Article: MIN 8, KC 5: Bats Break Out

[Tom Froemming]

This is exactly what the Twins needed. Miguel Sano hit a home run, Brian Dozier had three hits and Lance Lynn delivered a quality start. The Twins didn’t exactly coast to victory in this one, but the offensive outburst was a welcome sight.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 22-27

Lance Lynn: 57 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 58.2% strikes

Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 0 BB

Lineup: 5-for-11 w/RISP, 10 LOB

Top 3 Twins WPA: Dozier .162 Rosario .156, Sano .130

Download attachment: WinEx528.png

Sano was back at third base and broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning by slugging a two-run homer, his first since April 25. Brian Dozier was 3-for-5 and drove in the go-ahead run. But, as has been the case for the bulk of the season, it was Eddie Rosario who delivered the big hit -- a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning.

 

Lynn was constantly pitching with runners on, but the only damage he gave up was a two-run double to Mike Moustakas. Lynn closes out May with a 3.76 ERA and the Twins went 4-1 in his starts.

 

The Twins took advantage of a few moments of hesitation from the Kansas City defense.

 

Max Kepler hit what typically would have been a double into the right field corner. Jorge Soler didn’t look particularly concerned about getting the ball back in, so Kepler stretched it into a triple. He also had a double tonight.

 

That massive Rosario bases-clearing double probably would have usually been a two-run single, but both Rosie and Dozier, who was on first base, just kept running. The Royals weren’t exactly quick to get that ball back into the infield, and when it finally did go into second base, they were more focused on keeping the tag on Rosario than keeping an eye on Dozier.

It would be interesting if we had baserunning probability metrics. I’d bet under normal circumstances, there’s less than a 15 percent chance that’s a double and close to zero chance anyone would score from first on that play. Poor execution by Kansas City, but you gotta love Rosario and Dozier taking advantage. Rosario also stole third base later that inning.

 

The bullpen did its best to make things interesting. Zach Duke committed a throwing error while fielding a bunt, allowing a run to score. Fernando Rodney entered this game with two outs in the eighth inning and allowed another one of Duke’s runners to come around, making it a 6-4 ballgame. It was a good thing the Twins were able to tack on a couple more runs in the top of the ninth, because Rodney gave up another run on a homer in the ninth.

 

Lynn was credited with his third win and Rodney got his 11th save. Robbie Grossman had two hits and a walk, Mitch Garver was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and two runs and Logan Morrison drew a pair of walks.

 

Byron Buxton was 1-for-5, but the most encouraging plate appearance of his night may have been the one in which he struckout. Buxton fell behind 0-2, but managed to work an 11-pitch at-bat before going down swinging.

 

Postgame With Molitor

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen528.png

 

Next Three Games

Tue at KC, 7:15 pm CT

Wed at KC, 7:15 pm CT

Thu vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

SEA 3, MIN 1: Worst Birthday Ever

SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again

SEA 2, MIN 1: Paxton Outduels Romero

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Minor League Report (5/28): Memorial Day Memories Made?

Week in Review: Wasted Starts

Overshadowed Twins Pitching Staff is Roundly Excelling

 

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[rghrbek]

Ahhhh KC our slump busters

[Aerodeliria]

Maybe this will be the wake-up call for Minnesota bats. 12 hits must have seemed like baseballs raining from heaven.

 

BTW, what's the deal with throws to first by "Z" Duke? That's the second time he's thrown the ball away on an infield play.

 

As I am sure some of you were able to watch the game, I am curious as to how 'bad' the throw really was.

[Ncgo4]

Throw was bad enough.  In the dirt and virtually in the feet of the baserunner.  Not a chance for the 1B fielder.

[rv78]

12 hits, 8 runs, it's good to face the worst pitching staff in baseball. Do the Royals have anymore former Twins pitchers besides Boyer?

[bighat]

Two out hitting. The Twins scored 6 runs on 2-out hits.

 

Miguel Sano. He matters. That HR lit a fire, no doubt about it.

[mikelink45]

Back in our division where we can feel secure.  I am glad to see some hits and runs, I am glad Lynn could get his win even though it did not feel like he was a particularly good pitcher last night.  Sano's HR was important for the season, but Buxton striking out again is not - no matter how many pitches he sees. 

 

I think we need to continue to celebrate Rosario and Kepler, those two have been having a really good season and its nice to see them progress.

[Number3]

Win was nice but a sweep would be nicer and must at least split the next 2. Guess who is next? Still one of the worst collections of batting averages I have ever seen in a starting lineup for any team at any level. Was Sano's homer the blind squirrel rule or the beginning of a hot streak? The 3 run single by Rosario was a combination of a terrible 0-2 pitch and lapse on defense by the Royals. Can't read much into that. By mid June the prospects for this season should be pretty well defined.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Still one of the worst collections of batting averages I have ever seen in a starting lineup for any team at any level.

 

Nice hot take with a side of hyperbole.

 

There are nine teams in the majors that have a lower team batting average than the Twins. That’s just this year. And just at the MLB level. Perhaps this is the only team you’ve ever looked at so that’s why it’s the worst collection of batting averages?

 

Let’s cool it on the relentless negativity. It’s May. The Twins are 3.5 back in the division. The sky is not falling Chicken Little.

[Doomtints]

Nothing wrong with a little hyperbole.

 

If the Twins can stop having these losing streaks, they'll be fine. They have all the pieces, but injuries keep disrupting their flow. Losing Buxton, Mauer, Sano, and even Santana, Castro and Polanco... That's a lot of key pieces. This isn't even bringing up swapping Vargas for Morrison, either.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Doomtints

[DocBauer]

Nothing wrong with a little hyperbole.

 

If the Twins can stop having these losing streaks, they'll be fine. They have all the pieces, but injuries keep disrupting their flow. Losing Buxton, Mauer, Sano, and even Santana, Castro and Polanco... That's a lot of key pieces. This isn't even bringing up swapping Vargas for Morrison, either.

 

I agree with this take. There have been an awful lot of moving pieces the first couple of months. A couple of weeks of health and regular play could snap the offensive funk.

 

Not sure Sano was pitched correctly, from a Royals standpoint, but his HR was a very welcome sight! Sure hope it helps boost his confidence/approach moving forward.

 

Dozier has looked a little better as of late and I've seen him go to, or try to go, more to RF lately. Love Rosario and Kepler!

[by jiminy]

I agree they're really not doing that bad considering they have been playing without Santana, Buxton, Sano, Mauer, and Polanco. Those guys were a huge part of their success last year. The problem is, we don't know if any of them will ever be what they were last year again. Buxton and Sano are not on a predictable trajectory. Mauer's concussion symptoms may have recurred. Castro is out for the year. Santana could come back as good as ever but that's far from guaranteed, and could take a while if he does. Polanco at least wasn't injured, but was his surge last year sustainable? Who knows.

 

I'm not saying they sky is falling. They're only 3.5 back, even without those guys for so long. And the pitching depth is better than I've ever seen. Rosario, Kepler, and Escobar are doing their part. If the hitters get hot like they did last year, they could play with anybody. Add a rejuvenated Santana and Berrios and sustained success from Romero and they could be really good. It's definitely not over yet.

 

I'm just thankful that Cleveland has struggled so far.  It would be hard to be 12 games out right now, knowing the Twins could have a long, sustained hot streak and still never catch up. But as it is, the season could get very exciting up till the very end. The Twins could finish below .500, if things break the wrong way. But what happened last year could happen again.

 

I guess I'm not saying anything that isn't obvious to everyone. It's just that I agree with both the person who marveled at how bad our offense has been, and the person who said we got through a lot of injuries pretty well, all things considered. I have no idea what's going to happen. And that's kind of interesting.

[Vanimal46]

Back in our division where we can feel secure. I am glad to see some hits and runs, I am glad Lynn could get his win even though it did not feel like he was a particularly good pitcher last night. Sano's HR was important for the season, but Buxton striking out again is not - no matter how many pitches he sees.

 

I think we need to continue to celebrate Rosario and Kepler, those two have been having a really good season and its nice to see them progress.

Lynn continues to walk a tight rope every start and it's impressive how he seems to find his way out of jams.

 

Couldn't agree more with Sano and Buxton. The time has passed talking about silver linings with Buxton's offense. For our sake I hope Sano's HR is a sign of things to come.

 

I don't know where this team would be without Kepler and Rosario's contributions...

[Doomtints]

 

I'm just thankful that Cleveland has struggled so far. 

 

Cleveland wasn't very interesting most of last year too. It seems unlikely they would rattle off 22 wins at the end of the season two years in a row. 

But ... they could certainly do enough to win the division again.

[bighat]

I re-watched Buxton's ABs:

 

AB 1: Solid ground ball single to left

AB 2: Ground out to deep short - he may have beat the throw to 1st, but the SS went to 2nd for a force play

AB 3: Bad push-bunt to 1st base.

AB 4: Got down 0-2, battled to work a 3-2 count but struck out with men on 1st and 2nd

AB 5: Line drive to center field, hit the ball on the nose right at the guy

 

Not great, but not quite as hopeless as it has been. He was moving in the right direction with last night's game.

 

BTW, interesting that KC chose to pitch to Garver last night with a base open and Buxton on deck. I'd have walked Garver and let Buxton bat with the bases loaded if I were them.

[puckstopper1]

Two solid starts by Lynn to close out the month.  Maybe he is hearing the footsteps of May and Santana getting closer....

 

Sano looked horrible in the first two ABs.  Then the KC staff screwed up and thru him a strike.  I'd love it if he got hot, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

The fact that Buxton tried to bunt was also a pleasant site.  The fact that he had the whole right side of the infield open and hit it right at the first basemen was not so pleasant...

[Number3]

 

Nice hot take with a side of hyperbole.

 

There are nine teams in the majors that have a lower team batting average than the Twins. That’s just this year. And just at the MLB level. Perhaps this is the only team you’ve ever looked at so that’s why it’s the worst collection of batting averages?

 

Let’s cool it on the relentless negativity. It’s May. The Twins are 3.5 back in the division. The sky is not falling Chicken Little.

What hyperbole? I said "worst collections... I have ever seen." Still is and I bet the 9 teams you site (how long did it take to dig that up?) don't start a team with lower averages.

 

What negativity? Simply said they need to win this KC series and that by mid June we will know a lot about this team. Rah ra sis boom bah gets you no where. If realism sounds negative then draw your own conclusions.

[ewen21]

 

What hyperbole? I said "worst collections... I have ever seen." Still is and I bet the 9 teams you site (how long did it take to dig that up?) don't start a team with lower averages.

 

What negativity? Simply said they need to win this KC series and that by mid June we will know a lot about this team. Rah ra sis boom bah gets you no where. If realism sounds negative then draw your own conclusions.

There is a fine line between negativity and commenting honestly about poor performance

[ThejacKmp]

 

What hyperbole? I said "worst collections... I have ever seen." Still is and I bet the 9 teams you site (how long did it take to dig that up?) don't start a team with lower averages.

 

So you think that the Twins team batting average is artificially high because their dominant bench has such high batting averages compared to the starters? Bobby Wilson, Ryan LaMarre, Gregorio Petit and Robbie Grossman? C'mon.
 

The Twins batting averages (21 out of 30 this year) is the worst you've ever seen? They're not close to the worst in MLB this year. That's hyperbole. "The Twins batting average is not good" is a solid point. "The Twins batting averages are the worst I've ever seen" is hyperbole.

 

It took me 12 seconds to find ESPNs team batting averages and rank them lowest to highest. Not a difficult fact check at all. Hyperbole rarely is tough to disprove, it jumps rights out.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

Still one of the worst collections of batting averages I have ever seen in a starting lineup for any team at any level. 

I really think there will be progression toward the norm for most of these below .200 hitters. In order to bat .240 for the season, they will have to hit .300+ for 2 months and .240 for 2 months.I feel a surge coming on. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Or .270 for 4 months. I'll take that also.

[ewen21]

 

So you think that the Twins team batting average is artificially high because their dominant bench has such high batting averages compared to the starters? Bobby Wilson, Ryan LaMarre, Gregorio Petit and Robbie Grossman? C'mon.
 

The Twins batting averages (21 out of 30 this year) is the worst you've ever seen? They're not close to the worst in MLB this year. That's hyperbole. "The Twins batting average is not good" is a solid point. "The Twins batting averages are the worst I've ever seen" is hyperbole.

 

It took me 12 seconds to find ESPNs team batting averages and rank them lowest to highest. Not a difficult fact check at all. Hyperbole rarely is tough to disprove, it jumps rights out.

Relax.  No need to get angry.

[USAFChief]

 

Nice hot take with a side of hyperbole.

 

There are nine teams in the majors that have a lower team batting average than the Twins. That’s just this year. And just at the MLB level. Perhaps this is the only team you’ve ever looked at so that’s why it’s the worst collection of batting averages?

 

Let’s cool it on the relentless negativity. It’s May. The Twins are 3.5 back in the division. The sky is not falling Chicken Little.

Here are the batting averages for the Twins for Sunday's game at Seattle:

 

.234

.254

.200

.298

.270

.200

.214

.143

.157

 

I've been around a while, and that's one of lowest collections of BA's I've ever seen for a MLB team more than a week or two into a season. No hyperbole.

 

Perhaps that's what the poster meant.