Front Page: Twins Game Recap (9/2): Late Labor Day Offense Propels Twins

[Nate Palmer]

It wasn’t that the Twins offense was completely on vacation with most of the rest of Twins Territory for most of their Labor Day finale against the Tigers, but it certainly wasn’t finishing the job either. Finally, in the eighth inning the winning run crossed the plate Monday afternoon for the team's 85th win. A total that matches the 2017 playoff team's win total.Box Score

Starter Jake Odorizzi: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 69.2% strikes (63 of 91 pitches)

Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

 

Home Runs: Ehire Adrianza (5)

Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (2-for-5), Jorge Polanco (3-for-5), Nelson Cruz (2-for-5), Luis Arraez (3-for-4), Ehire Adrianza (2-for-4)

 

Top 3 WPA: Kepler (.368), Arraez (.227), Adrianza (.204)

Bottom 3 WPA: Cron (-.247), Cave (-.246), Rosario (-.128)

 

Miguel Cabrera struck first for the Tigers with a solo shot off Jake Odorizzi in the first inning. The Twins quickly answered, with Ehire Adrianza playing third for Miguel Sano and doing his best impression of the big man. Adrianza went ahead and launched a two-run shot to deep right-center field.

 

The Tigers added two more runs to retake the lead in the fifth inning, making the score 3-2. After Jake Cave bobbled a grounder in the sixth inning it looked like the Tigers might extend their lead, but Tyler Duffey was able to strike out two batters, which stranded runners on second and third. The solid appearance comes off of a good August where Duffey put up a stat line of 10.2 IP, 0 ER, 17/5 K/BB and a 0.00 ERA.

 

Kepler comes up clutch once again.

 

Max Kepler gave the Twins the lead in the eighth inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single to score LaMonte Wade and Luis Arraez. Once again the lefty showed off just how important he is to this team.

 

 

Garver leaves game early

 

After getting hit in the mask, Mitch Garver was removed from the game in favor of Willians Astudillo. Thankfully according to all reports coming mid-game Garver doesn’t seem to have any concussion symptoms. Instead he was removed because of a sore jaw.

 

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

[terrydactyls]

Yesterday was Monday, September 2. It was the 137th game of the year putting the Twins 85% of the way through the season. The Twins hit 1 home run upping their MLB record-breaking season total to 269 home runs.

 

[twinssporto]

These are the type of games we need to keep winning to make the whole Cleveland thing mute before we even begin to play them again.  Let's take it to Boston next!

[Mike Sixel]

This is why they should consider Garver at first.....

[Monticore]

Good team win. Arreaz, Adrianza, Kepler all clutch. Even a walk by Wade.

[by jiminy]

Garver at first sounds great! Especially if they can re-sign Castro. It lets you play both without giving up the DH in case of injury, and gets more ABs for Garver, while protecting again concussions and knee damage.

[IndianaTwin]

 

These are the type of games we need to keep winning to make the whole Cleveland thing mute before we even begin to play them again.  Let's take it to Boston next!

 

Yes, let's silence Cleveland!

 

 

 

 

I think you mean "moot."        

It's a common confusion -- you mute the television; irrelevant things are moot.

Edited September 2, 2019 by IndianaTwin

[MNT1996]

 

Garver at first sounds great! Especially if they can re-sign Castro. It lets you play both without giving up the DH in case of injury, and gets more ABs for Garver, while protecting again concussions and knee damage.

 

I think Garver should stay behind the plate. 1st base will occupied by Kirilloff either next year or the next. I think the Twins will sign Cron to a 1 year deal and then keep groming Kirillof to be the 1st baseman of the future. I do think Garver should get some reps at first as a backup though. 

[USAFChief]

Great clutch hit from Kep, really nice win.

 

However...Adrianza's decision to go 1st to 3rd on that hit was really, really bad. Terrible. He made it, but close enough that he never should have went. That could have cost the Twins the go ahead run.

[rdehring]

Very nice win.

 

Are we beginning to expect Arraez to get 3 hits in games?  Usually when someone comes to bat having already gotten 2 hits, you kind of expect them to make an out.  Not Arraez, at least not for me.

 

Nice clutch hitting by Max.  And another good bullpen game.  

[Dantes929]

 

Great clutch hit from Kep, really nice win.

However...Adrianza's decision to go 1st to 3rd on that hit was really, really bad. Terrible. He made it, but close enough that he never should have went. That could have cost the Twins the go ahead run.

I agree.   I think Arraez scored before Adrianza was tagged but one could easily imagine him slowing down a bit knowing he was scoring and then not have that huge run count.    Wasn't the only base running mistake.   Not enough gain taking 3rd when a run likely scores him from 2nd anyway but compounded by Kepler not taking 2nd on the play.    Given Adrianza's bad play, I don''t know how Kepler doesn't take the extra base.

[Bandit34]

Wouldn't it be great if Cleveland would lose the wild cards to Oakland and Tampa Bay? I would absolutely love to see it. I like both Oakland and Tampa Bay, have great respect for both teams. It sure would be a wonderful ending to this year and it's very possible because when a team goes on a tear as Cleveland had done in July and August, you know what they say: What goes up must come down. I think the way the Twins have stayed on an even keel has actually helped them. There haven't been major winning streaks but there also have not been bad losing streaks. I think this is a more successful model then to have a stretch of amazing baseball as Cleveland seems to be tiring from that streak. 

[jimbo92107]

Twins need to win games like this when playoff time comes. Good practice for it.

[nokomismod]

Agreed that it was a great team win and fun to see some Kepler get the big clutch hit. I was worried that they would end up with 14 hits and only 2 runs to show for it.

 

What do people think Wade's ceiling is? Is a high obp with the ability to steal some bases? Defensively he has looked pretty good in limited duty.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Another good win against a bad team. Keep rolling Twins. I think I can.

[jkcarew]

Agreed that it was a great team win and fun to see some Kepler get the big clutch hit. I was worried that they would end up with 14 hits and only 2 runs to show for it.

 

What do people think Wade's ceiling is? Is a high obp with the ability to steal some bases? Defensively he has looked pretty good in limited duty.

 

IMO, the ceiling is low. The OPS at Rochester this season well below league average. So far, he’s a corner outfielder with no power. Meanwhile, the OBP has come from BB, not BA (or BABiP). Hard to imagine that being sustainable over time in the bigs with as little power as he has shown. Don’t really think he’s going to be much of a base stealing threat in the majors either...to the extent there are still going to be “base stealers” the way the game is played now...they will be guys with elite speed. That’s not Wade.

 

On the other hand, the floor is probably what we see. Maybe plus defense in the corners, good first-to-this base runner...and able to take professional at-bats and put the ball in play. 4th (or 5th) outfielder.

[wabene]

I feel almost guilty when I look at the bullpen chart lately

[beckmt]

Given the choice of Cave or Wade, I think the choice is Cave, Wade is more like AAAA depth. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

An even .600 clip for the last 25 games gets Minnesota to 100 wins.  Magic number is 20 unless the Chisox get hot in their last three innings tonight.  If the Twins hit that 100 win pace, the Indians _must_ win 22 of 25 (including today) in order to finish ahead.  If the Twins go 13 and 12 for 98 wins, Cleveland still has to win 20.  We are in the driver's seat for the division title, folks.

 

Overtaking HOU and NYY is a tough problem at 4 games back.  If both play .500 ball to go 102 - 60, The Twins must play at a .720 clip to catch them.  They don't call it the final stretch for nothing.

[Bandit34]

 

An even .600 clip for the last 25 games gets Minnesota to 100 wins.  Magic number is 20 unless the Chisox get hot in their last three innings tonight.  If the Twins hit that 100 win pace, the Indians _must_ win 22 of 25 (including today) in order to finish ahead.  If the Twins go 13 and 12 for 98 wins, Cleveland still has to win 20.  We are in the driver's seat for the division title, folks.

 

Overtaking HOU and NYY is a tough problem at 4 games back.  If both play .500 ball to go 102 - 60, The Twins must play at a .720 clip to catch them.  They don't call it the final stretch for nothing.

I kind of hope the Twins finish the third seed because we play so much better on the road.

[Aerodeliria]

The Twins did a lot of things well in the past two games. Besides the bullpen, which suddenly seems like the backbone of this club, the hitters continued to let the pitches determine where they should be hit. Opposite field hitting led to a bunch of runs over the past two days. That shows some relaxed hitting at the plate...I'll call it the Cruz Method because it seems to exemplify his approach. Cruising with Cruz.

[Aerodeliria]

 

I kind of hope the Twins finish the third seed because we play so much better on the road.

Not in every house...

[Aerodeliria]

 

Great clutch hit from Kep, really nice win.

However...Adrianza's decision to go 1st to 3rd on that hit was really, really bad. Terrible. He made it, but close enough that he never should have went. That could have cost the Twins the go ahead run.

Great observation and exactly what I was thinking. Again, when the play is front of the fielders, even poor fielders are likely to throw you out. It's an easy throw. The Twins were VERY fortunate that the throw was not great, but I'd say 4 out of 5 times Adrianza is going to be toast in that situation.

[Tom Froemming]

Here's some talk about today's pitching performance, a look ahead at the Boston series and some additional context into just how good Randy Dobnak was in the high minors this season.

[twinssporto]

 

Yes, let's silence Cleveland!

 

 

 

 

I think you mean "moot."        

It's a common confusion -- you mute the television; irrelevant things are moot.

Thank you. It's Labor Day and my mouth is mute.  I meant moot. Spell checker agin...

 

Sory!   

[railmarshalljon]

 

Here's some talk about today's pitching performance, a look ahead at the Boston series and some additional context into just how good Randy Dobnak was in the high minors this season.

 

 

Hadn't realized how good of a year Dobnaks had. He seems to have a real... handle on hitters. But loving Twins Pitch so far keep it up! It's especially great for days I have to work. Keep up the good work Tom!

[diehardtwinsfan]

Got to say that I'm thrilled with a 5.5 game lead... need to hold it coming into that Cleveland series. They still have enough games with us to make it close again.

[Channing1964]

i really like all these comments but i hope Rocco is listening when i say this. In a 5 game LDS those first 2 games at home is a Huge advantage. Let us not forget we have time to get that #2 seed. And, we would hold the tiebreaker over the Stros based on our 4-3 season series win.

[Mr. Brooks]

i really like all these comments but i hope Rocco is listening when i say this. In a 5 game LDS those first 2 games at home is a Huge advantage. Let us not forget we have time to get that #2 seed. And, we would hold the tiebreaker over the Stros based on our 4-3 season series win.

The Twins are a much better team on the road than at home though.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Great clutch hit from Kep, really nice win.

 

However...Adrianza's decision to go 1st to 3rd on that hit was really, really bad. Terrible. He made it, but close enough that he never should have went. That could have cost the Twins the go ahead run.

I was wondering about that. I saw him trying to stretch to third and said “WHY?!?!!!” It was not a smart move, though he’s slow enough the run may have scored anyway.

 

Still though, very little point in taking that risk just to reach third base.