suspects delivered tonight. Eddie Rosario had three hits, Byron Buxton picked up his 16th double and Mitch Garver hit an RBI triple. Much like with Pineda’s start in the afternoon game, Kohl Stewart was wavering early. He gave up three runs in his first three innings, but settled in and provided the Twins with a quality start. There has been some question as to why Stewart has been the go-to guy in these doubleheader spot starts. While wasn’t too sure he was the best option to call up either, I am starting to see some of the logic. This guy is not bothered by the big stage. The last thing you want in these spots is for a young guy to come up, put too much pressure on himself and try to pitch his way onto the roster in one night. Stewart has been through this a few times now, so he knows his role. It’s not like Stewart was outstanding, but he certainly did his job. Giving the Twins six innings in the night cap of a doubleheader when they have games on the schedule the next 10 days is a big deal. It just so happened to work out that the Tigers, on the other hand, did call upon a less experienced pitcher. Gregory Soto, 24, made his Major League debut in this game. He had just three starts in Double A, and it showed. He gave up seven runs on nine hits and a couple walks over four innings. The bullpen trio of Matt Magill, Mike Morin and Tyler Duffey each pitched a scoreless inning. Duffey struck out all three batters he faced. Fernando Romero, Stewart and Duffey, who was the bonus 26th man for today's doubleheader, were all optioned back to Rochester after this game. Martin Perez will come off the paternity list and Willians Astudillo is expected to be activated off the IL tomorrow morning. Postgame with Stewart https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1127412885955592193 Postgame with Baldelli Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Sun vs. DET, 1:10 pm CT (Perez-Norris) Mon vs. LAA, 6:40 pm CT (TBD) Tue vs. LAA, 6:40 pm CT (TBD) Last Game DET 5, MIN 3: Tigers Out-Tater Twins, Gardy Gets Tossed

Game 1 Box Score Pineda: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 68.4% strikes (65 of 96 pitches) Home Runs: Castro (5), Cron (8) Multi-Hit Games: Castro (2-for-4, HR) WPA of +0.1: Cron .288, Harper .161, Castro .127 WPA of -0.1: Cruz -.120, Rosario -.137, Kepler -.214, HIldenberger -.402 (chart via FanGraphs) The Twins entered the ninth inning tied and had a freakishly fresh bullpen to work with. Rocco Baldelli had both Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers warming in the pen during the bottom of the eighth inning. He went with Hildy. It didn’t work out. Hildenberger gave up a solo homer, his first home run allowed this season, and allowed a second Tiger run to score in the inning. He’s now surrendered eight runs in his last six appearances. You have to wonder when it’s time to roll him back to low-leverage work whenever possible. Michael Pineda started this game. In the fourth inning, he gave up his third home run of the day to the struggling Tigers lineup, sparking conversations about what to do about his spot in the rotation going forward. He ended up providing a quality start. The Twins’ starting pitching has been so dominant of late that a performance the club would have been desperate for from a back of the rotation guy in recent years inspires cause for concern in 2019. Pineda ended up giving up just those three runs on the solo homers over his six innings of work. Pineda did get an assist from Ryne Harper, who stranded two inherited runners in the seventh, but Big Mike ended up surrendering just six hits and didn’t walk anyone. Serving up taters is bad, obviously, but Pineda has always done a nice job limiting damage by limiting free passes. He now has 35 strikeouts and just nine walks on the season, a 3.88 K:BB ratio. That ranks second on the starting staff behind only Jose Berrios. In the sixth inning, Jason Castro appeared to have been hit by a pitch. Detroit should have left well enough alone, but instead they challenged the call and it was overturned. Castro responded by destroying a home run to bring the Twins within a run of the Tigers. C.J. Cron tied things up in the eighth with a home run of his own. Unfortunately, that’s when Hildenberger came in and allowed Detroit to re-take the lead. The Twins’ lineup failed to make the most of their opportunities in this game. They drew five walks and had a batter hit by a pitch, but were also 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Ron Gardenhire was ejected from this game, drawing a fun reaction from the Target Field crowd. Good to see Gardy still has some fire left in him. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1127332006029864966 Bonus Fun with Morneau and Perkins Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Sun vs. DET, 1:10 pm CT (Perez-Norris) Mon vs. LAA, 6:40 pm CT (TBD) Tue vs. LAA, 6:40 pm CT (TBD) Last Game MIN 6, DET 0: Odorizzi Deals (Again), Twins Win Fourth in a Row

TRANSACTIONS Miguel Sano is a step closer to returning to the Twins. He traveled to Rochester to join the Red Wings today. RED WINGS REPORT Durham 11, Rochester 8 Box Score Chase De Jong: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 56.7% strikes (51 of 90 pitches) HR: Luke Raley (7) Multi-hit games: Raley (3-for-4, 2B, HR), Brent Rooker (2-for-5, 2B), Tomas Telis (2-for-4), Jordany Valdespin (2-for-3, 2 2B, BB), Drew Maggi (2-for-4) Addison Reed had a successful first outing of his rehab assignment. The follow up didn’t go so well. The second pitch out of his hand ended up in the seats for a solo home run. Reed gave up three runs on five hits in his inning of work. Silver lining: He got four swinging strikes and threw 16 of his 21 pitches for strikes. The Red Wings rallied back from being down 9-5 in the fifth inning to getting the tying run into scoring position in the eighth. Unfortunately, their rally ended there and to make matters worse Gabriel Moya gave up a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning. Luke Raley was the big stud at the plate. He was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run. He scored twice and drove in three runs. Raley is now hitting an even .300 to go with a .929 OPS in his first taste of Triple A. Chase De Jong … ouch. He’s been really up against it this season, and now has given up 24 earned runs in 14 innings pitched for Rochester. Old friend Aaron Slegers got knocked around for six runs, five earned, on 10 hits over five innings for Durham. It is a really difficult time to be a pitcher at the Triple-A level right now. BLUE WAHOO BITES Mississippi 4, Pensacola 1 Box Score Griffin Jax: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 70.8% strikes (51 of 72 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Taylor Grzelakowski (2-for-4), Jordan Gore (2-for-4, 2B) Griffin Jax lives in the strike zone. He does such an incredible job with throwing strikes it makes it really hard for opposing teams to really rack up any runs against him. Even with Mississippi hitting three home runs off him tonight, Jax still managed to limit the damage to four runs over his six innings of work. This is Jax’s worst start of the season, as he’d given up a grand total of two earned runs in six outings heading into tonight, but it’s still a testament to what he brings to the table even when things aren’t going his way. His ERA skyrocketed up to … 1.35. Wow, what a roll he’s been on. Unfortunately, the Blue Wahoo bats couldn’t pick up the slack as Kyle Muller, Atlanta’s No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline, pitched a great game for the Braves. Pensacola’s lone run was scored on a wild pitch. Cody Stashak pitched two perfect innings out of the bullpen and struck out four batters. In 17 innings so far this season he has 28 strikeouts and just two walks. Alex Kirilloff had the night off. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1: Tampa 5, Fort Myers 2 (suspended in the fifth inning due to heavy rain) Game 2: POSTPONED This team can’t catch a break with the weather right now. This makes four postponements and a suspended game already this month. It’s only the 10th! The suspended game will continue in the bottom of the fifth inning tomorrow. Lewin Diaz hit another home run, his third in seven games, and Ryan Costello added another homer. But, those stats won’t become official until this game is completed. So you can read all about that (assuming the weather cooperates) in tomorrow’s report. KERNELS NUGGETS West Michigan 8, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score Tyler Palm: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 55.2% strikes (37 of 67 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Gilberto Celestino (2-for-4), Yeltsin Encarnacion (2-for-3, BB) The Kernels just could not get out of the fourth inning tonight. Tyler Palm and Austin Schulfer combined to give up six runs on five hits and two walks. Meanwhile, the lineup struggled to deliver a big hit, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight men on base. This Cedar Rapids club could really use a boost right now. They’re 4-7 and have scored just 35 runs so far this month. Is it Wander Javier time yet? STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Cody Stashak, Pensacola Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Luke Raley, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 6. Brent Rooker (ROC): 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, K 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-5, K, E (throw) 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 2-for-4 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-for-5, 2B, R 2 K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Durham, 12:05 pm CT (TBD) Pensacola at Chattanooga, 6:15 pm CT (TBD) Fort Myers vs. Tampa, 2:00 pm CT (continuation of suspended game) Fort Myers vs. Tampa, 4:00 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Cedar Rapids at West Michigan, 6:05 pm CT (Cole Sands) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

Box Score Pineda: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 63.2% strikes (60 of 95 pitches) Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Gonzalez (2-for-4) WPA of +0.1: None WPA of -0.1: Adrianza -.127, Pineda -200 (chart via FanGraphs) The Twins rotation has been on fire lately. Well, pretty much everybody except for Michael Pineda. I’m sure Pineda would have loved to keep that momentum rolling, especially against his former team, but he wasn’t quite up to task despite having some really good stuff this afternoon. Pineda struck out eight batters and got 18 swinging strikes over his five innings of work, but he also gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. The big blow was a Mike Tauchman two-run homer that came with two outs and a full count. Pineda got ahead of Tauchman 0-2, but couldn’t finish him off. The fifth and sixth pitches of that at-bat were chase sliders that were simply way too far off the plate to get even the most anxious hitter to bite. If that battle goes Pineda’s way, we may be talking about this as his most impressive outing as a Twin. Instead, it’s another subpar outing. Pineda has given up 18 earned runs over his last 19 innings pitched. Domingo German, who is having a breakout season, was excellent for the Yankees. His first name translates to Sunday in Spanish, so I think the universe was just going to be on his side either way today. The only run he surrendered over 6 2/3 innings was on an RBI single by Marwin Gonzalez. Marwin actually got two of the Twins’ four hits against German, and now has multiple hits in three of his last four games. He had just four multi-hit games in his first 24 contests with the Twins. They rain really started coming down later in this game and in the eighth inning it became an issue. Adam Ottavino threw a wild pitch, Gary Sanchez slipped retrieving it and then the next batter, C.J. Cron, was hit by a pitch. With two on and two out in the eighth, Aaron Boone brought in Aroldis Chapman to face Gonzalez. It can’t ever be comfortable to face a guy who throws 100 mph, but in the rain? No thanks. Chapman also threw a wild pitch on a slider but he eventually got Marwin swinging to end the threat. The grounds crew brought out a bunch of diamond dust between innings. Fernando Romero threw a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth. The instant it appeared as though Yankee batters may be in danger, out came the tarp. Weird. The start of this game was also delayed by three hours. The Yankees don’t have to travel tonight and the Twins just need to jump on a quick flight to Toronto, but I can’t imagine this delay will drag on too long. If they do get back underway, I’ll make sure to swing back and update this article. Here's how the radar looks right now: UPDATE: The game was, in fact, called off early. Chapman was credited with the save, in case you were wondering. The silver linings are that the Twins at least didn’t get swept in New York and that Cleveland also lost today. So we’ve got that going for us. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Mon at TOR, 6:07 pm CT (Perez-Stroman) Tue at TOR, 6:07 pm CT (Berrios-Sanchez) Wed at TOR, 6:07 pm CT (Gibson-Thornton) Last Game MIN 7, NYY 3: Curse This

Box Score Odorizzi: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 65.0% strikes (65 of 100 pitches) Home Runs: Garver (6), Cron (6), Cruz (7) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (3-for-5, HR), Schoop (2-for 3), Buxton (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi .316, Garver .215 WPA of -0.1: None (chart via FanGraphs) It’s only one game in early May, but this victory carries a lot of weight across Twins Territory. Even with the team's excellent start, a sweep at the hands of the Yankees would have been pretty devastating to fan morale. We now know that’s not going to happen. Jake Odorizzi held New York to just two hits over six shutout innings and the offense was relentless. The Twins tallied 12 hits and scored in six different innings. When the Yankees scored two in the seventh off Trevor Hildenberger, the Twins responded with a run. When New York added another run in the eighth, the lineup responded again with a run and topped off with another in the ninth just for good measure. Odorizzi finished strong, something he's struggled with over his career. He had to face the meat of the Yankee lineup in his sixth and final inning. It was that dreaded third time he was working through the order, so there was plenty of cause for concern, but he got Luke Voit and Gary Sanchez to ground out. He surrendered a single to Miguel Andujar, but then struck out Gleyber Torres on three pitches to end an incredibly encouraging performance on a high note. And it could have been even worse for the Yankees. Jonathan Scoop appeared to have hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning, but Cameron Maybin made a sensational catch to rob the home run and end the inning. It was all good, because Mitch Garver, C.J. Cron and Nelson Cruz all managed to homer. It’s nice to see a Twins team able to take full advantage of the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, though Cruz’s shot was a no-doubter. That constant stream of run scoring took a ton of pressure off the bullpen. Taylor Rogers pitched an efficient 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the victory and put the mind of Twins fans at ease. Yes, this is a beat up Bronx Bombers team, but a win in New York is a win in New York. These suckers have been tough to come by. Enjoy it. Postgame With Baldelli https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1124777636964646913 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Sun at NYY, 3:05 pm CT (Pineda-German) Mon at TOR, 6:07 pm CT (TBD-Stroman) Tue at TOR, 6:07 pm CT (TBD-Sanchez) Last Game NYY 6, MIN 3: All Too Familiar at Yankee Stadium

TRANSACTIONS -Miguel Sano was bumped up from Fort Myers to Pensacola as he gears up to return to the Twins. He was not in the Blue Wahoos’ lineup tonight. -Jordan Balazovic was promoted to Fort Myers. He had a 2.18 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings for the Kernels. To make room, Moises Gomez was sent down to Cedar Rapids. He made one appearance with the Miracle. -Mark Contreras was promoted back up to Pensacola. He’s been a busy guy, spending his first six games with Fort Myers, moving up to Pensacola for four games, then rejoined the Miracle for seven games. -Outfielder Malique Ziegler has joined Fort Myers. He’s the player the Twins acquired from San Francisco for Tyler Austin. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Pawtucket 1 Box Score Devin Smeltzer: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 69.8% strikes (67 of 96 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Zander Wiel (3-for-4), Randy Cesar (2-for-4, BB), Luke Raley (2-for-3, BB) After pitching to a 0.60 ERA in five starts for Pensacola, Devin Smeltzer was moved up to Rochester to make his Triple-A debut. Since the MLB ball is being used at the Triple-A level this season, any pitchers making the jump up have a built in excuse if they struggle right out the gates. Smeltzer didn’t need any excuses. If Smeltzer was at all nervous, it didn’t show. He looked composed on the mound and went right after hitters, throwing nearly 70% of his pitches for strikes. The funky lefty used his defense plenty, but opposing hitters struggled to square up to the ball. He gave up just one hit through the first five innings and the only run he allowed was unearned. Despite Smeltzer’s effort, the Red Wings entered the top of the ninth in a 1-1 tie. They had a big six-run ninth inning that was aided by a couple walks and a throwing error. Gabriel Moya, who had been struggling, threw a perfect inning and struck out two batters. Tyler Duffey pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Zander Wiel had a three-hit game, and is hitting .379 over his last seven games. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 10, Biloxi 8 Box Score Brusdar Graterol: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 55.8% strikes (43 of 77 pitches) HR: Tanner English (2), Joe Cronin (1) Multi-hit games: Luis Arraez (3-for-4, BB, SB), Ernie De La Trinidad (3-for-4, BB), Taylor Grzelakowski (2-for-5) Tanner English blasted a first-inning grand slam to put the Blue Wahoos up 5-0. That granny also knocked the opposing starting pitcher out of the game. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1124466597706502146 That was plenty enough run support for Brusdar Graterol, who continued his great start to the season. His first pitch of the night was clocked at 100 mph, but he was just warming up. He was clocked at 102 mph. https://twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall/status/1124506045735370754 One thing about big innings is they mean your starting pitcher ends up sitting around a while. In addition to that five-run first inning, the Blue Wahoos also scored four in the fourth. Joe Cronin hit a three-run homer that inning, his first at the Double-A level. Maybe all that downtime made it tough for Graterol to stay sharp, but he didn’t go after hitters like I would have liked to see. That’s some ultimate nit-pickery there, as Graterol still gave up only one earned run on four hits over five innings of work. He struck out five, but also walked two and his strike percentage was only around 56%. His ERA on the season is down to 2.23. You wouldn’t think that English grand slam would turn out to be a difference-making hit in this game. After all, Pensacola opened up a 10-1 lead in the fourth inning. But, this one was far from over. Unfortunately, Jovani Moran also struggled with the big lead. He gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings of work, throwing just 21 of his 40 pitches for strikes. Alex Phillips allowed a couple of inherited runners to score, but then helped stabilize this game. He got the final two outs of the seventh before working a scoreless eighth inning, thanks in part to a nice double play started at third base by Cronin. Sam Clay pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save. Alex Kirilloff picked up his first Double-A hit in what was a weird game. He was 1-for-2, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch twice. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1124466597706502146 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Palm Beach 4 Box Score Tyler Watson: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 68.2% strikes (58 of 85) HR: Ryan Costello (3), Akil Baddoo (4) Multi-hit games: Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, 2B, BB), Trey Cabbage (2-for-5, 2B), Michael Helman (2-for-4, 2B), Ryan Jeffers (2-for-4, 2B) The Miracle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning behind a Ryan Jeffers RBI double and a Ryan Costello two-run home run. Tyler Watson couldn’t get that lead to hold up, as he gave up three runs over his five innings of work, but good thing the Fort Myers lineup still had some runs in those bats. Jeffers hit a two-run single in the sixth before Akil Baddoo slugged a solo homer and Trey Cabbage added an RBI double in the seventh. Tom Hackimer and Joe Record each provided two shutout innings out of the bullpen. Hackimer struck out four more batters tonight, putting him up to 27 over just 15 1/3 innings. He’s only given up three hits and one earned run. KERNELS NUGGETS Dayton 4, Cedar Rapids 3 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 67.0% strikes (63 of 94 pitches) HR: Chris Williams (6) Multi-hit games: Gabe Snyder (2-for-4, BB) Blayne Enlow looked a lot better than his stat line would suggest. His breaking ball was sharp, he was getting plenty of swings and misses, but he paid for a mistake. Enlow left a 1-1 pitch right in the middle of the plate and watched it sail over the fence for a two-run homer. He was also called for a pair of balks. Enlow exited with Cedar Rapids trailing 4-1. The Kernels tallied a couple of runs in the seventh inning, then mounted a rally in the ninth. Gabriel Maciel led off the inning with a single, then Gabe Snyder walked. Chris Williams struck out one pitch after hitting a laser just foul. Jacob Pearson then flew out, bringing DaShawn Keirsey to the plate. During the plate appearance, yet another balk was called, the third of the game. That brought the tying run to third base and pushed the winning run into scoring position. Keirsey struck out on a checked swing to end the game. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Devin Smeltzer, Rochester Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Tanner English, Pensacola TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-4, BB, E (2) 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 1-for-2, BB, 2 HBP 3. Brusdar Graterol (PNS): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 55.8% strikes (43 of 77 pitches) 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R, K 9. Blayne Enlow (CR): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 67.0% strikes (63 of 94 pitches) 10. Akil Baddoo (FM): 1-for-3, HR (4), 2 BB, RBI, R, 2 K 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 K 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-5, K 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-5, R, 2 K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Pawtucket, 5:15 pm CT (Lewis Thorpe) Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 6:05 pm CT (Randy Dobnak) Fort Myers at Palm Beach, 4:30 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Cedar Rapids vs. Dayton, 6:35 pm CT (Tyler Palm) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

Box Score Perez: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 66.0% strikes (66 of 100 pitches) Home Runs: Schoop (5) Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (2-for-4), Cruz (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Perez .347, Schoop .157 WPA of -0.1: None (chart via FanGraphs) Perez continued to feature the cutter tonight, he threw 45 among his 100 pitches. He limited the Astros to just four hits, walked two batters and struck out seven, but things got off to a shaky start. Perez walked leadoff man George Springer on four pitches, then gave up a single to Jose Altuve. He got Alex Bregman to fly out, then induced an inning-ending double play. It was all Martin Perez from there. Here’s the full chart from tonight’s outing via Baseball Savant: Perez now has a 2.08 ERA in his four starts this season. Rangers fans have to be very confused right now. He had a 6.78 ERA in 15 starts with Texas last season. It's still very early, but Houston entered this game with a ridiculous .300/.379/.540 line against left-handed pitching so far this season (.919 OPS), so I'm not sure you could have realistically imagined a more encouraging start from Perez. Jonathan Schoop got the Twins on the board with a mammoth two-run home run in the third inning. The Twins added another run on a Jorge Polanco single, thanks to a throwing error by Astros starter Collin McHugh. https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1123753602294657024 Nelson Cruz added an RBI single in the fifth, then hit a run-scoring double in the eighth. C.J. Cron added a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 6-0 lead. Trevor Hildenberger gave up two runs in the ninth, but with that big of a lead his most important job was to simply throw strikes. He did excellent, throwing 15 strikes on his 20 pitches. Here’s the thing about that 11-run blowout last night: It proves this isn’t simply a slumping Astros team the Twins caught at the right time. This is a dangerous team, we saw that, but even the best teams go on slumps. These outstanding outings from Jake Odorizzi and Perez sandwiched between that clunker are obviously very encouraging. It’s Jose Day tomorrow. Get excited. 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 vs. HOU, 12:10 pm CT (Berrios-Peacock) Fri at NYY, 6:05 pm CT (Gibson-Paxton) Sat at NYY, 12:05 pm CT (Odorizzi-Happ) Last Game HOU 11, MIN 0: Completely Dominated

Box Score Pineda: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 65.3% strikes (64 of 98 pitches) Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2-for-3, 2B, BB) WPA of +0.1: None WPA of -0.1: Cruz -.127, Pineda -.164 (chart via FanGraphs) This game actually got off to a very encouraging start for the Twins. After Michael Pineda pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, Gerrit Cole walked the first two batters he faced and fell behind Nelson Cruz 2-0. That concluded the positive portion of the evening for Minnesota. Cole battled back and induced a double play, though to be fair that pitch was absolutely obliterated. The Twins didn’t get another base runner until the fifth inning and didn’t have a hit until the sixth. By that time, Houston had already busted open a 7-0 lead. In the grand scheme of things, this is just one loss to a good team. But if Pineda can’t be a dependable piece in the rotation, well that would be something to fret about. After giving up just five earned runs on 13 hits over his first 15 innings of the season, Pineda has now surrendered 15 earned runs on 24 hits in 14 innings since. Not good. To be fair, this was a 1-0 game entering the fifth inning, so it’s not like Pineda was completely overmatched from the start. Outside of those rough first couple batters from Cole, however, Twins hitters were most definitely overmatched. Cole was a beast tonight, and is up to 65 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings this year. Just silly. Oh, and the bullpen was bad too. Adalberto Mejia looks completely lost. He walked three of the five batters he faced and threw just 10 of his 27 pitches for strikes. The Twins also played their worst game in the field all season. Just a dreadful all-around performance, really. Positives? Well, Max Kepler got two more hits. Fernando Romero looked pretty nasty in a scoreless ninth. He didn’t seem to have much command, but his stuff was moving all over the place. Let’s see, one more positive … uh … at least there weren’t many people who had to suffer through the whole thing? https://twitter.com/ShipleyMN/status/1123417618323509253 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 vs. HOU, 7:10 pm CT (Perez-McHugh) Thu vs. HOU, 12:10 pm CT (Berrios-Peacock) Fri at NYY, 6:05 pm CT (Gibson-TBD) Last Game MIN 1, HOU 0: Let’s Go Crazy

Box Score Odorizzi: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 66.3% strikes Home Runs: Adrianza (1) Multi-Hit Games: None WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi .473, Parker .170, Rogers .124, Adrianza .123 WPA of -0.1: Rosario -.100 (chart via FanGraphs) There are certain things, even in the early going, that can give you certain vibes as a fan that your team may be on the verge of something special. Certain events just hit you and let those “this is our year” vibes to start flowing. Jake Odorizzi and the Twins bullpen shutting out the Houston Astros lineup would be one of those things. Ehire Adrianza hitting a home run off Justin Verlander for the only run of a game would be another one. Both those things happened tonight. It took Odorizzi just 86 pitches to get through seven innings. That’s a solid mark for any pitcher, but Odo isn’t exactly known for his efficiency. He got 13 swinging strikes on those 86 pitches, improving upon the career-high rate he carried into this outing. Odorizzi has gotten swinging strikes on 13% of his pitches this year. Last season, only nine qualified starters had a swinging strike rate above 13%, and Odorizzi was at 10.2%. Not surprisingly, the strikeout rates are also encouraging for Odorizzi in the early going of this season. He's now struck out exactly a quarter of the batters he's faced so far. That would represent a career high and a nice boost from his 22.8 K% from last year. Odorizzi needed a grand total of just 21 pitches to get through the third through fifth innings. He ran into trouble in the sixth, issuing a one-out walk followed by a single. We’ve seen him unravel in similar situations before, but he struck out both Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel to end the threat. While Odorizzi was cruising, Justin Verlander was also carving up the Twins. But there was a different look to the lineup tonight. They entered this game with a league-low 3.76 pitches per plate appearances. Tonight, they had a batter work an at-bat of six pitches or more in each of Verlander’s six innings. The longest of those was a 10-pitch walk for Max Kepler to lead off the first inning. Eddie Rosario had a nine-pitch at-bat that ended in a strikeout, and one of those longer plate appearances produced the game’s only run. In the third inning, Ehire Adrianza fell behind Verlander 1-2. He fouled off the fourth pitch to extend the at-bat, then watched two balls go by. Ehire deposited pitch No. 7 into the stands. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1123023350429732864 Verlander was nasty, but all that work resulted in him needing 100 pitches to get through six innings. He turned things over to the bullpen at that point. Unfortunately, there’s not much of a drop off. The Houston bullpen held the Twins scoreless for two innings. Taylor Rogers looked incredibly nasty in a scoreless eighth inning before Blake Parker took care of business in the ninth. Parker gave up a leadoff single, but managed to induce a double play ball from the next batter. Postgame With Baldelli https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1123055528349802496 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Tue vs. HOU, 6:40 pm CT (Pineda-Cole) Wed vs. HOU, 7:10 pm CT (Perez-McHugh) Thu vs. HOU, 12:10 pm CT (Berrios-Peacock) Last Game MIN 4, BAL 1: Kepler Sets Tone, Gibby Brings It Home

Box Score Gibson: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 66.7% strikes (70 of 105 pitches) Home Runs: Kepler (7), Buxton (1) Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2-for-4, 2B, HR) WPA of +0.1: Gibson .270, Gonzalez .162, Kepler .125 WPA of -0.1: None (chart via FanGraphs) Gibson did a really nice job pitching with the lead. He had a shutout going until Chris Davis hit a solo homer with two outs in the seventh. Gibby set his season highs in pitches, innings and strike percentage today. The most strikes he had thrown in a start coming into today was 55. He threw 70 strikes this afternoon. Gibson needed this. It now appears he’s put his slow start to the season behind him and is gaining momentum. With his second straight quality start, Gibby has lowered his ERA form 7.36 to 4.88 over his past two outings. He also hasn’t issued a walk for two straight starts now. It’s the first time since 2014 that Gibby hasn’t walked a batter in consecutive starts. It’s perfect timing to get into a groove, too. The Twins have some stiffer competition coming up, so it’s really nice to see Kyle look like he’s pointed in the right direction. He’s obviously an important piece to this team maintaining success over the long haul in 2019. Kepler’s leadoff homer got things going for the bats and Buxton added his first home run of the season to lead off the third inning. Kepler followed with a double and scored along with Eddie Rosario on a Marwin Gonzalez hit that somehow dropped into the Bermuda Triangle. https://twitter.com/_dadler/status/1122581165695754240 It was looking like the rout was on, but that was all the scoring the Twins would do. In a weird way it was somewhat of a relief, as the Randball’s Stu article from this Friday was really starting to hit home for a moment there. Kepler now has seven home runs this season. The earliest he’d reached that mark previously was May 25. At the time that home run was hit, he had gone deep in four of his previous eight plate appearances. There’s being in the zone and there’s whatever Kepler is in right now. He’s on another level. Postgame With Kepler https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1122608406374649856 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Mon vs. HOU, 6:40 pm CT (Odorizzi-Verlander) Tue vs. HOU, 6:40 pm CT (TBD-Cole) Wed vs. HOU, 7:10 pm CT (TBD-McHugh) Last Game MIN 9, BAL 2: Quality from Berrios, Quantity from the Bats