Apparently, it was critical that this Twins-Royals matchup be played to a full nine innings. Despite this, Mother Nature did her best to disrupt things. But the umpiring crew and (I assume) both managers decided the show must go on. Two rain delays caused this game to be completed more than five hours and 40 minutes after it started.

 

Somebody needs to give the grounds crew an award.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Jake Odorizzi: 42 Game Score, 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 K, 0 BB, 68.1% strikes

Multi-Hit Games: Eddie Rosario (2-for-5), Jorge Polanco (2-for-5, 2B), Miguel Sano (2-for-4, 2B)

WPA of 0.1 or higher: Cave .142, Polanco .136, Sano .114

WPA of -0.1 or lower: Garver -.115, Moya -.142

Download attachment: WinChart83update.png

The Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a Miguel Sano two-run double and Joe Mauer RBI single. Salvador Perez destroyed a two-run homer in the third, and not too long after that the first storm rolled through.

 

The first rain delay stopped the game in the fourth inning and caused a break of about 90 minutes, so Twins starter Jake Odorizzi’s night was done. Gabriel Moya took over once play resumed and eventually coughed up the lead, but the bats stormed back (sorry) to tie it up on a Logan Forsythe RBI groundout and a bases-loaded walk from Jake Cave.

 

Trevor May took over in the sixth and was bringing heat. He was consistently hitting 95 mph on his four seamer and touched 90 mph with the slider. He struck out three of the four batters he faced.

 

The Twins tacked on another run in the sixth thanks to a Jorge Polanco double that plated Eddie Rosario from first base. Then came the second rain delay. The grounds crew struggled to get the main tarp all the way over the diamond and had to pull in a second tarp to get the job done.

 

After the rain had stopped, the crew basically had to put the entire playing surface back together. Countless bags of diamond dust were applied to the infield and all the warning tracks. Water on the grass had to be swept into the drainage vents under the field. The base lines and batter's box had to be redrawn.

 

I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in Phoenix this game was going to pick back up again, but those glorious grounds crew members made it happen. Why it was so necessary in a game between two of the worst teams in the American League, I'm not so sure.

The final three innings and change were uneventful, as the 6-4 advantage held up to give the Twins a victory. A long, wet victory.

 

Mid-Delay With Aaron From St Cloud

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen83update.png

Next Three Games

Sat vs. KC, 6:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Burch Smith

Sun vs. KC, 1:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. Danny Duffy

Mon at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: TBD

 

Last Three Games

CLE 2, MIN 0: Carrasco Stars in Dominant Performance

CLE 6, MIN 2: Deadline Day Ends in Defeat

MIN 5, CLE 4: Awesome Sauce!

 

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Nope, it's 12:22AM and the game's still going. They haven't won yet!

Going to the 8th inning, should they put Drake in? 

Nice to wake up and see that Rogers and FR pitched clean innings to close out the win. Mystified why the Twins struggle to beat such a bad team, but there you are.

Logan-Logan

Trevor-Trevor

 

May was painting the upper half of the strike zone, three swinging strike outs. It occurs to me that with the increased focus on launch angle, the high strike is very hard to hit. Even when they get to it with that upper cut swing (which is hard), players would only pop it up.

Updated. I cannot believe this game wasn't just called off.

This is no service to the fans.  Imagine sitting through almost 6 hours and tons of rain.  Anyone there the last two innings should have gotten free tickets to another game.

What a great night for the Twins.  Rosario, Polanco and Sano each had two hits.  And Kepler got walked 3 times.  As they play out the season, we need to see all four of those players having a good two months as preparation for 2019.

 

And Trevor May hitting 95 mph with a clean inning with 3 strikeouts...well, he gave up a hit but it didn't do any damage.  Whether it is in the starting rotation or bullpen, the Twins need a healthy and effective May in 2019.  Personally, I have always seen him as a potential shutdown late inning reliever.  To win a championship, they need at least three...perhaps May can be one of them.

Breaking: Twins have selected the contract of Aaron From St. Cloud, Matt Belisle DFA'd.

Breaking: Twins have selected the contract of Aaron From St. Cloud, Matt Belisle DFA'd.

Aaron's leadership toward achieving his team's goal has certainly been more successful than Matty B's so far this year.

Good stuff to see from May.

it'll be very interesting to see where May ends up. I've always thought starter should be the goal and they are more valuable. On top of that his body seemed to break down with the rhythm of the relievers workload. That being said he could be quite the piece for the pen. Either way with that new bionic arm we definitely have something here.

 

Breaking: Twins have selected the contract of Aaron From St. Cloud, Matt Belisle DFA'd.

MVP … MVP … MVP...

Breaking: Twins have selected the contract of Aaron From St. Cloud, Matt Belisle DFA'd.

please tell me someone got that young man some hot dogs!

I guess that was Trevor May's second appearance since he got back from his TJ adventure. Good to see him back up, and good to see he's still got mid-90s buzz. Looked like he's got a lot of rust to wear off before his breaking stuff is a weapon again. But he's back!

Keep Trevor May a reliever and be done with it, imo.

Two of the worst teams in the AL? Overstatement. The Royals are but the Twins are 9 out of 15. They're not awful but their playoff odds are not 0.

 

May is probably capable of handling the workload of a reliever as long as he doesn’t get overworked. Like earlier this year, there was a WEEK in which Zach Duke (of all people) had FOUR 20 pitch outings. Can’t do that and expect anyone to remain healthy or effective.

 

In this day and age, I’m not sure a #3 starter (which is probably May’s ceiling) is more valuable than a shut down reliever. It’s close.