Article: SEA 9, MIN 6: Bullpen, Errors Spoil Buxton’s Dramatic Homer

[AJ Condon]

A pitchers duel in tonight’s game kept the two best power hitting teams in the league quiet ... until the bullpens came in. Byron Buxton tied it to cap a late push and send the game into extra innings, but errors were too much for the Twins to overcome.Box Score

Berrios: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 66.4% strikes (71 of 107 pitches)

Bullpen: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

 

Home Runs: Gonzalez (8), Kepler (16), Buxton (9)

Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-for-4), Gonzalez (2-for-4, HR), Sano (2-for-4, 2B)

 

WPA of +0.1: Buxton .351, Gonzalez .296, Berrios .208

WPA of -0.1: Polanco -.104, Rosario -.132, Kepler -.138, Cron -.152, Parker -.239, May -.241, Duffey -.455

Download attachment: Win612.png

(chart via FanGraphs)

 

Errors Open the Game

The Minnesota Twins were charged with five errors in tonight’s game, and all of them came in the final three innings. Four out of the five errors actually resulted in runs being scored.

 

C.J. Cron was responsible for the first error in the eighth inning when he misjudged a ground ball that slipped by him into right field. One run was scored on that play, but it was followed by a three-run home run to put the Mariners up by five.

 

The Twins’ late rally was overlooked after three more errors by the Twins’ defense in the 10th inning. The first one hurt the most as the Twins played the situation perfectly with runners on second and third and one out.

 

Tyler Duffey was able to get Mallex Smith to ground right to Cron at first, but Mitch Garver tried to apply the tag at home before he had caught the ball allowing the go-ahead run to score.

 

 

The next one was probably a worse play by Sano, as he couldn’t field a ground ball to his left and came up blindly firing over to first and put the ball into the stands. Two more runs came around and just like that, the Twins were down three runs.

 

Late Inning Push

One of the best offenses in the league was held quiet through six innings. Not to worry Twins’ fans, the “Run Bunch” always comes alive at some point of the game, sometimes you just have to wait.

 

It all started in the seventh inning when Marwin Gonzalez went deep to tie the game and save Jose Berrios from potentially picking up a loss. That was followed by another home run and a couple of hits against former Twins pitcher Tommy Milone in the eighth inning to keep it close.

 

Miguel Sano got the ninth started with a single and Byron Buxton demolished a ball to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

 

 

Pitcher Duel

Berrios had a shaky start to tonight’s game as a Mariner runner reached third base in the first four innings. Berrios was able to work out of the jam in each of those innings to keep the runner from crossing the plate. He was able to strand six runners, with five of them being in scoring position. The Mariners were able to get only one run on Berrios with a solo shot by Vogelbach in the sixth on a hanging changeup.

 

Berrios closed out tonight’s game barely over an ERA of three, sitting at 3.01, but unfortunately, picked up a no-decision with the Twins’ lineup nowhere to be seen in the first six innings. Berrios was also one pitch away from an immaculate inning in the fifth.

 

Tommy Milone, former Twins pitcher from 2014-16, was able to keep the Twins’ offense quiet through six innings. He struggled late in his outing and ended up giving up three runs, and a start to the Twins’ push.

 

His success came from getting ahead early and his changeup that Twins’ batters just couldn’t figure out. He struck out six batters using his changeup for the final strike in all of them. He also faced 22 batters and got 17 first pitch strikes.

 

Postgame With Baldelli

 

Bullpen Usage

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

Download attachment: Bullpen612.png

Next Game

Thu vs. SEA, 12:10 pm CT (Pineda-Kikuchi)

 

Last Game

MIN 6, SEA 5: Comeback Victory Capped By Trevor May Save

 

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[blindeke]

I guess this is why Taylor Rogers is super duper important.

 

Also, that's the slowest I've ever seen Buxton run, by far... 

[Einheri]

That was some Fugly Defense.
Pity.  The comeback was otherwise amazing.

[Rosterman]

I'm thinking Parker is done and Magill is close behind. Gotta find a couple of relief arms!

 

[Monticore]

Rogers is #1 on this team. If he's out for a while now they could go on a long losing streak. The errors tonight were awful. Get 'em out on the field like a manager of old and work 'em. How does Garver make an error like that? What is it with Sano and his throws? Just a terrible way to lose.

[h2oface]

 

....How does Garver make an error like that? 

 

Just like hitters miss the ball when they don't keep their head on it and look away too soon. Just like football receivers look down field just before the ball gets there and miss the pass. Just like Buxton dropped one earlier in the year ...... unfortunate, but not a deal breaker at all. Throwing a ball with no chance of success .... those are the errors that I hate.

[terrydactyls]

Yesterday was Wednesday, June 12 and it was the 66th game of the year.  The Twins are now 41%  of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team ranks 32nd on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 319 home runs this season..

[Penthang]

This was a little disheartening because bad defense is not something we see from our team that often, and to literally throw the game away after a great rally…just no fun. It’s a good thing that we have a game this afternoon to put this one behind.

[diehardtwinsfan]

as much as I want to blame the pen... the defense cost us that game.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

What if Rogers is done? I don't expect anyone to "like" that comment, but given the state of this bullpen, what does a 'No Rogers' bullpen look like over the balance of 2019?

[mikelink45]

 

as much as I want to blame the pen... the defense cost us that game.

I think there is room to blame both!

[Dakota15]

A no Rogers bullpen is a scary thought 

[oldguywithanitch]

as much as I want to blame the pen... the defense cost us that game.

agreed, but Garver not scoring on the wild pitch was bad. With two outs, that's really all he has to look for. Secondary lead and be ready to go.

[Puckett34]

Bullpen as it stands is mediocre as a whole, worse with Rogers on the shelf. But dang no bullpen can overcome 5 errors in 3 innings. 

 

That Buxton homer was awesome though

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Yesterday was Wednesday, June 12 and it was the 66th game of the year.  The Twins are now 41%  of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team ranks 32nd on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 319 home runs this season..

Inspired by your updates, I thought I'd look at Twins HR/PA rates relative to MLB (non-Twin) rates.

 

In that sense, 2019 is so far still only the 3rd best relative HR hitting season in Twins history. Here are the 5 best:

1963 +69.1% (above MLB rate)
1964 +60.6%
2019 +46.7%
1986 +36.3%
1988 +23.6%

 

Those 1963 and 1964 seasons were crazy good HR hitting years for the Twins, relative to the league, even though they "only" finished with 225 and 221 HR, respectively -- the average teams only hit 135 and 138 those years. (The average 2019 team is currently on pace for 220 HR -- the Twins would have to hit 367 HR this year to top the 1963 team, relative to average!)

 

And the 5 worst:

1998 -32.5% (below MLB rate)
2008 -33.3%
1996 -35.0%
2000 -39.1%
1999 -42.0%

 

Here are our World Series years:

1987: 17.7% (8th best in Twins history)

1965: 10.9% (12th)

1991: 7.3% (16th)

[Dantes929]

 

Just like hitters miss the ball when they don't keep their head on it and look away too soon. Just like football receivers look down field just before the ball gets there and miss the pass. Just like Buxton dropped one earlier in the year ...... unfortunate, but not a deal breaker at all. Throwing a ball with no chance of success .... those are the errors that I hate.

I'll go farther than that.   I love Garver's bat but don't think he has great instincts.   However, I give him a pass on that play at the plate.   That throw from Cron HAS to be low and to the 3rd base side of the plate just like a catcher's throw to 2nd has to be low and on the correct side.    I think that run scores even if Garver catches it cleanly.   I agree errors happen and if Cron just threw it poorly then fine, but if  he wasn't aiming down and on the right side its bad baseball.  You've got to know who the runner is and put your teammate in a better position to make the play.

[Dantes929]

 

I think there is room to blame both!

You can widen the scope substantially.    Overanxious against Milone, bad decisions on the base baths and in the field..   God forbid ever giving the other side credit for the outcome, though.

[Trov]

To me, this game and recent bullpen appearances is reminding me of last few years where they keep blowing leads over and over.  In this case, it was a not a lead but if our pen could have kept it close and not imploded we win the game and the terrible defense would not have been an issue.  

 

Twins need to make moves now for bullpen help because the hot start they were on was not sustainable and now it is all crashing down. When was last time Parker had appearance without allowing a run?  May last two is shaky at best and needed terrible call from ump to save other night.  The only guy I trust is Rodgers and he cannot pitch every day.  

[USAFChief]

as much as I want to blame the pen... the defense cost us that game.

Wow. I can' disagree more. The defense didn't give up all the walks or hits.

 

The errors made things worse, for sure, but weren't the source of the problem.

 

In any case, sloppy defense hasn't been an issue all year. I doubt it will be one regularly.

[ashbury]

Wow. I can' disagree more. The defense didn't give up all the walks or hits.

 

The errors made things worse, for sure, but weren't the source of the problem.

Yep. A double and a walk, followed by a sac-bunt ... and then "oh, if only the throw were better or the catch made, we'd have wriggled out of this."

 

It can't be a clean inning every time, but lately we've been wriggling out of too many jams.

[USAFChief]

Yep. A double and a walk, followed by a sac-bunt ... and then "oh, if only the throw were better or the catch made, we'd have wriggled out of this."

 

It can't be a clean inning every time, but lately we've been wriggling out of too many jams.

and not wriggling out of too many jams.

[SwainZag]

I didn't see the game, but was there any talk of why they didn't give Smith and intentional pass to load the bases and set up the double play?  

[Richie the Rally Goat]

 

as much as I want to blame the pen... the defense cost us that game.

if the bullpen were striking batters out, instead of allowing balls in play, would the errors have happened? I can still find a way to blame the bullpen

[Darius]

I may as well just prepare myself for the let down now.

 

History tells me this team isn’t going to do enough to fix this terrible bullpen (they’ll make some half-a&@ moves for expiring deals). If that is the case, this team isn’t even getting a whiff of the ALCS.

 

A lot of people are giving the bullpen a pass. But, it doesn’t take Keith Law to see that this unit was hanging by a thread thus far. That thread snapped against Milwaukee a couple weeks ago, and it’s in full-blown free fall at this point.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I didn't see the game, but was there any talk of why they didn't give Smith and intentional pass to load the bases and set up the double play?  

A few factors:

 

Seager looks to be a flyball hitter (although he did ground out twice in this game).

 

Gordon (the lead runner) and Smith are pretty fast (and Long's probably not a slowpoke?).

 

And if you walk Smith, then if Seager doesn't hit into a double play, Encarnacion comes up with men on base. Ideally they want to avoid Encarnacion, and not rely entirely on Seager's DP odds to do it.

[Einheri]

Trade for some relievers… NOW!  Don't wait.  Set the market price; don't wait for "bargains."

[Dantes929]

 

if the bullpen were striking batters out, instead of allowing balls in play, would the errors have happened? I can still find a way to blame the bullpen

Well, yeah... but I can still blame the offense, the base running and the defense too.   I am fine with putting blame on the pen for this one as well as a few other games and a few blown saves, and no, I am not happy with the bullpen as is but Is it really the view of everyone that other bullpen's are awesome and strike everyone out?  I am sure the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Astros and Yankees bullpens just strike everyone out, especially their closers.    I just have a hard time reconciling it with the fact that they all have 2 or 3 times as many blown saves and higher blown save % than the Twins.      Kind of reminds me of the results of a poll I once heard on the radio.    Said that on average guys have relations with 8 different women in their life and on average women only have relations with 4 different guys.    Everyone around me nodded their head and said that sounds about right.    I pointed out that unless there are twice as many women that is not how average works.    They insisted the poll was correct and math is just wrong..  

[USAFChief]

A few factors:

 

Seager looks to be a flyball hitter (although he did ground out twice in this game).

 

Gordon (the lead runner) and Smith are pretty fast (and Long's probably not a slowpoke?).

 

And if you walk Smith, then if Seager doesn't hit into a double play, Encarnacion comes up with men on base. Ideally they want to avoid Encarnacion, and not rely entirely on Seager's DP odds to do it.

Plus Smith is easily the worst rest hitter among him, Seager and Encarnacion.

[USAFChief]

Well, yeah... but I can still blame the offense, the base running and the defense too. I am fine with putting blame on the pen for this one as well as a few other games and a few blown saves, and no, I am not happy with the bullpen as is but Is it really the view of everyone that other bullpen's are awesome and strike everyone out? I am sure the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Astros and Yankees bullpens just strike everyone out, especially their closers. I just have a hard time reconciling it with the fact that they all have 2 or 3 times as many blown saves and higher blown save % than the Twins. Kind of reminds me of the results of a poll I once heard on the radio. Said that on average guys have relations with 8 different women in their life and on average women only have relations with 4 different guys. Everyone around me nodded their head and said that sounds about right. I pointed out that unless there are twice as many women that is not how average works. They insisted the poll was correct and math is just wrong..

 

The math can be right, when using averages.

 

10 guys, each have 8 different partners. Average: 8.

 

10 women, 9 with 3 different partners, 1 with 13. Average: 4.

 

And the Twins pen can be worse than other contenders, and getting worser, despite being covered up by good fortune, great starting pitching, and historical offense.

[ashbury]

The math can be right, when using averages.

 

10 guys, each have 8 different partners. Average: 8.

 

10 women, 9 with 3 different partners, 1 with 13. Average: 4.

There was only 10 guys. That one lady's a player, for sure.