Front Page: Twins Game Recap (8/11): Frustrating Loss Marred by Heartbreaking Moments

[Cooper Carlson]

The Twins finished off this four game set with the Indians with a frustrating loss highlighted by a Marwin Gonzalez double with Ehire Adrianza being thrown out at home and Carlos Santana crushing a grand slam in extra innings. Cleveland will head home tied with the Twins atop the AL Central.Box Score

Berrios: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 68.8% strikes (66 of 96 pitches)

Bullpen: 4 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Home Runs: None

Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (2-for-4), Arraez (2-for-3), Cron (2-for-4)

 

Top 3 WPA: Gonzalez (0.21), Arraez (0.18), Rosario (0.14)

Bottom 3 WPA: Rogers (-0.48), Schoop (-0.22), Kepler (-0.18)

 

Berrios struggles out of the gate

 

This game started with the Twins ace Jose Berrios on the mound looking for redemption from his last time out. This start certainly didn’t begin the way Berrios wanted with a first inning home run from Greg Allen, followed by a walk and an RBI double from Yasiel Puig.

 

Berrios allowed another run in the third inning on a seeing eye RBI single from Carlos Santana to make it 3-1 Indians. Jose Berrios definitely did not have his best stuff yet again but was able to work through six solid innings.

 

Twins offense nowhere to be found

 

The Minnesota Twins came into this game with an advantage going up against Cleveland’s number five starter Aaron Civale who was making just his third career MLB start. The Twins just could not get the bats going. The only early run was from a Rosario double and then two sacrifice flyballs.

 

The Twins fight back to tie it but another frustrating ending occurs

 

After scoring just one run all day, the Twins fought back in the ninth inning against Brad Hand with a chance to walk it off. Eddie Rosario started the inning with a double, Arraez singled to make it 3-2 and then Cron singled to give Marwin a chance to end it. I’ll just let this tweet do the talking.

 

 

Gonzalez came up clutch with an RBI double but the momentum was immediately killed when third base coach Tony Diaz decided to send Adrianza and he was about by about a mile. The catcher would have had time to catch the ball, go fill his car with gas, stop for lunch and then come back to home plate and Adrianza still would have been out. It was the second time this series where there was a send from third and it was not a close play at all. You are all welcome to vent in the comments.

 

With the momentum back on the Indians side, the tenth inning went sideways for Minnesota. Rogers gave up a single, walked Lindor on four pitches and then a well- placed bunt single loaded the bases for Carlos Santana. You probably thought “hey it might be all right because Rogers is elite.” Well, Santana crushed a grand slam to give the Indians a 7-3 lead and crush our spirits.

 

Cleveland takes the series and leaves Minnesota with a first place tie.

 

The Twins desperately needed a split at the least in this series. Cleveland was coming at them like an avalanche but starting pitching struggles mixed with untimely hitting came at the worst possible time in the season. The Twins will head to Milwaukee for a two-game set while Cleveland will host Boston for three. The Twins now have to hope to take care of business until they meet up with Cleveland again.

 

Postgame With Baldelli

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days.

 

Click here to view the article

[Halsey Hall]

No excuse for that send.

[rkevin]

And knowing who was up next too. Even with Mr. Clutch's weak ground ball outs it would have only been the second out.

[Florida Loggerman]

 

No excuse for that send.

was not feeling well, laying down fighting the aml pain, woke up with the Twins down 3-2, took a shower, saw we had come back to tie, but did not see the dumb decision by the 3rd base coach?  we tied and Adrianza appeared to be out by a country mile?? what in the world is the 3rd base coach thinking? he had to be viewing the near perfect1 bounce double off the wall and a near perfect fielding job by the LF, hit the relay man spot on, and then, out by a huge distance, wasn't there only 1 out at the time Gonzalez hit the double off the LF wall, so if Adrianza had been held at third, it's still 3-3? and we have bases loaded and only 1 out, is that correct?? 

[jkcarew]

Twins now 3-8 in Berrios’s last 11 starts. The 3 wins came against the Royals, White Sox, and Marlins.

 

For those that defend the send of Cron in Saturday’s game because there were 2 out...

 

The 2-out situation has never been an automatic send. Not when it’s Yasiel Puig’s arm against CJ Cron’s legs, the ball is hit hard directly at a shallow Puig, and most importantly, the alternative to sending is Kepler up with the bases juiced. Puig throws Cron out on that play at least 8 times out of 10. As Gary Gaetti famously said back in 1984 when the younger Twins players were struggling during their first real pennant race...”it’s hard to hit with both hands wrapped around your throat.” I guess the same can be said of coaching 3rd base.

[Florida Loggerman]

1 simple question:? what did we sign Romo for if were not going to call on him to close some of these huge games? like again in todays brutal loss.  Rodgers has also been struggling big time the past 2 weeks, so, in todays game, wouldn't Romo been a better choice to come in and give the Twins a different look against the hot hitting tribe as a closer or at least to allow a shot at getting the Tribe out in the top of the 10th, and maybe making the final walk off in our bottom of the 10th?  dang man, too many key decision making plays that have really come back to kill the team. Not using Garver behind the plate in the Gibson start, stat's numbers show Garver has Gibson pitching considerably better than when Castro is catching, don't get it, supposed to be a stat & numbers mgr, yet doesn't go with the numbers that state, Garver is the best option when Gibson is on the mound.  same with not starting Cron in game #1?  great defensive 1st baseman, and had 19 hr's and 58 rbi's and Cron's on the bench??  why

[Danchat]

 

1 simple question:? what did we sign Romo for if were not going to call on him to close some of these huge games? like again in todays brutal loss.  Rodgers has also been struggling big time the past 2 weeks, so, in todays game, wouldn't Romo been a better choice to come in and give the Twins a different look against the hot hitting tribe as a closer or at least to allow a shot at getting the Tribe out in the top of the 10th, and maybe making the final walk off in our bottom of the 10th?  dang man, too many key decision making plays that have really come back to kill the team. Not using Garver behind the plate in the Gibson start, stat's numbers show Garver has Gibson pitching considerably better than when Castro is catching, don't get it, supposed to be a stat & numbers mgr, yet doesn't go with the numbers that state, Garver is the best option when Gibson is on the mound.  same with not starting Cron in game #1?  great defensive 1st baseman, and had 19 hr's and 58 rbi's and Cron's on the bench??  why

Rogers' last 2 weeks:

 

5.2 IP 0 ERs, 2 Hits, 8/1 K/BB 

 

How is that struggling big time?

 

He had also only thrown once in the last week (he didn't between between the 4th and the 10th of August), so I don't buy that he was fatigued by yesterday's 2 inning outing. Sometimes your best reliever fails you - it happened for Cleveland today too. 

[Dozier's Glorious Hair]

Tony Diaz is the kind of guy who hits on 19 in blackjack. 

[Monticore]

I'd like Diaz to explain why he sent him. He almost literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Incomprehensible. How can they continue with someone so prone to making egregious decisions?

[MNT1996]

 

Tony Diaz is the kind of guy who hits on 19 in blackjack. 

 

[Riverbrian]

Minor Critique: If it was me...

 

Considering that Left-Hander Brad Hand was on the mound.

Considering that Jake Cave is faster Adrianza

Considering that there was one out

Considering that Schoop would hit after Marwin

Considering that Schoop has been struggling lately

Considering that Adrianza has come up with some clutch contact this year. 

Considering that Cave can move to RF and Marwin can move to 1B and Adrianza can play 2B afterwards

 

I would have pinch ran Cave instead of Adrianza and pinch hit Adrianza for Schoop in the 9th.

 

This is debatable and my opinion so I consider it a minor critique but still valid. 

 

Major Major Major Critique: On the Diaz windmill in the 9th. After you look at the view from behind home plate. There is no doubt that he can see the throw arriving to the cut, there is no doubt that he can see Adrianza rounding the base as he is clearly windmilling his arm to go for it.

 

Everyone knows that a thrown baseball is 3 to 4 times faster than a runner can ever be. He should be fully aware that this is the professional level so a clean transfer and decent throw is good possibility.

 

And there are big scoreboards placed around the stadium that says 1 Out.  

 

I've seen a lot of baseball games and I'm sure I've probably seen a worse 3B coach decision... but honestly... I can't recall one. 

 

I'm normally forgiving, Oops... Move on and let's do better next time. I can't excuse this one. 

 

There was one out... Tito probably walks Schoop to load the bases for a possible double play and we got Kepler against Hand. No guarantee Kepler comes through but I like the odds and Diaz removed that possibility. 

 

Stunning Mistake: I'll be thinking about it and shaking my head until Tuesday in Milwaukee. Diaz should be placed on a PIP for HR purposes for that mistake alone. 

 

BTW... I'll be in Milwaukee on Tuesday. 

 

It's another day... Go Twins!!! 

[USAFChief]

Twins now 3-8 in Berrios’s last 11 starts. The 3 wins came against the Royals, White Sox, and Marlins.For those that defend the send of Cron in Saturday’s game because there were 2 out...The 2-out situation has never been an automatic send. Not when it’s Yasiel Puig’s arm against CJ Cron’s legs, the ball is hit hard directly at a shallow Puig, and most importantly, the alternative to sending is Kepler up with the bases juiced. Puig throws Cron out on that play at least 8 times out of 10. As Gary Gaetti famously said back in 1984 when the younger Twins players were struggling during their first real pennant race...”it’s hard to hit with both hands wrapped around your throat.” I guess the same can be said of coaching 3rd base.

Nitpic: Geatti actually said "it's hard to throw with both hands wrapped around your throat."

[Riverbrian]

 

[mikelink45]

What I have as my complaint is not the poor decision to go for home, but Rocco not recognizing that Rogers just threw 2 innings yesterday and this is Cleveland, this is playoff baseball.  If Rogers is off just a little there is no leeway.  Where was the next BP arm in line?  Why did we let the bases get loaded.  This was another poor pitch management decision by Rocco.

[USAFChief]

In addition to the inexplicable send by Diaz, a couple other points that worry me or disturb me:

 

Berrios velo down again. Worrisome, IYAM.

 

Annoying: Garvers AB in the 9th. Looks at 3-0 fastball center cut, ends up K'ing on ball 4. Gotta be swinging 3-0 there, IMO.

 

How does the bunt go for a hit in the 10th, when every person in the western hemisphere knows he's bunting?? Terrible.

[ChrisKnutson]

Diaz’s job as 3B coach is to understand situational base running (baseball in general) even better than the players themselves and yet he sent a deceptively slow Adrianza with 1 out despite knowing that from the crack of the Marwin’s bat that the game was already tied and that we would’ve had runners on 2nd and 3rd. I mean, he might as well have literally taken the the bat out of Kepler’s hands and told him to sit in the dugout because that what that call pretty much did for the team. I can’t believe it, he put the entire game in the hands of Schoop!!

 

Inexcusable. And even more so from Rocco who wouldn’t even admit that Diaz even made a mistake in the first place. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought owning up to your mistakes was the first step in fixing them, and if Rocco can’t do that, how does he expect the players, and to a much lesser extent; the fans, to truly trust Diaz’s decision making skills ever again if there’s no acknowledgement of what’s clearly a problem?

 

Soon enough you’ll have players doing the exact opposite of what Diaz call for, or atleast show more hesitation...

[Riverbrian]

 

 And even more so from Rocco who wouldn’t even admit that Diaz even made a mistake in the first place. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought owning up to your mistakes was the first step in fixing them, and if Rocco can’t do that, how does he expect the players, and to a much lesser extent; the fans, to truly trust Diaz’s decision making skills ever again if there’s no acknowledgement of what’s clearly a problem?

Soon enough you’ll have players doing the exact opposite of what Diaz call for, or atleast show more hesitation...

 

He isn't going to publicly admonish Diaz and rightfully so. 

 

Privately, he better at least bang the stapler real hard. 

[whatyouknowtwinsfan]

It's just frustrating. Today was just a reminder that improvement isn't linear. They're still a playoff team and at worst right now would host a home wild card game. I'm frustrated, but I'll let everyone else be (rightfully) angry. I'm going to think positive because there were some positives. They played good defensive baseball today and outside of Rogers got some good bullpen performances. I'm not discounting the problems they had today, but there were some positives. Take the day off tomorrow, refresh, and beat up the Brewers and Rangers this week. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

That was tough. That was as close to a two-game error by Tony Diaz imaginable. How do you turn an amazing rally with a huge chance for a walk-off victory into a fizzle?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Minor a quibble with the recap. I don’t know if the catcher would have been going for lunch after filling his car with gas. Maybe a blue plate special dinner?

[GCTF]

 

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly he would score

Edited August 12, 2019 by GCTF

[jz7233]

I would be very surprised if Diaz still has a job next season. He's worse than an amateur. His decisions absolutely make no sense in baseball games. He needs to apologize to the whole team especially Rogers.

[whatyouknowtwinsfan]

I think Diaz is vital to this team. I like his relationship with the Latin players. Instead of threatening to fire the guy, maybe we could propose him moving over to 1st base or into the dugout......... Just a thought. Just because he hasn't been a great 3B coach doesn't mean he's not an asset. The guy is a human being people. 

[jz7233]

 

Tony Diaz is the kind of guy who hits on 19 in blackjack. 

If he likes to gamble like that, he may become homeless soon.

[BD57]

Bad "send" ... gotta think "situational" - you've secured the tie, you have 2nd & 3rd, 1 out in the bottom of the 9th if you "hold" the second runner. 

 

I "pocket" the tie in favor of two shots at getting the run in; you're going to have infield & outfield in, so you'll have a good chance at getting it done.

 

You might "send" if it takes two perfect throws to get the out.  You don't "send" if it takes a bad throw to score the run (translation:  if two "normal baseball plays" throws your runner out, it's not the right move in that situation).

 

My other concern - either we had a slow radar gun today (which didn't seem to be the case) or Berrios is down a few MPH .... don't like seeing that.

[Bandit34]

Diaz: "I'll take that chance any day." Translation: We're not learning. 

[Bandit34]

 

Diaz: "I'll take that chance any day." Translation: We're not learning. 

Now here's the right thing to say: "I take responsibility for that poor play at home. I have no excuse. It was a mistake on my part." If Diaz had said that, I would feel at least a little better. I've got to believe that Rocco was secretly not happy about that. But he certainly did not yell at Diaz because the interview with Diaz would have showed a more conciliatory Diaz as opposed to: "I"ll take that chance any day." That right there tells me that he may not have been talked to about the play, unfortunately. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

The toughest thing to stomach is that it would have been such a huge boost to walk off that game after being down two in the ninth against Hand. It’s almost like blowing a 9-3 lead to the Yankees.

[jz7233]

I hope the FO watched this game and made the right decision for the team. Diaz should not be 3rd base coach.

[Bandit34]

 

I hope the FO watched this game and made the right decision for the team. Diaz should not be 3rd base coach.

That's what is so scary about all of this. Everyone who is associated with the Twins thinks it was an acceptable decision. All I can say is they must be seeing something I did not see in that play.