Thiéres Rabelo

Things started out smoothly for Minnesota, who built a four-run lead early. But an off day by Kenta Maeda and a Griffin Jax meltdown proved too costly for the Twins, who dropped their eighth against Detroit for the year. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda, 4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (87 pitches, 56 strikes, 64.4%) Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (8), Max Kepler (20) Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-.586), Donovan Solano (-.313), Matt Wallner (-.178) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Bats build a four-run lead in a hurry No American League Central team has been a bigger thorn in the Twins' side this season than Detroit. The Tigers secured the season series win against Minnesota last week by taking three out of four at Comerica Park, making it seven out of 11 against the Twins for the year at that time. Today, Minnesota had the chance to complete their first and only sweep of the Tigers on the year while putting themselves in position to match their biggest lead atop the division. Things started well for the Twins at the plate, and they built a four-run lead very quickly. When Édouard Julien jumped on the first pitch he saw for a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, you could tell the Twins bats were hungry. Julien got picked off, but Minnesota's offense didn't take it lying down. Max Kepler worked a two-out walk shortly before Royce Lewis stepped up to the plate and smacked an RBI double to the gap in right-center field to put the Twins on the board. That was all the Twins could muster in the first, but they were back at it again in the second. Christian Vázquez, Joey Gallo, and Kyle Farmer collected three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out against Tigers' starter Reese Olson. To make up for his baserunning blunder from earlier, Julien punished Olson's curveball with a line drive to center, pushing two more runners across. Then, in the following at-bat, Jorge Polanco flied out to deep center, deep enough to score Farmer from third and make it 4-0 Minnesota. That was the 13th time this season the Twins' offense scored four runs or more in the first two innings of a game. Maeda isn't sharp, exits the game early The offense looked great to start this game, which is a relief, given how inconsistent it's been this season. And given how well Minnesota's pitchers have been this year, one could naturally expect a four-run lead to be enough to secure a win. Right? Well, Twins' starter Kenta Maeda had an off day. Not only did he fail to take advantage of that lead, but his start was also short-lived. Maeda tossed two scoreless to open the game, but it wasn't simple. It took him 26 pitches to get through the first, and he gave up a single and a walk. The second inning was less eventful, but he still needed to pitch around a leadoff double to Miguel Cabrera – who, by the way, tagged up and reached third on a flyout, the daredevil. In the third, Detroit managed to ambush him with a pair of long balls. Akil Baddoo led off the inning with a single, followed by a Riley Greene two-run shot. Then, Spencer Torkleson hit a one-out solo shot to cut the Twins' lead down to one. Kenta would give up another single before closing the book on this inning. He came back to toss a 1-2-3 fourth, but with his pitch count reaching 82 after four, he faced only one batter in the fifth before Rocco Baldelli pulled him from the game. It was the first time Maeda had thrown four or fewer innings in a start since July 14. Jax struggles, Tigers punish him The Twins got some quality relief from Dylan Floro and Emilio Pagán, who combined for two scoreless frames on only 21 pitches after Maeda departed the game. Then, Griffin Jax took over in the seventh, and things turned disastrous. He got the leadoff man to ground out but relinquished the one-run lead after giving up a walk to Baddoo and a triple to Greene. Matt Vierling grounded out to short to send Greene home and give Detroit its first afternoon lead. With two outs and only a one-run deficit, things were still salvageable for Minnesota, provided Jax could get the final out. But everything got a little more complicated as Jax gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Torkleson and Kerry Carpenter. It was the first time Jax had given up four runs in an outing since May 13, 2022. Josh Winder took over in the ninth and gave up a leadoff walk to Baddoo that returned to haunt him. Baddoo reached third after a throwing error by Vázquez, and Greene hit a long flyout that went deep enough to send him home for Detroit's eighth run. This run turned out to be the game-winning one. Epic rally falls short After scoring the four runs in the first two innings, the Twins' offense remained active for a couple more innings, producing five more baserunners (three singles and two walks). But they went ice-cold immediately after that, going 0-for-13 into the eighth, with only a walk to show. When the ninth inning came, things went wild. Julien snapped the team's funk with a leadoff single representing his fourth hit of the day, a career-high for him. Then, Polanco and Kepler followed with back-to-back home runs, and suddenly the Twins were within one. Lewis made it four in a row with a single, bringing Matt Wallner to the plate with a chance to walk it off. He swung on the second pitch he saw, sending it to deep left field, but a foot shy of a home run, right into Baddoo's glove. Lewis couldn't move up, and the Tigers induced a game-ending double play next. Postgame Interview What's Next? The Twins will enjoy a day off on Thursday but stay in town to continue their homestand on Friday (Aug 18). They'll host the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game set over the weekend, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT on Friday. Pablo López (8-6, 3.66 ERA) is expected to take the mound for Minnesota, while the Pirates' starter has yet to be determined. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Jax 15 12 0 0 33 60 Thielbar 15 14 0 9 0 38 Balazovic 18 0 0 0 18 36 Pagán 0 9 0 11 15 35 Winder 0 0 0 0 28 28 Durán 0 13 0 14 0 27 Floro 0 0 0 14 6 20 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Bailey Ober and the Twins bullpen can't hold off the Tigers' lineup, and Minnesota drops their sixth out of ten against Detroit for the season. Image courtesy of Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober, 5.0 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (93 pitches, 64 strikes, 68.8%) Home Runs: Carlos Correa (14), Joey Gallo (18) Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-.330), Jordan Balazovic (-.159), Kyle Farmer (-.144) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ober is off to a slow start With a 3.68 ERA (3rd best in baseball) and 13.2 fWAR (2nd best), the Twins rotation establish itself as one of the most dominant in baseball during the first half of the season. In the second half, however, the Twins’ rotation saw a significant decrease in productivity, with an ERA of 4.45 (ranked 15th in baseball). All but one of Minnesota’s starters have had at least one rough start since the All-Star break. That includes Bailey Ober, roughed up by the Kansas City Royals in his final start of July when he gave up six earned runs in four innings of work, by far his worst start. Ober had been so effective before that only after that start had his ERA gone above three for the first time this season. After an excellent bounce-back start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he wanted to remain on track with tonight’s start. But to begin this game, Ober could not prevent Detroit from scoring. Riley Greene drew a four-pitch walk against him in the first, then Matt Vierling singled to put two men on. After striking out Spencer Torkelson for the second out, Ober gave up a single to Kerry Carpenter, and a rare misplay by Max Kepler in right allowed both runners to score. Correa and Gallo homer, but Ober lets the lead slip away The Tigers’ early lead was short-lived, as the Twins rallied for three runs in the second. Carlos Correa jumped on the second pitch he saw for a solo home run to center, his 14th of the year. Coming into this game, C4 had a .969 OPS in his previous seven games, and he seems to be heating up at the plate. Tigers starter Alex Faedo managed to get two quick outs after that, but Minnesota did some two-out damage. Ryan Jeffers hit a long double to left, and Joey Gallo went yard for the first time since July 17 to give the Twins their first lead of the night. But that lead wouldn’t last, either. Detroit scored two more runs after collecting four hits in the bottom of the second and regained a one-run lead. Zach McKinstry and Eric Haase doubled and singled, respectively, and Greene and Vierling hit back-to-back two-out singles to score both runners. It would be the fourth time Ober has allowed four runs or more in a start this season – though one of them was unearned. Both pitchers settled in briefly, but Ober was in trouble again in the fifth. Torkelson blasted a leadoff home run to right. Now, Ober has given up at least a home run in his last five starts, which hadn’t happened since September 2021. Before the inning was over, Miguel Cabrera hit his second single of the night shortly before McKinstry hit a double to left to put two men in scoring position. Fortunately, Ober got the final out, stranding both runners and keeping this a two-run game. Twins get within one… but not for long Faedo departed the game in the fifth, and Minnesota’s offense became more productive. Matt Wallner got hit by a pitch against reliever Brendan White, and then he was waived around third to score a Willi Castro double to left center, putting the Twins again within a run. With great baserunning, the Twins were close to tying the game or even taking the lead: Castro stole third, and later on, after drawing a walk, Jordan Luplow stole second, putting two men in scoring position with two outs. Kyle Farmer fought hard during his at-bat but struck out after six pitches, ending the inning. Emilio Pagán, who came into tonight’s game posting a brilliant 1.26 ERA over his previous 15 outings, continued his redemption tour by pitching a scoreless 1-2-3 sixth on 14 pitches. He’s prevented opposing teams from scoring in 15 of his last 18 outings. But came the seventh inning, and Jordan Balazovic couldn’t keep the Tiger lineup on a leash. Torkelson smacked a leadoff home run off him to score Detroit’s sixth run. Balazovic went on to give up three singles, allowing Haase to push Jake Rogers across and make it 7-4 Detroit. Lefty reliever Tyler Holton dominated Minnesota’s lineup for two-plus innings: Twins batters went 0-for-7 with a walk against him. Still, the Twins had a slight chance of rallying back in the ninth if their deficit had remained three runs. However, Balazovic struggled again in the bottom of the eighth, and the game was out of reach. Vierling tripled and then scored on a wild pitch. Torkelson, who had drawn a walk right after Vierling’s triple, scored from second on a Carpenter single. The Twins put on a fight in the ninth and loaded them up against reliever Trey Wingenter. A.J. Hinch was forced to bring José Cisnero to get the final out. He gave up an RBI single to Kepler that scored the Twins’ fifth run, but he struck out Correa to end the threat. What’s Next? Both teams retake the field on Thursday (Aug 10) for the series' final game. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 pm CDT, with Kenta Maeda (3-6, 4.22 ERA) trying to keep his hot streak alive and Reese Olson (1-5, 4.94 ERA) taking the mound for the Tigers. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Balazovic 26 0 0 0 39 65 Winder 0 0 0 42 0 42 Headrick 0 0 41 0 0 41 Pagán 0 18 0 0 14 32 Jax 0 27 0 0 0 27 Floro 0 20 0 0 0 20 Thielbar 0 17 0 0 0 17 Durán 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Joe Mauer is 90% of the reason why I started watching baseball and the reason I chose to support the Twins. When I lived in the US, I was able to buy my first Twins jersey and I made sure it was his jersey. He's my all-time favorite athlete, by far, in all of the sports I follow. I love you very much, Joe! ❤️

For a second consecutive start, Joe Ryan struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark, and the Cardinals scored seven runs on nine hits against him to put the game out of reach early. Image courtesy of Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 4.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (103 pitches, 66 strikes, 64%) Home Runs: Matt Wallner (6) Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.345), Edouard Julien (-.066), Kyle Farmer / Christian Vazquez (-.028) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ryan gets punished by the long ball early With two days off since his last time out, Joe Ryan had a full week to regroup after his rough outing against the Mariners, in which he gave up four runs and failed to complete four innings. Rocco Baldelli stood by him after that start. He spoke to Twins Radio before today’s game, saying how he believes Ryan is perfectly capable of relying less on his fastball and a bit more on his secondary offerings. "I have complete faith in Joe Ryan and the way that he can go out there and miss bats and get outs," Baldelli said before tonight’s game. "He's going to swing upward from where he's at right now. That's the way I feel about it." Having the support of your manager is essential, but it ultimately isn’t enough by itself. Ryan came to tonight’s game throwing his four-seamer 61% of the time through the first three innings, slightly above his season average of 57.5%. The Cardinals hitters clearly prepared for that, and the outcome couldn’t have been more disastrous for the Twins' talented young starter. After a long -- but scoreless -- first inning, the St. Louis lineup feasted off Ryan in the following two innings. Joe gave up three home runs in the second, including a two-run rocket to deep center by Lars Nootbaar that gave the Cardinals a comfortable 4-0 lead. With St. Louis’ starter Dakota Hudson having a phenomenal start to this game and mercilessly dominating the Twins’ offense, Ryan was on his own, too. The third inning wasn’t any easier for Ryan. He gave up a leadoff double to Nolan Arenado and a single to Wilson Contreras next. Then, it was Alec Burleson’s turn to punish his four-seamer, crushing it to the corner right for a three-run shot to make it 7-0 Cardinals. Ryan came back for the fourth and struck out three to end another tough start for him. He managed 12 outs on 103 pitches a week after needing 95 pitches for 11 outs. He has now allowed 37 earned runs in his last nine starts (6.89 ERA) and has thrown four or fewer innings in back-to-back starts for the first time in his big-league career. The offense gets no-hit through five-plus As much as Ryan’s outing was painful to watch, trust me, watching the offense tonight was excruciating. Twins hitters couldn’t get Hudson to break out a sweat for most of this game, putting up awful at-bats. The Cardinals starter took a no-hitter into the sixth, and his pitch count didn’t hit 70 until the seventh. But it was precisely in the seventh that Hudson seemed to start running out of gas. After Édouard Julien struck out on five pitches to lead off the inning, Jorge Polanco had a crucial 11-pitch at-bat -- seemingly the first quality at-bat by a Minnesota hitter all night. Though Polanco struck out, Hudson started to struggle after that at-bat: Max Kepler drew a five-pitch walk, and Kyle Farmer got hit by a pitch next. Then, Matt Wallner stepped up to the plate and smacked a three-run shot to deep center to put Minnesota on the board. Josh Winder came into the game to eat up innings after Ryan’s shortened inning, and he was brilliant for three innings -- his fifth multi-inning outing this season --, keeping alive Minnesota’s slight chances for a comeback. Following Wallner’s home run in the seventh, hopes went up again for the Twins when Joey Gallo led off the eighth with a single. But those hopes were short-lived, as Michael A. Taylor grounded into a force out and Julien grounded into an inning-ending double play later one, Minnesota’s third of the night. Caleb Thielbar made his first big-league appearance since early June by tossing a scoreless eighth and lowering his season ERA now to 1.59. Then, Donovan Solano hit a one-out single in the ninth, with Farmer and Wallner set to hit after him. Hopes for a rally were reignited for a second, but both of them struck out to end it. Postgame interview SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Winder 40 0 0 0 36 76 Jax 0 22 0 14 0 36 Balazovic 33 0 0 0 0 33 Pagán 0 6 0 16 0 22 Durán 0 0 0 14 0 14 Morán 11 0 0 0 0 11 Floro 0 11 0 0 0 11 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 11 11 View full article

In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Twins and the Mariners combined for 15 runs on 22 hits, with Minnesota cutting a five-run deficit down to one. But ultimately, Seattle’s bullpen held on tight, and the M’s take home the series win. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (95 pitches, 63 strikes, 66.3%) Home Runs: Christian Vázquez (3), Édouard Julien (10), Matt Wallner 2 (4) Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.305), Max Kepler (-.207), Jordan Balazovic (-.190) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ryan gives up two homers, three runs early When Twins and Mariners met for the first time last week, All-Star centerfielder Julio Rodríguez didn’t cause Minnesota much trouble, going 1-for-10 with five strikeouts and only a walk to show for against Twins’ pitching. In this second encounter between the two teams, though, he has been a real thorn in the Twins’ side. After picking up three hits in the first two games of the series, including two home runs that powered the M’s comeback on Tuesday, he was at it again right out of the gate this afternoon. He got ahead on the count against Joe Ryan in the game’s first at-bat and ended up hitting a leadoff double after six pitches. Teoscar Hernández pushed Rodríguez across on a one-out bloop single giving Seattle their first lead of the day. The Twins’ offense struggled to get anything going against Mariners’ starter Bryce Miller to start this game, allowing Seattle to add on and increase their lead. Ryan quickly retired the first two batters he faced in the second, then was one strike away from retiring Dylan Moore, but the struggling shortstop took him deep for the second home run of the game. Back to the top of the Seattle order in the third, Rodríguez picked up where he left off and crushed a no-doubter to the second deck in left field, making it 3-0 Mariners. Ryan is in trouble again, but the offense hits three homers The bats finally got into the game during the third, and they also punished Miller with the long ball. Christian Vázquez jumped on the very first pitch of his at-bat to hit a one-out solo shot to center-left and put the Twins on the board. A couple of at-bats later, it was Édouard Julien’s turn to take Miller deep. Exactly like Vázquez, Eddy jumped on the first pitch he saw, hitting a line drive that cleared the left field track by a few feet. Suddenly, the Twins cut their deficit to only one run. But it simply wasn’t Ryan’s day, as Seattle batters seem to have him absolutely figured out. The Mariners swung on only 34% of his pitches outside the zone in this game, while Ryan has been getting hitters to swing at his outside pitches almost 40% of the time this season. With that, it didn’t take long for Seattle to get him in trouble again. Ryan loaded the bases before recording an out in the fourth inning, then gave up a single to Kolten Wong that scored the Mariners’ fourth run. Ryan managed to strike out the next two batters, but with his pitch count nearing a hundred, Rocco Baldelli decided to bring Jordan Balazovic into the game, making this Ryan’s second-shortest outing of the season. Balazovic got Hernández to fly out, avoiding any further damage. In the bottom of the inning, Matt Wallner hit his first home run of the afternoon, and once again, the Twins were within a run, trailing 4-3. Mariners explode to build a five-run lead, but the Twins answer back Balazovic remained in the game for the fifth, and with 14 pitches, he had retired two batters and allowed a walk. He failed to retire Cade Marlowe next, instead giving up an eight-pitch walk, which would cost him highly on the next at-bat. Moore, who before this game had homered only twice all year, hit his second home run of the day, a 429-feet bomb to left-center, making it 7-3 Mariners. Rodríguez led off the sixth inning with another double, this time against Josh Winder, and he scored on the next at-bat after Eugenio Suárez smashed a long single off the right-center field wall. Seattle had its biggest lead of the afternoon, heading into the bottom of the sixth. For many teams, an 8-3 deficit this late would be too much to overcome. But this Twins team simply refuses to quit as of late. Minnesota’s offense rallied for four runs in the sixth and cut the Mariners’ lead to only one run once again. Wallner kicked things off with his second solo home run of the game, a rare opposite-field monster shot by a lefty that landed in the second deck. Willi Castro flied out to put Miller within an out of finishing the inning, but Trevor Larnach doubled and scored next on a Kyle Farmer single to shallow center, making it 8-5 Mariners and immediately ending Miller’s day. Reliever Matt Brash took over, but he wasn’t able to stop the two-out bleeding. Joey Gallo hit a long fly ball to deep right, and Rodríguez couldn’t make the play, allowing Farmer to score and Gallo to reach second. Then, Vázquez, Minnesota’s seventh player to bat in the inning, joined the party and grounded to right to bring Gallo home and close the gap even more, cutting Seattle’s lead to 8-7. Winder preserves the one-run deficit, but the rally falls short Winder gave up two hits and a run in the sixth, but he did a fantastic job the rest of the way. He retired all the remaining batters faced (11 in a row) without allowing a single hit or walk while striking out four and throwing 75% strikes. But the offense went down in order in the seventh and stranded its only runner in the eighth. Minnesota would need their offense to step up once more to complete their rally in the bottom of the ninth. Things started off well, with Vázquez finding a gap in the middle for a leadoff groundball single. But reliever Andrés Muñoz managed to induce three groundball outs next, and the Mariners prevailed in the end. Postgame interview SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Balazovic 7 0 12 0 32 51 Jax 16 8 19 0 0 43 Durán 21 16 0 0 0 37 Winder 0 0 0 0 36 36 Pagán 0 11 0 19 0 30 J. López 0 9 12 0 0 21 Morán 0 0 5 14 0 19 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

After six consecutive good games from the Twins’ offense, the bats went back to sleep in the series finale against the Mariners. Pablo López was far from brilliant but kept Minnesota in the game – something the bullpen failed to do. Image courtesy of Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Pablo López, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (98 pitches, 60 strikes, 61.2%) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Byron Buxton (-.105), Alex Kirilloff (-.093), Willi Castro (-.084) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) López escapes a couple of jams to complete five This has not been an easy season for Pablo López at all. After a hot start, he had a roller-coaster stint between late April and early June. Then, he had a fantastic ten starts leading to the All-Star break, which included a memorable complete-game shutout. It seemed like he was back on track… until he gave up seven runs to the last-placed Oakland Athletics last Saturday in his first start after the break. What version of him would be on the mound this afternoon in Seattle? At first, things didn’t look good. After Mariners’ starter George Kirby took care of the Twins’ offense on only 15 pitches, Seattle’s offense ambushed López in a hurry. They loaded the bases before López could record an out through some early swings. After a strikeout, Teoscar Hernández lined a single to short past a diving Kyle Farmer to push J.P. Crawford across. Despite two incredibly hard-fought at-bats, López managed to strike out the next two batters to end the threat, having given up only the one run, but not before his pitch count reached 36. López usually enjoys a considerable amount of run support, with the offense scoring an average of 4.31 runs per nine when he’s on the mound this season. The Twins’ offense looked fantastic since the break, having scored at least five runs in each of the six games since. Sadly, that wasn’t the case this afternoon. Minnesota’s bats couldn’t muster a single hit off Kirby until Matt Wallner singled in the third. And that was all the offense could produce for 4 2/3 innings when Farmer tripled to deep center. Kirby didn’t give up a single walk through six while also striking out nine. Things were rough for Pablo in the first, but he bounced back and tossed two quick, 1-2-3 innings in the second and third. But in the first at-bat of the fourth, Hernández got the best of him again and smacked a solo home run on an elevated four-seamer to make it 2-0 Seattle. López finished off the inning, but with his pitch count already reaching 82. He came back for the fifth and was once again in trouble against the top of the Mariner lineup. Crawford hit a leadoff single shortly before Eugenio Suárez hit a double, and suddenly Seattle had two men in scoring position with only one out. Pablo was able to retire the next two to end the inning – but also his start, as he was closing in on 100 pitches. The bullpen keeps the chances alive – but not for long Pablo was far from brilliant, but he kept the Twins’ chances alive. Oliver Ortega retired all five batters he faced, combining with Jorge López to deliver two scoreless frames of relief. But ultimately, it was up to an uninspired Minnesota offense to change the outcome of this game. For two consecutive innings, the Twins got leadoff singles against Kirby, with Édouard Julien in the sixth and Wallner in the seventh. Unfortunately for Minnesota, the brilliant M’s starter pitched around both of those hits to complete seven shutout innings with ten strikeouts and not a single walk. Jorge López had taken over in relief of Ortega to get the final out of the seventh on two pitches. Returning for the eighth, the Mariners’ bats successfully ambushed him and basically put the game out of reach – given how bad the Twins' offense had been throughout this game. Suárez jumped on the second pitch he saw for a leadoff single and was followed by a monster home run by Mike Ford, who crushed a slider hung by López at the heart of the plate. López looked completely lost throughout the entirety of the eighth inning: he hit three hitters to load the bases before he could close out the inning. Cole Sands inherited López’s jam, and with a wild pitch, he allowed Cal Raleigh to score Seattle’s fifth run from third. He did, however, get the final out next. It was up to the offense to try a miracle rally in the ninth, but they couldn’t get anything other than a bloop single by Donovan Solano. Byron Buxton struck out to represent the game’s final out, extending his horrifying slump to 0-for-26 with 16 strikeouts dating back to July 8. Postgame interview What’s Next? After a winning West Coast trip, the Twins head back to the Twin Cities for a six-game homestand. They’ll host the Chicago White Sox at Target Field for a three-game set starting on Friday (7/21). Game one is scheduled to start at 7:10 pm CDT, with Joe Ryan (8-6, 3.77 ERA) toeing the rubber for Minnesota and old friend Lance Lynn (6-8, 6.06 ERA) making the start for Chicago. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SUN MON TUE WED THU TOT J. López 18 10 0 0 28 56 Ortega 0 27 0 0 18 45 Durán 18 0 0 20 0 38 Pagán 12 0 8 11 0 31 Sands 0 0 17 0 3 20 Jax 0 0 0 15 0 15 Balazovic 0 0 15 0 0 15 Morán 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

Pablo López tossed the first complete-game shutout of his career – the second from a Twin this season –, and helped the Twins to complete the second sweep of the Royals in the season. The offense produced only five hits, but they were enough to score five runs. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K (100 pitches, 76 strikes, 76.0%) Home Runs: Edouard Julien (6), Ryan Jeffers (4) Top 3 WPA: Pablo López (.357), Alex Kirilloff (.160), Édouard Julien (.056) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pablo López has been a significant source of controversy among Twins fans this season, as Minnesota traded away an absolute fan-favorite to get him during the offseason – and as said fan-favorite went on to evolve into perhaps the best hitter in the majors this season. But it wasn’t always like that: López had four absolutely solid starts to open the season before beginning to struggle and having more than a handful of rough outings since. The Royals are on both sides of those versions of López this season. On Opening Day, the Venezuelan ace pitched into the sixth, allowing no runs and only a pair of hits. However, roughly a month later, he faced that same Kansas City lineup and ended up allowing six runs on eight hits, causing his ERA to increase by a full run. June has been a tough month for López, one in which he finished with a 4.46 ERA, so facing a last-placed Royals team could be a good opportunity for López to get a fresh start going into the second half of the season – as it was on Opening Day. López tossed a scoreless first despite giving up a two-out double, and he got some immediate run support. Édouard Julien smacked a solo home run to right for his sixth of the year to put the Twins on the board. After a scoreless second, two more runs scored in the third: Ryan Jeffers hit a leadoff single, and Carlos Correa drew a walk next. Kansas City’s starter Alec Marsh struck out the next two batters, but then things got weird for the visitors. Alex Kirilloff lined a long single to left, and outfielder MJ Melendez made a throwing error trying to get Jeffers at home. The ball hit Jeffers on the neck and got away from Salvador Pérez, allowing Correa to score as well and Kirilloff to reach third. López gave up two-out hits in each of the first three innings of this game, but he settled down nicely after that by throwing three consecutive 1-2-3 innings, which included six consecutive strikeouts between the fifth and the sixth. Granted, his final strikeout of the sixth was a massive mistake by Phil Cuzzi, but that didn’t stain López’s brilliance. At the end of six, his pitch count hadn’t even reached 75 yet, and he had struck out opponents a season-high 11 times. He came back to the seventh and delivered yet another 1-2-3 inning, striking out Nick Pratto on a full count to end it and establish a new career-high of 12 punch outs in a game. This was the fifth time López has completed seven in a start, the first one since June 7, and the first time he did so in shutout fashion. With only 87 pitches thrown after seven, many wondered if López would be brought back to the eighth. If he were going to return to the mound, some more run support would go a long way for him. However, the offense went ice cold after that RBI single from Kirilloff in the third, going 0-for-10 with three walks afterward. Willi Castro and Joey Gallo got retired quickly in the bottom of the seventh, making it look like no more runs were coming. But Jeffers had other plans, and he crushed a 426-feet bomb to deep center to make it 4-0 Minnesota. López came back to pitch the eighth, and he got two quick outs on only two pitches, inducing two flyball outs. Kyle Isbel doubled off him to get the Royals’ first hit since the third. Matt Duffy hit the ball hard next, but Max Kepler made a fantastic diving catch to rob him of a hit and finish the inning. At only 94 pitches, López would have the chance to come back and try to complete the game. So the offense decided to give him even more run support in the bottom of the eighth. Byron Buxton drew a leadoff walk, and with two outs, Donovan Solano doubled to bring him home, making it 5-0 Minnesota. Even though he’s struggled several times this season, López has enjoyed a ton of run support overall. Back out for the ninth, López’s command was a little off in the first two pitches, but all it took next was four pitches for him to retire the side, shut down the Royals for the night, and secure his first career complete-game shutout. The Twins are back to two games above .500 (45-43), a game and a half ahead of the Cleveland Guardians. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins have a day off on Thursday before resuming their homestand on Friday (7/7). The Baltimore Orioles come to town, and the two teams face off in a three-game series over the weekend. Game one, scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT on Friday, features Bailey Ober (5-4, 2.70 ERA) on the mound for Minnesota, while Cole Irvin (1-3, 6.32 ERA) starts for Baltimore. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Durán 8 34 0 0 0 42 Sands 37 0 0 0 0 37 Pagán 0 6 25 0 0 31 Jax 11 14 0 0 0 25 Morán 0 0 17 0 0 17 Ortega 0 0 0 13 0 13 J. López 0 0 0 8 0 8 Balazovic 0 0 6 0 0 6 View full article

The same old story took place in Atlanta this afternoon. Kenta Maeda limited to Braves to only two runs through five, the bullpen was mostly solid, but the offense was unable to spark a rally against the strong Braves’ pitching. The Twins get swept for the second time this season and may lose first place for the first time since April 10 with a Cleveland win later today. Image courtesy of Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Kenta Maeda, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (82 pitches, 53 strikes, 64.6%) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Kyle Farmer (-.109), Joey Gallo (-.103), Michael A. Taylor (-.098) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Twins came into this game looking to avoid their second sweep of the season and perhaps gain some momentum ahead of the Baltimore series. But that would be no simple task: the Braves, who currently have the best record in the National League, have kept the Twins' offense on a leash in the first two games of the series. This afternoon, they brought lefty Kolby Allard to the mound, and with the Twins having the third-worst OPS against lefties in all of baseball (.666), the task seemed even harder. If the Twins were to have a chance in this game, they would need to rely heavily on their pitching to keep them alive, and based on their starter’s track record against today’s opponents, their chances looked good (in theory). Making his sixth start of the season, the second since returning from the Injured List, Kenta Maeda was looking to have another solid start, similar to the one he had last Friday when he tossed five scoreless with eight strikeouts against the Tigers. Maeda had a 2.00 ERA against the Braves in his previous three starts against the Braves, his lowest ERA against any single opponent in his career. After the offense fell down in order with three strikeouts in the top of the first, Maeda was off to a strong start, but a defensive miscue in right field allowed the Braves to get on the board first. Joey Gallo dropped an apparently easy foul ball near the railing, allowing Ronald Acuña Jr. to work out a walk and later score on a Matt Olson two-out double. Without any sign of life from the Twins lineup, the Braves scored another run in the third, taking advantage of back-to-back singles given up by Maeda to open the inning, followed by an RBI sac-fly. Allard looked fantastic through four, allowing no runs, just two hits, and striking out six, having tossed only 51 pitches. But in the fifth, the Twins' offense put together its first real threat of the game. Alex Kirilloff hit a leadoff single and was followed by a Christian Vázquez walk, and for the first time in the game, the Twins had two men on with no outs. Allard fought back and retired the next two batters but was removed from the game despite having thrown only 71 total pitches. Kirby Yates took over and struck out Donovan Solano to end the inning. With that out, the Twins were 0-for-22 with runners in scoring position in this series. After giving up back-to-back hits in the third, Maeda went on to limit Braves hitters to 2-for-10 with a walk, completing five once again. This was the second time this season in which he’s tossed at least five innings in two consecutive starts, but only the first time he does so while also allowing two or fewer runs in each start since July 9, 2021. He did his part by keeping the Twins' chances alive, but the offense would need to step up if Minnesota was going to steal this game. Jovani Morán took over in the seventh and, like Maeda, kept Minnesota alive by tossing two scoreless frames next. Yates retired the side with ease in the sixth, but hopes went up when Willi Castro hit a leadoff single in the seventh. But after a couple of short-lived at-bats, Vázquez grounded into an inning-ending double play, and all hope was gone. The offense was a no-show again in the eighth, but Jordan Balazovic got two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, seemingly keeping the Twins’ chances alive too. But that didn’t last long: in the very next at-bat, he gave up a solo home run to Olson, making it 3-0 Atlanta. A three-run deficit isn’t an impossible one to overcome… if you’re not the current Twins offense. The bats went down in order in the top of the ninth against closer Raisel Iglesias. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins travel to Baltimore, where they’ll enjoy a day off on Thursday and start a three-game series against the Orioles on Friday (6/30). Taking the mound for Minnesota is Pablo López (3-5, 4.41 ERA), while the O’s turn to Dean Kremer (8-3, 4.50 ERA). The series opener’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Balazovic 6 18 0 0 18 42 Headrick 0 6 0 35 0 41 Pagán 30 0 8 0 0 38 Morán 0 0 0 0 36 36 Ortega 0 0 0 32 0 32 Winder 0 0 19 0 0 19 Jax 0 17 0 0 0 17 Durán 0 15 0 0 0 15 View full article

Joe Ryan got hit hard early, and the offense had no answers to Detroit’s bullpen game. Still in first place in the AL Central, the Twins drop two in a row, fall back to .500 (35-35), and can only hope to even the series against their division foes. Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (99 pitches, 74 strikes, 74.7%) Home Runs: Alex Kirilloff (4) Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.382), Joey Gallo (-.073), Carlos Correa (-.052) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Twins strike first, but Detroit chooses violence Looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss on Thursday, the Twins turned to Joe Ryan tonight, and they were hoping the offense would remain hot. Minnesota came into this game having scored at least four runs in each of its last five games, something they’ve done only one other time this season. With Detroit going with a bullpen game, Minnesota was in business early. After a scoreless first inning, the Twins put the game’s first run on the board in the second. Facing reliever Mason Englert, Alex Kirilloff hit a leadoff home run, his first since May 21. And the bats weren’t done: Donovan Solano grounded down the middle next, and a couple of at-bats later, Joey Gallo smoked a double to the corner right for his 500th career hit. But instead of having two men in scoring position with only one out, Solano made a baserunning blunder in that Gallo double and was tagged for the second out. The inning was over moments later, and Gallo was stranded. Wasting those opportunities proved costly for Minnesota. Just like the Twins, the Tigers are also having a tremendous offensive outburst, as the team had scored at least five runs in six of their seven games prior to tonight. They opened the third with four consecutive singles, tying the game on an RBI groundball from former Twin Jonathan Schoop. Édouard Julien failed to make the play that originated the leadoff single, so not only the Tigers tied the game, but they also took the lead later on a Kerry Carpenter sac-fly that could’ve been out number three but instead brought Eric Haase home. To keep this a one-run game and give the offense another chance, Ryan needed to take care of Javier Báez next, with men on the corners. Ryan tried to get him with a splitter, but Báez obliterated it for a long three-run shot to deep left, making it 5-1 Detroit. In the fourth, the Tigers added on with a Matt Vierling solo shot, and for the first time this season, Ryan allowed six runs in a game. This was also the second time in the year in which he gave up two home runs in a game. Bats produce runners, but no more runs Similarly to last night’s game, the Twins lineup was dominated by the Tigers' bullpen, failing to produce any more runs. But they didn’t go down without at least a little fight. In the bottom of the fourth, Solano lined a single to center and was followed by a Royce Lewis walk. But the rally was over when Gallo grounded into an inning-ending double play. After the fourth inning, Ryan settled down and delivered three scoreless to close out his start. He allowed one hit (a double) but struck out four in that span. The bullpen took over, with Josh Winder tossing a scoreless eighth. He was brought back to pitch the ninth and gave up a solo home run to Vierling, his second of the night, scoring Detroit’s seventh run. A miraculous rally didn’t come even close to happening in the bottom of the ninth, as the offense went down in order to end the blowout. Postgame interview What’s Next? The series goes on this Saturday, with game three scheduled to start at 1:10 pm CDT. Minnesota's starting pitcher has yet to be determined, while lefty Joey Wentz (1-6, 7.23 ERA) is expected to toe the rubber for Detroit. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Winder 0 38 0 0 32 70 J. López 0 0 0 32 0 32 Pagán 0 0 0 24 0 24 De León 0 24 0 0 0 24 Morán 0 0 0 22 0 22 Stewart 0 0 14 0 0 14 Durán 0 0 12 0 0 12 Jax 0 0 11 0 0 11 View full article

Wrapping up the first chapter of this season’s Border Battle, the Twins completed the sweep of the two-game series against the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon. Bailey Ober gave up back-to-back homers early, but he settled down nicely, and the offense brought the Twins back right away. Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (93 pitches, 68 strikes, 73.1%) Home Runs: none Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.199), Trevor Larnach (.160), Bailey Ober (.086) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Similarly to Tuesday night’s epic game, the Brewers jumped in front early. Bailey Ober had a hard time against the Brewers lineup from the get-go, having to pitch around two singles he gave up in the top of the first inning. After retiring the leadoff man in the second, Ober was stung by back-to-back home runs from Brian Anderson and Luis Urías. Before he could get out of that inning, Christian Yelich hit a two-out double. Only three other times before today’s game had Ober given up five or more hits in a game. Differently from last night’s game, though, Twins fans didn’t have to wait until the ninth inning to see them snatch the lead from the cheese-headed visitors. Minnesota ambushed Brewers starter Colin Rea, putting together a four-run third inning on four hits. Édouard Julien hit a double and was followed by a Donovan Solano walk. Julien moved to third on an Alex Kirilloff flyout , bringing Carlos Correa to the plate with two outs. C4 stepped up once again and tied the game with a triple. The Twins took the lead after a brilliant eight-pitch at-bat from Trevor Larnach which resulted in a rocket of a double hit off the right field wall to drive in Correa. Before the inning was over, Joey Gallo popped up to shallow right in what should’ve been a routine play, but Owen Miller lost it, and the ball dropped. Larnach scored easily, and Gallo was initially called safe at second, but the call got overturned after a Milwaukee challenge. Fortunately, the run scored before the tag was applied to Gallo, and the Twins took a 4-2 lead. Ober settles down nicely, and the bullpen holds on The 2023 Brewers are not known for their ability to rally. Very few times this year have they won games when trailing in the fourth inning. Ober gave up a leadoff walk in the fourth today, but he managed to pitch around that with the help of a groundball double play. He went on to retire five of the final six batters he faced to complete six innings in yet another solid start. In ten starts this season, Ober has delivered more than five innings in eight of them and has allowed two or fewer runs in seven total starts this year. His season ERA now sits at 2.65, the second-best of the team. The Twins currently have three starters with a sub-three ERA for the season. After pushing the four runs across in the third, the offense got freezing cold. They went 1-for-14 for the rest of the game, though they did draw five walks in that span. It was up to the bullpen to secure the win against an equally uninspired Brewers offense, and they managed to succeed. Brock Stewart struck out the side on 14 pitches to get through the seventh, while flame-throwing Jhoan Durán also threw a 1-2-3 eighth with ease. Neither of them had pitched since last Saturday. Then, Griffin Jax came in to close out, and he retired the side on 11 pitches, making it nine Milwaukee batters retired in a row. Minnesota delivers Milwaukee’s season-worst sixth consecutive loss while also securing its first series sweep since the opening series of the season against the Royals in Kansas City. The Twins are back to two games above .500 and hold a three-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians atop the American League Central. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins continue their ten-game homestand on Thursday (6/15) as they begin a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, whom they’ll face for the first time this season. Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) is set to make the start for Minnesota in game one, with Detroit’s starter yet to be determined. The first pitch of Thursday’s game is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT De León 31 0 0 24 0 55 Winder 0 0 0 38 0 38 Jax 0 17 0 0 11 28 Pagán 0 22 0 0 0 22 Morán 0 20 0 0 0 20 Stewart 1 0 0 0 14 15 J. López 13 0 0 0 0 13 Durán 0 0 0 0 12 12 View full article

The Twins got a great start from Pablo López for the first time in weeks. But the offense had no answers to Tampa Bay’s bullpen game, which limited Minnesota to only three hits in the night. The Twins lose four consecutive games for the first time in the year and are now, also for the first time, at .500. Image courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Pablo López, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (92 pitches, 63 strikes, 68.5%) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Durán (-.376), Ryan Jeffers (-.316), Carlos Correa (-.139) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pablo is back! But… Coming into tonight’s game, Pablo López had given up 17 runs in his four previous starts, almost just as many as he’s given up (19) in his eight starts before that. Sporting a Johan Santana-esque goatee, the Twins’ opening-day starter desperately needed a good start to get out of this nearly month-long slump. The first of two big problems for him and the Twins: he needed to do it facing the best offense in the majors. Entering this game, the Rays led the league in OPS, wRC+, and ranked second in runs scored. The Twins got a (bitter) taste of the power of that offense last night. How can you stop such a powerful offense? After a quick eight-pitch first for López, the Rays struck first, with Isaac Paredes crushing a leadoff home run to deep center. Fortunately, López didn’t let it get to him and retired the following three batters to end the inning. The second big problem for López and the Twins this evening was the poor offense as of late. Minnesota’s bats couldn’t muster more than four hits in their shutout loss on Tuesday night. Tonight, however, Tampa Bay went with a bullpen day. Could the struggling Twins offense take advantage of that? At first, it didn’t look like it. Opener Shawn Armstrong took care of the first two innings in a hurry, facing only seven batters and allowing only a single. When reliever Cooper Criswell took over in the third, the Twins put together their first threat of the night. Ryan Jeffers (single) and Donovan Solano (walk) both reached to put two men on with only one out. Alex Kirilloff, though, flied out. Next, Carlos Correa struck out on four pitches. Are we witnessing the worst offensive version of Correa’s career right now? Luckily, the offensive struggles didn’t affect López, and he was able to navigate through Tampa Bay’s juggernaut lineup brilliantly. After giving up that home run in the second, López went on to toss four scoreless as sharply as humanly possible against such an offense. He completed six with only 85 pitches, giving up only one walk and striking out six. He came back to pitch the seventh and delivered another 1-2-3 inning, making it six consecutive batters retired to close his start. The Twins’ first big problem of the night was solved in a fantastic fashion. But the second big problem of the evening, the struggling offense, was far from being solved. After the second-inning threat, Minnesota’s offense was unable to produce a hit to spark a rally. Tampa Bay pitchers retired eight consecutive Twins hitters between the sixth and the eighth inning. Taylor, Lewis tie the game for the Twins… but it’s worthless Things could change with a swing of the bat in the ninth, and when Solano got hit by a pitch, Michael A. Taylor came into the game to run for Solano. He stole second with Max Kepler up to bat, and then Kepler walked. With Royce Lewis batting, Taylor stole third, and then Lewis lined an RBI single to left and tied the game. Reliever Jason Adam hit Willi Castro, loading the bases with only one out, but he managed to induce an inning-ending double play against Ryan Jeffers. But the hopes of an extra-inning win didn’t last long. With Jhoan Durán pitching in the bottom of the ninth, Randy Arozarena jumped on the second pitch of the at-bat for a walk-off home run to center. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins will try to avoid the sweep this Thursday (6/8) in game three, with the first pitch scheduled for 12:10 pm CDT. Bailey Ober (3-2, 2.33 ERA) toes the rubber for Minnesota, while Tampa Bay’s starter has yet to be determined. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT J. López 31 0 0 0 0 31 Pagán 4 0 0 20 0 24 Morán 19 0 0 0 0 19 Stewart 0 0 0 0 13 13 De León 0 12 0 0 0 12 Jax 0 11 0 0 0 11 Thielbar 0 10 0 0 0 10 Durán 0 0 0 0 2 2 View full article

In what might have been the Twins’ best, most dominant display of the season, the bats came back to life after a cold game on Tuesday. Louie Varland tossed a gem, and Minnesota crushed the Astros in Houston to secure the series win and the season series victory over the World Series champs. Image courtesy of Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (86 pitches, 66 strikes, 76.7%) Home Runs: none Top 3 WPA: Louie Varland (.229), Donovan Solano (.184), Ryan Jeffers (.095) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Early offense (finally!) delivers with the bases loaded Rookie starter Hunter Brown took the mound for Houston, hoping to carry on his solid season thus far. Instead, the Twins’ offense drove his pitch count up early and did some bases-loaded damage to back up Louie Varland. Though the offense went down in order in the first two innings of the game, a 12-pitch at-bat from Alex Kirilloff in the first had Brown reaching 21 pitches to end the inning. Meanwhile, Varland needed only 17 pitches to cruise through two, and he got some run support right away. The bottom third of the Twins’ lineup ambushed Brown in the third, with the first three Minnesota batters reaching: after Max Kepler and Willi Castro hit back-to-back singles, Michael A. Taylor drew a four-pitch walk to load them up. Before tonight’s game, the Twins had gone 5-for-46 (.109) with the bases juiced this season – the worst batting average in said situations. Could they break the slump? Édouard Julien struck out next for the first out, but Donovan Solano didn’t waste his opportunity and snapped a team 0-for-14 skid with the bases loaded. He slapped a single to shallow right to score Kepler and Castro and send Taylor to third. Then, Kirilloff came through with a chopper to the gap at short to push Taylor across and make it 3-0 Minnesota. Bats cash in with the bases loaded again; Varland still cruising Despite closing in on 80 pitches, Brown remained in the game, and the Twins took advantage of that once again. After coming out of the fourth empty-handed, Minnesota’s offense added on in the fifth. Solano and Kyle Farmer reached on a one-out walk and a two-out single. But with Brown surpassing the 100-pitch mark, he was pulled from the game with two outs. Facing reliever Parker Mushinski, Joey Gallo got hit in the elbow on the very first pitch of the at-bat, and suddenly, the bases were loaded again. Red-hot Jeffers, who had been slashing .400/.500/.867 in the previous seven games, made Mushinski pay: he smacked a long double to center that would’ve been a bases-clearing hit had it not one-hopped into the bullpen and been ruled a ground-rule double. Solano and Farmer scored, making it 5-0 Twins. This was the first time in the season that the Twins got two bases-loaded hits in the same game. Varland continued to dominate the Astros lineup with ease, completing five scoreless on only 53 pitches. He also continued to be rewarded for his superb performance with more run support. Castro and Taylor opened the top of the sixth with a single and a walk against Mushinski, and the offense was at it again. Solano crushed a double to left to bring home both runners and make it 7-0 Minnesota. Varland completes seven, a career-high Heck, even when Varland wasn’t so sharp, he got some more run support. After recording the first two outs in the bottom of the sixth on only nine pitches, the Minnesota native lost the next two batters to a single and a walk, his first of the night. He got the force out in the following at-bat and kept the zero on the scoreboard, but not before throwing 20 pitches in the inning, his longest one of the night. The offense added on against reliever Seth Martinez in the top of the seventh. Castro drew a two-out walk, stole second, then was pushed across by a Taylor double to center, making it 8-0 Minnesota. Varland came back for the home half of the inning with only 73, and he delivered yet another scoreless frame to complete seven shutout innings. Before tonight’s game, Varland’s longest start of his young career had been the 6 1/3 he tossed against the Cubs earlier this month. Jorge López continues to struggle badly Having allowed earned runs in three of his previous four games, Jorge López came into the game in the eighth hoping to get back on track after an awful month of May. Unfortunately, he would end up having what was maybe his worst outing as a Twin. Jake Meyers hit a leadoff home run on the very first pitch of the inning, which was followed by another home run next, by Yainer Díaz, scoring Houston’s second run. He then lost Mauricio Dubón on a ten-pitch walk and hit Jeremy Peña on the fingers next, giving Houston the chance to cut the lead down to only three on a swing of the bat. Rocco Baldelli decided to bring Brock Stewart in before López could record an out. Stewart did a phenomenal job by striking out the side on 13 pitches to shut down the Astros’ rally. López, who didn’t allow a single run during his March and April outings, ends the month of May with a 9.00 ERA. José De León pitched around a hit batter in the bottom of the ninth, and with that, the Twins secured only their second road series win on the season, the first one since the Royals series that opened the season for the Twins. Postgame interview What’s Next? The Twins head back home, where they’ll start a four-game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field. The series opener is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT on Thursday (6/1), with Pablo López (3-3, 4.11 ERA) set to make the start for Minnesota and Tanner Bibee (1-1, 2.88 ERA) toeing the rubber for Cleveland. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Sands 0 16 0 48 0 64 Stewart 13 0 18 0 13 44 J. López 22 0 6 0 16 44 De León 0 27 0 0 16 43 Durán 12 0 29 0 0 41 Jax 0 12 0 8 0 20 Morán 9 0 0 1 0 10 Pagán 0 7 0 0 0 7 View full article

Despite missing several big bats on their lineup, the Twins avoided the sweep by crushing the Giants at Target Field. Minnesota took advantage of a series of defensive miscues by San Francisco to put the game out of reach early. Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (107 pitches, 72 strikes, 67.3%) Home Runs: Édouard Julien (3), Ryan Jeffers (2) Top 3 WPA: Matt Wallner (.224), Édouard Julien (.147), Willi Castro (.127) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Offenses get busy early The bats were active early for both teams. Though the Giants didn’t score in the top of the first, they drove up Joe Ryan’s pitch count by making him throw 24 first-inning pitches. The Twins struck first, though, with Édouard Julien jumping on the second pitch of the inning for a leadoff home run to deep center. The lead didn’t last long. With back-to-back hits to open the second inning, including a leadoff double, the Giants tied the game on a Casey Schmitt RBI single. The Giants scored only one run, but they once again forced San Francisco native Ryan to throw more than twenty pitches to get through the inning. At 45 pitches after two innings, it was uncertain whether Ryan would be able to stay in for a long start. How long Ryan would stay in this game was uncertain, but at least he got some immediate run support. Three Twins batters reached against San Francisco starter Anthony DeSclafani in the bottom of the second. Willi Castro doubled to center and was brought home by a Matt Wallner double in the following at-bat that put the Twins ahead. Wallner reached third on a passed ball and scored on a Julien sacrifice fly next, making it 3-1 Minnesota. Ryan threw a scoreless third but couldn’t prevent his pitch count from reaching 62 by the end of the inning. It could’ve been a much shorter inning for him hadn’t he made a throwing error to second trying to rush an inning-ending double play. Twins take advantage of the Giants’ mistakes and add on Still, in the third inning, Minnesota’s offense didn’t start well, with DeSclafani striking out the first two batters quickly. But before he could record the inning’s final out, the Twins took advantage of a series of defensive miscues by the Giants' defense to score two more runs. Kyle Farmer reached on a fielding error by Brandon Crawford, and after Castro got hit by a pitch, Farmer himself scored after a Wallner ground ball went through the legs of Brett Wisely to reach right field. The error allowed Castro to reach third, and with Wallner at first, the Twins tried a double steal. Wisely made a faulty throw home to catcher Blake Sabol, who couldn’t glove, allowing Castro to steal home and make it 5-1 Minnesota. The Twins scored yet another run on a San Francisco mistake in the fourth inning. With Julien at third, DeSclafani threw a wild pitch, allowing the Twins' second baseman to score Minnesota’s sixth run. Ryan went on to complete five innings allowing just one run but having thrown almost 110 pitches. Could the struggling Twins bullpen hold on to a five-run lead? Twins bullpen escapes a huge jam; offense adds on Brock Stewart was the first relief pitcher out of the bullpen to replace Ryan in the sixth. He did not look sharp at all, and San Francisco loaded the bases before he could record an out. He was given an opportunity to try and get out of the jam, at least partially. He got two outs with a strikeout and a popout, then departed the game. Jovani Morán took the mound and got the final out on a single pitch. The bullpen got even more support in the bottom of the sixth when Ryan Jeffers hit a leadoff home run, making it 7-1 Minnesota and getting DeSclafani out of the game. Morán came back for the seventh and gave up a leadoff walk, but he managed to strike out the next three batters to end the threat. José De León pitched a quick, scoreless eighth, and former Twin Taylor Rogers pitched himself into a jam in the home half of the inning – runners on the corners with only one out – but Minnesota couldn't capitalize. De León came back to get the first out in the ninth, then Jhoan Durán finished it off without any problems. Postgame interview What’s Next? Minnesota has a day off on Thursday as they prepare for another home series over the weekend. On Friday (5/26), the Twins begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT. Louie Varland (2-0, 4.18 ERA) is set to make the start for Minnesota, while the Blue Jays starter has yet to be determined. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT De León 0 31 0 0 21 52 J. López 19 12 0 18 0 49 Sands 0 0 44 0 0 44 Morán 9 0 0 10 24 43 Jax 0 0 17 18 0 35 Stewart 5 0 0 10 20 35 Durán 20 0 0 0 13 33 Pagán 0 0 23 9 0 32 View full article