The Twins went toe-to-toe with the postseason-bound A’s but couldn’t contain Khris Davis. Khrush put Oakland up 2-0 in the first inning thanks to his 44th home run of the season, then delivered a walk-off homer for No 45 in the bottom of the 10th inning.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Berrios: 47 Game Score, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 56.7% strikes (59 of 104 pitches)

Home Runs: Grossman (5)

Multi-Hit Games: Cave (2-for-4, 2B), Adrianza (2-for-4, 2 2B)

WPA of 0.1 or higher: Polanco .307, Adrianza 180, Rogers .165, May .105

WPA of -0.1 or lower: Mauer -.104, Petit -.144, Berrios -.159, Magill -.281, Moya .301

Download attachment: WinChart921.png

The Twins fell behind 4-0 in this one but stormed back with six runs in the sixth inning. Robbie Grossman hit a two-run home run, Ehire Adrianza had an RBI double and Jorge Polanco delivered a bases-clearing double in that inning.

 

Jose Berrios walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the sixth on four pitches. He struck out the next two batters, but with lefty Matt Joyce about to come up as a pinch hitter, Paul Molitor decided to turn the game over to lefty Gabriel Moya. The only problem was the A’s had approximately 73 other hitters on their active roster.

 

OK, that’s just a lame September baseball joke, but Oakland did then swap out Joyce for lefty killer Mark Canha. It was a good move, as Canha blasted a game-tying two-run homer.

 

The bullpens kept things locked up over the next three innings. Both Trevor May and Taylor Rogers pitched 1 1/3 innings of no-hit ball before Matt Magill gave up the walk-off home run.

If it seems like the Twins have given up a ton of walk-off homers this year, it's because they have!

On the downside, Berrios is not ending things on a high note. Over his last eight starts, Berrios has a 5.49 ERA (24 earned runs in 39.1 IP). Also, Joe Mauer was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts tonight.

 

On the plus side, Rogers is looking more and more like a relief ace all the time. His scoreless inning streak is up to 23 1/3 innings. Also, the Twins got a taste of what a postseason chase looks like, playing a hard-fought game in front of a rowdy Oakland crowd.

 

Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com relayed a bunch of depressing news via Twitter pregame. Miguel Sano was sent back to Minnesota to have his knee re-evaluated, Logan Forsythe was out with a sore knee of his own and Mitch Garver won’t catch again this year due to post-concussion symptoms.

 

On a brighter note, Eddie Rosario’s MRI came back clean and Addison Reed has left the team to be with his wife, who is expecting their second child.

 

Next Three Games

Sat at OAK, 8:05 pm CT: Chase De Jong vs. Mike Fiers

Sun at OAK, 3:05 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. TBD

Mon: Off

Tue vs. DET, 7:10 pm CT: TBD

 

Last Three Games

MIN 8, DET 2: Gonsalves Stymies Tigers

MIN 5, DET 3: Odorizzi Turns In Another Quality Start

MIN 6, DET 1: Stewart Impresses, Rosario Exits Due to Injury

 

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HBP, single (first to third), sac fly

single, single (first to third), sac fly

 

Berrios is a hard worker, and has discipline. He has "stuff".

But his season results is a lot like Blackburn, and is no where near an ace.

Maybe he will get better. 

But right now, he is overrated in my book.

 

Twins set MLB record for 10 walk off homers given up. 

That is our bullpen, in a nutshell. 

Seems that the 9th walk off wasn't noticed, as it also set the record.

 

This game stunk. This Twins stink. This season sucks.I consider myself an optimist so the positive I can find is to wish congratulations to DADdison Reed.

Good Gravy.  Thank god I quit paying attention when they were down 4-0.

Only the Twins could find themselves short staffed in terms of position players in September. By my count, they have 11 healthy position players on active roster.

 

That’s what happens when you only have 17 position players on your 40 man roster.

 

Fantastic roster management continues from the boys upstairs.

Edited September 22, 20188 yr by yarnivek1972

 

There goes the possibility for finishing at .500.

The way Magill ended the 9th, no way he should have been out there to begin the 10th. Continued poor bullpen management.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

It is September call up season.  Other teams have as many relief pitchers and pinch hitters as you could ever want, but not us. Be careful of starting the clock on the players, don't sit the old veterans.

The only thing that could have made this game better was having Belisle close the game. 

Only the Twins could find themselves short staffed in terms of position players in September. By my count, they have 11 healthy position players on active roster.

That’s what happens when you only have 17 position players on your 40 man roster.

Fantastic roster management continues from the boys upstairs.

Spot on, and don’t forget those September position players include such future all stars as Chris Gimenez, Logan Forsythe, and Gregorio Petit.

What is it about being walked off at Oakland? That happened twice last year too, including the game where there twins officially became sellers, trading away Garcia right after the game was over.

Fun fact:

 

The Tampa Bay Rays now have a better record than the Central winning Indians...

 

Another fact: 

 

The Twins need better players!!

Two more walks scored.     Just sayin.

 

This loss is on Molitor's continued bizarre bullpen management.

 

The silver lining here is the Athletics burned through a big chunk of their bullpen yesterday, late in the season, playing against the lowly Twins. If the Twins can hit the ball over the next two games they might get a win or two.

Edited September 22, 20188 yr by Doomtints

 

 

Fun fact:

 

The Tampa Bay Rays now have a better record than the Central winning Indians...

 

Another fact: 

 

The Twins need better players!!

 

The Twins are basically an average team. They were last year too. Yeah, they need some playmakers. They've got the foundation, for the most part.

215-262 over the last three years and 71-82 this year is hardy average, imo.

to paraphrase the joker: this team needs an enema.