Article: MIN 5, LAA 3: Twins Outlast Angels in Gutsy Victory

[Tom Froemming]

Just like last night, Eddie Rosario made things happen and Mitch Garver delivered a big RBI. The Twins beat the Angels in 12 innings behind a quality start from Kyle Gibson and a gutsy performance by the bullpen.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)Download attachment: Snapshot512.png Download attachment: WinEx512.png

 

The Twins offense was great in the third inning. Logan Morrison led things off with a walk, Ehire Adrianza singled, Byron Buxton hit an RBI double, Joe Mauer hit an RBI single and Brian Dozier added a sac fly to put the Twins up 3-0.

 

From there forward, the bats were incredibly quiet, allowing the Angels to get back in the game. In the 12th inning Rosario reached on an infield single and Garver pulled a double down the left field line that scored Rosie all the way from first base, putting the Twins up. Mitch scored from second on a Gregorio Petit single to provide an insurance run.

 

Gibson has continued his upswing. He gave up just three hits over his six innings of work and struck out six batters. This was his eighth start of the year and the fifth time he’s given up two earned runs or fewer.

 

Gibby’s slider was particularly effective. He got nine swinging strikes on the 20 times he offered up that pitch and zero balls were put in play off the slider per Baseball Savant.

 

Gibson exited the game with a 3-2 lead, but Ryan Pressly gave up a run in his inning of work. After giving up just one earned run over 13 appearances in April, this was Pressly’s third run given up already in his sixth game this May.

 

Addison Reed worked a scoreless inning in both the eighth and ninth. He hadn’t pitched the previous five days. Zach Duke walked the leadoff man in the 10th, but luckily he ain’t afraid of no ghosts. That walk did not haunt, as Duke worked a scoreless inning.

 

Trevor Hildenberger took over in the 11th and hit a batter on his first pitch, bringing Mike Trout to the plate. Gulp. Hildy got him to hit into a fielder’s choice, but Trout ended up stealing second base. Justin Upton flew out to right field, allowing Trout to tag up and advanced to third.

 

With two outs and a runner on third, the Twins intentionally walked both Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons, bringing up Jefry Marte. The move put a ton of pressure on Hildenberger, but he came up big, inducing an inning-ending ground out. Phew.

 

Fernando Rodney: Also not afraid of ghosts. Rodney walked the leadoff man in the 12th but ended up working a clean inning for his seventh save of the season.

Other odds & ends: Garver was charged with a passed ball in the inning LA tied the game. Rosario stole second in the ninth … but overslid the bag and was tagged out to end the inning. The no-doubles defense saved the Twins from being walked off in the bottom of the ninth. Mauer swung at a 3-0 pitch (and grounded out). The Twins walked Trout in four of his six plate appearances.

 

Postgame With Garver

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen512.png

 

Next Three Games

Sun at LAA, 3:07 pm CT

Mon vs. SEA, 6:10 pm CT

Tue vs. STL, 7:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

MIN 5, LAA 4: Rally Rosie

LAA 7, MIN 4: What’s Up With Berrios?

MIN 7, STL 1: Five Alive

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Minor League Report (5/12): Trevor May Returns

 

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[jokin]

 

Twins Outlast Angels in Gusty Victory

 

 

Beware of foul winds to all who oppose the Soul-Haunting, Win-Stealing Twins as the Midnight Hour is upon you!

Edited May 13, 2018 by jokin

[yarnivek1972]

13 appearances in April. Out of 24 games.

 

6 games already in May. Out of 11.

 

Gee, wonder why he’s struggling.

[Nine of twelve]

13 appearances in April. Out of 24 games.

 

6 games already in May. Out of 11.

 

Gee, wonder why he’s struggling.

Just to clarify, it's Pressly you are referencing.

[Nine of twelve]

It was easy to see ghosts of 2016 during the team's recent losing streak, but going 7-2 on this road trip has been very encouraging, especially going 4-1 vs St. Louis and LA. Almost all teams go through funks. I'm not the first to remind us that last year's Dodgers team lost 16 of 17 during August and September. Granted, that team was a steamroller otherwise, going 103-42 in their other games. The point is that this team has the potential to do very well the rest of the way, especially considering Buxton has not yet rounded back into form, Sano has been out and Polanco will be available for the second half of the regular season.

[h2oface]

"Garver was charged with a passed ball the inning LA tied the game."

 

This one didn't hurt the outcome, thankfully, as after striking out Cozart on that at bat, Pressly walked Trout (albeit the 2nd pitch was really a high strike that was miscalled) on 4 pitches, and Calhoun would have then been on second to be driven in by Upton's single, anyway. 

[Old Twins Cap]

Twins winning when not hitting particularly well, not pitching particularly well, and not playing defense particularly well.

 

Dominated in St. Louis, but Angels' series has been about good fortune.

 

Which we'll take.

 

Back to .500 in a hurry.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Beware of foul winds to all who oppose the Soul-Haunting, Win-Stealing Twins as the Midnight Hour is upon you!

Fixed.

 

I was wondering what kind of things would happen if I stayed up past 1 am three nights in a row. I also scheduled some stuff on social media that said the game went 11 innings. D'oh.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

”Trevor Hildenberger made an appearance for the third straight game, tell me about his performance”

 

Garver: “Gusty.... he was blowing them away”

[TFRazor]

Anybody else excited that it’s Garver who’s come through with the big hits the last two nights?

[terrydactyls]

Garver's swing on his game winning double made e think of Harmon Killebrew.

[jorgenswest]

Anybody else excited that it’s Garver who’s come through with the big hits the last two nights?

He had to be relieved. The high fastball he missed that allowed the runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd and leading to the fielders choice run from 3rd and the the ball he missed later leading to the third run kept the Angels in the game led to 2 runs. Those are plays most major league catchers makes. Yesterday he didn’t need to make either but making one of them would have prevented extra innings.

[Circus Boy]

Buxton is such a disrupter on the basepaths and a game-saver in the field. That frustrates opponents mightily and lifts his teammates, the consequence being we win  close games more often. Buck's in the other team's heads so much, MLB wants to make him pay rent.

[highlander]

Those walks will come back to bite you.

[mikelink45]

Don't we have a pitching coach and a bench coach?  When Molitor overuses a bullpen pitcher shouldn't one of these men earn their pay and tell him to use a different pitcher. I think Hildenberg is recovering from that overuse last year.  Now Pressly is the favorite.  With Hughes a nonfactor it does limit the bullpen options. 

[Mill1634]

Need a 6+ inning start from Romero today with hildy, Duke, and Rodney throwing the last 2 days, and pressly and duke throwing a high number of pitches yesterday. Great win. However, bats have to stop disappearing for multiple innings at a time.

[Dantes929]

 

Twins winning when not hitting particularly well, not pitching particularly well, and not playing defense particularly well.

 

Dominated in St. Louis, but Angels' series has been about good fortune.

 

Which we'll take.

 

Back to .500 in a hurry.

Quite a few of the losses in the losing streak felt like bad fortune.      Doesn't necessarily even out and the fortunes of a team like the Twins often depend on more of those things going our way rather than against.   Really excited about today's matchup.   Hopefully it lives up to billing.

[USAFChief]

In the old “you’ll win X games, lose Y games, and it’s the other Z games that make the difference,” saw, last night was definitely in the Z category.

 

Nice win.

 

Garver is bad behind the plate, but he’s sure had a knack for big hits so far.

[adorduan]

Basically a quarter of the way through the season, who knew Kyle Gibson would be our best starter?

[DocBauer]

Second night in a row I fell asleep before it was over. Am I becoming a good luck charm? Maybe I need an afternoon nap today.

 

Only thing that stinks is Gibson can't seem to buy a win no matter how well he pitches.

[rdehring]

Although Gibson was effective last night, looing at the results, I didn't think he was pitching well earlier in the game.  At one point, he had thrown 52 pitches with only 26 strikes...50%.  Was constantly missing the strike zone and sure felt like he was struggling.  Great seeing him get thru 6 innings and allowing only a couple of runs.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Don't we have a pitching coach and a bench coach? When Molitor overuses a bullpen pitcher shouldn't one of these men earn their pay and tell him to use a different pitcher. I think Hildenberg is recovering from that overuse last year. Now Pressly is the favorite. With Hughes a nonfactor it does limit the bullpen options.

really need the bats to come alive early. Put up about 10 runs early so Molly can hand it over to Hughes with an 8 run lead and watch it dwindle through 3 innings

[djvang]

Garver got another big hit but he seems to give up a run per game with his awful catching.

[Shaitan]

 

Don't we have a pitching coach and a bench coach?  When Molitor overuses a bullpen pitcher shouldn't one of these men earn their pay and tell him to use a different pitcher. I think Hildenberg is recovering from that overuse last year.  Now Pressly is the favorite.  With Hughes a nonfactor it does limit the bullpen options. 

That doesn't mean he listens to them. He still holds rank (and, to add to the intrigue, it's possible those coaches were hired by the front office).

[Blake]

 

Although Gibson was effective last night, looing at the results, I didn't think he was pitching well earlier in the game.  At one point, he had thrown 52 pitches with only 26 strikes...50%.  Was constantly missing the strike zone and sure felt like he was struggling.  Great seeing him get thru 6 innings and allowing only a couple of runs.

I think Gibson was doing what he had to survive the Angels lineup. That lineup is potent and for Gibson to keep the Angels in check, especially after keeping the Yankees lineup in check tells me my guarded optimism starting the year wasn't unwarranted.

[Kelly Vance]

Happy for Garver, who showed two games innarow that he can play. Twins may still be open to a new catcher, but I think he holds the fort for now.

Rosario is money, He just makes things happen. And he is having a great year already.

Another good outing for Gibson, who seems to have maintained what was working for him last year.  Maybe his light bulb has finally clicked on. 

A lot being made today about Trout’s nice slide on that play at third. That’s ok. Sliding is almost a lost art. I am glad to see that part of the game get airplay.  Trout made a nice slide, no doubt. He earned the base. But if Eddie had been at the base instead of six feet off, Rosie woulda thrown there. And the throw would have beaten Trout by a mile. Eduardo would probably admit that after seeing film. But mental errors don’t count as errors.

Did anyone else get a kick out of Buxton’s hat flipping so high in the air?

[h2oface]

Gibson gets respect, somewhat grudgingly. Good for Gibson. Good for the Twins. I like home grown products, and cheer for them the most. Rentals and tourists stopping by, not so much.