The Minnesota Twins snapped their losing streak last night with a 4-0 victory against the Los Angeles Angels. A “report” came out during the game saying Minnesota Twins SS Carlos Correa was “likely” to opt out of his contract after the season. Excellent reporting since we’ve known that since the day he agreed to the contract almost 5 months ago.
Game Notes * SS Carlos Correa “likely” to Opt Out of Contract
In what appears to be a note dump* from the New York Post, writer Jon Heyman says “Carlos Correa, barring injury, will likely opt out of his deal, adding to the free-agent list: Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson and Xander Bogaerts.” & CBS Sports made a whole article out of it because well, that’s what they do, take news then add stats and some narrative to it but… *What kind of a dump? Digital Dookie!
Aaron Gleeman on Carlos Correa “likely” opting out – August 13th, 2022
Carlos Correa agreed to a 3-year contract with opt-outs after the 1st & 2nd years on March 19th and, as you can see by the picture above, we all knew that he would likely opt-out after the 1st year because why wouldn’t he? The only reason he wouldn’t is an injury or the very slim chance that a bad season may have hurt his chances of getting a better, longer, guaranteed deal with any team then he could fall back on that $35.3M 2nd year in Minnesota.
The funniest thing is he probably hasn’t even thought about it at this point because there’s no reason to think about it. He’s shown this season how much he cares about the team atmosphere and culture & being a leader in the clubhouse. He wants to win here right now.
Could that change when the season ends? Yes, obviously. That’s when he’ll have to think hard about what to do with $35.3M on the table here.
** Minnesota Twins C Sandy León sent home with 2 outs in the 3rd inning
Twins 3B Coach Tommy Watkins sent a 33-year-old, 235-lb catcher on a single to left field and Angels LF Jo Adell threw him out easily.
Left fielder Jo Adell is already making the exchange from glove to hand for the throw as Sandy is touching 3rd base.
Minnesota Twins C Sandy León sent home 2
And, here’s Sandy being out by 10 feet.
So, obviously that seems like a weird time to send him or anyone. Would you even send a fast runner there? Was it just to challenge the Angels and Jo Adell to make a perfect throw? That’s really the only thing that makes sense but do you do that in a 2-0 game with Jorge Polanco coming to the plate?
*** A Pitching Line the Twins Envisioned After the Trade Deadline
Tyler Mahle pitched relatively well in his first start as a Minnesota Twin. He allowed 3 HRs for the 1st time this season* and they all happened on hanging sliders. How much did he adjust from that for his 2nd start?
*He allowed 2 HRs in a game just twice in his previous 19 starts in 2022.
According to baseball savant, from his August 5th start to last night’s start, he threw the same amount of pitchers (86) but less fastballs/cutters (74 to 60) and more splitters/sliders (12 to 26) as you can see below:
Comparing Tyler Mahle’s 1st 2 starts for the Minnesota Twins with Baseball Savant
That helped keep the Angels hitters more off balance at the plate but you probably should keep in mind the Blue Jays and the Angels are on different spectrums of team offense this season with Toronto ranked 2nd in team batting average (.264) and Los Angeles Angels ranked 27th (.227).
This helped Tyler Mahle shutout the Angels over 6 innings and the Minnesota Twins bullpen followed suit with RHPs Michael Fulmer (IP, K), Jhoan Duran (IP, BB, 2K) and Jorge López (IP, H, K) for a team shutout.
Minnesota Twins Pitching Lines from August 12th at the Los Angeles Angels
**** How ‘bout some Minnesota Twins Minor-League Game Notes?
Minnesota Twins rookie and Minnesota native RHP Louie Varland was promoted to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints on August 8th but he made his Triple-A Debut last night and he shined.
Minnesota native and Minnesota Twins RHP Louie Varland promoted to Triple-A – August 8th, 2022
In the 1st 3 innings, a player reached after 2 outs with a walk in each of the 1st 2 innings and a player reached on an error in the 3rd. In the 4th, Louie took care of it on his own by striking out the side. He set ‘em down 1-2-3 in the 5th and struckout the 1st batter he faced in the 6th for his 8th strikeout of the game and, if you can’t tell by this short summary, he had not allowed a hit up until this point but the next batter doubled and Toby Gardnhire took out his starting pitcher with 84 pitches thrown.
The Minnesota Twins hadn’t lost 4 games in a row all season long so it was important to keep that streak going since they were now 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the lead in the American League Central standings. They were also just a half game back of Baltimore for the final Wild Card spot.
2022 MLB Wild Card Standings on August 12th, 2022
The Minnesota Twins got a boost before the game with the news that Byron Buxton will start in center field for the first time since July 31st or 7 games ago. He missed/sat out 2 of those 7 games but he did pinch hit and finish the August 7th gamefor 1 inning.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Los Angeles Angels Lineup:
Game Recap
Alright, let’s see if Minnesota Twins RHP Tyler Mahle got his 1st win as a Twin.
CF Byron Buxton started the game by drawing a walk but SS Carlos Correa lined out to center field and DH Jose Miranda grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the top of the 1st inning. The Angels also got their leadoff hitter on base but they did it with a base hit from SS David Fletcher. Twins RHP Tyler Mahle got DH Shohei Ohtani to ground out to 2nd, Luis Rengifo to line out to left field and 2B Taylor Ward to line out to right field to end the 1st inning.
After a popout and a groundout, the Twins got a 2-out single from 3B Gio Urshela then LF Gilberto Celestino hit his 1st HR of the season to put the Twins up 2-0!
RF Max Kepler struck out to end the half inning then Tyler Mahle took care of the bottom of the 2nd by setting ‘em down 1-2-3 with a popup and 2 strikeouts, 1 looking & 1 swinging.
Twins C Sandy León led off the 3rd inning with a walk then Buxton struck out & Carlos Correa grounded out to 3rd but León advanced to 2nd. Jose Miranda then singled to left field and Sandy León was sent home but was thrown out rather easily* by Angels left fielder Jo Addell to end the inning. *A questionable send from 3B coach Tommy Watkins? Testing the arm of Adell, maybe?
Mahle allowed a 2-out single but also had 2 strikeouts to get through the bottom of the 3rd inning.
Gio Urshela hit a 2-out double and Celestino walked but Max Kepler flew out to left field to end the threat. Mahle kept cruising with another 1-2-3 inning with one more strikeout.
Sandy León led off the 5th inning by walking again but Buxton struck out for the 2nd time for the 1st out. Correa singled through the left side. Miranda flew out and Polanco struck out to end the top of the 5th. Mahle allowed a 1-out walk but induced a ground ball for the rare 6-5-3 double play to end the 5th inning.
With Sandoval at 95 pitches, the Angels went to their bullpen to bring in RHP Mike Mayers and he got 1B Luis Arraez to line out to left for the first out then Gio Urshela hit his 11th HR of the season to make it 3-0 Twins and he was just a triple away from a cycle.
Celestino struck out and Kepler flew out to left field to end the top of 6. Tyler Mahle allowed a leadoff walk and a 2-out double which prompted Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to make a mound visit with Mahle at 83 pitches at that point but Mahle showed Rocco he wanted to stay in so he stayed in the game and 3 pitches later…
Tyler Mahle got Taylor Ward to fly out to right field to end the 6th inning and likely his 2nd start with the Twins.
3-0 Twins!
The Twins got a 1-out single from Buxton but Correa grounded into an inning-ending 4-3 double play.
The Twins brought in RHP Michael Fulmer to pitch the 7th for Minnesota and he needed just 12 pitches to set down the Angels 1-2-3 ending with a swinging strikeout.
Jose Miranda led off the 8th inning with his 15th double then advanced to 3rd on Polanco’s groundout to 2nd and scored on a Luis Arraez RBI-single to extend the lead to 4-0. Gio Urshela then struck out in his attempt to hit for the cycle. Celestino then flew out to deep left center to end the top of the 8th. RHP Jhoan Duran came in to pitch the 8th and he struck out the first 2 batters he faced but walked David Fletcher before facing Shohei Ohtani but he got him to ground out to 1st to end the 8th inning.
4-0, Twins
The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 9th. Even though it wasn’t a save situation, Rocco still brought in closer RHP Jorge López to finish the game and he allowed a leadoff to single to Luis Rengifo but got a lineout, a strikeout looking and a groundout to finish the game to snap the losing streak at 3 games and get back in the win column
The Minnesota Twins had a chance to win the series vs the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. They may have had that chance taken away by the off the field umpires.
Here’s the quick highlights to refresh your memory as we didn’t do a recap. Twins Daily did, though so check that out or just watch this video:
Minnesota Twins RHP Chris Archer had a very good start going 5 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 4 and walking no one. The bullpen came in and RHP Emilio Pagán went 0.2 innings before being removed for an apparent injury.* He allowed a hit but also struck out 1. Rookie RHP Cole Sands was beckoned from the bullpen and he got the Twins through the 8th with the score still 2-0. *He left the game with a right lat cramp but “an examination revealed no issues…”
The Twins got a leadoff single in the bottom of the 8th off the bat of 2B Jorge Polanco who advanced on a balk with 1 out and 1B Jose Miranda came through with another clutch hit to tie the game with a solid knock to right center field to cut the deficit in half, 2-1 Blue Jays.
Sands ended up pitching 3 innings of scoreless ball and he allowed just 2 hits while striking out 1 but he couldn’t finish the 9th so LHP Caleb Thielbar came in and kept the game at 2-1 so his team could try to tie it up or walk it off in the bottom of the 9th.
Twins SS Carlos Correa led off the 9th and he was hit by a pitch. He was pinch run for by Tim Beckham.* Then Byron Buxton pinch-hit for CF Gilberto Celestino but he struck out looking for the 1st out. C Gary Sánchez had his back as he singled to center field to advance Beckham to 3rd. Luis Arraez came to the plate and on the first pitch he singled to right field to tie the game. Unfortunately, Polanco & Kepler both grounded out to end the inning but, hey, more baseball is better than no baseball. *Someone asked how often a #1 overall pick had ever entered the game for another #1 overall pick – Correa was #1 in 2012, Beckham was #1 in 2008.
On to extra innings and former Royal Whit Merrifield started the inning at 2nd base. Santiago Espinal flew out to center field and Buxton was ready to catch & throw as Merrifield tagged up and… he was going for it…bang bang play… safe at 3rd. Twins challenged but the call was confirmed.
Cavan Biggio then flew out to shallow left field and LF Tim Beckham* was also ready to make a throw. He played it well, getting behind the ball then coming forward to catch the ball to get some momentum in his throw but he double-clutched for some reason but he made a great throw that beat the runner. Gary Sánchez was in position in front of the plate but lined up with the foul line and he caught the ball and tagged the runner…OUT! 2 outs and the game was still tied but… *Tim Beckham hasn’t played much in the outfield since 2019 when he played 91 innings for the Seattle Mariners. He never played in the outfield in the minors. He did play 3 innings in LF for the Twins on August 1st vs DET when Kyle Garlick got hurt running into the wall.
Toronto challenged the play saying Gary Sánchez blocked the plate and after a lengthy review, they overturned the call saying “there was a violation by the catcher” and the runner is safe. Oh, boy!
Good game that’s tarnished by a very controversial call.
––––– TT –––––
This is exactly why we do Game Notes, so we can go deeper into a play to find out what’s going on and if it was played right and, obviously in this case, called right.
It’s also why we started to make Game Notes separate articles. We’ve had them on our recaps for quite a while and wanted everyone to see them and talk about them but, for whatever reason, that wasn’t happening.
Alright…here’s probably the best replay we can find:
(i) Collisions at Home Plate (1) A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher, or otherwise initiate an avoidable collision. If, in the judgment of the umpire, a runner attempting to score initiates contact with the catcher in such a manner, the umpire shall declare the runner out (regardless of whether the catcher maintains possession of the ball). In such circumstances, the umpire shall call the ball dead, and all other base runners shall return to the last base touched at the time of the collision. If the runner slides into the plate in an appropriate manner, he shall not be adjudged to have violated Rule 6.01(i).
Rule 6.01(i)(1) Comment: The failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner’s lowering of the shoulder, or the runner’s pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation of Rule 6.01(1), or otherwise initiated a collision that could have been avoided. A slide shall be deemed appropriate, in the case of a feet first slide, if the runner’s buttocks and legs should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. In the case of a head first slide, a runner shall be deemed to have slid appropriately if his body should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. If a catcher blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall not find that the runner initiated an avoidable collision in violation of this Rule 6.01(i)(1).
(2) Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the umpire, the catcher without possession of the ball blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall call or signal the runner safe. Not withstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 6.01(1(2) if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in a legitimate attempt to field the throw (e.g., in reaction to the direction, trajectory or the hop of the incoming throw, or in reaction to a throw that originates from a pitcher or drawn-in infielder). In addition, a catcher without possession of the ball shall not be adjudged to violate this Rule 6.01 (i)(2) if the runner could have avoided the collision with the catcher (or other player covering home plate) by sliding.
Rule 6.01 (i)(2) Comment: A catcher shall not be deemed to have violated Rule 6.01(i)(2) unless he has both blocked the plate without possession the ball (or when not in a legitimate attempt to field the throw), and also hindered or impeded the progress of the runner attempting to score. A catcher shall not be deemed to have hindered or impeded the progress of the runner if, in the judgment of the umpire, the runner would have been called out notwithstanding the catcher having blocked the plate. In addition, a catcher should use best efforts to avoid unnecessary and forcible contact while tagging a runner attempting to slide. Catchers who routinely make unnecessary and forcible contact with a runner attempting to slide (e.g., by initiating contact using a knee, shin guard, elbow or forearm) may be subject to discipline by the Office of the Commissioner. All references to “the catcher” in this Rule 6.01 (i) shall apply equally to other players covering home plate. In addition, Rule 6.01 (i)(2) shall not apply to force plays at home plate.
FYI – Jomboy said “rule 7.13” in his video breakdown. That’s from when the rule was first inserted into the rulebook back in 2014.
We’ve read a lot of people including major league catchers say Posey played that all wrong. A quick google search didn’t reveal any of those articles or statements but we’d have to guess that he wasn’t set up right but part of that is the throw was on the 1st base side of home plate so he had to try to shift to catch the ball then move to make a tag in the same motion but the thing we see about the play is the collision wasn’t necessary. It definitely looks like the runner had a chance to just slide to the foul side of home plate but…it’s easy to look at a play and make a choice of what to do after seeing what happened.
From catch to collision is less than 4 seconds and less than a second from the ball reaching Posey and him getting hit by Cousins and we’ve been watching baseball for more than 8 years that didn’t allow or strongly discouraged collisions at home plate.* *How ‘bout that for a segue, huh?
*** The Take or Our Thoughts
The first sentence of the rule above is obviously a big part of this rule or it wouldn’t be said first and it’s about avoiding a collision which, of course, would avoid injuries to a pretty defenseless catcher like Buster Posey and Jamie Burke.
“A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher, or otherwise initiate an avoidable collision.”
– MLB Collisions at Home Plate Rule
So…move to the play from Sunday and it’s almost identical to the Posey & Burke play because it’s on a sacrifice fly so the runners had to tag up and run straight home as opposed to a base hit where they would be rounding 3rd base and coming in from an arc or angle.
All the runners definitely have room (or a sliding lane) to slide into the backside (or foul side) of home plate:
Whit Merrifield is called out at home – Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays – August 7th, 2022
The difference of the play on Sunday afternoon is the ball got to the catcher a little earlier than the other two plays. The runners all did the same thing in initiating contact with the catcher but since the ball got to Gary Sánchez earlier, he was able to get down and tag the runner out.
Here’s why we say Whit Merrifield initiated contact with the catcher. First, he slightly turned into Sánchez with his slide.
You can see Whit Merrifield’s inside foot change direction towards the inside of the plate exactly where Sánchez is.
Whit Merrifield initiated contact with C Gary Sánchez 2 – Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays – August 7th, 2022
You can see he’s leaning in this picture and his foot changed direction as this is just a different angle to the first picture.
Second, why would he slide towards the catcher? He can clearly see Gary Sánchez in front of him. If you’re trying to get to the plate, you wouldn’t slide closer to the catcher, you would try to avoid him. Did Whit Merrifield think he was going to be out so he decided to slide into the catcher so they could challenge the rule?
Gary Sánchez catches the ball in position to tag out Whit Merrifield – Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays – August 7th ,2022
If Whit Merrifield slides head first, he probably gets one more step and he could’ve taken his slide further outside and swept his left hand at the plate. It’s hard to know, of course, but head first seems like the better way to slide into home.
This is the explanation from MLB minutes after the game was over from Bally Sports North:
MLB Explanation on Overturned Call – August 7th, 2022
“The catcher’s movements into foul territory were not in reaction to the trajectory of the throw & he did not have to be in the position to receive the ball.
The catcher’s actions while not in possession of the ball hindered & impeded the runner.”
This is an incredible statement. They are basically saying Gary Sánchez caught the ball in the wrong position but look back at the pic above where he caught the ball. His glove is right in front of him which is exactly where you’d want to catch a ball, exactly where you’re taught to catch a ball.
**** The Problem
This is the same problem with almost any rule that is left up to the discretion of the umpire or the off-field officials. There doesn’t seem to be any clear definition of what the rule is so it’s left up to how each ump/official interprets the rule which is completely ridiculous.
What does that remind you of? The strike zone, maybe? And how do people feel about the strike zone? It’s almost certain it’s just a matter of time until there will be some type of automated strike zone.
For the hockey fans, the ClutterPuckers from our sister site, ClutterPuck, it’s very similar to the Goaltender Interference rule. Nobody knows what the rule is. There could be a play where you’re certain it will be or won’t be called for Goaltender Interference and it goes the other way. This isn’t just the fans of the game, either. The coaches and team personnel question it as well.
That’s not good.
––––– TT –––––
Well, we hope you made it this far and if you did…
Thank You for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes!
Game notes are topics that have come up during a game that we think deserve some more attention. That can be a player, a play and it could be a good thing or a bad thing, a mistake or a great play or anything really.
We used to have them at the end of our Game Recaps articles.
We made a logo and everything. Well, kind of. It’s a notes icon with some text on it. HEY! That’s what a logo is.
We just wanted somewhere to talk about some of the little things that happen in a game that we wanted to expand on. So…this is our 1st separate Game Notes article and it’s about Game 2 between the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays from August 5th, 2022 and it had a pretty crazy ending so…check that out then let us know what you think with a comment or on social media.
Game Notes * Why Didn’t Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Adjust for the Throw to 1st in Extra Innings?
Jake Cave swung through strike 3 but Blue Jays C Danny Jansen didn’t catch the ball so Jake took off running to try to get to 1st base before the ball. The ball rolled into foul territory on the 1st base side and when he corralled it and picked it up, his first thought was to try to tag Cave but he was already too far away so he tried to throw to 1st for the out.
2:31 into the Game Highlights video
Cave was in the baseline and Guerrero, Jr. didn’t help his catcher out by trying to give him a better target forcing him to try to lob it over Cave so he threw it high and Guerrero didn’t catch it. Cave was safe at 1st and Nick Gordon advanced to 3rd on the play.
It’s obviously a fast play but, and any 1st baseman out there let us know, shouldn’t it be automatic as a 1st baseman when you see a ball go into foul territory on the 1st base side to step to the other side of 1st base for an easier and shorter throw? Jansen could also make a harder throw. If all the catchers and first baseman on the Blue Jays know that a ball in the dirt to the first base side in foul territory means the throw should be to the right (foul territory) side of 1st base every time, this play wouldn’t have been a problem at all.
The video of it above is 10 seconds long and Jansen gets the ball around the 4-second mark of the video so Guerrero has plenty of time to move to the foul territory side of 1st base for an easy throw for the out.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider on the play:
“And then in the 10th inning — I think if you want the ball hit to anyone, it’s Matt Chapman. And the strikeout to Cave — Jano blocks everything and I think when he tried to tag him, he kind of lost his angle a little bit on the throw to first and made it a little bit of a tougher play than it probably should have been. So, you look at those things as opportunities to get better.”
– Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Schneider
It was interesting to see that and not to see Justin Morneau point that out as a former 1st baseman. Maybe that’s not the case but it sure seems like that would make it easier, doesn’t it?
If you thought Twins fans were bad, try searching Danny Jansen on Twitter to see what Toronto Blue Jays fans think about their catcher. Wow!
The pitch landed just past home plate so it’s easy to see why it was a hard play for the catcher to make. He blocked it. That’s his job. Are there any catchers who would expect to catch that pitch? No way, right? It’s going to bounce into their chest protector and they just want to keep it in front of them so they can hopefully get to it quickly and keep the runner/s from advancing.
The pitch landed just past home plate.
Then go to the throw to first base. Is it an easy throw? Yes would be the obvious answer but it’s not a normal throw for professional baseball players during a game. They’re throwing the ball hard on every play unless it’s a short toss of about 10 feet or so and those throws don’t usually have a runner between them and the throw’s destination.
** What is Nick Gordon doing on that play?
He’s going back to 2nd base for some reason. Staying where he was seems more plausible but it’s almost as if he’s tagging up on the play going all the way back to 2nd base. He only advances to 3rd after he sees the ball get away from Guerrero.
How far away should he be from 2nd base? A quarter to a third of the way to 3rd base?
He was ripped for getting caught off 3rd in the 1st game against Detroit. Did that play a part in what he did here? Was he hesitant to go when the ball hit the dirt? Shouldn’t he go as soon as he sees it bounce away from the catcher? Would he not have made it to 3rd easily? Add in that Jansen knows it’s a force out at 1st while Gordon would need to be tagged out at 3rd and would he even try to make a throw to 3rd?
2:01 in, Nick Gordon is caught off of 3rd base to end the bottom of the 9th
*** How ‘bout Gilberto Celestino avoiding the ball as he ran to 2nd in the bottom of the 9th?
Gilberto Celestino replaced Gio Urshela as a pinch-runner after Gio singled to lead off the bottom of the 9th. Luis Arraez then hit a ground ball to 2nd and Gilberto had to try to dance around said ground ball while simultaneously trying to get to 2nd as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t be thrown out.
The Minnesota Twins have an exciting matchup in Game 2 as they’ll face their former teammate in RHP José Berríos while also seeing their brand new pitcher they acquired on Tuesday in RHP Tyler Mahle. They both have similar numbers so it should be fun to see how this game plays out.
José Berríos has been struggling this season but the last time he faced his former team, he looked like his old stellar self – 7IP 3H 2R/ER 2BB 13K 1HR & his 4th win of the season in a 12-3 shallacking in Toronto.
That was the beginning of June. Since then, he’s gone 4-2 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.231 WHIP with 11 walks and 57 strikeouts in 10 starts and 57.2 innings.
The Minnesota Twins made a couple more moves today and one of them is somewhat shocking, more for who it is than for why, though. RHP Tyler Duffey was Designated For Assignment (DFA) or Release today after spending the last 10 years in the organization and exactly 7 years with the big club when he made his Major League Debut on August 5th, 2012.
It makes sense but it’s still a difficult move since he had turned himself into a very effective reliever since the beginning of the 2019 season. Unfortunately, he’s been far from that this season. He’s lost velocity on his fastball and the control of his nasty curveball hasn’t been there for the majority of the season so hitters were able to sit on that fastball and his curveball was popping up too much so it was likely easy to recognize right away out of his hand. He messed around with a changeup in July but only threw 33 of them even though it really seemed to help keep hitters off their timing.
We would assume the Twins would like to see him clear waivers so he could get to St. Paul and be able to get some work in down there to see if he can get back to being a reliable option out of the bullpen.
Rookie RHP Cole Sands was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to take Duffey’s place on the 26-man roster.
It was also reported that reliever RHP Jharel Cotton and starter RHP Aaron Sanchez cleared waivers and reported to Triple-A St. Paul.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Toronto Blue Jays Lineup:
Game Recap
Twins fans didn’t have to wait long to see their newest starting pitcher as it took just 4 pitches for RHP Tyler Mahle to strike out CF Whit Merrifield swinging for his 1st out for his new team. 1B Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. grounded out to short and DH Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. flew out to left field.
Former Twins starting pitcher RHP José Berríos was making his 2nd start at Target Field as an opponent and he started it by setting the Twins down 1-2-3 on 7 pitches as the Twins were looking for that early fastball.
RF Teoscar Hernández led off the 2nd inning with a line drive to right center field for a single, at least. He tried to extend it to a double but CF Mark Contreras was on his horse knowing he might have to try to keep this hit to a single. He got to it, turned and fired a strike to 2nd for the first outfield assist of his MLB career* and Hernández had to settle for a single and a seat on the bench in the dugout. SS Bo Bichette struck out swinging and 3B Matt Chapman flew out to CF to end the top of the 2nd. *See our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on Mark Contreras.
The Twins got a 1-out single from LF Nick Gordon but it was quickly taken care of by an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Blue Jays C Danny Jansen walked to lead off the 3rd inning but LF Raimel Tapia grounded into a 5-4-3 double play quickly cleared the bases and Tyler Mahle then struck out 2B Santiago Espinal on a foul tip to end the top of the 3rd inning.
1B Tim Beckham grounded out to 3rd to begin the bottom of the 3rd then CF Mark Contreras, fresh off a great defensive play in the previous half inning, put the Twins in front with his 2nd home run of the season to the bullpen in left center field. Marko Oppo!
C Sandy León struck out looking and 2B Luis Arraez flew out to left field to end the 3rd.
1-0 Twins
Mahle set the Blue Jays down 1-2-3 via groundout, strikeout and flyout. The Twins then got a leadoff double from SS Carlos Correa followed by a walk from Jorge Polanco and an RBI-single to center from 3B Jose Miranda (DYKM?) on the very next pitch. A mound visit was then followed by Nick Gordon sending a loud blast to right field for a 3-run shot and his 5th home run of the season on the 1st pitch he saw.
Cave flew out to CF, Beckham singled to deep short for an infield hit, Contreras lined out to CF, León walked and that was it for José Berríos as the Blue Jays made a pitching change to RHP Trevor Richards. Luis Arraez flew out to left field again to end the 4th inning but what an inning…
The comeback got 1 run closer with a 1-out HR from Santiago Espinal (7). A Whit Merrifield single followed and that brought up Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and he fouled off the 2nd & 4th pitches, both of them fastballs then he crushed a slider over the center field wall to bring the Jays within 1.
Mahle struck out Gurriel, Jr. swinging then got Hernández to line out to center to keep the Minnesota Twins in the lead.
5-4 Twins
Zach Pop replaced Trevor Richards and Jake Cave greeted him with a base hit to left field but Tim Beckham grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to take all the good feelings away. Contreras then popped out to 3rd to end the 6th.
RHP Griffin Jax replaced Tyler Mahle to pitch the 7th for the Twins.
RHP Tyler Mahle’s Final Line 6IP 5H 4R/ER 1BB 5K 3HR – 86 pitches (61 strikes) In Line for the Win
Jax used his slider to strike out the side in the 7th getting Bichette swinging, Chapman looking and Jansen swinging on just 11 pitches. Mow ‘em Down, Griff! I’ll call that Air Force because that sounds good! SLIIIIIDER!
Hey, how ‘bout a stretch, huh?
Sandy León then led off the bottom of the 7th with his 2nd double of the season in his 2nd game as a Twin. The Blue Jays replaced Zach Pop with RHP Adam Cimber, a submariner pitcher and Luis Arraez lined out to center. Carlos Correa singled but Sandy León could only advance to 3rd on a slow ground ball through the right side. Jorge Polanco struck out, leaving it up to Jose Miranda to pick him up to help the Twins get an insurance run…
but he flew out to center field to end the 7th.
Still 5-4 Twins
RHP Jhoan Duran replaced Jax to pitch the 8th for Minnesota and he got Tapia to ground out to short for the 1st out. Toronto pinch-hit Alexandro Kirk for Santiago Espinal. The at-bat started with two straight high heaters at 101 mph. Duran got strike one with another 101 that was taken then he threw a perfect pitch that hit the high outside corner of the zone but was called a ball. Man, that’s frustrating. 3-1 is a whole lot different than 2-2, blue! COME ON! Another heater, this one in the zone at 102.1 mph, was fouled off to make it a full count and Jhoan reared back and threw the next pitch 102.8 mph that was swung through for the 2nd out.
Whit Merrifield took the 1st pitch, also the first non-fastball, for strike 1 then he hit the 2nd one to right field for a single. Guerrero, Jr. came to the plate and singled to right field as well but Duran got Gurriel, Jr. to ground out to 3rd to end the top of the 8th and..
Still 5-4 Twins
Whit Merrifield moved to 2nd base and Bradley Zimmer replaced Alexandro Kirk, batting 9th and playing center field. RHP David Phelps replaced Adam Cimber. Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the 8th with a ground rule double (15) on the first pitch. Jake Cave flew out to center field and Gordon just bluffed an attempt to advance to 3rd. Tim Beckham struck out swinging on a check swing and Contreras also struck out swinging to send it to the 9th and new closer Jorge López to face Teoscar Hernández, Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman.
Hernández grounded out softly back to the pitcher. Bichette singled through the left side. Chapman flew out to 2nd. Danny Jansen singled to right field on a sharp ground ball. Bichette advanced to 2nd. Down 0-2 in the count, Raimel Tapia fought off an inside sinker to get it to land in short center field to tie the game.
Cavan Biggio pinch-hit for Zimmer then flew out to left field but…
The Game is Tied at 5!
Whit Merrifield moved back to center field, Cavan Biggio took over at 2nd base and RHP Yimi Garcia replaced David Phelps and Gio Urshela, pinch-hitting for Sandy León, singled to right field and was pinch-run for with Gilberto Celestino. Luis Arraez grounded out to 2nd. Correa reached on a fielding error by Biggio and Celestino advanced to 3rd. Polanco was intentionally walked. Miranda struck out swinging and Nick Gordon flew out to left field so we have…
FREE BASEBALL!!!
Even if we didn’t want it! DOH!
RHP Michael Fulmer replaced Jorge López to pitch the 10th for the Twins. Biggio started the inning at 2nd base. Whit Merrifield struck out swinging for the 1st out. Guerrero, Jr. got the unintentional intentional walk. Gurriel, Jr. singled to center. Biggio advanced to 3rd because he had to hold up as the hit went over Arraez’s head and he wouldn’t want to get doubled up so the bases were loaded with 1 out. Hernández struck out swinging so it was up to Bichette and…
HE STRUCK OUT LOOKING!!!
RHP Jordan Romano replaced Yimi Garcia to try to keep the game tied against Jake Cave, Tim Beckham and Mark Contreras. Nick Gordon began the inning at 2nd base. Cave was taxed with trying to bunt Gordon over to 3rd. He missed the first pitch. He pulled back on the 2nd & 3rd pitches to make it 1-2. He fouled off the 4th pitch to even the count and he took the 5th pitch to fill the count. He swung through the payoff pitch but it wasn’t caught so Cave took off for 1st base…and Blue Jays C Danny Jansen tried to tag him but he wasn’t close enough so he had to try a lob throw to 1st because he was in foul territory and Cave was between him and Guerrero at 1st base.
Up to the plate came Tim Beckham. He took the first pitch for a ball. Cave took 2nd base but it’s fielder’s indifference since his run didn’t matter. On the 2nd pitch, Beckham hit a grounder to 3rd but the contact play was on so Nick Gordon took off for home. Matt Chapman fielded the ball and threw home but the ball hit the ground in front of Jansen making it hard to catch and Nick Gordon slid into home. It looked like he was out but Jansen never had the ball so…
THAT IS A WALK OFF WIN!!!
Condensed Game (8:51 Run Time)
––––– TT –––––
Final Score Toronto Blue Jays 5 | 6 Minnesota Twins W-Fulmer(4-4-) L-Romano(3-3)
