Article: OAK 8, MIN 6: Former Twins Have A Grand Night for Oakland

[Andrew Thares]

The Minnesota Twins began the second half of their six-game road trip in Oakland tonight, looking to bounce back from their loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. However, that wasn’t meant to be as the Twins came up short again tonight. In what is becoming an all to common theme of late, the Twins will need to win tomorrow to avoid their first three game losing streak of the season.Box Score

Odorizzi: 3.0+ IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 61.2% strikes (46 of 84 pitches)

Home Runs: Sano (13), Castro 2(10)

Multi-Hit Games: Arraez (2 for 4); Sano (2 for 4, HR); Castro (3 for 4, 2 HR)

WPA of +0.1: Sano .226; Castro .164

WPA of -0.1: Odorizzi -.492; Magill -.115; Cruz -.104

 

Download attachment: vs A's 7-2-2019.PNG

 

(Chart via Fangraphs)

 

A week ago, Miguel Sano couldn’t avoid striking out if his life depended on it. Fast-forward to present day, and Sano is giving us another glimpse of all that power potential we heard about for years, as he belted his fourth home run in four games to give the Twins a 2-to-0 lead in the top of the second.

 

 

The Twins tacked on another run in the third inning when Max Kepler led off the inning with his 20th double of the season, followed by a Jorge Polanco infield single, giving the Twins runners on the corners with nobody out. The A’s challenged the play at first, and it appeared that Polanco was out, but the replay official ruled that the play stood as called. Nelson Cruz then came up and grounded into a double-play that scored Max Kepler from third.

 

The A's got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Matt Olson connected on a two-out, two-run home run to cut the Twins lead down to one. This was already Olson’s 17th home run of the season despite missing the first month of the season after having surgery on his hand. Then things fell apart for Jake Odorizzi in the fourth inning. Mark Canha reached to lead off the inning thanks to a Miguel Sano error. Odorizzi followed that up by walking Ramon Laureano and giving up a single to former Twin Robbie Grossman. It is then when a different former Twin by the name of Chris Herrmann who connected on one of those four-run home run things. Between the Grossman single and the Herrmann home run, Rocco Baldelli and the trainer were out at the mound to check on what was an apparent blister on Odorizzi’s finger. Three pitches later the Twins were down by three and Odorizzi’s night was done.

 

In the fifth the Twins got one of those runs back when Jason Castro crushed a leadoff home run to center field, trimming the Athletics lead down to two. Per Statcast, Castro’s homer had an exit velocity of 106.3 MPH, with a launch angle of 31 degrees, and went a projected distance of 417 feet.

 

 

Adalberto Mejia had a strong first game back from the 60-Day IL, going 3 and 1/3 innings, and giving up just one run. It was a little adventure for Mejia in the bottom of the fifth when he issued a one out walk to Mark Canha, before Laureano roped a double down the third base line. Canha appeared as if he was going to score on the play, but Marwin Gonzalez channeled his inner Yoenis Cespedes and gunned out Canha at home.

 

 

The Athletics were still able to bring a run home in the inning, as Robbie Grossman came through with a two-out RBI base knock, and just like that the Twins were back down 7 to 4.

 

The Twins were able to get single runs back in both the sixth and seventh innings, to trim the lead back to one run. In the fifth Gonzalez scored from first on a two-out double from Luis Arraez, aided in part by a missed diving catch from A’s center fielder Ramon Laureano that allowed the ball to get to the wall. The start of the seventh was almost identical to the fifth, as Jason Castro led off the inning with another home run to straight away center field.

 

 

The A’s were able to extend the lead back up to two in the eighth when Mark Canha took Matt Magill deep, this time not giving Marwin Gonzalez a chance to throw him out at home, as the ball traveled about 50 feet over his head.

 

Next up on our favorite game, Name that Former Twin, was Liam Hendriks who came in to shut the door on any hope of the Twins putting together a ninth inning rally. Hendriks picked up his third save of the season and improved his season ERA down to 1.35 (yes you read that right).

 

Bullpen Usage

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

 

Download attachment: 7-2-2019 vs A's.PNG

 

Next Three Games

Wed at OAK, 8:07 pm CT (Gibson-Fiers)

Thu at OAK, 3:07 pm CT (Berrios-Anderson)

Fri vs TEX, 7:10 pm CT (Simpson-TBD)

 

Last Game

CHW 4, MIN 3: Twins Lose Rubber Match to White Sox After Another Long Day of Baseball

 

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[Seth Stohs]

Jake Odorizzi to the IL with a blister.

 

Zack Littell back on his way up.

 

Could this mean that Jose Berrios will get added to the All Star team?

 

Also, the Twins using the IL and the All Star break to their advantage. Odo will get to rest... and be ready when the All Star break is complete.

 

[Aerodeliria]

It's the little things that kill you every single time. Six walks and a critical error; if your don't make them earn their way aboard, it becomes that much easier to score runs.

[terrydactyls]

Yesterday was Tuesday, July 2, it was the 84th game of the year and the Twins hit 3 home runs.  The Twins are now 52%  of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team ranks 15th on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 309 home runs this season..

[Darius]

This team is falling apart. The offense will always be there, but I have significant doubts anything meaningful will be accomplished with this pitching staff.

[bighat]

Cleveland now 7 games back. They play the Royals on Wednesday. A's have a great record against above .500 teams this year and they're now just 7 back of Houston. A win tonight would really right the ship. Hope Rocco has a motivational speech in his bag of tricks, might come in handy.

 

Nice to see the bats heat up yesterday, but pitching has really not been what it once was earlier in the year. Twins need help, soon. The more bad outings the starters have, the higher the price gets for pitchers.

 

Trade talk will be the significant focus of this board until the end of the month. How soon will the Twins add talent? Here's a look back to last year's trade dates: 

 

July 27: Escobar for Duran, De la Trinidad, & Maciel

July 30: Lynn for Tyler Austin & Rojo

July 30: Duke for Chase De Jong & Costello

July 31: Dozier for Forsythe, Smelztzer & Raley

 

It will be nice to be on the other side of the fence this year. Just hoping our front office makes some deals before July 27!

[Cody Pirkl]

 

It's the little things that kill you every single time. Six walks and a critical error; if your don't make them earn their way aboard, it becomes that much easier to score runs.

It's Rocco's job to see that not only did Odorizzi have absolutely nothing, but he was injured. I have no idea why he wanted to wait until we were absolutely buried to take him out but in my opinion this loss is on him. The offense did it's job and it wasn't enough because Rocco chose to save the bullpen (which turned out to be a couple pitches) with a few days until the break instead of bringing somebody else in who would have given us a better shot. We've gotta start winning games like these or the script is going to flip in July.

[MABB1959]

We have a great team, just what we have been waiting for all these years. Always excited to watch our #1 starter (Berrios) and then Ordorizzi. For the first time in a long time we have excitement when several players are up to bat hoping for a home-run!  With that said there are ex-Twins that are killing it now.  I saw Pressley on the AS roster and read his stats!  He is doing amazing.  Escobar is the best hitter for AZ, Hicks doing well in NY.  Even Suzuki is doing pretty well.  It is a fun game to watch for sure!

[Linus]

Get ready for pucker time. The Twins lead will be down to 5 at the All Star break

[the_brute_squad]

 

Get ready for pucker time. The Twins lead will be down to 5 at the All Star break

I don't know if it's pucker time but I said it would be a 5 game lead in mid-June. There appears to be a downward trend with the starting pitching that is concerning. Combine that with an increase in errors it's going to difficult to win at a first half clip.

There are those out there that say to relax but until Cleveland gets that message it won't happen.

[MMMordabito]

I wouldn't call Mejia's performance strong. He was completely bailed out by an on the screws throw from Gonzalez. He's not part of the solution.

 

Unless the Twins are going to trade for two starters and about three relief arms, I think they should limit the trade acquisitions to players that will also at least be on the 2020 team.

[Number3]

"Jake Odorizzi to the IL with a blister."

Always amazed me that a Major League pitcher could suddenly develop a blister half way through the season unless they have changed their delivery (even unintentionally) or maybe experimenting with a new pitch (I hope that is the case).

 

"This team is falling apart. The offense will always be there, but I have significant doubts anything meaningful will be accomplished with this pitching staff."

I think most of the recent losses have been when theTwins haven't reached the 5 run mark and pitching has held its own. Even this loss was a grand salami being the culprit and pitching was ok otherwise.  I do agree that the Twins' staff has no one that can be counted on from one appearance to the next it seems.

 

Need to win tonight and avoid going into the break in a funk. Also, and I haven't checked the record yet, I think they were better as a team prior to Sano's return coincidence or not.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Number3

[TerwilligerBuntsOne]

When Rocco and the trainer came out to see Odo (the first time!), I could not believe that they left him in the game. He had lost all command, and they had been looking at his finger. The result, of course, was the grand slam.  Then...they brought the trainer back out and removed him from the game.  Seems like that was avoidable.

 

When the Twins make a move or two (or three!) to bring in the much needed pitching help, I hope that Magill is one of the guys that departs. Being able to throw the ball 97 is great. However, there is no movement at all. Straight as an arrow. Major league hitters eventually catch up to the heat when there isn't any movement. To me, that is also a concern with Duffy: When he has his curveball working, the change of speeds works well. But....when he has to rely on his fastball with no movement, they knock him around a bit. 

[Platoon]

Also lost in the chaff was the ball off Polancos glove, not an error (at least in MLB) but not an impossible play either. As for the other side of defense, the throw by Marwin was truly one of the better ones I have seen made. No setup, just turn and heave. Also nice footwork by Castro to anticipate the hop and set up the tag!

[Dantes929]

I don't know how the rest of the season is going to go but sometimes I like to look at our world series and division winning years scores and results on baseball reference to imagine what fans would be posting back then.    Actually, I don't have to imagine some of it because I saw what was posted in the 2002 to 2010 years.   When the Twins went up 11 games a third of the way through the season I never thought they would be 18 games ahead at the break or 40 games ahead by the end of the season.   Any thought that they might bored me rather than excited me.   How would the fans now have reacted in 87 when the Twins were up 5 late in the season and then lost 9 of 10 to be in a tie.    How about the 91 Twins who  were up 4.5 and then lost 7 of 8 to be tied on July 3rd?    I am sure everyone at the time was saying "that's ok, we'll win the World Series and Jack Morris who was 21-32 the last two years, is now 36 with a 4.00 ERA will pitch a shut out in game 7."   I never thought everyone on the Twins would just continue to be smoking hot all the way through.    It is nice to know they are capable of being that hot for an extended period of time.    

[USAFChief]

I like Baldelli, but that was managerial incompetence last night.

 

No way should Odorizzi have come out for the fourth, much less stay in long enough to give up 4 without recording an out.

 

Incredibly poor pitching mgmt.

[SpicyGarvSauce]

 

I like Baldelli, but that was managerial incompetence last night.

No way should Odorizzi have come out for the fourth, much less stay in long enough to give up 4 without recording an out.

Incredibly poor pitching mgmt.

 

Right - on the television, it did look like Odorizzi told them "I am good" and that is when they decided to leave him in there. Obviously what followed makes the decision look even worse.

 

Look at how the 4th inning unfolded though leading up to that grand slam - Sano error (dude is atrocious defensively, let's be honest), a walk, a bloop single by Grossman that I am still surprised Buxton didn't catch (took a bad initial route on it)...and then bam, the grand slam to Herrmann. Baseball is a cruel animal sometimes.

[jz7233]

 

Right - on the television, it did look like Odorizzi told them "I am good" and that is when they decided to leave him in there. Obviously what followed makes the decision look even worse.

 

Look at how the 4th inning unfolded though leading up to that grand slam - Sano error (dude is atrocious defensively, let's be honest), a walk, a bloop single by Grossman that I am still surprised Buxton didn't catch (took a bad initial route on it)...and then bam, the grand slam to Herrmann. Baseball is a cruel animal sometimes.

Baldelli should have taken him out before Grossman came to the plate. He took him out of the game without asking him before.

[Doomtints]

I'm honestly surprised the Twins lost this one.

 

But I agree, this was bad pitching management.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

What are they going to do about Sunday? Might be a good move to start whoever starts toinight on 3 days rest and hope for 5 innings in the traditional "all hands on deck" game before the AS break. Maybe wswitch Berrios and Gibson so Berrios is the guy Sunday? He seems to be able to go on less rest, but maybe Gibson can do that. Berrios would be on 4 days rest today, then pitch on 3 days rest Sunday, then 4 days rest for the Friday after the AS break. Berrios might get Odorizzi's spot in the  AS game but won't go more than 1 inning, if he pitches at all. 

I presume they'll exchange a reliever (presumably Littell again) for Smeltzer to start on Sunday. Smeltzer started last night too, so he's lined up perfectly to take the start.

[jz7233]

I am not sure Twins can advance further in the playoff if they can reach the playoff. Those Dodgers and Yankees are impressive. Especially those Dodgers! They just had another impressive walk-off win again last night. Dodgers have dominating pitching, power hitting, clutch hitting, excellent plate discipline. They have it all. I think this year is definitely the Dodgers' year.

[crapforks]

Mejia’s line was meh, but how did he look? I didn’t get to watch the game.

[Rosterman]

Hendriks was one of those guys the Twins gave up on too soon. Of course, you never know. And shows that starters in the minors can become bullpen arms and maybe even develop into clsoer material. So...NEVER draft a bullpen guy!

 

Getting worried about the Twins division led come the All-Star break. .500 ball ain't gonna do it for the Twins. We are seeing that pitching IS a factor for the Twins. They need one top flight arm in the rotation and 1-2 arms in the bullpen, preferably a closer. 

 

Of course the lineup always has ups-and-downs. Sure, Sano hits a homer...or not. Buxton is slumpign. Garver, too. Castro was, but had a great game. At what point does Polanco need a rest. Thankfully the Twins have Gonzalez to give eryone a rest. Now they just have to keep Arraez in the linup until they have to make a decision on "who goes" when Rosario returns.

 

Cleveland 7 games back. Next five games will be telling. Cleveland has easy teams. Twins have competitive teams! That stand against the Indians immediately afetr the All-Star break will be BIG!

 

[howeda7]

 

Cleveland now 7 games back. They play the Royals on Wednesday. A's have a great record against above .500 teams this year and they're now just 7 back of Houston. A win tonight would really right the ship. Hope Rocco has a motivational speech in his bag of tricks, might come in handy.

 

Nice to see the bats heat up yesterday, but pitching has really not been what it once was earlier in the year. Twins need help, soon. The more bad outings the starters have, the higher the price gets for pitchers.

 

Trade talk will be the significant focus of this board until the end of the month. How soon will the Twins add talent? Here's a look back to last year's trade dates: 

 

July 27: Escobar for Duran, De la Trinidad, & Maciel

July 30: Lynn for Tyler Austin & Rojo

July 30: Duke for Chase De Jong & Costello

July 31: Dozier for Forsythe, Smelztzer & Raley

 

It will be nice to be on the other side of the fence this year. Just hoping our front office makes some deals before July 27!

Were you able to go back in time and undo the Pressly trade? Please say yes.

[howeda7]

 

I like Baldelli, but that was managerial incompetence last night.

No way should Odorizzi have come out for the fourth, much less stay in long enough to give up 4 without recording an out.

Incredibly poor pitching mgmt.

It did have a Gardy "be deferential to veterans battling their tail off" feel to it.

[jkcarew]

For 2-3 weeks now, the Twins are playing about like I thought they would heading into the year. Offense dangerous but inconsistent, defense good in the outfield, poor-to-fair in the infield, starting pitching fair-to-decent, bullpen poor-to-fair. (Also, the breaks have gone the other way recently, losing some close games that could have gone either way.)

 

But, the first 65 games happened. I don't see the offense tanking...too many of the younger guys seem to have taken that next step, and the depth is better than anticipated. If the pitching bounces back and/or gets upgraded, I think the club's fine. Rocco's made some mistakes, but he's been aggressive and consistent with the rest/workload (and use of IL) for key pitchers and position players...we could see that pay off in the second half.

[howeda7]

 

I presume they'll exchange a reliever (presumably Littell again) for Smeltzer to start on Sunday. Smeltzer started last night too, so he's lined up perfectly to take the start.

Unless the bullpen is taxed on Friday/Saturday, I'm guessing they go with Mejia and hope to get 4-5 innings since it's the last game before the break.

[SomeGuy]

4 homeruns in 7 days for Sano.  K% of 21.7 in that span.

[MMMordabito]

 

I am not sure Twins can advance further in the playoff if they can reach the playoff. Those Dodgers and Yankees are impressive. Especially those Dodgers! They just had another impressive walk-off win again last night. Dodgers have dominating pitching, power hitting, clutch hitting, excellent plate discipline. They have it all. I think this year is definitely the Dodgers' year.

 

Well, at least that is slightly better than a Yankees' year.

[mikelink45]

Fascinating to read the comments.  I have to agree about Odorizzi and the management, when in doubt make the change, especially when it is something like a blister and obviously enough to become an IL issue.  But for the losing streak - the 1965 Twins longest losing streak was 4, 1991 it was 7, and 1987 it was six.  Those were our series years so I can live with a three game losing streak.  What we cannot live with is having a group of mediocre series wrapped around a losing streak.

 

The voice of the TD fans has been calling for pitching since pre-season and nothing has changed despite a short period of Perez mania.  But my issue is also a question of why we have to wait until the deadline to do a deal?  An arm for an extra month seems like a good idea to me.

 

Now it is fielding that is also surfacing as an issue.  Not sure how that will be addressed.

 

Finally, thanks Sano for giving us some hits, walks and home runs, your recent streak looks really good.