Front Page: Twins Game Recap (7/30): Pitchers Stifle Marlins Bats, Twins Come Out on Top

[Andrew Thares]

After taking three of four over the weekend in Chicago, the Minnesota Twins were looking to keep their good road trip going as the made the rare trip down to South Beach to play the Miami Marlins. Jake Odorizzi took the mound and was looking to bounce back after his terrible start last time out against the New York Yankees. He did just that, and lead the Twins to a 2-1 victory in game one of the series.Box Score

Odorizzi: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.0% strikes (68 of 103 pitches)

Home Runs: Buxton (10)

Multi-Hit Games: None

WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi .200, Rogers .176, Duffey .141, Romo .129, Sano .114

WPA of -0.1: None

 

There wasn’t a lot of action through the first couple innings of the game. Neither team was able to reach base during the first inning, and the first baserunner of the game was Miguel Sano who drew a one-out walk. He wouldn’t make it far, however, as he was thrown out on an inning-ending strike him out, thrown him out double play.

 

The bottom of the second was going smoothly for Jake Odorizzi until Curtis Granderson hit a line drive into the left-centerfield gap. It appeared as though Eddie Rosario would have a play throw Granderson out at second, but he inexplicable misplayed the ball, allowing it to get past him and Granderson to advance to third on the error. Odorizzi was able to pick up Rosario by getting Harold Ramirez to fly out to end the inning.

 

Byron Buxton got the scoring going in the top of the third when he hit a towering flyball over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead.

 

 

The Twins were able to add to their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Jorge Polanco started the inning with a leadoff walk, and looked for a second like the Twins might not be able to turn that walk into a run. Mitch Garver followed Polanco’s walk with a strikeout, and Edie Rosario proceeded to ground into a force out. Then on a 2-1 count, Miguel Sano drilled a double out to centerfield, bringing Rosario around to score from first.

 

The bottom of the fourth was sailing along for Jake Odorizzi, like the rest of the game had up until that point. He got each of the first two hitters to flyout, before Starlin Castro stepped to the plate and roped a two-out single to the opposite field, setting the table for Curtis Granderson who pulled a double down the line that got all the way to the wall. The relay from Kepler to Arraez to Garver was a hair late and a hair offline, allowing Castro to slide in safely, cutting the Twins lead down to one.

 

Jake Odorizzi was cruising along through five innings and into the sixth, and it appeared as though he was going complete six innings for the first time since June 15. However, that wasn’t meant to be, as with two outs in the sixth he walked Neil Walker, ending his night. Tyler Duffey came in and shut the door in the sixth by striking out Starlin Castro. He then followed that up with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning.

 

Sergio Romo made his Twins debut in the bottom of the eighth against the team that just traded him away. Romo got both Cesar Puello and Miguel Rojas to flyout to begin the inning before he hit Brian Anderson on the first pitch of the plate appearance. Anderson was able to advance to second on a stolen base during the next at-bat but didn’t go any further as Romo ended the inning by getting Martin Prado to strikeout on a check swing that he couldn’t quite hold up on. The often animated Romo showed that he was pumped up to pitch for a competitive ball club again.

 

 

After a much-needed week off, Taylor Rogers looked fresh in the ninth inning, going 1-2-3 to complete his 16th save of the season. With the Indians losing to Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros tonight, the Twins lead is back up to three games.

 

During the game, it was announced that the Cleveland Indians had traded away Trevor Bauer as part of a three-team trade with the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres. In return they received outfielders Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes. If you are unfamiliar with Reyes, he is one of the bright young stars in the game. In 185 career games, Reyes has already hit 43 home runs and has a wRC+ of 122. At just 24 years of age, Reyes might be a nemesis for the Twins in the years to come.

 

Bullpen Usage

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

 

Next Three Games

Wed at MIA, 6:10 pm CT (Berrios-Alcantara)

Thu at MIA, 11:10 am CT (Pineda-Yamamoto)

Fri vs KC, 7:10 pm CT (Sparkman-Perez)

 

Last Game

Twins Game Recap (7/28): Bats Bounce Back Behind Gibson’s Strong Outing

 

Click here to view the article

[pierre75275]

A big win for the Twins.

 

Huge trade for Cleveland. I am stunned at what they got back

[Monticore]

Good to see Romo do the job.

[MNT1996]

I wasn't a huge fan of the Romo trade off the bat, but I love players with that kind of energy. Hopefully he is effective for the Twins. 

[USAFChief]

I think I read somewhere Romo throws strikes less than 40 percent of the time. Gets people out on pitches out of the zone. Saw a lot of that tonight. Nerve wracking, but he's been doing it successfully a long time. Hope it continues into November.

[Dantes929]

Especially nice to see Odorizzi with a strong start.   Cleveland offense got quite a bit better I think but they will miss Bauer.  He gave them a lot of innings.

[Aerodeliria]

Nice win! I love the low scoring Ws.

 

I am surprised to know that Romo lives outside the zone. That is great against free swinging teams; I hope against teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, he can get them to chase.

 

One weird play was the hit and run with Sano on first. I could see it on 3-1 or 2-1 but not on 3-2. Arraez ended up chasing a pitch he normally wouldn't offer at and we ended up running ourselves out of the inning.

 

Rogers looked good. I think the rest has done him a world of good.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I think I read somewhere Romo throws strikes less than 40 percent of the time. Gets people out on pitches out of the zone. Saw a lot of that tonight. Nerve wracking, but he's been doing it successfully a long time. Hope it continues into November.

I haven't watched him in awhile but tonight seemed a bit out of character because many of his pitches weren't competitive. 

 

Maybe that's who he is now, I hope it's not. He was amped up and threw a few pitches that bent right back at RHB, hitting one of them.

 

I'll chalk it up to nerves for one outing against his old team.

[Dantes929]

 

I think I read somewhere Romo throws strikes less than 40 percent of the time. Gets people out on pitches out of the zone. Saw a lot of that tonight. Nerve wracking, but he's been doing it successfully a long time. Hope it continues into November.

That is an incredible stat if it is true.   Source?    That;s an awful lot of chasing.

[Tom Froemming]

You gotta love Sergio Romo ...

[terrydactyls]

Today is Tuesday, July 30, it was the 106th game of the year and the Twins hit 1 home run giving them a total of 206 home runs for the season.  The Twins are now 65% of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team is tied for 3rd on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 315 home runs this season.  They are now 61 home runs behind the single season MLB record.  The next Twins team to pass is the 1964 team that hit 221 home runs.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

That is an incredible stat if it is true.   Source?    That;s an awful lot of chasing.

Per Pitch Info on Fangraphs, his Zone % is 41.7.

 

That's pretty awful, unless you have a pitch that makes MLB hitters panic on a regular basis.

 

And Romo throws that pitch constantly.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Today is Tuesday, July 30, it was the 106th game of the year and the Twins hit 1 home run giving them a total of 206 home runs for the season.  The Twins are now 65% of the way through the season.  Out of 59 years, the current team is tied for 3rd on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 315 home runs this season.  They are now 61 home runs behind the single season MLB record.  The next Twins team to pass is the 1964 team that hit 221 home runs.

We're still in July and the Twins are closing in on the '64 team in homers.

 

Amazing.

[USAFChief]

Nice win! I love the low scoring Ws.

 

I am surprised to know that Romo lives outside the zone. That is great against free swinging teams; I hope against teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, he can get them to chase.

 

One weird play was the hit and run with Sano on first. I could see it on 3-1 or 2-1 but not on 3-2. Arraez ended up chasing a pitch he normally wouldn't offer at and we ended up running ourselves out of the inning.

 

Rogers looked good. I think the rest has done him a world of good.

3-2 is the most common count to send the runner. It's not a "hit and run," the idea is this 3-2 pitch will either be taken for ball 4 or put in play, and you're trying to stay out of a GIDP. Unlike a true H&R, the hitter has the option of not swinging if the pitch is a ball.

 

Arraez is an excellent candidate for this play, as he has a good eye, and is an unlikely K candidate. Both of which he failed at this time of course. Go figure.

[USAFChief]

Per Pitch Info on Fangraphs, his Zone % is 41.7.

 

That's pretty awful, unless you have a pitch that makes MLB hitters panic on a regular basis.

 

And Romo throws that pitch constantly.

thanks Brock, I misremembered, just over 40 percent.

[SwainZag]

https://youtu.be/SUZI-OcRkqY

 

Romo is great.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

thanks Brock, I misremembered, just over 40 percent.

No, you're *also* right. The other Fangraphs stat has him around 36%, but I rely more on their PitchFX stats, which has him just over 40%.

 

Potato, Poh-tah-to. The point is the same. He doesn't throw strikes.

[USAFChief]

No, you're *also* right. The other Fangraphs stat has him around 36%, but I rely more on their PitchFX stats, which has him just over 40%.

 

Potato, Poh-tah-to.

either way, buckle in when he's on the mound, gonna be stressful ABs. He seems to be able to get away with it though. That slider is just a really tough pitch.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

 

I think I read somewhere Romo throws strikes less than 40 percent of the time. Gets people out on pitches out of the zone. Saw a lot of that tonight. Nerve wracking, but he's been doing it successfully a long time. Hope it continues into November.

 

Now when opposing batters step in the box, Castro and Garver can say, "I don't know where it's gonna go. Swear to God."

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Did somebody keep count?  How many pitches did Sano see today?

 

2 AB, 1 double, _2_ walks, 1 SO, 1 RBI

 

These are veteran plate appearances - not the someday hitter of earlier seasons.  It's like Rowson took off a blindfold  _and_ Hernandez removed wax from his ears.

[denarded]

I appreciate all the writers for what they do but this article is a cluster**** There is no deadline pressure. One example

Byron Buxton got the scoring going in the top of the third when Byron Buxton hit a towering flyball over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Twins an early one to nothing lead.

Take a breath and do some self-editing. There is no hard deadline for this stuff. And I do appreciate what you guys do, but I've been noticing a lot of awful errors and I am not a Strunk and White Nazi

[VivaBomboRivera!]

 

No, you're *also* right. The other Fangraphs stat has him around 36%, but I rely more on their PitchFX stats, which has him just over 40%.

 

Potato, Poh-tah-to. The point is the same. He doesn't throw strikes.

 

As long as he throws strikes often enough - especially on the first pitch - to make the hitter worry the next pitch will be a strike, as well.

[jorgenswest]

I think I read somewhere Romo throws strikes less than 40 percent of the time. Gets people out on pitches out of the zone. Saw a lot of that tonight. Nerve wracking, but he's been doing it successfully a long time. Hope it continues into November.

It depends on whether the number is from Pitch f/x for Baseball info solutions. They are different. His pitch f/x zone% is 36.2.

 

Either way he is extreme in how little he pitches in the strike zone and backs that up with getting swings in balls out of the zone at a high rate for relievers only exceeded by Tony Watson.

 

This mix should work well against the inexperienced hitters he will face as the next two months.

[VATwinsFan]

Now that we got the 2-1 game out of the way, how about a couple of 10-3 type games for tonight and tomorrow?

[USAFChief]

Now when opposing batters step in the box, Castro and Garver can say, "I don't know where it's gonna go. Swear to God."

I dont mean to imply Romo has bad control, or even bad command. On the contrary, i think he has excellent command. He gets ahead, then lives just on the edges, or just off the edges of the zone. He creates the illusion of strikes by starting pitches in the zone, but by the time they reach the plate, they aren't quite there any more. And he's good at it, particularly with that slider. And he's careful to make sure if he misses, he misses more outside the zone, than letting a pitch miss toward the middle of the zone.

 

He has to do this. He absolutely cant be successful if he's consistently throwing strikes anywhere near the middle of the zone.

 

It's important for any pitcher to pitch ahead in the count, but IMO even more so for Romo. Being put in a position of having to throw a strike is bad news for him. Fortunately, he's been able to do this for a long time.

[luckylager]

 

I appreciate all the writers for what they do but this article is a cluster**** There is no deadline pressure. One example

Byron Buxton got the scoring going in the top of the third when Byron Buxton hit a towering flyball over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Twins an early one to nothing lead.

Take a breath and do some self-editing. There is no hard deadline for this stuff. And I do appreciate what you guys do, but I've been noticing a lot of awful errors and I am not a Strunk and White Nazi

Ask to speak to the manager. Maybe you can get your money back. 

[big dog]

 

https://youtu.be/SUZI-OcRkqY

Romo is great.

Man, I'd love to play with a guy like that.  That's an attitude that could elevate an bunch of young relievers.

[Tom Froemming]

 

I appreciate all the writers for what they do but this article is a cluster**** There is no deadline pressure. One example

Byron Buxton got the scoring going in the top of the third when Byron Buxton hit a towering flyball over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Twins an early one to nothing lead.

Take a breath and do some self-editing. There is no hard deadline for this stuff. And I do appreciate what you guys do, but I've been noticing a lot of awful errors and I am not a Strunk and White Nazi

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the tip. Glad to see you expect quality here. I went through and cleaned some stuff up. While there is no specific deadline for these, time is always of the essence.

 

Readers have come to expect these to be posted shortly after the games and we don't want to let them down. Also, the people who write or help publish these have other things in their lives they need to attend to, so there is some pressure to get these turned around as soon as possible. Just because there isn't a print deadline doesn't mean we have infinite time and resources to comb through everything, unfortunately.

[AceWrigley]

Writing for consumption sometimes contains bumps and warts . . kind of like all of us. I think the combination of timeliness, reporting, insight, editorializing and comments presented here is pretty good stuff.

[blindeke]

 

Nice win! I love the low scoring Ws.

 

One weird play was the hit and run with Sano on first. I could see it on 3-1 or 2-1 but not on 3-2. Arraez ended up chasing a pitch he normally wouldn't offer at and we ended up running ourselves out of the inning.

 

Yeah what was that?