Article: Twins 4, Red Sox 1: Mejia Shines, Kepler Powers Twins To Fenway Win

[Seth Stohs]

After losing the first two games of this four-game series in Boston, the Twins really needed to play well on Wednesday night if only to get the taste from an ugly Tuesday night loss out of their mouth. As always, it starts with pitching. Maybe he was helped by being given a first-inning lead, but Adalberto Mejia got the job done. He threw 5.2 scoreless innings. The bullpen came through in a big way too, and Max Kepler added a blast as the Twins found a way to come back from a rough one to get the win.The Twins took the lead in the first inning when they scored two runs, all with two outs. Joe Mauer doubled. It was followed by a double by Miguel Sano. Next up, Max Kepler dropped a well-placed hit into the outfield grass to score Sano and give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

 

Joe Mauer, who had two hits and a couple of great defensive plays, said that getting early runs was important and Adalberto Mejia was terrific.

 

 

 

As he had in his previous outing, Mejia found a way to get out of some tough situations. A couple of times, two runners were on with less than two outs, and Mejia got an infield pop up or a strikeout.

 

In the top of the sixth with Miguel Sano on base, Max Kepler crushed a ball into the right field seats. Crushed is probably the right word. The exit velocity, per Baseball Savant, was hit at 108 mph at just a 17-degree angle and yet it still traveled 409 feet.

 

[Han Joelo]

Great wrap up. Thanks for doing this.

[HitInAPinch]

Nice to see Mejia have a better game.  You can definitely call it a better game when he worked his way out of jams.  Wasn't that long ago that he'd fall apart.  Still needs work, but still trending up.  I'll take that!

 

Really, really need legitimate bullpen help.  Can't keep running Duffey, Rogers and Kintzler out there every game.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Free Curtiss.

[adjacent]

 

Nice to see Mejia have a better game.  You can definitely call it a better game when he worked his way out of jams.  Wasn't that long ago that he'd fall apart.  Still needs work, but still trending up.  I'll take that!

 

Really, really need legitimate bullpen help.  Can't keep running Duffey, Rogers and Kintzler out there every game.

I would say it needs help for sure, but with the addition of Busenits, Hiledenbrger and Boshiers it looks better. Now it is a question of 1 or 2 more arms.

[ThejacKmp]

 

I would say it needs help for sure, but with the addition of Busenits, Hiledenbrger and Boshiers it looks better. Now it is a question of 1 or 2 more arms.

Call me crazy but I'm excited for the Phil Hughes era in the pen. I don't think he's going to jump in as a late inning setup guy but I think he'll bring a nice arm to the middle innings and it's not crazy if he turns into a quality setup man in the next few years if he can get a bit more velocity pitching in shorter stints.

[ThejacKmp]

And Mauer had some really nice plays at 1B. I know he's not worth $23 million but I'm loving this resurgent season. That scoop yesterday was huge and he did an excellent job getting back to the bag after diving, something that's way harder than it looks.

 

And in other fun news, Mauer and Eric Hosmer are the only two qualified first basemen with no errors. Let's see Hosmer make an error this weekend. At a really important time.

[Tommygun921]

Interesting to see how he changed speeds and maintained a similar release point. Thanks for the information.

[Seth Stohs]

 

And Mauer had some really nice plays at 1B. I know he's not worth $23 million but I'm loving this resurgent season. That scoop yesterday was huge and he did an excellent job getting back to the bag after diving, something that's way harder than it looks.

 

And in other fun news, Mauer and Eric Hosmer are the only two qualified first basemen with no errors. Let's see Hosmer make an error this weekend. At a really important time.

 

Mauer definitely deserves a Gold Glove. I don't know what or who the competition is. Mitch Moreland won last year, but Mauer has been remarkable.  And you're right... that diving attempt, get up, get back to the bag, and no-look catch the toss from Dozier while finding the base is so hard. His other play, the one where Mejia didn't get to the bag on time, was incredible too. Too bad they didn't get an out on it because that was web gem worthy too. and yes, that scoop on the Polanco throw was great. That's a recurring theme, Mauer scooping Polanco throws. He's saved him a lot of errors this year. 

[twinssouth]

Taylor Rogers is doing a fantastic job. What a year he's having.

[Circus Boy]

 

Mauer definitely deserves a Gold Glove. I don't know what or who the competition is. Mitch Moreland won last year, but Mauer has been remarkable.  And you're right... that diving attempt, get up, get back to the bag, and no-look catch the toss from Dozier while finding the base is so hard. His other play, the one where Mejia didn't get to the bag on time, was incredible too. Too bad they didn't get an out on it because that was web gem worthy too. and yes, that scoop on the Polanco throw was great. That's a recurring theme, Mauer scooping Polanco throws. He's saved him a lot of errors this year. 

And on the offensive side, gotta like his stinging two-out gapper and later avoiding injury to the pitcher and himself on his swinging bunt. The guy's a great athlete.

[Willihammer]

Watching the condensed game this morning, Mejia didn't cover first base TWICE on grounders to the right side. Basic stuff. Lucky for him, Mauer+instant replay bailed him out the 2nd time.

[jmlease1]

Meija does have a future, but he needs to get deeper into games. It's driving me nuts to look at his pitch count in the 3rd or 4th inning and always think "no way does he get through 6". (and it's even worse with Jack "Grumpy Old Man" Morris on color, bitching about how they didn't need pitch counts back in the day and oblique strains are just a made up injury for modern times because the players just aren't what they used to be)

 

Mauer's defense really has turned into something pretty remarkable. He's making athletic plays, smart decisions, and is just so consistent over there in receiving the ball. It's got to make it easier on Sano, Polanco, Escobar, and Dozier fielding the ball knowing that Mauer is there for them if they can just get the ball over.

[PDX Twin]

The emergence of Polanco and the growing promise of Mejia makes the Nunez trade look pretty good. Trade a proven veteran who is redundant due to a rising star (with other rising stars behind him in this case) for someone young who might become useful.

 

It kind of reminds me of another trade with the Giants that turned out pretty well for the Twins. Come to think of it, maybe we should only trade with the Giants (and never with the Nationals).

[Tommygun921]

Definitely no more trades with the Nat's or O's.

[bluechipper]

Really impressed with Mejia. He was at about 89-91 in the first few innings, but was throwing 93-94 in the 5th and 6th innings. He was also able to throw a strike when he needed to for the most part in this one.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Taylor Rogers is doing a fantastic job. What a year he's having.

 

Yeah, I've been saying they should make him a reliever for the past two years but that was more because I thought he'd never make it as a starter, not because I thought he'd be anything more than a second or third lefty depth option. He's been excellent - probably the reliever I believe in the most? I love when he gets to a three ball two strike count, he's not afraid to flash a devastating curve.