Article: MIN 3, LAA 1: Pitching Great, Sano Homers Late

[AJ Condon]

Jake Odorizzi had a scoreless outing for the fourth time in his last five starts, Miguel Sano hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth inning and the Twins won the first game of their series against the Angles. Come check out what else happened Monday evening.Box Score

Odorizzi: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 63.3% strikes (57 of 90 pitches)

Home Runs: Sano (2)

Multi-Hit Games: Arraez (3-for-4), Kepler (2-for-4, BB)

WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi .297, Sano .295

WPA of -0.1: None

Download attachment: Win520.png

(chart via FanGraphs)

 

It was a pitchers duel tonight in Anaheim as the Minnesota Twins faced off against the Los Angeles Angels for the second time in a week. However, only one team sent out a starting pitch in the first inning.

 

The Angels did something we saw from them in game two of last series, and something that was started by the Tampa Bay Rays last season. It’s the same thing as what a closer does, but they actually open up the game with it. Instead of having a conventional starter, you put in a pitcher hoping for 1-2 innings to start the game and Taylor Cole was put into that role today.

 

Cole pitched one inning before Felix Pena came in to finish up the starter's job. He went for five innings and they finished a combined six innings giving up six hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts.

 

Another Solid Start

Jake Odorizzi was the starter for the series opener, and came into the game looking for his seventh straight win. His pitching set him up for that, however the bats didn’t help. Odorizzi pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits, two walks, while striking out six. After three straight starts of going at least six innings, his last two have failed to go over 5 1/3 innings.

 

His pitch count was at 90 at the end of the fifth, but he would have been facing the heart of the Angels lineup in a one-run game. A big part of his pitch count came in an at-bat in the fourth against Lucroy who fouled off seven pitches in a 12-pitch at-bat before lining out to end the inning. Odorizzi has got his ERA down to 2.38 but was unable to continue his win streak.

 

Even though he had a shorter start and didn’t pick up the win, he still had a great outing and set the Twins up for success.

 

Quiet Offense

It was another slow day for the Twins offensively as they have now had 17 hits in the past two games, with 16 of them being singles. Last night the Twins had seven hits and seven singles and tonight they had ten hits and nine were singles.

 

Luis Arraez has been great in his first three games of his career, getting a hit in each game. He continued his early success, adding three more hits and another run tonight. This isn’t unlikely of him either, the 22-year-old is a two-time minor league batting champion.

 

Max Kepler added two hits of his own from the leadoff spot, but the Twins couldn’t really get much going after the second inning until the eighth. Miguel Sano came up with a huge two-run homer in the top of the eighth for his second of the season to put the Twins back in front 3-1 late in the game.

 

 

Bullpen's Work

Ryne Harper came in right after Odorizzi exited the game and had a solid 1 1/3 innings in relief with two strikeouts. He made quick work in his first inning, but gave up a hit after he retired his first batter of the seventh. He was charged with a run as Goodwin came around to score later in that inning.

 

Taylor Rogers came in to try and finish up the seventh, but saw Albert Pujols, who he walked, as a pinch hitter. Rogers was a little off tonight as his last appearance was six days ago against the Angels. He gave up a two-out, 0-2 count, hit to La Stella to allow the Angels to tie the game in the seventh. He was able to strike out the next batter, Mike Trout, looking, to end the inning.

 

Rogers was able to come back out and have a great eighth inning, though two Angels were injured during the inning. The first happened on a strike three when Shohei Ohtani checked his swing but ended up getting hit on the hand leading to a strike. The next injury happened to the next batter, Andrelton Simmons, on a bang-bang play at first as Simmons tried to extend his stride to reach first base.

 

Blake Parker came in to close out the ninth and try to pick up his eighth save of the year against his former team. He faced four batters but it was never a worry as he got two ground outs to close out the game. The Twins improve to 31-16 on the season and continue to stay hot following a loss moving to 16-3 after a loss.

 

Postgame With Arraez

Bullpen Usage

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

Download attachment: Pen520.png

Next Game

Tue at LAA, 9:07 pm CT (Pineda-Cahill)

 

Last Game

SEA 7, MIN 4: Sweepless in Seattle

 

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Click here to view the article

[Dantes929]

Nice job bullpen.     

[Aerodeliria]

The Good:

 

Great win (although I feel bit sorry for Odorizzi, who deserved a better fate, but he was also 'good').

 

Ryne Harper pitched well again (and it's a pity he was charged with the run, but that's baseball).

 

Sano's blast.

 

Rogers after La STELLAAAAAAAAAAAA! Parker.

 

Arraez!!

 

Defense and pitching!

 

 

The Bad:

 

The offense in general.

 

Rogers' pitch selection to La STELLAAAAAA after 0-2.

 

 

The Ugly:

 

Injuries on consecutive plays for the Angels.

 

The umpire was terrible according to mlb.com's pitch locator. His strike zone was quite inconsistent throughout the game.

[AlwaysinModeration]

The best: Sano hitting an opposite field, go-ahead homer late in the game. Boom.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Arraez and Sano as stars of the game. Almost unthinkable and laughable... what, not much more than a week ago. Fun team so far this season.

[bighat]

Woke up this morning and what do I see? Sano hit a home run and the Twins won. Yeah! Now if Sano can just start sitting on some curveballs he might get himself into the mix for MLB comeback player of the year. He'll have to battle Buxton, Odo, and Perez for it.

 

The Twins aren't going to score 12 every night. Great to see them score 3 and win. Absolutely huge to win the opener in LA. This Arraenz kid is awesome!

 

Edit: People like to dog on the AL Central, but look at the AL West. Just one team above .500 - the Astros are running away with it. The AL East is a 3-horse race but Baltimore and Toronto are even easier to beat than Detroit or KC.

[bunt_vs_the_shift]

This is the sort of game we lost 4-3 in years past.... LOVE this type of grind it out win. These games build confidence. 

[rdehring]

Another day at the park, another multi-hit game for Arraez.  Most of us wondered if he could keep doing this on the big stage.  I guess he is answering our questions.

 

But what do the Twins do when Cruz comes off the IL later this week?  Do you send Arraez down?  If not, what do you do because you don't want him to sit if he stays?  Guess we will find out later this week.

 

Gotta expect his brief stint, if that is what it is to be, will have some effect on whether or not the Twins extend/resign Schoop during or after the season.

[Old Twins Cap]

Rogers, sure, a little rusty.

 

Then again, those three straight strikes to Trout in bottom 7 were a thing of beauty.

 

The great slugger never took the bat off his shoulder.

[mini_tb]

It would be a bold move if they moved on from Adrianza and kept Arraez.

[Dman]

I am happy the Twins are playing Arraez and not just sitting him.  I think he has answered the question of whether he can handle hitting MLB pitching granted it is a small sample size but the fact that the game doesn't seem to big for him is nice to see.

 

Sano has a knack for just when you think he stinks he does something great.  Offensively he single handedly won that game for us.  Nice to see him get the big hit instead of strike out.

 

Odo keeps making me look silly for doubting him this year.  He has been outstanding and makes this rotation look better. Always good to have a big year in a contract year as well.

[MABB1959]

Nice that 17 hits in 2 days seem not so good this year.  Love it.  Last year 17 hits in 3 games would have been something.  Gotta love this team!

[dbminn]

 

 

 

Odo keeps making me look silly for doubting him this year.  He has been outstanding and makes this rotation look better. Always good to have a big year in a contract year as well.

 

I didn't expect what he's doing either. He's put in the work, both in the offseason and with Wes Johnson. Every pitch looks more crisp. His velo is up almost 3 mph on his curveball and 1-1.5 mph on every other pitch. 

 

And he taught Martin Perez his cutter.  Outstanding.

[wabene]

Another day at the park, another multi-hit game for Arraez.  Most of us wondered if he could keep doing this on the big stage.  I guess he is answering our questions.

 

But what do the Twins do when Cruz comes off the IL later this week?  Do you send Arraez down?  If not, what do you do because you don't want him to sit if he stays?  Guess we will find out later this week.

 

Gotta expect his brief stint, if that is what it is to be, will have some effect on whether or not the Twins extend/resign Schoop during or after the season.

Aye-Ray has no options I think it is time to make the switch and I think Arraez makes this an easy choice. It's obviously only a few games but he gives me the same impression I got from polanco when he came up also from way down on the farm.

[Taildragger8791]

 

Aye-Ray has no options I think it is time to make the switch and I think Arraez makes this an easy choice. It's obviously only a few games but he gives me the same impression I got from polanco when he came up also from way down on the farm.

 

How does Arraez have no options? This is his first time being called up.

 

He's definitely a natural born contact hitter which the top of the lineup could use. And it's a nice change from all the swing-and-miss power hacking in today's game. They have the infield depth to DFA Adrianza but I'm not sure they'll pull the trigger this quickly. I suspect he'll get optioned, but is now the first choice to call up when an injury replacement is needed.

[wabene]

Aye-Ray is Chief's nickname for Adrianza. Adrianza is a fine ballplayer but this kid has some excitement and energy about him that fits well with this club.

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Ryne Harper is the unsung hero of the Twins so far. Hildenberger and (to a lesser extent) May's difficulties in being the #3 guy in the bullpen have been almost completely been papered over by Harper's pitching. I absolutely love his arsenal of slow, slower, and slowest breaking balls. 

[TheLeviathan]

I'm impressed how well Sano is hitting considering his rehab was cut short and this is essentially his ST.

 

You can see he's still missing some pitches he could hit and he's still producing really well since his return.

[TNTwinsFan]

Any chance to trade Adrianza for a lottery ticket? Someone might need a decent Utility player right?

[Riverbrian]

I think Arraez is showing he can help and I’m 100% behind him getting lots of playing time but he will probably need to go back to Rochester eventually.

 

It isn’t Arraez who should force Adrianza off the roster. It’ll be the return of Cruz and Garver.

 

Arraez has options and I’ve been asking depth. I don’t want to shorten that depth on purpose.

[IAMNFan]

 

The Good:

 

Great win (although I feel bit sorry for Odorizzi, who deserved a better fate, but he was also 'good').

 

Ryne Harper pitched well again (and it's a pity he was charged with the run, but that's baseball).

 

Sano's blast.

 

Rogers after La STELLAAAAAAAAAAAA! Parker.

 

Arraez!!

 

Defense and pitching!

 

 

The Bad:

 

The offense in general.

 

Rogers' pitch selection to La STELLAAAAAA after 0-2.

 

 

The Ugly:

 

Injuries on consecutive plays for the Angels.

 

The umpire was terrible according to mlb.com's pitch locator. His strike zone was quite inconsistent throughout the game.

What was wrong with Odorizzi's fate?  Did something happen after the game?  I thought he did pretty well, had trouble putting guys away, obviously.  Would like to see him pitch deeper, but he limited damage while in.

[IAMNFan]

 

Another day at the park, another multi-hit game for Arraez.  Most of us wondered if he could keep doing this on the big stage.  I guess he is answering our questions.

 

But what do the Twins do when Cruz comes off the IL later this week?  Do you send Arraez down?  If not, what do you do because you don't want him to sit if he stays?  Guess we will find out later this week.

 

Gotta expect his brief stint, if that is what it is to be, will have some effect on whether or not the Twins extend/resign Schoop during or after the season.

I've wondered myself what they do with Schoop if he has a season like he is having.  I'd guess Arraez has maybe provided a peak into that answer.  Do wish Gordon would have been healthy so he could have made this call up.  Just want to see what he can be, finally.

[Tom Froemming]

 

But what do the Twins do when Cruz comes off the IL later this week?  Do you send Arraez down?  If not, what do you do because you don't want him to sit if he stays?  Guess we will find out later this week.

I think Arraez could hit .600 and still go back down because, to your point, he needs to play. He's still only 22 and has around 90 total games above A-ball. Allowing him to continue to develop is a lot more important than having him as a bench option on the big club, especially since it could turn out that he has a chance to be the regular 2B in 2020. You'd hope Schoop, Polanco, Sano and Marwin are in the lineup more often than not anyways.

 

 

Ryne Harper is the unsung hero of the Twins so far. Hildenberger and (to a lesser extent) May's difficulties in being the #3 guy in the bullpen have been almost completely been papered over by Harper's pitching. I absolutely love his arsenal of slow, slower, and slowest breaking balls. 

I love watching him pitch. He's often the first guy out of the bullpen, which puts him in a position to potentially sink a lot of games. If you think about it, there are a lot more games that are decided in the sixth or seventh innings than there are in the ninth.

 

Harper is currently holding opposing batters to a .189/.228/.257 line. That .485 OPS is the 12th lowest among pitchers with at least 20 innings this season. Pretty cool.

[MMMordabito]

Arraez sure looks locked in for a kid who just turned 22 and all but skipped AAA.  I think I've only seen a single pitch where he didn't look in complete control, and it was a late swing on a foul ball.

 

Sano seemed to improve a little in each appearance last night. His timing is getting there, and he's strong enough that he can obviously be off a tad and still crush.  I said I would ignore his first 20 PAs, and he had a 45% K-Rate in those.  Glad to see him come through for the team late.

 

Latroy Hawkins needs to go. The way he reads queue cards, or whatever they use, word for word reminds me of listening to my kids read Amelia Bedelia from the I Can Read series.  Some of the pointers that he brings up are good, but the delivery is terrible.  I think he would have more value to the organization just focusing on being a roving pitching assistant and possible talent evaluator.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

So much to like about this game & this team. But,being old-school, I just love Odorizzi's 2.38 ERA.

[Aichiman]

 

Another day at the park, another multi-hit game for Arraez.  Most of us wondered if he could keep doing this on the big stage.  I guess he is answering our questions.

 

But what do the Twins do when Cruz comes off the IL later this week?  Do you send Arraez down?  If not, what do you do because you don't want him to sit if he stays?  Guess we will find out later this week.

 

Gotta expect his brief stint, if that is what it is to be, will have some effect on whether or not the Twins extend/resign Schoop during or after the season.

I don't think Arraez is connected with the Schoop decision.  I think he's directly connected to the fate of Adrianza.  My guess is either Addrianza gets dfa'd when Cruz comes up, or Arraez gets more work at AAA and when Garver comes back then Arraez replaces Adrianza.

 

[pbrezeasap]

Was looking at the videos for the game on mlb.com and they have one titled "Sano, Astudillo on win vs. Angels" but they are actually talking to Arraez. They even show a highlight of Astudillo's single while they are talking to Arraez. Hopefully Arreaz keeps hitting like this and keeps making a name for himself so this mistake doesn't happen again. Great win last night!

[Diesel]

It is better to have a problem with too many good players than to have too few. When Garver and Cruz come back, I would personally option astudillo and dfa/trade adrianza, but then again, I am not a professional gm

[Taildragger8791]

 

I'm impressed how well Sano is hitting considering his rehab was cut short and this is essentially his ST.

 

You can see he's still missing some pitches he could hit and he's still producing really well since his return.

 

It looks like his timing is coming back on fastballs. Buttrey didn't trust his slider and was stuck feeding Sano his favorite pitch and got punished for it. Yay for us.

 

Unfortunately he's still lost against good breaking pitches, which isn't unexpected. That first at bat today was one of the worst I've ever seen. Woof.

 

For me the #1 thing I want to see out of him this year is just the ability to survive against decent breaking balls. He doesn't have to crush them, but he can't continue striking out at 45%-55% against sliders/curves/splitters/change ups.

[brvama]

Apparently Odorizzi pulled himself from the game so they had a chance to win. This says a ton about the makeup and mission they are on. I am excited about the potential of the rest of the season. Here are his comments and also some from Sano on his hitting:

https://www.mlb.com/news/miguel-sano-hits-clutch-two-run-homer?game_pk=564757