Article: MIN 5, CHW 2: Wild Final Inning Puts Twins Over

[Tom Froemming]

A marquee starting pitching matchup was derailed by a nearly hour-long rain delay. That was enough to halt Michael Kopech’s major league debut, but only shortened Jose Berrios’ night. This one came down to the ninth inning, where the Twins broke open a tie game by scoring three runs in a pretty strange series of events.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

 

Berrios: 53 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, 67.9% strikes (55 of 81 pitches)

Home Runs: None

Multi-Hit Games: Mauer (2-for-4, BB), Rosario (2-for-5)

WPA of 0.1 or higher: Rosario .368, Berrios .175, Cave .122, May .108

WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.131, Sano .149

Download attachment: WinChart821.png

The Twins entered the top of the ninth inning with the game tied at 2-2. The White Sox had opened the scoring in the second inning before the Twins answered with a pair of runs in the fourth, one of which the Twins stole.

 

With runners on the corners and one out, Robbie Grossman broke for second base. It looked like the hit and run may have been on, as Bobby Wilson swung through a pitch that was way outside. The throw beat Grossman by a mile, but he was able to get into a rundown long enough for Jake Cave to score from third.

 

Yoan Moncada hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh. Then things got real interesting. There was a whole lot more running.

 

The Sox led off the eighth inning with a single from Adam Engel. He was picked off by Trevor May, but managed to reach second base safely due to some poor execution by the Twins’ infield. Then, Tim Anderson tried to bunt Engel over to third.

 

May slipped while fielding the bunt and threw wildly to first base. Anderson just kept running. The Twins got him into a rundown and this time did an excellent job. Mauer threw to Polanco, who ran Anderson back toward first. Then he realized he had Engel caught up in no-man’s land and fired to third. Anderson just kept running. Sano chased Engel toward home, threw to Wilson, and by the time Engel tried returning to third, Anderson was already there.

 

In the end, the White Sox got what they originally wanted — a runner on third with one out — but it could have ended up much worse for the Twins. May struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

 

Jake Cave led off the ninth with a walk and was bunted over to second by Grossman. Mitch Garver followed with a single, but Cave was thrown out at the plate. With Garver advancing to second on the throw, the White Sox opted to intentionally walk Joe Mauer.

 

Eddie Rosario delivered the go-ahead run on a bloop single to center. Engel had a hard time fielding the ball in center, allowing Mauer to advance to third, and then his throw got by the third baseman, allowing Rosie to reach second base. Polanco hit a single that plated both runners, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it to second base.

 

So the Twins basically gave Chicago all three outs in the ninth inning (sac bunt and two outs recorded on the bases), but still scored three runs.

 

Taylor Rogers struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.

 

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: Bullpen821.png

Next Three Games

Wed at CHW, 1:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Carlos Rodon

Thu vs. OAK, 7:10 pm CT: TBD

Fri vs. OAK, 7:10 pm CT: TBD

 

Last Three Games

CHW 8, MIN 5: At Least That’s out of the Way

MIN 5, DET 4: Late Rosario Homer Lifts Twins to Elusive One-Run Victory

DET 7, MIN 5: Stewart Bombs Second Audition

 

Click here to view the article

[mikelink45]

A perfect game for two teams going no where.  Does anyone use the Keystone Cops analogy any more, because it fits this finish. 

[sloopjont]

I like the keystone cops comparison but probably the slimmest minority under 50 have ever personally seen them on the screen.

[VATwinsFan]

I didn't realize a Twins closer was allowed to face only three batters in the 9th inning.

[TheMatt]

The amount of outs on the bases this year is just mind boggling

[Shaitan]

I'm comfortable saying these Twins are still much better than this White Sox team. Better than KC too. The rest of the division...not as much. Hey, they aren't on the bottom anymore.

[AceWrigley]

A 1-2-3 9th inning; the Taylor Rogers Experience (TRE). It could be a thing.

[Number3]

"Hey, they aren't on the bottom anymore."

Unfortunately because the other teams have gotten worse, not that the Twins have gotten better.

Its more and more obvious that these big long term contracts and signing bonuses to rookies are detrimental to the sport. Baseball is now played by the bean counters as much as the players on the field. See Washington Nats who threw in the towel after declaring themselves WS champs in March for the 3rd year in a row.. Then the players circle the wagons around management because they know who cuts the checks and they want to play this out as long as they can. Is it so bad to not be in the post season when you can go home with $millions to spend?

 

[ashbury]

  On 8/22/2018 at 2:25 PM, Number3 said:

"Hey, they aren't on the bottom anymore."

Unfortunately because the other teams have gotten worse, not that the Twins have gotten better.

Its more and more obvious that these big long term contracts and signing bonuses to rookies are detrimental to the sport. Baseball is now played by the bean counters as much as the players on the field. See Washington Nats who threw in the towel after declaring themselves WS champs in March for the 3rd year in a row.. Then the players circle the wagons around management because they know who cuts the checks and they want to play this out as long as they can. Is it so bad to not be in the post season when you can go home with $millions to spend?

If you go back through popular baseball publications over the past 130 years or so, two themes never change: 1) there's not enough pitching, and 2) the new selfish players of today are in it only for the money.

[jtkoupal]

Given everything that has gone wrong for the Twins this year, if they finish anywhere near .500, I think it has to be seen as a victory.

 

It's hard to make the playoffs when:

-your ace from a year ago misses 4 months, and is not the same pitcher upon return

-Your starting shortstop and #3 hitter misses half of the year

-Your 24 DRS Center Fielder plays in only 28 games

-Your "generational team leader" has an OPS barely over .700 after 4 months.

-3 of the Free Agents you sign are busts (at least LoMo hit well in May!)

-Your All-Star third baseman lets himself go and has to get optioned to Single-A for a total reboot.

-You let a washed-up relief pitcher get shelled every other outing

[Tom Froemming]

 

  On 8/22/2018 at 2:25 PM, Number3 said:

"Hey, they aren't on the bottom anymore."

Unfortunately because the other teams have gotten worse, not that the Twins have gotten better.

Its more and more obvious that these big long term contracts and signing bonuses to rookies are detrimental to the sport. Baseball is now played by the bean counters as much as the players on the field. See Washington Nats who threw in the towel after declaring themselves WS champs in March for the 3rd year in a row.. Then the players circle the wagons around management because they know who cuts the checks and they want to play this out as long as they can. Is it so bad to not be in the post season when you can go home with $millions to spend?

What!?

[VATwinsFan]

 

  On 8/22/2018 at 2:18 PM, AceWrigley said:

A 1-2-3 9th inning; the Taylor Rogers Experience (TRE). It could be a thing.

IMHO I don't see anything wrong with teaming Rogers up with someone else next year (I think May is a better choice then Hilgenberger).   

E.g. the 1970 Twins used Perranoski and Williams, and combined they had 135 appearances, 224 IP, and saved 49 games, many of which were 1+ inning efforts.   

If the Twins don't go out and spend a bunch of $$$ for a closer, why not make it a joint effort?

[Circus Boy]

"If the Twins don't go out and spend a bunch of $$$ for a closer, why not make it a joint effort?"

 

Checked with Snoop Dog. He approves.

[mikelink45]

Instead of the opener - an idea I really dislike - maybe pairing starters for four innings each such be the strategy of the future since arms now fall off after 100 or less pitches.