CLE 4, MIN 2: Cleveland Counterpunch

[Andrew Thares]

Francisco Lindor led a Cleveland comeback, delivering a counter blow as he slugged a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Twins now hold a 1 1/2 game lead in the division heading into the final contest of a three-game series.Box Score

Hill: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (78 pitches, 50 strikes)

Home Runs: None

Bottom 3 WPA: Alcala -.374, Polanco -.086, Wade Jr. -.122

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

Download attachment: Winchart.png

 

Rich Hill had a promising bounce back start, after getting knocked around for four runs in just 2 and 2/3 innings his last time out versus Milwaukee. The lone run that Hill gave up was in the first. After that, Hill was sharp, as he pitched four scoreless innings while striking out five Indians hitters, which included striking out the side in the fifth.

 

Jose Ramirez got the inning going for Cleveland with a one out single. The Twins had Ramirez picked off, as he attempted to steal too early, however, a poor low throw from Miguel Sano that skipped away from Luis Arraez and into the outfield allowed Ramirez to get in safely. Ramirez wouldn’t stay at second long, as he proceeded to steal third on the very next pitch. Suddenly, the Indians had a runner on third with just one out. Hill was able to get Francisco Lindor to ground out to third, without advancing the runner. However, Hill wasn’t out of the inning, as Carlos Santana came up with a two out hit to bring home the first run of the game. Franmil Reyes put in a bid to make it a big inning, but Eddie Rosario was having none of that, as he threw out Reyes trying stretch his hit to a double. That was already Rosario’s fourth outfield assist of the 2020 season.

 

After Shane Bieber shutdown the Twins offense the first time around, the Twins entered tonight’s game with a patient approach that paid off for them. Of course, it helped that Bieber did not have his best command tonight, as he threw just 58.8% of his pitches for strikes. The Twins were able to work three walks off Bieber, who had only six on the season entering play tonight. When they weren’t walking, the Twins also worked a lot of deep counts, which helped inflate Bieber’s pitch count, and get him out of the game after six innings.

 

The Twins got their two long runs of the game in the second inning, after Miguel Sano had a leadoff walk, followed by Marwin Gonzalez who drew a one out walk a couple batters later. That set the table for Luis Arraez, who delivered with a opposite field double, scoring Sano from second. Then, after Ryan Jeffers reach on a fielder’s choice where Marwin Gonzalez was thrown out from third, Max Kepler came up big with this two out hit.

 

 

The extensive use of the Twins bullpen over the past few games finally caught up with them in tonight’s ballgame. After Rich Hill’s five strong innings, it was Jorge Alcala who Rocco Baldelli called to in the sixth to protect the Twins one run lead. Though Alcala had been pitching well to begin the season, tonight was not his night. After giving up a leadoff single to Jose Ramirez, he left a center-cut 0-2 slider to Francisco Lindor that he wishes he could have back.

 

 

Unfortunately, Alcala’s struggles did not end there. After walking Carlos Santana, Alcala gave up a one out double to Tyler Naquin which brought Santana around to score, giving the Indians a 4-2 lead, which would ultimately be the final score of the game, believe it or not.

 

The Twins had a threat working in the seventh, thanks to an opposite field single by Ryan Jeffers and a walk from Max Kepler, giving the Twins runners on first and second with just one out, and Jorge Polanco up at the plate. That threat would immediately be neutralized, however, as a hot groundball right to Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez would lead to an inning ending double play.

Sean Poppin had a quality outing pitching the seventh and eighth innings for the Twins. He gave up walks to the first two batters he faced, but then retired the last five batters that he faced, which included an inning ending double play and two strikeouts. If nothing else, this helped save the Twins bullpen for the next couple of games.

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

Download attachment: Bullpen.png

 

Postgame Pint

Immediately following the Twins 4-2 loss to Cleveland, Nick Nelson, Matthew Taylor and Matthew Trueblood reviewed the game with a live virtual audience.

 

 

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[Linus]

These bullpen games have to stop. Trashes our pen for multiple games. We had to trot out two unproven rookies against our division rival.

[mikelink45]

I agree that the BP games are getting to have too large a carryover.  The fact that we could not bring in a starting pitcher is a failure of the leadership.

[DocBauer]

I was not able to watch any of the game as I was tied up in an emergency, 3 night project. (So yeah I missed last night's game and probably tomorrow's as well). So all I have is a box score and a pair of write-ups.

 

I think we absolutely have one of the best and deepest teams in all of MLB, weird season or not. But on the road, no rest days, a deep pen taxed due to injury and usage, against a good team and the best pitcher in baseball, I wasn't expecting a win here. Sorry, I'm a great optimist, but it felt like the odds were against us.

 

VERY encouraged we hung in and had the lead for several innings. VERY encouraged by Hill's performance. That, in itself, is a bright spot we shouldn't dismiss.

 

NOT going to get down on Alcala even a bit. He has looked fantastic and full of potential. He was put in a tough situation as a rookie and just couldn't make it happen tonight. My one hope is he will be able to shake it off for what it was...ONE GAME...and let it rip next time out.

[jkcarew]

So, Rocco...protecting the hottest hitter in your lineup against a guy that figures to be hard to score on by batting LaMonte Wade behind him? Yuk!

[DocBauer]

I agree that the BP games are getting to have too large a carryover.  The fact that we could not bring in a starting pitcher is a failure of the leadership.

Sorry Mike, I have to disagree with you here. Poor performances and ravenous injuries have been abundant this year. And the Twins have had more than their share as well. But they have won 20 games because of their depth.

 

Bailey is out after one solid start. Hill looked good again tonight. Odorizzi had a freak injury his last time out. Berrios may be settling in. Maeda has been great and Dobnak continues to be very solid. The pen has been outstanding, even with some injuries. The bullpen games are not something I want or enjoy. But they have largely turned out in the Twins favor thus far. Pineda is back next week, and hopefully Oddo is back relatively soon.

 

The depth the FO has put in place has allowed the team to perform as well as they have. I've been 50/50 on someone like Duran getting a shot instead of a bullpen game. Part of that is just excitement to see him. But he and others are really just playing for development and emergency. Thus far, there hasn't been a "break glass" moment. Hopefully there won't be.

 

I think the depth they built up has proven itself.

 

Now, I have no clue how the trade market will look in the coming week. But were I to speculate...unless there is more to worry about with Oddo than we've been told...I would think a CF option like Pillar on the cheap and a bullpen option like last year's Romo deal would make the most sense. IMO.

[flags]

complaining about bullpen games when the team is carrying like 15 pitchers is pretty hilarious.

 

nothing bad happened tonight.  the twins lost because one of the best hitters in baseball hit a timely homerun while the bats were stymied by probably the best pitcher in baseball right now.

 

can't win them all

[Dantes929]

 

These bullpen games have to stop. Trashes our pen for multiple games. We had to trot out two unproven rookies against our division rival.

Alcala has been great.  Just had a bad night.  Poppen had a great night.   "Proven veterans" give up runs also.  Its not like Lindor hasn't taken a lot of our guys deep before.   We have too many quality relievers that need innings to stay sharp.   Nothing has been trashed.   

[Dantes929]

 

complaining about bullpen games when the team is carrying like 15 pitchers is pretty hilarious.

 

nothing bad happened tonight.  the twins lost because one of the best hitters in baseball hit a timely homerun while the bats were stymied by probably the best pitcher in baseball right now.

 

can't win them all

This..   I said before the game that it seemed like the Twins were sacrificing this one in order to increase their odds for tomorrow's game.   On the road against arguably the best pitcher this year.   Even at that we had a pretty fair shot at beating them.   Looking at that reliever chart it doesn't seem like we are in such bad shape.

[ToddlerHarmon]

Any idea why Duffey didn't pitch the sixth? Was Rocco hoping he would be there for a save, or a later-inning emergency?

 

Winning this game would have been a dagger to Cleveland. Still, I'm happy to see a nice outing from Hill.

[bighat]

Shane Beiber is now 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA and has 75 Ks in 46 innings.

 

He's the best pitcher in baseball right now and should easily win the Cy Young award in the AL. Sucks the Twins lost, but what'ya gonna do?

[stringer bell]

The Twins had a good chance tonight against Bieber. It would have been nice to go up 2-0 against their closest pursuer, but the baseball gods usually even things out. They were quite fortunate to hold on the night before, so going 1-1 with Berríos on the hill for the rubber match seems about right.

[dogsday]

Win expectancy scoring 2 or fewer runs is something like 15%. Seems a little harsh to put this one on the bullpen/bullpen management.

[Dantes929]

 

Any idea why Duffey didn't pitch the sixth? Was Rocco hoping he would be there for a save, or a later-inning emergency?

 

Winning this game would have been a dagger to Cleveland. Still, I'm happy to see a nice outing from Hill.

I don't think there was any thought at all to Duffey pitching the 6th.   I am sure the plan was for Alcala to pitch 2 innings, Poppen one and Duffey to close..    The idea that our bullpen has been taxed because of bullpen games just feels wrong.  May, Romo and Rogers pitched two days in a row because we won games 5-4 and 3-2.  If we had starters go 6 innings both days that is still probably what would have happened.   

[rdehring]

Was really glad to see Hill settle in after an ugly start. As for Alcala, yes he wasn't at his best.

 

But I detected something no one appears to be talking about. Does anyone know the mix between his fastball, curve and change. It seemed to me he was throwing a lot of changes with several of the big hits coming off that pitch. Could be wrong, but gotta wonder if the real problem with him was the combination of a catcher with a handful games experience catching a pitcher with two handfuls of appearances. The result was that I saw very few of his big fastballs.

[Cody Pirkl]

I have a couple observations about this one.

 

1. People seem to question going right to Alcala in stead of maybe Duffey for the top of the order in the 6th. Alcala was going to throw high leverage innings in this game one way or another unless the Twins put the game out of reach. If you use Duffey in the 6th, the top probably comes up again and Alcala is still the next best available reliever behind Duffey. On top of that, Alcala has definitely earned an expanded role. This was the worst appearance of his Major League career which is bound to happen at some point. 

 

2. People are upset about the wrong things when it comes to the bullpen games. We have plenty of arms to pull them off, especially against teams like KC. The real problem in this instance is that the offense missed every single opportunity to put the game away in Kansas City on Sunday. We had to use our best relievers to steal a win from one of the worst teams on the schedule right before heading into Cleveland. We smothered them with our horses in game one since we could use them back to back, but the difference tonight was that they could use their best arms and ours weren't available. It comes down to the offense taking care of business against the bad teams. Guys like Poppen are prime for those bullpen games but when it's a 1 run game because the offense got shut out by KC's bad middle relievers, those low leverage guys aren't going to be able to match up with the teams you want to see them against.

 

Again, Alcala is fine for that spot, but if things went the way they should have in KC, he wouldn't have had to be the first guy out of the pen.

[USAFChief]

I don't think it can be argued that the bullpen games havent had a negative effect on the pen. Sundays game played a role in losing last night's game.

 

Alcala isn't brought into a 1 run game against the top of the order if the better options weren't unavailable.

 

I also agree with the point above about lack of fastballs from Alcala. It was weird.

[Don Walcott]

 

Was really glad to see Hill settle in after an ugly start. As for Alcala, yes he wasn't at his best.

 

But I detected something no one appears to be talking about. Does anyone know the mix between his fastball, curve and change. It seemed to me he was throwing a lot of changes with several of the big hits coming off that pitch. Could be wrong, but gotta wonder if the real problem with him was the combination of a catcher with a handful games experience catching a pitcher with two handfuls of appearances. The result was that I saw very few of his big fastballs.

Interesting. After that terrible ball call on his curveball that was right down the middle, Hill was upset with the ump. But he was also looking upset with the pitch calls, and backed off the rubber in frustration a few times. My thought at that time was that he was frustrated with his rookie catcher.

 

Was surprised to see Hill pulled after striking out the last 4 batters. Looked like he was finally getting in a good rhythm and spotting all of his pitches well. Also agree with TodderHarmon and bringing in Duffey to face the top of their order in the 6th. I think we could have stolen this one.

 

But it's also true, as pointed out above, that we didn't really expect to beat Bieber, and have a chance to win the series today. Just need to see Berrios continue his form from last game.

[USAFChief]

Interesting. After that terrible ball call on his curveball that was right down the middle, Hill was upset with the ump. But he was also looking upset with the pitch calls, and backed off the rubber in frustration a few times. My thought at that time was that he was frustrated with his rookie catcher.

 

Was surprised to see Hill pulled after striking out the last 4 batters. Looked like he was finally getting in a good rhythm and spotting all of his pitches well. Also agree with TodderHarmon and bringing in Duffey to face the top of their order in the 6th. I think we could have stolen this one.

 

But it's also true, as pointed out above, that we didn't really expect to beat Bieber, and have a chance to win the series today. Just need to see Berrios continue his form from last game.

If you bring Duffey into the 6th, best case is Alcala faces the top of the order in the 9th.

[Cody Pirkl]

 

I don't think it can be argued that the bullpen games havent had a negative effect on the pen. Sundays game played a role in losing last night's game.

Alcala isn't brought into a 1 run game against the top of the order if the better options weren't unavailable.

I also agree with the point above about lack of fastballs from Alcala. It was weird.

Is that a result of the bullpen game though? If Maeda pitches that day and goes 6 strong, the offense still failed 4 or 5 times with RISP and no outs. We should have scored 7 or 8 runs in that game but instead had to empty the bullpen because the offense once again scored a few runs early and then mailed it in. 

 

Back ends of bullpens are nasty everywhere you look this year, but the Twins are getting absolutely smothered by some of the worst relievers on some of the worst teams in baseball. The result is exactly what we've seen which is scoring a few runs early off the starter and then riding the bullpen the rest of the game to a narrow victory. It's not really an issue against good teams like Cleveland as we saw in game one but there's simply no excuse to rely on that strategy against teams like Kansas City. 

[blindeke]

 

These bullpen games have to stop. Trashes our pen for multiple games. We had to trot out two unproven rookies against our division rival.

 

Who do you suggest should be the starter then? They don't want to do bullpen games. When Odo and Pineda can pitch, that'll be a big help.

[Aerodeliria]

I don't get two things: 1) sacrificing a game today to win one tomorrow (I will take Little Orphan Annie to task if I have to) & 2) considering who will pitch the 6th when Hill had thrown what, 73/74 pitches? Why not let Hill come out for the 6th? He struck out the side in the 5th, so it wasn't like he was losing it. Let him go toe-to-toe with Bieber.

[MMMordabito]

 

1. People seem to question going right to Alcala in stead of maybe Duffey for the top of the order in the 6th. Alcala was going to throw high leverage innings in this game one way or another unless the Twins put the game out of reach. If you use Duffey in the 6th, the top probably comes up again and Alcala is still the next best available reliever behind Duffey. On top of that, Alcala has definitely earned an expanded role. This was the worst appearance of his Major League career which is bound to happen at some point. 

 

This assumes that the game goes completely the same way other than Duffey pitching the 6th instead of Alcala.  Ramirez/Lindor/Santana would definitely come up again, but the situation may not be those three leading off the inning in a 2-1 game.

 

I agree that Alcala has earned a shot at an expanded role, but high leverage against the best three hitters Cleveland has with a one run lead and Duffey available is certainly ripe for second guesses.

 

With all that said, I didn't mind giving the kid a shot in a regular season game with a 20-10 record.

 

I think Rocco and Co. are playing the long game.  Hopefully, Alcala will have a positive response to the bad showing.  Next time, he'll have less nerves and more mound presence.  He certainly has the stuff to be good in that role.

[h2oface]

Hold the lead in the 6th or 9th? Alcala in the ninth instead of Duffey and there is less pressure? Alcala just wasn't up to it today. To bad, too. We had beaten Bieber up to that point, until we put Alcala in. He would have been a loser or a no decision at best if Alcala holds that inning. Alcala needed to hold, and set up Duffey. Man, was he serving the meat to Lindor. I wish these guys were ready when they come in. Poppen walked the first two as well. Hill was pulled at the right time. Especially with his rehabbing. This game was not sacrificed. Alcala had to step up, and Baldelli was right to give him a shot based on his success. Kudos. Alcala just wasn't ready. Sure, like others, I was giving Cleveland this game in a 2-1 series win for the Twins. But after you have Bieber beat, it is a real bummer to go back to that for comfort.

 

Our line-up is pretty weak right now. We even have Wade in. 

[twinbythebay]

 

This assumes that the game goes completely the same way other than Duffey pitching the 6th instead of Alcala.  Ramirez/Lindor/Santana would definitely come up again, but the situation may not be those three leading off the inning in a 2-1 game.

 

I agree that Alcala has earned a shot at an expanded role, but high leverage against the best three hitters Cleveland has with a one run lead and Duffey available is certainly ripe for second guesses.

I don't think this take is unreasonable, but let's say they brought in Duffey in the 6th and he held the lead. They were almost certainly going to have to go to Alcala eventually, and if he blew the lead later in the game, now you've wasted Duffey in a loss and he may not be available tonight. By bringing in Alcala in the 6th instead, you're giving him a chance to prove himself in a high leverage spot, and while he gave up the lead, at least no other high-end bullpen arms are wasted in a loss.

 

Now, if this was a playoff game, I wouldn't advocate for putting in a young, unproven arm in that situation, but this game was by no means a "must win" in my mind.

[Doctor Gast]

Alcala is young, he`ll have his great games & bad ones. He needs that exposure at high leverage games

[Don Walcott]

 

If you bring Duffey into the 6th, best case is Alcala faces the top of the order in the 9th.

I wasn't aware of the rule that Alcala had to face the top of the order at some point.

[USAFChief]

I wasn't aware of the rule that Alcala had to face the top of the order at some point.

then who? The 9th inning IS a rule, last I checked, and the batting order turns over too.

[Don Walcott]

 

then who? The 9th inning IS a rule, last I checked, and the batting order turns over too.

They also have to play the 7th and 8th. We have a lot of relievers. Alcala was the only one qualified to pitch in the 9th? How about Clippard? Just seems like we were conceding this game. Maybe was the prudent thing to do in the long run. But I don't have to like it.

[adorduan]

 

They also have to play the 7th and 8th. We have a lot of relievers. Alcala was the only one qualified to pitch in the 9th? How about Clippard? Just seems like we were conceding this game. Maybe was the prudent thing to do in the long run. But I don't have to like it.

Clippard is hurt...