Thiéres Rabelo

Max Kepler is a free agent after 15 years in the organization. Let's celebrate his time with the Minnesota Twins by remembering his most important home runs. For this list, we used Win Probability Added (WPA). View full video

At some point, a large portion of Twins fans should be asking themselves if they really like this baseball club or if they call themselves “fans” only because it’s their home state team. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports The first piece of context this article needs is the fact that yours truly is not Minnesotan. Heck, I’m not even from the United States. But I’m not a character here. I’m stating this because said context is important. Whoever is reading this needs to understand that this is an article by an outsider who’s been following Minnesota sports and observing Minnesota sports fans' behaviors for years. The headline of this article is an honest question. Do you love the Twins? From what I’ve been observing for years, I think the general answer to this question would be “yes” on the surface. But, for many, that answer is not accompanied by loving actions. In other words, I think many Minnesotans say they’re Twins fans and “love” the team, but, in practice, they don’t. Here are two reasons why I feel that way: Poor attendance The Twins were terrible for almost a decade. It’s understandable that after that many bad seasons – including a record 103-loss campaign in 2016 – Twins fandom may have lost its excitement about this ballclub. However, they’ve also been a pretty good team since 2017. Yet, fans have still been reluctant to pack Target Field regularly for an entire season. In the Target Field era, the Twins have made the playoffs five times, including four American League Central titles. Their overall winning percentage is .485 despite having four consecutive seasons (2011-2014) with a winning percentage of .432 or worse. Most of their success in the Target Field era started in 2017, with three of those four division titles and a winning record of .528 since then. Yet, the Twins have a worse average attendance in that span than the Colorado Rockies. The Twins’ average attendance from the opening of Target Field until the end of the 2023 season is 29,046 fans per game, while the Rockies, one of the most terribly-managed sporting organizations on the planet, average 34,225 fans per game in the same period. The Rockies haven’t had a single season in that span with less than 31,334 attendance average. The Twins haven’t had a single season over 28,322 since 2013. The Rockies comparison is just one example. The Twins have seen worse teams have better attendance than them for years now. After some early success during the first three years of Target Field’s existence, Minnesota has ranked in the bottom half of attendance numbers in all but one of the nine seasons with normal attendance (2020 and 2021 not considered). The only time they didn’t was in the 2019 season and they ranked only 15th. They ranked in the bottom third of the league in five of those nine seasons. This season, they probably will be ranked 23rd. There is a list of excuses Twins fans come up with for poor attendance. Some are completely understandable, but some just sound far-fetched. The top two are “It’s too cold when the season starts” and “Fans will show up when kids are not in school.” Sometimes, there are excuses based on previous seasons' performance: “They’ve been bad for almost a decade,” “They lost 103 games last year”, “They didn’t make the playoffs last year.” Your team being bad one season kind of justifies attendance drops (except for the Colorado Rockies, apparently). But only if the opposite is true as well: if your team does well one season, there should be an attendance rise the following year. That hasn’t been the case for the Twins. Minnesota saw its attendance drop the following year in each season, and they've had a winning record since the opening of Target Field (2010, 2015, 2017, and 2023). Maybe this wouldn't have happened in 2020 after the fantastic 2019 season, but COVID-19 hit, and now we'll never know. The 2024 season felt doomed before it even started when the team announced the payroll slashing late last year. The lack of big offseason moves made it even worse. As a result, fans averaged less than 22,000 a game in the season’s first three months. Some might say that the aforementioned circumstances justified it, but I don’t think that’s fair to a team that just months before ended the club’s playoff curse by snapping the 0-for-18 losing streak and winning the franchise’s first playoff series in over two decades. Another reason why this year’s attendance drop isn’t fair (and the timing couldn’t be worse to mention this) is that the 2024 Minnesota Twins are not a bad team. They collapsed at the end of the season, yes, but they were also in the fight for the American League’s best record until mid-August. They might not make the playoffs after having over 92% odds of making it, but they can still mathematically finish the season with 86 wins. We believe a lot could’ve been done better by the owners and front office both in the offseason and the trade deadline. However, none of that changes the fact that the 2024 Twins are a good team. Considering only full 162-game seasons, the Twins are about to have back-to-back winning records for the first time since 2010. General social media behavior and perception of the team The whole point of this article can’t be made simply with poor attendance. Even though I don’t think this year’s poor attendance is fair to the players, I absolutely understand why one would simply choose not to attend games as a form of protest against the team’s ownership. But there’s more. As I said, I get to observe fans’ behaviors on social media. And here’s something that blows my mind: there’s a scary number of so-called “Twins fans” online who straight-up seem to hate this team. If you take a moment to scroll down through Twins Daily’s Facebook feed, you’ll see that almost every post has reactions with a laughing emoji. The most shocking example for me are the game recaps of losses. Call me crazy, but if your first reaction to your team losing a game is laugh, you should consider asking yourself if you really like that team or not. Basically, anything positive that is posted about the Twins or their players all across the internet can be met with a negative spin. The Byron Buxton hate is terrifying, especially when he’s having a great (and, most importantly, healthy) season. You already have the “Royce Lewis is made of glass” crowd. You have the Fire Rocco Club, which will always find a way to blame Rocco Baldelli for every single loss. And don’t get me wrong. Fans can criticize whatever and whoever they want. But it’s easy to see when that’s done with absolute loathing and despise. A lot of those people I’m referring to seem to be absolutely disgusted by the Minnesota Twins. That’s not the same with Timberwolves and Vikings fans. They obviously criticize the teams and the players, but you generally don’t feel they have any hate when you read most of their social media comments. I certainly think you won’t see as many Timberwolves fans reacting to their losses with laughing emojis as Twins “fans.” Timberwolves and Vikings fans demonstrate sincere joy when their teams win. When the Twins win, it feels like most their fan base doesn’t feel happy about it. The feeling seems to be that the team did nothing but their obligation. And they better not lose the next one. It’s not my place to tell anyone how to be a fan or to judge if you’re a “real” fan or not. But you can tell a lot about people's actions and you are always entitled to have an opinion about about those actions. This article is just something to think about. And I have a series of questions and comparisons to wrap this up and make you think: Do you really love the Twins? If you’re a Minnesota sports fan, are you harsher on the Twins when they have bad moments than you are on the Timberwolves and the Vikings? Or I can go even further in these comparisons: when a family member that you love screws up, do you point and laugh at them? Do you completely turn your back on them? Feel free to only think about those questions or to use the comment section below to express your thoughts about them. View full article

The whole idea of this blog is to be a platform for Twins fans from different countries who don't have English as their native language.

This was fantastic! Thank you for writing it, Lou!

It feels like Twins fans would burn Target Field to the ground if the team trades Édouard Julien this offseason — roughly a year after they traded fan favorite Luis Arráez. I myself would never do it, but I don’t think it’s such a crazy possibility. Let me start by saying my opinion right away: I don't think the Twins should trade Édouard Julien. However, one thing intrigues me: how can we be so sure Julien is the real deal? When I remember the kind of rookie season José Miranda had in 2022 and then how his bat disappeared in 2023, I can't help but feel a bit apprehensive. What are the chances the same won't happen to Julien? Many might say, "There's no evidence that Julien will slump". Well, was there for Miranda? When you compare some of Miranda’s expected numbers with the actual ones during 2022, you find out that the gap between them wasn’t large. I’m not at all an advanced stats specialist, but I assume such a small gap didn’t point out the kind of regression he had in 2023. Expected stats aren’t meant to be predictive, but if there's a significant gap between a player's expected stats and their traditional stats, regression to the mean should be considered. Since Miranda’s gap wasn’t significant — nor his sample size —, his regression in 2023 is hard to understand. Was his 2022, both at the majors and Triple-A, a mere fluke? Miranda’s case is perplexing, and we might get some more definitive answers in 2024. But with his case in mind, I come back to Julien. Say you’re Derek Falvey, and you could go 12 months back in time from today, knowing everything that would happen this year. Would you have considered trading Miranda in December of 2022? If you answer yes, given how you know he’ll regress in the following season, then considering a trade involving Julien right now isn’t the craziest of ideas. I must remind you about what I wrote in the first paragraph and repeat it: I would not trade Julien right now. Just like I wouldn’t trade Miranda — I still hope he can bounce back. To be fair, Julien’s rookie season was better than Miranda’s, as you can you on the charts below. But even though I wouldn’t personally do it, I must admit: it’s tempting. His trade value is at its peak right now. Provided the Twins would get a haul in exchange for him, I’d be okay with it. And a potential Miranda bounceback is actually a big part of why trading Julien wouldn’t be the end of the world. If Miranda can figure it out and handle third base on a daily basis, you can simply move Royce Lewis to second. Sign, say, Mitch Garver to be your everyday first baseman, and use Julien and Jorge Polanco as trade pieces to bring in more pitching help. There you have it. Not knowing if Miranda is, in fact, going to bounce back next year shouldn’t stop you from trading Julien in this scenario. After all, you do have Lewis at third at this moment and wouldn’t need Miranda to step in over there right away. But that would make trading Polanco a considerable risk. Anyway, I, personally, wouldn’t trade Julien, but I understand why anyone would, and I don’t judge. If Julien’s rookie season wasn’t a fluke, the Twins might have in him a tremendous bat for a decade. And if Miranda can figure things out, this Twins lineup can become a serious threat. What do you think? Would you trade Julien right now? If so, what kind of return would you expect?

Lovely story!

Apparently, the Minnesota Twins clubhouse has a lasting impact on a lot of people. Is there anything special about it? Image courtesy of Sportsnet (screenshot) The American League Wild Card series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays was the pinnacle of the Minnesota Twins season and perhaps the happiest moment in Minnesota sports in nearly two decades. The snapping of the losing streak in Game 1 lifted a huge burden off the backs of every Twins fan. The win in Game 2 put us in nirvana and gave us hope we thought impossible. There was nothing that could spoil that. Not even a little bit. Or was there? Well, kind of. While the players and all fans at Target Field celebrated the Twins’ first postseason series win since 2002, a heartbreaking image went somewhat viral on Twins Twitter. A screenshot taken of the Sportsnet broadcast showed former Twins starter José Berríos watching from Toronto’s dugout as his old Minnesota teammates celebrated: After the game, Berríos was interviewed live from the clubhouse. Some said that he seemed to have been crying. That wouldn’t be surprising at all. He was Toronto’s starter for that game, and he was throwing a great game. He took care of the Twins lineup for three innings on only 39 pitches, allowing only one hit, but striking out five. No walks. But the Blue Jays’ manager, John Schneider, had a plan. When Royce Lewis drew a leadoff walk against Berríos in the fourth, Yusei Kikuchi got the call, and “La Mákina” departed the game at only 47 pitches. The Twins took advantage and managed to score two runs against Kikuchi, which ended up being enough to win the game. Perhaps that was the main reason Berríos looked devastated in the dugout as the Twins celebrated. Maybe he was just gazing at nothing, not actually paying too much attention to all the smiling, jumping, and yelling. Unsurprisingly, his early departure from the game was the main topic of the questions asked to Berríos in the clubhouse. But that gaze from the dugout also came up – as great journalism would require. During the interview, only two questions focused on that last part, but those answers really say something about how Berríos feels about the Twins and Minnesota. He first referenced his old home when he was asked how he felt watching the remainder of the game from the dugout. In listing the reasons why he didn't feel so bad, he mentioned how much he enjoyed being in Minnesota and the atmosphere at Target Field. Then, after quickly answering another question about why he was removed from the game–"Honestly, I don't know," he said–those two aforementioned questions about his old teammates had him reminiscing. Why did you stick around to watch the Twins celebrate afterward? – Because I still have brothers over there. Like I've been saying, besides baseball, I respect people. I take care of people. I've got a few brothers over there. I wanted to say congratulations. The next question made him smile awkwardly, and you could tell he was caught off guard. He didn't have a remotely prepared answer. How hard was that moment to watch? – It was a weird feeling because right now, I'm on this side of the dugout, playing for the Blue Jays. I'm very proud of that, and I give my hundred percent. But at the same time, I used to be in Minnesota. The city watched me grow and reach the big leagues, so it was a weird feeling. Finally, the last question kind of went the other way in the sense that it mentioned something that happened after the game that could've been perceived as... not very nice. But Berríos still managed to pay compliments to his old brothers. In talking to a member of the Minnesota Twins, they said they were pretty happy to see you leave the game. How does that make you feel? – That guy was my first pitching coach in the minor leagues when I signed in 2012, Luis Ramírez. He came to me, said 'congratulations,' and gave me a hug. Then I saw [Jorge] Polanco, one of my teammates from 2012, too. They have good people over there. I have to respect that. I’m not a beat reporter. I’m not at the clubhouse daily – Alanna Rizzo would probably hate me – but doesn’t it feel like the Twins clubhouse is, indeed, special? It’s a big sports cliché to say something like this, but it really feels like it’s true for the Twins. Of course, we’re not talking about something supernatural. It’s all about the people who are there every day. For God’s sake, even when Josh Donaldson was in Minnesota, this clubhouse didn’t seem to have any evident issues. Granted, the Twins have been lucky when encountering legit nice guys to bless the clubhouse environment. Eduardo Escobar was perhaps the greatest. Willians Astudillo seemed to be loved by everyone around him. And talk about Brian Dozier, who seemed never to stop smiling. But maybe that’s just a great positive effect you get when you have so many homegrown players in a big league team. It’s very hard not to create a deep bond with people you’ve lived with since your teenage years and into your late twenties or early thirties. Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco shared a wholesome moment last week to prove that: Luis Arráez is another excellent example. Remember how he used to have inside jokes with Twins beat reporter Dan Hayes? That was so cool. And maybe this is just a personal impression, but didn’t he look a bit gloomy in his first days/weeks with the Marlins? Similar to a kid who’s been forced by their parents to change schools and leave behind his crew? Well, seeing Arráez sad should make every Twins fan sad, too, so thank God he was up and smiling again with his new teammates later in the season. Speaking of Arráez, team photographer Brace Hemmelgarn blessed us when the Twins visited the Marlins earlier this year by capturing this lovely interaction between Arráez and Byron Buxton. To me, that moment screamed, “I miss being with you guys so much!” I have no idea if the Twins clubhouse is more special than any other clubhouse. But the fact is that a lot of people seem to feel really happy there. Some fans may dislike certain front office or coaching staff members for baseball reasons, but it seems unfair to dislike them for any other reason. They seem to have built a great clubhouse culture for the Twins. View full article

In an incredibly well-pitched game, the Twins had hopes until the very last pitch of the game, but they couldn’t spark a rally rally. The 2023 Minnesota Twins season is officially over. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (26 pitches, 18 strikes, 69.2%) Home Runs: Royce Lewis (4), Edouard Julien (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco (-.240), Caleb Thielbar (-.202), Max Kepler (-.117) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Teams exchange solo shots, Ryan gets pulled early The Twins were doomed on Tuesday afternoon after a poor first inning that saw Sonny Gray give up four runs, and Minnesota was unable to bounce back. This time, though, things looked completely different in the early going as Joe Ryan breezed through the top of the first on only ten pitches. Most fans and pundits wanted the Twins not to throw a pitch to Yordan Álvarez in this series anymore, but Ryan had no trouble getting him to fly out to end the inning. The offense was also in business early. Édouard Julien led off the home first with a long double to center. It was of no use, though, as Jorge Polanco hit a very soft liner directly at Jeremy Peña, who was able to tag out Julien quickly for a double play. Despite such a deflating play, the Twins didn’t come out empty-handed. In the following at-bat, Royce Lewis took José Urquidy deep for a line-drive home run to left to make it 1-0 Twins. That was Lewis’ fourth home run this postseason, and he’s now tied with Kirby Puckett for most home runs in a single postseason in franchise history (1991). At four home runs, Lewis is also tied with Greg Gagne for second-most homers all-time in franchise postseason history, behind only Puckett, with five. Ryan looked sharp again in the top of the second, recording two quick outs on only seven pitches. He got a first-pitch strike against Michael Brantley next, but on the very next pitch, Brantley tied the game with a solo home run to deep center. Chas McCormick singled next, but Ryan took care of Peña to end the inning. That’s when things took an unexpected turn. In a surprising move, Rocco Baldelli pulled Ryan from the game after two innings and only 26 pitches. Houston takes the lead with another home run Brock Stewart came in relief of Ryan in the third and took care of business with a 1-2-3 inning on 12 pitches. With the offense going 0-for-7 with a walk after the Lewis home run, the Twins brought lefty Caleb Thielbar in the fourth to face the southpaw trio within the heart of the Astros lineup. He managed to limit Álvarez to a single and struck out Kyle Tucker next. But when righty José Abreu stepped up to the plate, he clobbered an opposite-field two-run shot for his third home run in two days, making it 3-1 Astros. Chris Paddack took over to get the final out of the fourth, and he went on to toss a flawless 1-2-3 fifth with ease, with a pair of punch outs. While Urquidy continued to make Twins hitters look silly by retiring seven in a row, Paddack looked just as brilliant in the sixth with another 1-2-3 effort, this time against hitters three to five. That included a strikeout against Álvarez. Fans might allow themselves to feel very excited about Paddack’s presence in the Twins rotation next year. Twins get one back, get Urquidy out of the game Urquidy made it eight consecutive batters retired when he got Michael A. Taylor to ground out to open the sixth. But his night was about to be over. Julien got his second hit of the night, a solo home run to left, snapping a collective 0-for-14 for the Twins offense since the first inning and cutting Houston’s lead to only one run. Jorge Polanco flied out next, but not before fighting for seven pitches and hitting a bullet (100.7 mph) to deep center. Dusty Baker brought in Hector Neris to try to get the inning’s final out, but Lewis worked a six-pitch walk to keep the Twins rally going. Max Kepler came to the plate representing the go-ahead run, and he got ahead of Neris in the count, 2-0. But the Astros reliever settled down and, with a big help from home plate umpire Jansen Visconti, got Kepler to “strike out”, ending the inning. It’s all about the bullpens, and the Astros hold on Griffin Jax came in to pitch the seventh, and he retired the side, making it ten consecutive Houston batters retired in a row. Had the offense been able to make some noise in the home half, the Twins could get some momentum going. But Neris did a tremendous job tossing a 1-2-3 inning. Then, Jhoan Durán was brought in for the eighth, and he also kept the Twins’ chances alive with a scoreless frame, making it 13 consecutive Astros retired. Target Field got loud in the bottom of the eighth when Byron Buxton walked up to the on-deck circle. Donovan Solano struck out to open the inning, and Buxton had the chance to tie the game next. His at-bat, however, was short-lived. He took the first two pitches for an even count but swung on the third one to pop out to shallow right. Julien struck out next to end the inning, making it seven consecutive Twins batters retired. With the Twins season on the line, Durán needed to put up another zero in the top of the ninth. He handed Álvarez his second strikeout of the night on three pitches, then got Tucker to ground out, taking it to the bag himself. After an Abreu single, Brantley jumped on the first pitch for an easy lineout to center. It was up to Polanco, Lewis, and Kepler against former Twin Ryan Pressly to save Minnesota’s season in the bottom of the ninth. Each of them worked full counts against Pressly, but he didn’t crack, and all three ended up being struck out. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Maeda 43 0 0 25 0 68 Paddack 19 0 0 0 29 48 Ober 0 0 0 38 0 38 Thielbar 18 0 0 0 17 35 Stewart 0 22 0 0 12 34 Durán 0 7 0 0 23 30 Pagán 14 0 0 14 0 28 Jax 0 0 0 9 18 27 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The 2023 Twins continue to make history. After snapping an 0-18 playoff losing streak on Tuesday, Minnesota prevailed again against the Toronto Blue Jays in game two of the Wild Card series, securing their first playoff series win since 2002. They move on to face the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series starting this Saturday. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (85 pitches, 53 strikes, 64.7%) Home Runs: none Top 3 WPA: Sonny Gray (.274), Caleb Thielbar (.124), Donovan Solano (.091) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) A day after snapping the longest playoff losing streak in North American sports history, the Minnesota Twins were looking to make history once more. If they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field this afternoon, they would win their first postseason series since 2002, when they beat the Oakland Athletics in game five of the American League Division Series. Standing in their way today was former Twin and fan favorite José Berríos. “La Makina” never got the chance to start for Minnesota in the postseason at Target Field with fans in the stands – his sole Target Field postseason start as a Twin was in 2020, and fans weren’t allowed to attend games then. In five starts against his former club since the trade, Berríos has had a 4.03 ERA and 1.172 WHIP, having given up five home runs. Taking the mound for Minnesota today was Cy Young Award hopeful Sonny Gray, by far the Twins’ most prolific player this season after leading the club in Wins Above Replacement (5.4 per Baseball-Reference and 5.3 per FanGraphs) and posting a 2.79 ERA in the regular season, good for third best in the majors. Neither lineup, in theory, was expected to do a lot of damage as long as those two starters were on the mound today. But Toronto did threaten a bit early on, with two runners reaching in both, the first and the second innings, but Gray was able to put out the fire in both opportunities. He settled in nicely after the second inning, culminating in a quick, 1-2-3 top of the fourth. Meanwhile, despite allowing three hits, Berríos was sharp through three, keeping the Twins off the board, while striking out five and allowing no walks. But things would change abruptly in the home fourth. Twins take advantage of some poor managing Berríos completed three innings on 39 pitches, throwing nearly 72% strikes. But when Royce Lewis drew an eight-pitch walk against him to lead off the fourth, Blue Jays manager John Schneider decided to pull him and bring lefty Yusei Kikuchi into the game. It didn’t take long for Toronto to pay the price for that decision. Max Kepler swung on the second pitch he saw and beat the throw to first. Then, pinch-hitter Donovan Solano drew a walk against Kikuchi to load them up with no outs. Carlos Correa, who had snapped an 0-for-4 skid with an infield hit in the second, collected his second hit of the game with a grounder to center, scoring Lewis from third and keeping the bases loaded. Coming into the game to hit for Matt Wallner, Willi Castro grounded into a double play that allowed Kepler to score from third, making it 2-0 Twins. Sonny escapes another jam with a great pick-off Toronto threatened again in the fifth when George Springer hit a one-out single, his second hit of the ballgame, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fought hard for a seven-pitch walk. When Gray threw a wild pitch, both runners moved up, and the Blue Jays could take the lead with a swing of the bat. But with Bichette batting, Gray made a fantastic throw to Correa at second to pick off Guerrero Jr. with a clean tag to the chest, ending the inning in style. Toronto challenged the play, but it was worthless. Sonny departed the game after the fifth, lowering his career postseason ERA to 2.39 in five starts. Once again, the bullpen is brilliant, holding on to a slim lead With a narrow lead, the Twins bullpen would have its work cut out for them. Again. Louie Varland took over in the sixth and struck out Bichette to lead off the inning. However, he lost the next two batters to back-to-back singles, and Rocco Baldelli decided to bring in Caleb Thielbar to get the final two outs of the inning. Thielbar got the job done, but it wasn’t easy. Santiago Espinal hit a single on the first pitch he saw from Thielbar, and the bases were loaded with only one out. Matt Chapman stepped up to the plate, and he ripped a liner to left that pulled foul by mere inches. Then, on the next pitch, he grounded into an inning-ending double play. After the offense came out empty-handed in the bottom of the sixth, the bullpen delivered again in the seventh. Brock Stewart took the mound to toss a 1-2-3 inning on 17 pitches, striking out two batters. Unfortunately, a cold offense couldn’t back him up in the home seventh. Going 1-for-9 with a walk since they scored in the fourth, Minnesota’s bats put together a threat by drawing two walks, but both runners were stranded. Griffin Jax was flawless in the top of the seventh against the heart of the Blue Jays lineup, retiring Guerrero Jr., Bichette, and Cavan Biggio in order on 15 pitches. To retire Biggio, he was involved in a scary collision on the base paths, but he was okay. Correa (hit by pitch) and Castro (single) put together a threat in the bottom of the eighth, with both of them moving into scoring position, but that didn’t pan out. It was up to Jhoan Durán to close out the game in the ninth… or was it? During some warm-up pitches, the Twins closer called the Twins training staff out to have an apparent problem on his right thumb or nail checked out. He stayed in the game, and after a pair of pitches way up, he settled in and struck out Alejandro Kirk. Espinal jumped on the first pitch for a single, but that went to waste, as Durán struck out the next two batters on six pitches. For the first time in franchise history, the Twins sweep a postseason series. What’s Next? The Twins move to the American League Division Series for the first time since 2019. They get ready for a rematch against the Houston Astros, who eliminated Minnesota in their most recent trip to the postseason, in the 2020 Wild Card Series. Game 1 of the series takes place this Saturday (October 7) at Minute Maid Park. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Jax 19 0 0 8 15 42 Paddack 39 0 0 0 0 39 Durán 11 0 0 14 13 38 Thielbar 9 0 0 10 4 23 Varland 0 0 0 2 17 19 Stewart 0 5 0 0 13 18 Funderburk 0 16 0 0 0 16 Pagán 15 0 0 0 0 15 Maeda 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

In his final start of the regular season, Pablo López couldn’t complete five – but he did make strikeout history. Down two runs after five, the offense provided four unanswered runs to complete a late rally, and the Twins secured the series win against the A’s. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Pablo López, 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (77 pitches, 53 strikes, 68.8%) Home Runs: Edouard Julien (15), Ryan Jeffers (13) Top 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (.263), Ryan Jeffers (.228), Dallas Keuchel (.104) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) With less than a week until the start of the postseason, Twins fans got a final look at Minnesota’s potential Wild Card game-one starter in Pablo López, even if it wasn’t for long. López didn’t look so sharp to start the game, giving up a leadoff walk and a single, but responded by retiring six consecutive, five of them by strikeout. The offense was also in business very early, with Édouard Julien jumping on Oakland’s very first pitch of the game for his 15th home run of the season. Then, in the bottom of the second, Minnesota’s secret weapon, Willi Castro, was once again a difference-maker. He got hit by a pitch, stole second (his 33rd stolen base of the year), then scored on a Kyle Farmer double that diving right-fielder Seth Brown failed to glove, making it 2-0 Twins. López had a rather shaky third inning, starting with a leadoff double to Lawrence Butler. Despite retiring the following two batters on eight pitches, Pablo gave up an RBI single to Brown, who swung on the first pitch of the at-bat to drive in Butler. Old friend Brent Rooker kept the inning alive with a ground ball "single" to short. But after a challenge by the Twins, the call was overturned, and the inning was over. It was expected that López’s start wasn’t going to be a long one. After delivering a 1-2-3 fourth, Pablo came back for the fifth with his pitch count nearing 70 pitches. After a groundout to open the frame, he lost Butler to a double and Ryan Noda to a single, prompting Rocco Baldelli to call on the bullpen. Caleb Thielbar took over, and the A’s were able to push three runs across and take the lead on an Aledmys Díaz double and a Rooker single – both with two outs. Despite the short start, López did throw six strikeouts, which got him to a total of 234 on the season, the most by a Twins pitcher since Johan Santana threw 235 in 2007. According to Do-Hyoung Park, those 234 strikeouts are tied with Dean Chance (1968) for the most by any Twins pitcher not named Johan Santana or Bert Blyleven. Making the second big-league start of his career, rookie Joey Estes was never in big trouble while he was on the mound. But despite his low pitch count, he was pulled from the game in the sixth after giving up a one-out single to Max Kepler. Reliever Kyle Muller took over, and it didn’t take long for the Twins to take advantage of the pitching change. Jordan Luplow struck out for the second out of the inning, but before Muller could get out of it, Ryan Jeffers made him pay by crushing a game-tying two-run shot to left. Emilio Pagán didn’t have trouble pitching through the sixth. He did give up a two-out triple, but he compensated that with three punch outs. Then, things got interesting. Baldelli made the unusual call to bring Jhoan Durán into the game to pitch the seventh. He did great, striking out the side for a 1-2-3 inning on 14 pitches. But this decision sure raises a lot of questions about how might Durán be used in the postseason. This has been the first time this season Durán has entered a game before the eighth inning, and the first time in his career since September 11, 2022. The offense wasted a two-men-on and no-outs situation in the eighth, after Christian Vázquez and Julien hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, but got stranded. However, after Dallas Keuchel delivered a scoreless eighth on only nine pitches (seven strikes), the bats didn’t miss their opportunity in the bottom of the inning. Kepler hit a leadoff single, and with Andrew Stevenson as a pinch-runner, Trevor Larnach hit a long double to right that outfielder Esteury Ruiz had a really hard time playing, allowing Stevenson to score from first and give the Twins the lead. Larnach moved to third on a wild pitch, then he scored on a Jeffers sacrifice fly to make it 6-4 Minnesota. Keuchel remained in the game for the ninth. He got the first batter to ground out quickly, but then surrendered a single and hit a batter. He was given the opportunity to get the second out, and he did so by striking out Noda. It wasn’t a smooth at-bat, as he got ahead on the count 0-2, but allowed Noda to get back in it with a full count. Griffin Jax came in to try to get the final out, and after a hard-fought eight-pitch at-bat, he struck out Zack Gelof looking to end it. Postgame interview What’s Next? In their final home game of the regular season, Sonny Gray (8-8, 2.80 ERA) and the Twins take on the A’s to close out the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 pm CDT, and Oakland will bring Luis Medina (3-10, 5.64 ERA) to the mound. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Paddack 0 0 0 40 0 40 Pagán 10 0 0 0 18 28 Keuchel 0 0 0 0 28 28 Funderburk 0 27 0 0 0 27 Jax 0 0 0 17 8 25 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 18 18 Stewart 0 0 0 16 0 16 Varland 0 15 0 0 0 15 Durán 0 0 0 0 14 14 View full article

With a three-run ninth, the Twins completed a memorable comeback against the Reds at Great American Ball Park with great baserunning from Willi Castro and a pair of clutch hits. They take two out of three against Cincinnati and finish their road trip with five wins in seven games, reducing their magic number to two. Image courtesy of David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (97 pitches, 60 strikes, 61.9%) Home Runs: Willi Castro (9) Top 3 WPA: Willi Castro (.353), Jorge Polanco (.207), Kyle Farmer (.172) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) In the first two games of this Cincinnati series, the Twins were dealt two significant blows on the injury front, with Carlos Correa departing Monday’s game after the first inning with an aggravated left foot plantar fasciitis and Royce Lewis limping out of Tuesday’s game in the eighth with an apparent hamstring injury. But news emerged earlier today that helped calm Twins fans down a bit. Shortly before today’s game, the Twins placed Correa on the 10-day Injured List and recalled Trevor Larnach from Triple-A St. Paul. However, as reported by MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park, Correa has a full-thickness tear to the central cortex of the area, and that tear might facilitate the healing process. Also, Bally Sports North's Audra Martin reported during the broadcast that Royce Lewis was able to ride the stationary bike in the clubhouse this morning and that his condition is "much better than expected." On to the game, and neither offense was able to bother their opposing starters much during the first two innings. Bailey Ober, the 346th pick in the 2017 Draft, and Hunter Greene, the 2nd overall pick the Twins passed on to select Royce Lewis, didn’t allow any hits in that span. But things changed in the third, as both of them pitched themselves into jams. Andrew Stevenson hit a leadoff double and was followed by a single from Christian Vázquez. Greene, however, managed to retire the next three batters and end the threat. Ober was also ambushed in the bottom of the inning and he couldn’t keep the zero on the board. Will Benson worked a leadoff walk, and a couple of at-bats later, Ober hit Jonathan India on the shoulder to put two men on with only one out. TJ Friedl stepped up to the plate and slapped a base hit to left to score Benson. Spencer Steer then hit a long flyball to center that, fortunately, was caught by Michael A. Taylor for the second out, but both runners moved into scoring position. After an eight-pitch at-bat, Ober struck out Jake Fraley, to end a 35-pitch inning for him. Greene dominated Minnesota’s offense throughout this game, including eight strikeouts through four innings. After a shaky third, Ober gave up a home run to former Twin Christian Encarnacion-Strand to lead off the bottom of the fourth, making it 2-0 Reds. This time, though, he was able to navigate through the inning without much risk. Ober settled in well and completed five innings on 96 pitches before Josh Winder took over in the sixth. Castro brings the Twins back… Twice! Greene struck out Max Kepler to lead off the top of the seventh, making it 13 punch outs for him in the afternoon – already a career-high for him. When it seemed like the Twins offense would get nothing against him, Willi Castro went yard for a second consecutive game, the first time he’s done so this season. That was all the damage the Twins could inflict, as Greene picked up his 14th strikeout on the day on his way to complete seven innings. Winder had tossed a quick, easy sixth, before giving up a leadoff triple to Benson in the seventh. That’s when things got weird. Luke Maile made a bunt attempt, the ball went into play, and he was initially out. David Bell noticed the ball had hit Maile on the fingers and challenged the call, and a review showed the ball hit Maile in the box and was ruled dead, turning Maile’s failed bunt attempt into a strike, and allowing the at-bat to continue. On the very next pitch, Maile hit a bloop single to shallow left, driving in Benson from third and making it 3-1 Reds. Minnesota didn’t give up, and they made this a one-run game again in the eighth, once Greene was no longer in the game. Vázquez doubled to deep right to lead off the inning, and after Larnach flied out, Édouard Julien got his first hit of the day, a bloop single to center, deep enough to score Vázquez. After Jhoan Durán pitched around a leadoff walk to deliver a scoreless eighth, the Twins were ready to rally in the ninth. Castro was once again the headliner. Facing reliever Alexis Díaz, he hit a leadoff bunt single, then immediately tried stealing second. He succeeded, and more, as Maile made an awful throw to second, allowing Castro to advance to third. Kyle Farmer smacked a single to right to score Castro and tie the game. Vázquez drew a one-out walk, prompting a pitching change. But that was useless. After striking out Larnach for the second out, Sam Moll intentionally walked Ryan Jeffers to face Jorge Polanco next and load the bases. Polo wasted no time, and jumped on the very first pitch for a base hit down the middle, scoring Farmer and Vázquez and giving the Twins their first lead of the afternoon, 5-3. One week after giving up a game-winning home run to the Rays in the ninth, Griffin Jax was given another late high-leverage opportunity today. He came in to pitch the ninth, and despite giving up a leadoff walk, he was able to retire the side and record his third save of the season. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins head back to the Twin Cities, where they’ll have a day off on Thursday and kick off their final homestand of the season the next day. They host the Los Angeles Angels for a three-gamer over the weekend, with game one scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT on Friday. Pablo López (10-8, 3.58 ERA) takes the mound for Minnesota, while the Angels’ starter is yet to be determined. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Keuchel 0 0 58 0 0 58 Winder 25 0 0 0 29 54 Pagán 0 22 0 8 0 30 Durán 9 0 0 0 21 30 Jax 0 13 0 0 17 30 Funderburk 0 0 0 20 0 20 Thielbar 0 0 0 16 0 16 Floro 0 0 0 16 0 16 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

After a short start by Dallas Keuchel, the Twins were down four runs early. They rallied back to tie it and had a mostly great outing from their bullpen. But one bad pitch in the ninth cost them the game and the series. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel, 4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (78 pitches, 47 strikes, 60.3%) Home Runs: Matt Wallner (12), Kyle Farmer (10) Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-.306), Dallas Keuchel (-.282), Royce Lewis (-.181) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Keuchel gives up four early runs Things looked really promising for Dallas Keuchel to begin this game, as he got two quick outs on only six pitches. He got Yandy Diaz, Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter, to strike out with a couple of nasty swings and misses, including an 80.1 mph changeup that called Rob Friedman’s attention. But that was pretty much all the “Vintage Keuchel” Twins fans would witness, as things took a turn for the worse. Not only did Keuchel stop missing bats, but Rays batters also began barrelling his pitches. He didn’t give up a run in the top of the first, surrendering merely a two-out double, but in all three times Tampa Bay’s hitters got to make contact during that inning, it was hard contact – nothing below 97.5 mph exit velocity. The Rays scored three runs in the top of the second. Curtis Mead led off the inning with a triple that left his bat at 100 mph, then scored on a fielder’s choice a couple of at-bats later. Tampa Bay continued to push, and with two on and two outs, Díaz got his revenge on Keuchel by hitting a long double to deep center to score both runners. With the Twins offense not putting up a big fight, Tampa Bay managed to add on in the top of the third. Keuchel gave up a one-out walk to Isaac Paredes, who scored on the next at-bat on another Mead extra-base hit, an RBI double, making it 4-0 Rays. Twins tie it up, both starters depart the game Minnesota couldn’t get anything going in the first two innings of the game, being limited to a lone walk. But things quickly changed in the bottom of the third. Matt Wallner jumped on the first pitch he saw to crush a leadoff home run to deep center, putting the Twins on the board. Kyle Farmer was exactly as aggressive and also took Taj Bradley deep in the next at-bat. The Twins continued to threat in the same inning, with Jorge Polanco smacking a one-out double, but Bradley managed to put the fire away. After Keuchel delivered his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon in the top of the fourth, the offense took one more shot at Bradley in the home half, with Ryan Jeffers hitting a one-out double. This time, though, the Twins were unable to capitalize. Keuchel returned for the fifth, but his day was over before he could record an out. Harold Ramírez hit a leadoff single, which was followed by a walk from Paredes. Rocco Baldelli decided to pull him and bring in Dylan Floro, who successfully took care of the mess on 13 pitches. Fortunately for the Twins, Keuchel wouldn’t be the only starter to depart the game in that inning. The bottom of the fifth began tremendously well for Minnesota, with Farmer making Bradley fight hard for a strikeout after a 16-pitch at-bat. The Twins went on to draw back-to-back walks, then both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Bradley was pulled after getting the second out, but it was no use: against reliever Jake Diekman, Max Kepler hit a triple to right to drive in both runners and tie the game. The bullpen looks great… for the most part Floro did a great job not allowing his two inherited runners to score in the fifth. But Emilio Pagán, who took over after him in the sixth, was perhaps even more impressive. He delivered two scoreless frames after retiring the side on 15 pitches in the sixth and surviving a jam in the seventh. Díaz and Randy Arozarena opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but Pagán was able to retire the next three batters on eight pitches to end the rally. Caleb Thielbar tossed a scoreless eighth on Tuesday night’s win, and he was brought into this game to make his seventh appearance on no day’s rest this season. Not only was he trying to keep this a tied game, but he would also try to preserve his 0.00 ERA pitching on back-to-back days this season. Spoiler alert: he did a phenomenal job! He retired the side on 17 pitches, closing out the inning with an absolutely filthy 71.5 mph curveball for a punchout. Then, it was Griffin Jax’s turn to keep the Rays from scoring in the top of the ninth. Things started out great for him, who retired the first two batters on only six pitches. But when Arozarena stepped up to the plate, Jax was doomed. His command was a little off, and Arozarena got ahead 0-2. Jax managed to even the count, but a couple of pitches later, the Rays’ outfielder crushed him for a third-decker, making it 5-4 Tampa Bay. Jordan Luplow worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth to make things interesting. Andrew Stevenson came in to pinch-run for him, and he stole second. But ultimately, it was no use, as the Rays bullpen held on tight. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins head to Chicago, where they’ll start a four-game set against the White Sox. The series opener is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT on Thursday (9/14) at Guaranteed Rate Field. Chicago’s starting pitcher has yet to be determined, while Kenta Maeda (4-7, 4.65 ERA) is expected to take the mound for Minnesota. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Varland 20 0 0 31 0 51 Floro 11 0 24 0 13 48 Headrick 0 0 47 0 0 47 Jax 0 24 0 0 16 40 Winder 0 0 38 0 0 38 Thielbar 10 0 0 11 17 38 Pagán 0 0 0 0 29 29 Funderburk 15 0 0 0 0 15 Durán 0 0 0 10 0 10 View full article

Despite an hour-long rain delay, Twins pitchers managed to limit the Guardians to only two runs. However, Minnesota’s offense never really showed up, and Cleveland avoided the sweep. Image courtesy of Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (89 pitches, 60 strikes, 67.4%) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Max Kepler (-.177), Jorge Polanco (-.139), Carlos Correa (-.139) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) A rain delay likely takes a toll on Ryan’s start Looking to continue his return to form, Joe Ryan took the mound this afternoon after having posted a 1.64 ERA in his two starts since coming off the Injured List. However, things didn’t look promising for him to begin this game. Though he kept Cleveland off the scoreboard in the first, it took him 28 pitches to conclude the inning. Ryan gave up a leadoff ground-rule double to Andrés Giménez, and the Guardians second baseman would wind up scoring after moving to third on a flyout and being driven in by a Will Brennan single. Fortunately, for the first portion of the game, that was all the damage Cleveland was able to do against Ryan. Meanwhile, the offense was having a tough time finding its groove against rookie Gavin Williams. It was a tall order for the bats to maintain the same kind of productivity they’ve had in the first two games of the series – but you also wouldn’t expect them to look so uninspired. Williams no-hit Minnesota’s offense through four, and all Twins hitters could muster were three walks in that span. Granted, the Guardians' defense made a pair of impressive defensive plays during the second inning that might’ve stolen a run from Minnesota. The game went into an hour-long rain delay with two outs in the bottom of the third, but both starters remained in the game. Williams was all over the place when he returned to the mound, but home plate umpire Paul Clemons made a few really wild strike calls in the top of the fourth, allowing Williams to catch a big break. The bottom of the fourth would be Ryan’s last frame, as his pitch count continued to rise. Giménez and Brennan teamed up to score another run for Cleveland, with the former hitting a one-out single and the latter pushing his teammate across with a two-out double. Williams’ no-hit bid continued in the fifth, but Willi Castro’s leadoff walk would come back to haunt him. During Ryan Jeffers’ at-bat, Castro stole second for his 30th stolen base of the season, the most by any Twin since 2012 (Ben Revere, 40). He becomes the ninth Twin in history to steal at least 30 bases in a season. Andrew Stevenson hit a grounder to left to drive in Castro and put the Twins on the board. Varland has a hot start, but bats can’t come alive Making his first big-league relief appearance and first big-league appearance overall since mid-June, Louie Varland looked as solid as ever. He delivered three perfect innings on only 30 pitches, throwing 70% strikes and striking out two. But things changed in the bottom of the eighth, as he gave up a leadoff single, followed by a walk and his departure from the game. Kody Funderburk came into the game, and he managed to retire the side, making it four innings of scoreless ball provided by the Twins bullpen. However, the great relief effort wasn’t enough for Minnesota. Since Stevenson’s RBI single in the fifth, the offense went 1-for-11 heading into the top of the ninth. Then, reliever Emmanuel Clase had no trouble against the cold Twins bats, retiring the side on only ten pitches. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins have a day off on Thursday (Sep 7), and they head back home to begin a weekend set against the New York Mets at Target Field. The series opener is scheduled for Friday (Sep 8) at 7:10 pm CDT, with Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 5.06 ERA) toeing the rubber for Minnesota and Kodai Senga (10-7, 3.08 ERA) making the start for New York. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Headrick 15 0 46 0 0 61 Varland 0 0 0 0 43 43 Pagán 24 0 0 12 0 36 Funderburk 9 14 0 0 11 34 Jax 7 0 0 17 0 24 Floro 8 0 14 0 0 22 Durán 21 0 0 0 0 21 Thielbar 6 0 0 10 0 16 Winder 6 5 0 0 0 11 View full article

Sonny Gray looked like a Cy Young Award frontrunner, and the Twins were one out away from winning the game and taking one of the most important series of the season. But it’s 2023, after all, and the Guardians rallied to steal the game in extras. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (81 pitches, 56 strikes, 69.1%) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Kody Funderburk (-.459), Jhoan Duran (-.207), Carlos Correa (-.147) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Gray and Bibee dominate their opposing lineups early Neither offense was able to accomplish much during the first portion of this game, with both lineups combining for only two hits during the three opening innings. Both Sonny Gray and rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee looked dialed in right out of the gate, and this game seemed destined to be a low-scoring affair. Gray, in fact, surrendered a leadoff double to Steven Kwan on the game’s second pitch, but not only did he retire the side to finish the inning, he also actually retired 13 consecutive batters. He needed only 43 pitches to complete four innings of scoreless ball while striking out four. Not only was Gray brilliant to start this game, but he also had some stellar defense behind him, with Carlos Correa making a pair of great stops at short and Max Kepler making a beautiful sliding catch in the third: Bibee was just as brilliant, no-hitting the Twins for two innings and piling up five strikeouts through three. But his second time through the Twins lineup was anything but pleasant. Jorge Polanco jumped on the very first pitch of the fourth for a leadoff double, and Correa, Kepler, and Royce Lewis, despite not reaching or moving up Polanco, managed to drive Bibee’s pitch count up. It took the Cleveland righty 21 pitches to retire the trio. Twins take advantage of their first big opportunity The quality of the at-bats didn’t change for Minnesota in the fifth, and the Twins created their first big offensive moment of the game. Matt Wallner drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the inning, and after Ryan Jeffers struck out on a seven-pitch at-bat, Donovan Solano singled to left on the first pitch he saw. Bibee struck out Jordan Luplow next, but not before throwing six pitches. Then, with Édouard Julien at the plate, he struggled with his command once more, giving up a bases-loading walk to the Twins rookie. That brought Polanco to the plate, and he lined a short single to center to drive in Wallner and Solano. Gray departs earlier than expected After throwing only seven pitches to get through the sixth, Gray’s pitch count was merely at 62. He looked poised to go deeper in this game than he’s gone in any other start this season, perhaps even shooting for his first complete game since 2015. But oddly enough, he struggled a bit during the seventh, and that ended up being his final inning of the game. His command seemed a little off to begin the seventh, causing him to give up a leadoff walk to Kole Calhoun – his first and only walk of the afternoon. He took some time to apparently remove one of his cleats, and when Ramón Laureano stepped up to the plate next, Gray's command looked even worse. He nearly plunked Laureano in the helmet and threw a wild (I mean wild!) pitch, allowing Calhoun to steal second. Fortunately, Gray was able to settle in and retire the next three batters to finish the seventh, but he was promptly removed from the game after that, even though his pitch count was still at only 81. Gray was able to deliver another excellent start, even though it was apparently cut short. This is the first time he has thrown seven innings or more in back-to-back starts since July 12, 2019, and his season ERA is now down to 2.94. It is shocking that ESPN currently doesn’t include him on their “Cy Young Predictor” top 10 rankings. Bullpen gives up the lead, game goes to extras Things did not look promising when the bullpen took over in the eighth. Griffin Jax gave up a leadoff double to Gabriel Arias, and despite retiring the next two batters, he was replaced by Caleb Thielbar before he could get the final out. With an inherited runner on third, Thielbar gave up a single to Kwan, and Cleveland got on the board. Then, when José Ramírez drew a walk, things got really scary, but Caleb managed to induce the forceout to end the threat. Jhoan Durán came in to get the save, but things didn’t go smoothly for him either. After a quick first out, the Twins’ star closer gave up a walk and a single. Both runners moved up on a groundout by Arias, but Durán was still one out away from ending the game. With Bo Naylor at the plate, Durán struggled mightly and needing only one strike to finish Naylor off, he threw a wild pitch that went behind him, allowing Andrés Giménez to score the tying run. Cleveland rally is complete in the 10th With the game on the line, Emilio Pagan and his 10.50 ERA in high leverage took the mound to pitch the top of the 10th. But despite his poor recent performances in high leverage, he had no trouble getting two outs on seven pitches. Before he could record the final out, though, an intentional walk was given to Ramírez, and Pagán was pulled, with Kody Funderburk being brought in to try to end the inning. But the plan went horribly wrong. The rookie was all over the place, throwing three balls nowhere near the strike zone. The only pitch he threw for a strike was obliterated by Calhoun for a soul-crushing three-run home run. The offense went down in order in the bottom of the 10th, and the Guardians’ season survives. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins have a day off on Thursday before they kick off a three-game set against the Rangers in Arlington over the weekend. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday at 7:05 pm CDT, and Joe Ryan (9-8, 4.33 ERA) takes the mound for Minnesota, making his second start since returning from the Injured List. Max Scherzer (12-5, 3.71 ERA) is expected to start the game for Texas. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Durán 12 9 0 0 20 41 Pagán 14 11 0 14 0 39 Thielbar 10 11 0 0 16 37 Jax 28 0 0 0 8 36 Funderburk 0 0 28 0 8 36 Floro 12 19 0 0 0 31 Sands 0 0 0 24 0 24 Winder 0 0 24 0 0 24 View full article