Article: SEA 3, MIN 1: Worst Birthday Ever

[Tom Froemming]

It was Jose Berrios’ 24th birthday and all his teammates could get him was one stinkin’ run. He exited this game in the eighth inning with the scored tied at 1-1. The bullpen allowed Seattle to take the lead.

 

They better have gotten him a really, really nice card.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 21-27

Jose Berrios: 62 Game Score, 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 67.9% strikes

Bullpen: 0.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB

Lineup: 0-for-6 w/RISP, 2 LOB

Top three per WPA: Berrios .306, Pressly .056, Rosario .055,

Download attachment: WinEx527.png

Berrios has now gone at least seven innings and given up two runs or fewer in three-straight starts. He leaned heavily on his curveball, going to it on 32 of his 106 pitches on the afternoon. He got 11 of his 17 swinging strikes on the curve and the M’s only put that pitch in play four times.

 

The Twins got out to an early lead when Eddie Rosario scored all the way from first on an Eduardo Escobar double in the second inning. Rosie made a great read off the bat and made an outstanding slide to avoid the tag at the plate.

 

Berrios gave up a solo homer to Kyle Seager in the fourth inning to tie it up. He opened the eighth by giving up a single and then a walk, with a caught stealing in between.

 

Ryan Pressly came in and struck out Nelson Cruz for the second out. Zach Duke came in to face Seager, a lefty, but gave up a hit. Addison Reed entered with two outs and runners on first and second. He gave up a two-run double to the first batter he faced.

 

Mike Leake, who entered the day with a 5.46 ERA, held the Twins to four hits over eight innings. He only needed 86 pitches to get that far. Alex Colome handled the ninth for his first save with Seattle.

 

Rosario got two of the Twins’ four hits on the day. Miguel Sano was 1-for-4 with a double. The Twins were putting the ball in play all game, they only struck out twice, but there just weren’t many hard-hit balls.

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen527.png

 

Next Three Games

Mon at KC, 6:15 pm CT

Tue at KC, 7:15 pm CT

Wed at KC, 7:15 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again

SEA 2, MIN 1: Paxton Outduels Romero

DET 4, MIN 1: Niko’s Revenge

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Trade Phil Hughes, Draft Pick to San Diego

2018 MLB Draft Top 50 Prospects: 11-20

 

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[bighat]

Great pitching again by the Twins. That's all I can muster.

[h2oface]

Zach Duke and Addison Reed have strange ideas of a birthday present. Duke given a single left handed batter to get out, with two outs, and gives up a single. In comes Reed now with runners on 1st and second.... righty on righty, and in two pitches virtually in the same place, middle up in the zone..... the two out double scores both Berrios' walk and Duke's single. The speedy outfield playing shallow and a single turns into the double. Reed really got no one out (a double and a single in 3 4 seam fastballs in the middle of the zone)...... as Buxton gets really lucky and gets an outfield assist on a horrible throw home. There goes the ballgame, because the vaunted offense makes Leake look like a Cy Young candidate after he has been blasted by other teams for the first two months of the year.

 

I'll say it for Berrios. Thanks a lot pen. 

 

How is our new hitting coach looking for you?

 

 

Edited May 27, 2018 by h2oface

[Danchat]

Another great start wasted by the non-existent offense. We need to get Adrianza and Wilson out of the lineup and figure out Buxton. Dozier needs to get on a hot streak or he's going to be flipped in July for a low-upside prospect. 

 

But I have to respect Rosario for continuing his slugging. Unlike many here and elsewhere thought, he's stood up to his 2017 season and continued to produce.

[mikelink45]

Minor point I suspect, but with Pressly pitching the way he has - why would you warm him up and then let him pitch to just one batter?  

[Broker]

So I won't complain about the lack of Twins offense. Plenty of other people can do that. I will bring up a pet peeve of mine though.

I get really sick and tired of people personalizing the anthem and "God Bless America" Those tunes are just fine the way they are written. I don't like the singer showing off his or her vocal range. That and the extra vibrato just drive me nuts. It really bothers me.

I suppose if the Twins had an offense it wouldn't bother me so much because I would have something good to pay attention to.

[gunnarthor]

Ugh. Not sure what to do at this point but something should be done. This season is going to fall apart soon, if it hasn't already.

[D.C Twins]

Still seems that having Gordon up since Polanco went out would have been at least a win (gain experience) or even more likely a win/win (hit better than the alternative) 

 

As for the argument that he needs to work more on defense....yes BUT I seem to remember that there were more than a few similar threads about Polanco just 1+ year ago.... 

 

(yep, I'm going to keep bringing this up, until he's up....or until it becomes feasible to win consistently when scoring 3 or less runs a game) 

[Old Twins Cap]

Pressly is your best reliever. I use him to get out of that inning, instead of playing lefty vs lefty with Duke.

 

Reed, I don't know, looks like he can pitch, but if I go back and add up all the times he has given up key hits in losses, it makes the 2-year contract feel like a burden.

 

But, big thing is: no offense. No one can drive the ball, not Dozier, not anyone batting below Rosario, Kepler and Escobar.

 

Sad to watch the Twins' season drift away like this, but, at least we've got young pitching now.

[bighat]

 

So I won't complain about the lack of Twins offense. Plenty of other people can do that. I will bring up a pet peeve of mine though.

I get really sick and tired of people personalizing the anthem and "God Bless America" Those tunes are just fine the way they are written. I don't like the singer showing off his or her vocal range. That and the extra vibrato just drive me nuts. It really bothers me.

I suppose if the Twins had an offense it wouldn't bother me so much because I would have something good to pay attention to.

 

Agreed, this is the kind of stuff that sticks in your craw when things are going poorly. I got another example: I was watching the game Saturday night on MLB.TV. I hadn't seen Friday's game, and MLB.TV doesn't include any pregame stuff. So when the teams marched out with these weird uniforms, I was immediately curious. Dick didn't say anything, Bert didn't say anything, and I was waiting for anyone to explain to me why the heck they were all dressed like that. I gave up, and eventually just assumed it was some kind of military tribute re: Memorial Day. I was irrationally angry about the whole situation, all because the Twins can't hit and in the process of getting swept.

[Vanimal46]

Sigh... I'm getting really tired of opposing pitchers looking like a combination of Chris Sale and Justin Verlander every time they play the Twins...

[Vanimal46]

Ugh. Not sure what to do at this point but something should be done. This season is going to fall apart soon, if it hasn't already.

That's the frustrating thing too... There's not much they can do other than wait and hope for players to turn it around. I guess they could send away good prospects for a C. Most every other move they could make is making the team worse, or selling low.

[Kelly Vance]

I was at both Fridays and Sunday's games.  Just got home after a six hour drive last night. Im not sad. I got to take my boys to a ballgame like when they were kids, and got to see Romero and Berrios pitch. 

 

In a sense, I feel like I put out more effort to go to the games (6 hour drive and at $90 a ticket--I wanted to sit close to see Fernando and Jose up close) than the Twins. They looked uninspired.  Sano looks fat. Really. 

 

But they lost three really close games on the road to a pretty good team. All 3 games couldagoneeitherway

 

Oh, that double yesterday was a double only because Rosie took a cut off line to the ball and could not get there in time. It went to the fence. It would have been a single if he had taken a less splashy route to the ball. 

 

Still my takeaway is that the Mariners just played better. All close games. Saturday's went 12 innings. The locals got their money's worth. Us Twins fans got to see our team trying to play through a teamwide hitting slump.

 

I think they will bounce back. Stay positive

 

[rv78]

Brewers scored 17 runs in 1 day. It's taken the Twins the last 7 games to score that many.