The Minnesota Twins started a 4-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays who fired manager Charlie Montoya a little more than 3 weeks ago. They were 4 games above .500 then and are now 12 games above .500 after going 12-4 with interim manager John Schneider at the helm. Should we really be that surprised? I mean, John Schreider has them “makin’ their way the only way they know how” now, right?* *If you don’t know that reference, ask someone familiar with the 80’s.
It’s been crazy the last few days/weeks with all of the Twinsactions (Twins Transactions), huh? Well, we have some more yet again:
The Minnesota Twins placed OF Kyle Garlick on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) (retroactive to August 2nd) with a right rib contusion. They also reinstated OF Gilberto Celestino from the Paternity List, activated Trade Deadline acquisition RHP Tyler Mahle & optioned LHP Jovani Moran.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Toronto Blue Jays Lineup:
Game Recap
It was very sunny all day. How Sonny* was at Target Field? *Funny that Sonny is followed by Gray. Mostly Sonny, then?
It’s a pretty tough matchup, though. Toronto Blue Jays starter RHP Alek Manoah has been very good through his 2nd season. A 1st time All-Star this year, he had a 2.43 ERA and a WHIP under 1 (0.99) through 20 starts.
The first 3 innings included just 2 walks for Toronto while the Twins did not get on base.
In the 4th, Alexandro Kirk led off with a walk but Sonny Gray got RH Teoscar Hernández to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to quickly empty the bases then struck out SS Bo Bichette. The Twins got a leadoff single from SS Carlos Correa then DH Byron Buxton grounded out to 2nd. Both 2B Jorge Polanco & CF Nick Gordon walked to load the bases as 3B Jose Miranda came to the plate and he was hit on the left hand with a pitch to put the Twins up 1-0.
He stayed in the game after an injury delay then LF Jake Cave flew out to short to end the 4th inning.
1-0 Twins
Sonny Gray allowed another leadoff walk to begin the 5th inning but he struck out both 3B Matt Chapman and CF Whit Merrifield. 2B Cavan Biggio singled to center field and DH George Springer walked but Sonny got 1B Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to ground out to short to keep Toronto off the board. The Twins got just a 1-out walk from C Gary Sánchez.
Minnesota Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen as his starter had reached 96 pitches so he brought in RHP Emilio Pagán to pitch the 6th inning. He got Kirk to ground out for the 1st out but left a pitch up that was crushed by Teoscar Hernández to tie the game at 1.
Bichette followed with a double to center field then a single from Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. brought Bichette in to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Chapman lined out to short and Carlos Correa tried to get the runner at first but it was wide and skipped on the grass to get past 1B Luis Arraez for a 2-base error putting Gurriel at 3rd. Whit Merrifield then singled to 3rd on a low throw that they still scored as a hit and it brought in another run. Biggio then grounded out to 1st to end the top of the 6th.
3-1 Blue Jays
Byron Buxton struck out to lead off the bottom of the 6th. Polanco walked and Nick Gordon doubled to right field to score Polanco but Jose Miranda grounded out to short and Jake Cave flew out to center field to leave & Gordon on base.
3-2 Blue Jays
RHP Trevor Megill replaced Pagán to pitch the 7th and he allowed a 1-out double to Guerrero, Jr. but got out of it with a flyout and a strikeout. Toronto replaced Manoah with LHP Tim Mayza and the Twins went down 1-2-3 on 2 groundouts and a strikeout.
Trevor Megill came out for another inning and promptly allowed another Bichette double and that was followed by an RBI-single from Gurriel, Jr. He got Chapman to strike out but Merrifield singled to right field so Rocco went to RHP Tyler Duffey and he allowed back-to-back singles that scored 2 more runs then Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. showed his power with a 3-run Home Run to left field and, just like that, it was
9-2 Blue Jays
Duffey then walked Kirk but got Hernández to ground into a 5-4-3 inning ending double play but the damage had been done.
The Twins got a 1-out walk from Buxton but nothing else to end the 8th.
Duffey came back out for the 9th, allowed a lead off single then got a force out and struck out the last 2 batters.
Don’t call it a comeback? Jack Cave hit his 1st home run of the season but that was it. A disappointing outing for the bullpen in what was a close game when they took over.
Get ’em tomorrow!
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Final Score Toronto Blue Jays 9 |3 Minnesota Twins W-Manoah(12-5) L-Pagán(3-5)
TOR: LHP Tim Mayza: 1IP 1K HR – 11th Hold RHP Yimi Garcia: 1IP 1BB 1K RHP Anthony Bass: 1IP 1H 1R/ER 1K 1HR
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Game Notes * Mistake Pitches will Kill You
It didn’t go the Twins way as they had the front end of their bullpen try to keep a 1-run lead and it didn’t work as Emilio Pagán gave up the lead and Trevor Megill & Tyler Duffey allowed it to get out of hand.
Emilio Pagán threw a splitter that didn’t split and that ball didn’t come back but the single from Gurriel, Jr. isn’t a bad pitch as it was up & away but he got to it.
This ball was sent up the middle with a shift to the left side.Look where it ended up being hit.
Megill was getting too much of the plate missing more in the zone instead of more out of the zone whether that’s east-west or north-south. Duffey missed on a couple of pitches, especially the home run ball to Guerrero, but the Springer 2-run single isn’t a bad pitch. He just put in play and took advantage of the infield being in.
You could say the same thing about this Duffey pitch to Springer that turned into a 2-run single because the infield was in.
But… they have to do better with their command and their control. Duffey’s knuckle curve which was hit for the 2-run single from Springer and the Home Run from Guerrero has been a bad pitch for most of the season.
It’s a combination of his fastball velocity being down and the curveball popping up too much so it’s easy to recognize and if it’s popping up, it’s usually going to be a meatball.
Duffey had messed with adding a changeup and it seemed to breathe some new life into him. Did he go away from it? He’s only thrown 33 of them according to Baseball Savant.
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Next Up Game 2: RHP Tyler Mahle (5-7, 4.40 ERA, 1.246 WHIP*)
vs
RHP José Berríos (8-4, 4.96 ERA, 1.321 WHIP)
*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched
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Thank You for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes!
The Minnesota Twins will try again to win the rubber game. They didn’t get it done in San Diego so we’ll see if they can change that in this one. Of course, this isn’t the same team that lost in San Diego as the MLB Trade Deadline expired yesterday at 5pm CST and the Twins made four trades to help their team win the American League Central or make the playoffs via one of the 3 Wild Card spots.
They currently lead the American League Central by just 1 game over the Cleveland Guardians. The White Sox are 2 games back as well. If the Twins weren’t leading the division, they’d be tied for the final Wild Card spot with the Tampa Bay Rays.
MLB American League Wild Card Standings on August 2nd, 2022
Trade Deadline
There is just one trade deadline now in Major League Baseball. There used to be a second one at the end of August that teams could use to still help their teams improve. It was a waiver deadline so teams had to expose players to waivers and if a team claimed a player, they could negotiate a trade with that team for that player or if no team claimed a player, they could negotiate with any team. The team could also pull the player off waivers to keep him.
The Minnesota Twins acquired 4 players at the deadline on Tuesday, 3 pitchers and one catcher and they didn’t have to trade anyone on their Major League roster. They only sent prospects the other way. All of them were valuable prospects and assets within the organization but this is why you have to have a great farm system. You never know what you’ll need at the trade deadline. You don’t plan on needing anyone but injuries and players not performing the way you thought they would always happen and you need to have the ability to acquire pieces to help your team make the playoffs and win the World Series.
The Minnesota Twins acquired closer RHP Jorge López from the Baltimore Orioles for reliever RHP Yennier Cano (AAA), LHP Cade Povich (High-A), LHP Juan Rojas (FCL-Rookie Level) & RHP Juan Nunez (FCL-Rookie Level).The Minnesota Twins acquired starting pitcher RHP Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds for prospects 2B/3B Spencer Steer (AAA), 3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand (AA) and LHP Steven Hajjar (High-A).The Minnesota Twins acquired reliever RHP Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers for prospect RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (AA). The Minnesota Twins acquired C Sandy León the Cleveland Guardians for RHP Ian Hamilton (AAA).
Twinsactions (Twins Transactions)
The Twins made a couple of moves before the game, activating LHP Caleb Thielbar and selecting the contract of newly acquired C Sandy León. To make room for them, they optioned C Caleb Hamilton* and designated P Joe Smith for release or assignment. *So… at least this means 3B/1B Jose Miranda got to see Hamilton.** **Jose Miranda’s cousin is Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the hit musical, Hamilton and he hasn’t actually seen it, yet. Maybe when the Twins are in New York? Nope! He’ll be a little busy with that baseball thing and they don’t do Mondays.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Detroit Tigers Lineup:
Game Recap
The majority of the time it’s a good thing for the Minnesota Twins to have RHP Joe Ryan start the game. Last time out, that wasn’t the case as he gave up 5 home runs in his start in San Diego. Let’s see if he made a rebound in this game.
He started out this game by striking out the 1st two batters, both swinging strikeouts, then got a ground ball to 1st to set the Tigers down 1-2-3 in the 1st inning. The Twins also were set down 1-2-3 in the 1st inning (flyout, popout & flyout.)
The no-hitter only lasted one inning for Twins pitcher Joe Ryan as 1B Harold Castro singled to CF to lead off the 2nd inning but Ryan sandwiched two more swinging strikeouts around a popout to get through the 2nd inning.
Minnesota Twins 1B Jose Miranda also singled to lead of the bottom of the 2nd inning. 3B Gio Urshela lined out to short. CF Nick Gordon walked. LF Jake Cave lined out to CF for the 2nd out. C Sandy León came to the plate for his 1st at-bat as a Minnesota Twin and he made it memorable as he doubled to the left field corner to score both Miranda and Gordon and put the Twins up 2. Welcome to Minnesota, Sandy! That was also his 1st double of the season!
RF Mark Contreras struck out to end the inning.
2-0 Twins
Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd. Harold Castro got another single but that was the only non-out in the 4th inning but 4 of the outs were via the strikeout, 2 for each team.
Joe Ryan began the 5th inning by hitting the batter with a pitch. He then got 2B Jonathan Schoop to strike out swinging and 3B Koby Clemens to line out to RF but he followed that by hitting C Tucker Barnhart with a pitch and, after a mound visit, Tigers rookie CF Riley Greene made him pay for it with a bloop single to center field that cut the lead in half. Ryan did strikeout LF Victor Reyes to end the inning.
2-1 Twins
The Twins responded by going down 1-2-3 on 2 strikeouts & a groundout.
Newly-acquired & former Detroit Tiger reliever RHP Michael Fulmer took over for Minnesota in the 6th.
Joe Ryan’s Final Pitching Line: 5IP 3H 1R/ER 0BB 9K In line for the Win 78 Pitches (63 Strikes)
Fulmer allowed a 1-out single (Harold Castro again) but struck out one and caught Castro stealing to end the inning.
Detroit also replaced their starting pitcher, LHP Tyler Alexander, by bringing in RHP Jose Cisnero.
Tyler Alexander’s Final Pitching Line: 5IP 2H 2R/ER 1BB 5K In line for the Loss 66 Pitches (47 Strikes)
Cisnero walked DH Byron Buxton on 4 pitches. He then threw a wild pitch that allowed Buxton to advance to 2nd. The next pitch was high and way inside forcing Carlos Correa to evade the pitch and go down. The next pitch was low and away but Correa still got a piece of it to send it to short left field to bring Byron Buxton in to make it 3-1.
2B Jorge Polanco grounded into a force out at 2nd and 1B Jose Miranda lined a ball to right field that looked like a hit for sure but the other Castro (Willi) made a fantastic catch for the 2nd out and Gio Urshela struck out to end the 6th inning.
Even Miranda’s outs are impressive!
3-1 Twins
Twins LHP Caleb Thielbar replaced Fulmer for the 7th and he needed just 12 pitches to set the Tigers down 1-2-3, the last two by way of the strikeout so…KKaleb! The Twins had to face a new pitcher, Tigers LHP Andrew Chafin, and got back-to-back 1-out singles from Jake Cave & Sandy León but left them there with an inning-ending double play ball from Mark Contreras.
Twins rookie phenom RHP Jhoan Duran replaced Thielbar and he walked the first batter but then set down the next 3 hitters after a mound visit via forceout, groundout and a strikeout.
Former Twins reliever RHP Derek Law replaced Chafin to face his former team and he allowed a leadoff hit to Byron Buxton and a 1-out hit to Jorge Polanco then walked Jose Miranda to load the bases and Gio Urshela hit a sacrifice fly to add another run for the home club. Nick Gordon struck out to end the 8th.
Newly-acquired closer RHP Jorge López came in to make his Twins Debut and he needed just 7 pitches to earn his 1st save as a Twin and help them win the series.
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Final Score Detroit Tigers 1 | 4 Minnesota Twins W-Ryan (8-4) L-Alexander(2-5) S-López(20) H-Fulmer(19), Thielbar(10), Duran(11)
The Minnesota Twins were looking for some redemption from a 10-1 loss in game 1 that made it a 3-game losing streak and now 2-3 after the All-Star break. Minnesota Twins starter RHP Joe Ryan allowed 5 HRs and couldn’t get out of the 5th inning. The bullpen finished the last 3.1 innings of the game and RHP Jharel Cotton made it onto Pitcher List’s 8 Nastiest Pitches list with his nasty changeup so it wasn’t all bad but…
the players likely don’t care about that as their minds are on how to snap their 3-game losing streak as they’re set to face Padres RHP Joe Musgrove with their own RHP Sonny Gray on the mound.
Twinsactions
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins had to place OF Max Kepler (right 5th toe fracture), & 1B/DH Miguel Sanó (left knee inflammation) on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) today. They selected the contract of INF Tim Beckham and OF Mark Contreras was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul. They said Miguel Sanó may have aggravated his injury on a slide into 2nd base in his last rehab game with the St. Paul Saints.* *Has Miguel Sanó played his last game in a Twins Jersey?
RHP Bailey Ober (right groin strain) was also moved to the 60-Day IL to make room for Beckham on the 40-Man roster.
Also, Twins OF Gilberto Celestino was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on July 25th when the Twins activated Miguel Sanó but he was recalled yesterday when the Twins put 3B Gio Urshela on the paternity list because he was expecting the arrival of a baby girl.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
San Diego Padres Lineup:
Game Recap
1B Luis Arraez led off the game by lining out to left field on the game’s first pitch from San Diego Padres starter Joe Musgrove. Both SS Carlos Correa & DH Byron Buxton struck out swinging on curveballs to end the top of the 1st. Twins RHP Sonny Gray allowed a 2-out walk in a scoreless bottom of the 1st and he struck out 3B Manny Machado but it took him 20 pitches (10 strikes.)
The Twins went down 1-2-3 on a couple flyouts and a groundout in the 2nd. The Padres then led off the bottom of the inning with a line drive single off the bat of RF Nomar Mazara but the Twins turned a fantastic 6-4-3 double play on a sharp hard-hit ground ball to short.
It’s a good thing, too, because CF Trent Grisham followed it with a double to center field but Sonny Gray got SS Ha-Seong Kim to ground out to 3rd to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. Luis Arraez had to make a great play to pick the throw at 1st, too.
Still 0-0
Twins RF Gilberto Celestino got the Twins first hit with a 2-out flare to right field but Arraez grounded out to end the top of the 3rd.
Manny Machado then put the Padres in front with his 18th HR of the season in the bottom of the 3rd.
1-0 Padres
Byron Buxton then used his BuxTon of Power as he learned from his 1st at-bat and expected the 2-strike high fastball* and put it in the seats to tie the game with his 26th HR of the season. 2B Jorge Polanco followed that with a walk but RF Alex Kirilloff grounded into a 3-5-1 double play to end the inning. *In his 1st at-bat, Padres RHP Joe Musgrove threw him a 2-strike high fastball that Buxton took but it was only to set up the curve for the strikeout.
1-1 Tie
San Diego led off the bottom of the 4th with a single from Luke Voit but Sonny Gray struck out both Nomar Mazara & Austin Nola looking then got Trent Grisham to ground out to 1st.
The top of the 5th began with 3B Jose Miranda being hit-by-a-pitch. LF Nick Gordon then beat the shift with a weak liner to the left side of the infield. C Gary Sánchez struck out swinging and that brought up Celestino for the 2nd time and he repeated his 1st at-bat with another flared hit to right field and Jose Miranda read it beautifully to score from 2nd and put the Twins up 1. Arraez & Correa both struck out swinging to leave Nick Gordon stranded at 2nd base. Will that come back to bite the Twins in this close game?
2-1 Twins
San Diego led off the bottom of the 5th with a line drive single to LF by Ha-Seong Kim but 2B C.J. Abrams lined out to CF. Kim stole 2nd but Gray struck out Profar looking. A Mound Visit preceded the next at-bat (Machado HR’d in his last AB) then Machado lined out to CF to end the 5th.
Still 2-1 Twins
Buxton led off the top of 6 with a walk but Polanco K’d swinging on another wicked yacker then Kirilloff GIDP’d (4-6-3) for the 2nd time to end the inning.
Twins RHP Sonny Gray’s Final Line: 5IP 5H 1R/ER 1BB 5K 1HR – in line for the Win 79 pitches (52 strikes)
Was he pulled too soon?* *Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
Former Padre RHP Emilio Pagán came in to pitch the 6th for the Twins and he got a weak comebacker that he got to but threw low to 1st for a 2-base throwing error that allowed Hosmer to get on and advance to 2nd. Voit K’d swinging (splitter). Mazara K’d swinging (fastball). Austin Nola BB’d but Grisham flew out to CF.
And…Still 2-1 Twins
Padres RHP Joe Musgrove’s Final Line: 6IP 4H 2R/ER 2BB 8K 1HR – in line for the Loss
“Who made these god-awful jerseys, Huh? WHO WAS IT?”
RHP Nabil Crismatt replaced Joe Musgrove and set the Twins down 1-2-3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Twins made a defensive adjustment replacing RF Alex Kirilloff with just-recalled OF Mark Contreras. RHP Trevor Megill also replaced Emilio Pagán to pitch the 7th and he got Kim to ground out to 3rd on a slow chopper that Jose Miranda had to charge to make a great play on. The very next pitch is the same play to short but San Diego 2B C.J. Abrams is one of the fastest runners in the league so Carlos Correa put everything on his throw and it sailed a little up the first baseline and off Luis Arraez’s glove to allow Abrams to advance to 2nd.
Jurickson Profar came to the plate with the Padres yet to have a hit with a runner on base (0-for-11, 0-for-6 with Runners In Scoring Position (RISP)) and he hit an 0-2 curveball that had a 103-mph exit velocity off the bat up the middle to the right of 2nd base but it was headed right for the 2nd base umpire Jerry Layne. He tried to get out of the way but it hit him in the left leg/knee so it was a dead ball and Abrams, who would’ve easily made it to 3rd had to go back due to the rule on a dead ball. Abrams would’ve easily scored had it not hit the umpire. Profar was visibly upset with Jerry Layne after the play as he was doing the palms up gesture wondering why he didn’t get out of the way of a ball that was coming at him that fast.
The Twins made a pitching change to RHP Griffin Jax and he struck out Manny Machado and got Eric Hosmer to pop up to short to get the Twins out of trouble and Jurickson Profar was doing a small clap as he waited on the field for his glove & hat, probably at the umpiring crew or one specific umpire. As they came back from the commercial, Profar & Jerry Layne were talking and it appeared they had smoothed things over.
To the top of the 8th…
San Diego LHP Adrian Morejon replaced Nabil Crismatt to pitch the 8th and he struck out Celestino. Luis Arraez singled to right field. Carlos Correa was at the plate and A.J. Pierzynski said he was a pitch away from the golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts in a game and, on the very next pitch, Carlos Correa launched his 13th HR of the season to center field to triple the lead to 4-1! BOOM! 4 bases is much better than 4 strikeouts!
Byron Buxton then singled to left field on a sharp line drive. After ball 1 to Jorge Polanco, Padres C Austin Nola went out to talk to his pitcher. He then threw ball 2 and as he threw ball 3, Byron Buxton stole 2nd off the young pitcher. Polanco walked. Kyle Garlick was announced as a pinch-hitter for Mark Contreras so San Diego made a pitching change to RHP Dinelson Lamet. Garlick then hit into what should’ve been an inning-ending double play but young 2B C.J. Abrams may have rushed his throw from 2nd as it went in the dirt and 1B Eric Hosmer couldn’t scoop it so it got past him allowing Byron Buxton to score and Garlick to advance to 2nd.
Twins 3B Jose Miranda came to the plate and he took the first 2 pitches that were just barely strikes. He didn’t like the first call on the low curveball. He then fouled off a slider in the zone, took a fastball way low & outside for ball 1 and a slider way inside that he had to get out of the way of for ball 2 to make the count even. He fouled off a slider way outside and another one that was high then he got a fastball middle away and he laced it to right field for an RBI-single to make it 6-1.* *Check out the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on Jose Miranda.
The ability to foul off pitches to keep an at-bat alive is so valuable. It allowed Miranda to see more pitches until he got one he liked or, as Tim Laudner would say, “a pitch he can handle.”
Twins rookie phenom RHP Jhoan Duran entered the game to replace Griffin Jax and he had both Luke Voit and Nomar Mazara shaking their heads as they struck out looking before Austin Nola grounded out to 2nd.
The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th on a groundout, a flyout and a rocket of a lineout off Carlos Correa’s bat (111 mph.)
RHP Tyler Duffey replaced Duran and he got Grisham to ground out to 1st then walked Kim and followed that by hitting Abrams with a pitch. A mound visit must not have helped since he gave up a 3-run HR to Jurickson Profar to make it 7-4. He then struck out Machado and got Hoser to ground out on a comebacker to end the game. Just a reminder that the Twins still need some bullpen help.
Hitting Home Runs MN: Byron Buxton (26), Carlos Correa (13)
SD: Manny Machado (18), Jurickson Profar (10)
Doubles MN: Nick Gordon (12)
SD: Trent Grisham (13)
2-Out RBI MN (Inning): Jose Miranda(8th), Nick Gordon(8th)
SD (Inning): Manny Machado(3rd)
Other (Defense, Key Plays, etc…) MN: Sweet 6-4-3 DP in the 2nd (Correa, Polanco, Arraez) Arraez pick of Miranda throw to end the 2nd Umpire Jerry Layne getting hit by the ball in the 7th
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Game Notes
* Pitch Counts & When to Pull a Starting Pitcher
Fox broadcaster & former Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski criticized Twins manager Rocco Baldelli for taking out Sonny Gray after the 5th inning saying he was only at 70 pitches so why not try to sneak 3 more outs out of him since Rocco had said in their pregame interview/meeting that the bullpen was exhausted. He added, “This is how you wear out a bullpen.”
He was actually at 79 pitches and his average pitches per start was 78 before the start of the game. A.J. had added that Gray was in “control of the game” or something to that effect but Gray had allowed the leadoff batter to reach in his last 2 innings and, of the 14 balls put in play by the Padres off Sonny Gray, 9 of them had an exit velocity over 100 mph and the 3 in the 5th inning had exit velocities of 100.6, 101.4 & 107.0. He was losing velocity on his pitches and he was also right at his average for pitches per start of 78. He had only thrown more than 90 pitches just twice in his 14 starts before this start.
So… does Rocco deserve some criticism for pulling him? Maybe but, especially in a 1-run game, we need to know more about the situation than just the pitch count to understand the decisions the manager makes when going to his bullpen. For all we know, Sonny Gray was asked what he thought about trying to pitch another inning and he took himself out. We don’t know and speculation and/or second-guessing is very easy to do after the fact. It worked out very well tonight.
Also, when Rocco said his bullpen was exhausted, was he referring to right now or referring to why they’ve struggled this season. All 5 relievers that pitched in this game had not pitched since Tuesday or Wednesday.
In a 1-run game with your starting pitcher beginning to look tired and losing velocity while giving up rockets off the bat, it’s very understandable to go to the bullpen.
Plus, he may be expecting some new arms showing up in the next few days via the Trade Deadline.
** Sweet stories about Minnesota Twins Legends Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew & Tom Kelly from former Twin C A.J. Pierzynski
The Twins used to hold spring training in Orlando and A.J. had a bunch of balls signed by Oliva. He didn’t know who Tony-O was back then (1994). When he had signed & started his Twins career in the minors, his parents were moving so his mom had called and asked if he wanted these signed ⚾️s and he said the name in the middle of all of those ⚾️s was Tony Oliva.
He also said Tony Oliva was always at Spring Training and even in his mid-fifties, he would still take live batting practice and still hit home runs and he’d say to “watch the snake 🐍 pop” because there were woods behind the ballpark and when the ball would land the snakes would jump up.
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He mentioned Twins Harmon Killebrew as the nicest man you’d ever meet. He talked about the Minnesota Twins Caravans. They would take 4 Dodge Durangos and travel around Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa & Wisconsin to get out and meet Twins fans. It’d be some active Twins players and some Twins Legends. A.J. said they’d drive from place to place and “just listen to Harmon Killebrew tell stories.” How fun does that sound?
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Story about Tom Kelly teaching his pitchers what to do to hold runners on base. “If you can’t hold runners on, you can’t pitch for me.” A.J. said he’d teach them to say to themselves slowly before they threw a pitch:
“Hold the runner, bleep bleep!”
Insert your favorite profanities there! Haha!
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He also talked about David Ortiz not working out in Minnesota since he couldn’t/wouldn’t use all fields as a hitter so he was non-tendered then signed as a free agent by Boston 38 days later and they just allowed him to do what he did best and a week ago, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
At least his Twins career helped him get over 500 Home Runs, right?
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Next Up
At San Diego for the Rubber Game to see who wins the series as 3:10 pm on Bally Sports North:
The 2022 Minnesota Twins had a strange 1st half of the 2022 MLB season. They’re in 1st place in the American League Central Division but only have the 6th best record in the American League and they ended the 1st-half* by going 3-7 in their last 10 games. There were multiple reasons why their 1st half was up & down. *Actually more than half since the Minnesota Twins have already played 94 games this season.
Delayed from the Start
There is a dual meaning (or maybe more) to the season being delayed from the start. The season was delayed due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. That shortened Spring Training to just 20 days and pushed the start of the season back a week. It also added a week to the end of the season since they missed 2 weeks of the original start of the regular season.
Then, their home opener was postponed due to inclement weather. A day off was already built into the schedule the next day.* This very new Twins team started their journey to figuring out who they are since they were largely assembled less than a month and up to what would’ve been that first game of the season as they made a trade on April 7th when they sent LH reliever Taylor Rogers & OF/DH Brent Rooker to the San Diego Padres for RH starter Chris Paddack and RH reliever Emilio Pagán. All of those moves meant there were 13 new players on the 28-man roster** to start the season. *Was it good to have an extra day before starting the season? Probably not because it likely ended up just being a day off with no workout. Maybe a day of relative rest was a good thing. **It was a 28-man roster because the MLB wanted to allow clubs to be able to add 2 more pitchers due to such a short spring training.
Do you like rollercoasters?
A graph of the Twins schedule from baseball-reference.com. The height of the bar is the margin of victory. The breaks in the graphs are the changing of the months.
It was pretty up and down for the first half of the season and that has included the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
The Minnesota Twins started the season by losing 2 in a row at home by 1 run each, 2-1 & 4-3. The first game, they couldn’t get much going against one of the best pitchers in the league in Robbie Ray. They lost the 2nd game on a blown save in the 9th inning. They came back & won the next 2 games 10-4 behind 6 home runs and 4-0 behind 5 innings of 1-hit ball from RHP Dylan Bundy. The Dodgers then came to town for 2 games and destroyed all of those good feelings from the 2-game winning streak with a 2-game series sweep. A 2-4 record in the season-opening homestand but all but 1 of those games were winnable, one about 5 feet from a win.
On to the 1st road trip with 4 in Boston then 3 in KC. It started with an 8-4 win in Boston’s home opener with a great start from RHP Joe Ryan. They lost 2 in a row (4-0 & 8-1) then won 8-3 in the final game to gain a split but they lost the first 2 games in Kansas City (4-3, 2-0) but won 1-0 behind an 2nd consecutive great start by Joe Ryan. 5-8 after the first road trip of the season. Not great but it was early and there was still a lot to find out about this team.
They headed home for 6 against 2 division opponents in the Chicago White Sox & the Detroit Tigers and they ended up sweeping both series with some help from the Chicago defense, another great start from Dylan Bundy, one of the best moments of the season…
Pump this feeling into my veins… Every Damn Day! Bux-TON OF POWER!
On to Tampa Bay where Dylan Bundy got hit hard & only 3 hits for the offense for a 6-1 loss to start a 3-gamer but some Garlick and a brilliant start to Josh Winder’s career made it a series win. They then won the first 2 (of 4) in Baltimore but Bundy got hit hard for the 2nd consecutive start and young rookie phenom RHP Jhoan Duran gave up back-to-back HRs for a 4-game series split.
The Twins responded with a home series sweep of Oakland but were quickly humbled after getting the news that RHP Chris Paddack would need Tommy John surgery for the 2nd time in his career & SS Carlos Correa would go on the injured list (IL) with a right finger contusion so he wasn’t able to face his former team. They were swept by the Houston Astros in a 3-game series at Target Field, 5-0, 11-3 & 5-0.
The injuries were already starting to build up at that point, too:
That’s 3 pitchers from your starting rotation. The Twins have improved their depth with better prospects but how many teams can sustain injuries to 3 of the pitchers from their starting rotation?
The Minnesota Twins still responded by taking 2 of the next 3 against Cleveland at home then 2 of 3 in Oakland, sweeping 3 at KC, taking 2 of 3 in Detroit and splitting a 4-game series vs KC. That was May 29th. Their record was 29-20 and they had a 5-game lead in the division when they left to play 5 games in Detroit.* They won 1 of those 5 games thanks to LHP Devin Smeltzer who had a career stretch of starts that really helped the Twins get through a tough stretch. *5 Games? Yeah, and 5 games in 4 days so a double-header. This also happened a month later in Cleveland. Has there ever been 5-game series in the regular season before?
Unfortunately, they had to add RHPs Josh Winder (right shoulder impingement), Cody Stashak (right shoulder impingement-out for the season) & Joe Ryan (Covid) to the injure list and then they lost exciting prospect Royce Lewis to another season-ending torn knee ligament injury.
Despite all of that, the Twins still had an 18-12 record in the month of May.
Up & Down we go…in June
On to June and this rollercoaster was a little scary. Throughout the month, there were only 7 days where a game ended the same way as the previous game whether that be a loss or a win. They 2 in a row 3 times but won 2 in a row once & 3 in a row once. Highlights were road series wins over Toronto & Seattle and a home series win over Tampa Bay. The lowlights were a road series loss to Arizona and home & road series losses to Cleveland which included 5 games with blown saves and 2 walkoff wins to end the month but there were at least 7 blown saves and multiple games with multiple leads that didn’t last.
Strangely, during that 10-game stretch, the Twins were the only team Cleveland was beating and they shouldn’t have beat the Twins at all in the 7 games they played as the Twins had the lead late in every game. Maybe that’s why Cleveland went 7-10 on their way to the All-Star break.
Record Graph for July
July started off pretty well as they won 4 out of 5 before blowing a lead on the road against the Chicago White Sox then losing 2 of 3 in Texas. They split a 2-game series with Milwaukee at Target Field which included a great moment for rookie 3B Jose Miranda:
“Do you know Miranda?” You might wanna get to know him!
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins then lost 3 of 4 at home to division rival Chicago to give them hope/momentum/belief heading into the all-star break.
So…what does it all mean?
Well, it means nothing either way. No team or player should worry about or count on the past to decide their future. If you had to choose, you’d always choose to go into any break in the season on a roll than losing 7 of 10.
Maybe the break will do the Twins some good, though. They’ve played more games than any other American League team that’s above .500.
Get some rest. They’ve had a full 5 days of them. Well, most of them anyway:
Byron Buxton & Luis Arraez were 1st-time All-Stars but they should have at least 2 days off.
MLB Trade Deadline is in 8 Days
The 2022 MLB Trade Deadline is just 8 days away and the Twins have some needs and most of them are on the mound and in the later innings.
Could they use some starting pitching? Sure, but they have pieces there and maybe the main thing is just the rotation healthy. They probably need at least 2 relievers even though it’s been said that RHP Kenta Maeda could come back in September and if he does, it would probably be as a reliever. The “if” means it’s not something they can count on so it shouldn’t affect what they do at the deadline. LHP Jovani Moran could probably get some more use in higher-leverage situations
C Ryan Jeffers just went on the IL on July 15th with a right thumb fracture that required surgery that’s supposed to keep him out for 6-8 weeks. The Twins selected the contract of C Caleb Hamilton and it sounds like they’re going to count on him &/or the other catcher depth they have in the minors to fill in as the backup catcher but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them acquire a catcher at the deadline as they also can’t count on Jeffers being ready with the regular healing timeline because every player is different.
RHP Bailey Ober has been out since June 2nd and has only pitched 19 innings since initially being placed on the Injured List on April 30th.
Is Sonny Gray healthy again? He’s been placed on the IL twice in the past twice: April 17th (Low grade right hamstring strain) & June 2nd (Right pectoral strain). He was activated on June 15th:
6 starts since: 5.23 ERA and a 1.364 WHIP in 29.1 innings (18) and he was knocked around in his last 3 starts (9.45 ERA, 2.025 WHIP, 8K)
Before June 15th: 7 starts: 2.41 ERA and a 0.980 WHIP in 33.2 innings (39K)
RHP Josh Winder was just placed on the IL for the Saints with right shoulder impingement syndrome. Trade Rumors have Mr. Winder as part of a trade for RHP Luis Castillo (The Athletic) along with SS Spencer Steer & RHP Simeon Woods Richardson. Josh Winder has looked very good so far in his young career (4-2, 2.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 31.1IP, 23K). So good that you’d think the Twins would be fine with having him as part of the rotation, especially with 5 more years of control.
He’s an impending free agent so should the price tag be that high for 2-3 months?
The Bullpen: Who can the Twins count on in the bullpen? RHP Jhoan Duran, RHP Griffin Jax & RHP Tyler Duffey? Duffey added a changeup back into his repertoire and since he’s done that, he’s looked like his old dominant self
He’s had the most struggles and they’ve been in the biggest situations so everyone sees it and thinks can’t pitch in those situations anymore. He’s missing his spots &/or throwing too many mistake pitches so does it come down to mechanics? Or maybe the better question is can it be fixed with mechanics? You know that pitching staff and Emilio will work on it so we’ll see how he does in the next week but even if he doesn’t allow any hits or walks over 5 appearances, it still might not be enough for the Front Office to not go get some help for the back end of their bullpen.
What about the Sano?
1B/DH Miguel Sanó: Today marks the last day the Big Guy can be on a rehab assignment and he started for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints tonight. He had 3 hits including a 2-R HR. He also had an error in the bottom of the 9th that ended up coming around to be the game-winning run in a walkoff.
He’s also hitting .348/.423/.826 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs with 3 walks and 10 strikeouts in 7 games with the Saints. He also played 5 games for the Twins Gulf Coast League (Rookie) team and hit .313/.421/.750 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 1 double, 2 home runs with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.
So… what will they do with him? Does a player currently on the roster come up with an injury so they can activate Sanó? Gilberto Celestino, maybe? They might be able to move LHP Danny Coulombe to the 60-Day Injured List (IL) since he’s been on the 15-Day IL since May 28th (56 days ago) and his Expected Return is still listed as TBD.
LHP Caleb Thielbar was placed on the 15-Day IL today and RHP Yennier Cano was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul so if he (or another reliever) was used tonight, they could option him back down to make a spot, too. That’s highly doubtful because that would put the Twins down to just 12 pitchers but they are planning on going with a 4-man starting rotation because they have 4 days off in the next 3 weeks.
Sanó struggled this season from the start. He’s currently hitting just .093/.231/.148 with 1 XBH (HR), 3 RBI, 9 walks & 21 strikeouts in 17 games (54 at-bats) so maybe the time off has been a good thing as it may have given him time to figure out his mechanics and get some confidence back.
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Other Notes
* This Is Byron’s Team
The Twins Front Office made a huge change on the field and in the clubhouse with all of the trades & signings. Were they making this Byron Buxton’s team? They just signed Bux to a huge extension and they also moved big personalities &/or leaders from the clubhouse in C Mitch Garver, 3B Josh Donaldson and Taylor Rogers (who was the Twins player representative for league-related business). Add that to them removing Nelson Cruz and José Berríos in 2021 and that’s a lot of change to a team’s clubhouse. You can probably even add Eddie Rosario to that list, too, and what did he do last season? That’s right. He won a World Series.
Were all of those moves done for that reason alone? It’s hard to say but when you have a season like the Twins did in 2021, change is needed and maybe a leadership/core change was the result. Byron has turned into a leader on & off the field. It’s easy to see the on the field things he does to lead this team.
Off the field leadership is a lot harder to see, though. New Twins shortstop, and a player who has helped lead his team to the promised land once already, Carlos Correa said “This is Byron Buxton’s team.” when he was asked if he was the leader of this team shortly before the season began.
** Will this team go for it? If yes, how hard?
A lot of people think they’ll trade or should trade Carlos Correa to get prospects? It’s hard to fathom someone not understanding what they are trying to do. Do they think they’re trying to be mediocre? Does any team try to do that?
They want to win. There’s no other reason to be in that industry. It’s not like going to a job you hate and you just do it because it’s paying the bills.
“Well, that’s what they’ve always done” is a usual argument but is it? Is this what they’ve always done? They’ve never signed a player the caliber of Josh Donaldson. Then they backed that up by signing the top free agent in the class with Carlos Correa.
They’ve built a very good farm system that they can use to get some needed pieces for a run at the playoffs and maybe more.
They’ve been good enough to lead the division at the half-way point and they haven’t been consistent or very good. Can they get better? We believe the answer to that question is yes but it doesn’t matter what we believe. It’s what they believe. They’ve beat very good teams and been in position to win a lot of games but have faltered. Will they learn from that and improve? We’ll have to wait and see.
They’re also not going to drastically mortgage the future to make a desperate run at a championship if they don’t see it as a possibility.
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The Minnesota Twins held a 1-game lead* over the Cleveland Guardians as they began a 3-game series at Target Field and they’ll also play each other 8 times in the next 9 days as they’ll play 5 in Cleveland starting next Monday including a day-night double-header on Tuesday, June 28th. *This is a little misleading because the Twins have played 6 more games than the Guardians.
Tonight’s starting pitchers are Minnesota Twins RHP Joe Ryan (5-3, 2.85 ERA, 1.021 WHIP) and Cleveland Guardians RHP Aaron Civale (2-3, 7.84 ERA, 1.516 WHIP). Joe Ryan is making his 2nd start after missing 15 days after being placed on the 10-Day Covid-related Injured List. He did make a rehab start on June 9th for the AAA St. Paul Saints where he threw 3 innings and allowed just 1 hit with no runs or walks and he struck out 4 but, in his first start back on a week ago, he struggled a little in the 4th & 5th innings as he allowed a 2-R HR in each in a 5-0 loss in Seattle. Hopefully, Joe Ryan will get back to being that top of the rotation-type pitcher we’ve since for the majority of his time in the majors.
*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched
Cleveland Guardians RHP Aaron Civale has struggled this season as evidenced by that high ERA & WHIP above & he actually went on the injured list the same day as Joe Ryan but*his injury was of the non-Covid variety as he had left glute tightness. He made 2 rehab starts in AAA (also sent on the rehab assignment at the same time as Joe Ryan) and was activated for tonight’s start. *Or Butt?
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Cleveland Guardians Lineup:
Game Recap
Here we go with 1st place in the American League Central Division on the line.
Cleveland started the game with back-to-back singles from LF Steven Kwan and SS Amed Rosario. Kwan hit a line-drive to center field while Rosario hit a soft floater off the end of the bat that just got over the leap from Twins 2B Luis Arraez. 3B José Ramírez then popped out to short right field. The infield fly rule was called but the ball wasn’t caught by Arraez and Rosario took off for 2nd thinking he had to run since the ball wasn’t caught so the Twins could’ve gotten a free out but Max Kepler didn’t see Rosario and threw to 3rd to keep the runner at 2nd. 1B Josh Naylor then grounded into a force out at 2nd which allowed Steven Kwan to advance to 3rd then RF Oscar Gonzalez got a nice 2-out RBI-double (10) to score Kwan and put the Guardians up 1-0. DH Franmil Reyes then struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Twins got a 2-out double off the bat of SS Carlos Correa but he was left on base when RF Max Kepler grounded out to 1st to end the 1st inning. 1-0 Cleveland
Twins starting RHP Joe Ryan set down the Guardians 1-2-3 (flyout, groundout, swinging strikeout) in the 2nd. The Twins got another 2-out hit with an Alex Kirilloff single on a line-drive to right field but Guardians starting RHP Aaron Civale finished the inning with a swinging strikeout of LF Gilberto Celestino as he struck out the side.
Steven Kwan led off the top of the 3rd with a single to center field again but he was picked off and caught stealing for the 1st out. Joe Ryan then struck out swinging on a foul tip but allowed a José Ramírez hustle-double (21) to center field and Josh Naylor followed that with a 2-run HR to right field to add to the Cleveland lead. 3-0 Cleveland
The Twins were set down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 3rd.
Joe Ryan allowed a 1-out single and a 2-out walk before getting Steven Kwan to line out to left field to end the top of 4. The Twins got a 1-out single from Max Kepler followed by a 7-pitch walk from Gary Sánchez. 3B Gio Urshela struck out swinging for the 2nd out but 1B Alex Kirilloff got his 2nd hit of the game when he hit a line-drive double to right center field that scored both Kepler & Sánchez to bring the Twins within a run at 3-2.
The Guardians were set down 1-2-3 in the 5th while the Twins got a 1-out double(8) off the bat of 2B Luis Arraez that nearly left the yard* but he was left on base after CF Byron Buxton struck out and Carlos Correa flew out to right field to end the 5th inning with the score still 3-2 Cleveland *Highlight of this at 4:12 of the condensed game highlights at the end of the recap.
Joe Ryan struck out the side in the 6th and Cleveland went to their bullpen to get RHP Enyel De Los Santos and he struck out both Max Kepler & Gary Sánchez swinging then got Gio Urshela to ground out to short.
Cleveland RHP Aaron Civale’s Final Pitching Line: 5IP 5H 2R/ER 1BB 7K – No Decision
Joe Ryan did not come out for the 7th as Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen to bring in RHP Jharel Cotton. He struck the 1st 2 batters he faced then allowed a Steven Kwan single before getting Amed Rosario to flyout to left field.
Minnesota RHP Joe Ryan’s Final Pitching Line: 6IP 7H 3R/ER 1BB 7K – No Decision
Alex Kirilloff led off the bottom of the 7th for the Twins and he was called out on strikes on a pitch that definitely looked to be low*: *Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
Pitch #8 sure looks like it misses the zone by quite a bit, huh?
Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach pinch-hit for Gilberto Celestino and drew a 4-pitch walk so Cleveland brought in RHP Eli Morgan and Twins C Ryan Jeffers hit the first pitch he saw to the wall in left field and the Twins had runners on 2nd & 3rd with just one out and Luis Arraez coming to the plate.
Arraez took a high first-pitch fastball for a ball then fouled off another fastball that was at the top right of the zone. The pitcher thought he’d try to sneak a change-up past Luis Arraez but he missed his spot and this time, the ball just barely left the yard and… Just Like That… the Twins turned a 1-run deficit into a 2-run lead! 5-3 Minnesota
Larnach stayed in the game, playing left field and Rocco brought in RHP Emilio Pagán from the bullpen to pitch the 8th inning. He allowed a 1-out single to Josh Naylor then got Gonzalez to right field for the 2nd out to face DH Franmil Reyes who had struck out in his 1st 3 at-bats. Pagán threw nothing but cutters to him but the 6th one he left up and it landed over the center field wall to tie the game at 5.
The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th with two groundouts sandwiched around a flyout against Cleveland RHP Bryan Shaw.
The Twins brought in fireballer RHP Jhoan Duran to pitch the 9th. He struck out the first batter he faced then allowed a 2-out single before getting Rosario to groundout to 2nd to end the inning.
Twins OF Kyle Garlick pinch-hit for Alex Kirilloff to face Minnesota native LHP Sam Hentges and he got an infield hit to lead off the bottom of the 9th and was immediately pinch-run for by UTIL Nick Gordon. Jose Miranda pinch-hit for Trevor Larnach but flew out to center field for the 1st out. Nick Gordon then was caught stealing for the 2nd out. Ryan Jeffers singled but Luis Arraez grounded out to 2nd to send this game to Extra Innings!
Nick Gordon & Jose Miranda remained in the game playing left field and 1st base, respectively. Twins RHP Jhoan Duran also remained in the game to pitch the 10th and Guardians SS Amed Rosario started the inning at 2nd base. Duran got José Ramírez to ground out then walked Josh Naylor intentionally after starting the plate appearance with 2 straight curveballs in the dirt. Owen Miller pinch-ran for Naylor. Duran got out of the inning by getting Oscar Gonzalez to ground into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
The Guardians Owen Miller remained in the game playing 1st base & RHP Trevor Stephan was brought in to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Arraez started the inning at 2nd base. Byron Buxton walked on 5 pitches but Carlos Correa, Max Kepler & Gary Sánchez all struck out swinging to send it to an 11th inning.
The Twins brought in RHP Griffin Jax to pitch the 11th. Oscar Gonzalez began the inning as the runner at 2nd base. Jax struck out Franmil Reyes looking but Andrés Giménez hit a line-drive to center field for an RBI-single to put the Guardians up 6-5. Jax then walked Luke Maile but struck out Myles Straw looking and got Steven Kwan to ground out to 3rd to end the top of the 11th.
Cleveland brought in RHP Emmanuel Clase for the save. Gary Sánchez began the inning as the runner at 2nd base. Gio Urshela struck out swinging. Nick Gordon grounded out to 1st. Jose Miranda swung and hit the first pitch. It sounded good off the bat and left field Steven Kwan was going back towards the wall and he caught it to end the game as it was about 3 feet short of being a walk-off home run. OHHH!!!
Doubles MN: Carlos Correa(12), Alex Kirilloff(3), Luis Arraez(8), Ryan Jeffers(7)
CLE: Oscar Gonzalez(10), José Ramírez(21)
2-Out RBI MN (Inning): Alex Kirilloff 2(4th)
CLE: Oscar Gonzalez(1st), Josh Naylor 2(3rd), Franmil Reyes 2(8th)
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Game Notes: * The Called Low Strike
How does the home plate ump call the low strike like the one above on Twins 1B Alex Kirilloff? Can he even see it?
It looks like his angle is terrible to try to judge where a low pitch would be.
I couldn’t find many great pictures but I did find a lot of information so we’ll have to get back to you on this one.
** Extra Innings Rules, the Ghost Runner & the Pitcher Loss
It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to tell that fans don’t like the Ghost Runner rule for extra innings. Yes, the rule was put in to help preserve the health of the players or, more to the point, pitchers so games wouldn’t go on & on.
If it’s a “ghost runner,” meaning they are just placed on 2nd base to begin the inning, then that runner shouldn’t result in stats for anything surrounding him for either team. It shouldn’t count as a run scored, an RBI, a run against the opposing pitcher or a win or a loss for either pitcher. It should just be a team win, run, RBI, etc…
Twins RHP Griffin Jax is given a run against and a loss even though he allowed just a single and a walk in the 1 inning he pitched. Cleveland relievers Trevor Stephan was given the win and Emmanuel Clase was given a save, too.
*** Pitching Pipeline
The Cleveland Guardians just keep developing pitching. They’ve been doing it for years, probably decades. This is where Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey came from and a major reason why the Twins wanted him to lead their organization when they hired him in October of 2016.
Have Minnesota Twins fans ever seen anything like this before? I can’t think of a time where they had prospects coming on the mound like they do right now. Will it get better? Yes. It should. This is just the beginning. More is coming…
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Next Up:
Game 2: 6:40pm on Bally Sports North
RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.09 ERA, 0.93 WHIP*)
vs
RHP Triston McKenzie (4-5, 2.96 ERA, 0.93 WHIP) *ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched
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