Game Recap: Reds 10, Twins 7

[Jamie Cameron]

The Twins fell 10-7 to the Reds Tuesday afternoon. A thrilling five-run comeback saw the Twins light up Cincinnati's bullpen, before the Reds pulled away in the ninth inning to snap the Twins winning streak at five.

Box Score

Ober: 4.1 IP 6 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 2 SO

Home Runs: Jeffers (5), Kepler (6), Larnach (5)

Bottom 3 WPA: Robles -.456, Ober -.273, Colome -.117

Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs)

Seeking a two-game sweep of Cincinnati and looking to extend their season-high winning streak to six, the Twins sent promising starter Bailey Ober to the mound Tuesday to face Reds lefty Wade Miley. Gilberto Celestino was recalled from St. Paul to take the place of Byron Buxton, now returning to the IL after fracturing his hand in Monday’s marathon game.

 

Ober continued his strong start, working efficiently in the first inning. He worked around a one out walk to retire the Reds on 19 pitches, including an up-in-the-zone fastball strikeout which has been important in his early success. Tuesday also offered a look at Alex Kirilloff at first base, which quickly yielded impressive results.

 

Despite surrendering the lead on a solo home run to Tucker Barnhart in the 3rd inning, Ober was again strong early with his combination of quick work, sharp breaking ball, strong command, and high fastball continuing to be effective. He was aided by some excellent defense from newly-recalled Gilberto Celestino.

 

The Twins took the lead in the fourth inning. Iron man Ryan Jeffers, who caught 12 innings last night and returned to start today’s matinee, crushed a home run to left field, giving Minnesota a 2-1 lead.

 

A Jesse Winker double allowed the Reds to retake the lead in the fifth inning after Ober loaded the bases with no outs. Tyler Duffey relieved Ober with men on 2nd and 3rd and one out. Duffey struck out Tyler Stephenson, before walking Tyler Naquin to load the bases and bring up Eugenio Suarez. Suarez singled to left, scoring a run before Winker was thrown out comfortably at home by Trevor Larnach. The Twins hit in the fifth inning trailing 4-2.

 

The 4-2 score held until the eighth inning. Alexander Colomé entered in relief for the Twins. Bad things immediately happened. Colomé immediately gave up a single to Tyler Naquin and walked Eugenio Suarez. Kyle Farmer reached second base after an error by Miguel Sanó. A Tucker Barnhart single, which looked like it shouldn’t have made its way through the infield, scored two more runs, stretching the Reds lead to 7-2 and perhaps extinguishing any hopes of a Twins comeback. Colomé induced a double play to end the inning, leaving the Twins with a five-run deficit.

Max Kepler trimmed the lead to 7-4 after a two run shot in the bottom of the eighth.

Trevor Larnach followed up Kepler’s home run with a 112 mph, 434 foot blast of his own, his fifth of the season, cutting the lead to 7-5. 

 

After a Ryan Jeffers single, Miguel Sanó hit a 112.2 mph laser to left field which clipped the top of the padding on the outfield wall. It was ruled a double, and Kirilloff up with a chance to tie the game. Kirilloff came through, crushing the first pitch from Teejay Antone to right center field to score two runners and tie the game at seven.

 

After crushing the Reds bullpen, the Twins brought in Hansel Robles in the ninth inning. He gave up a double, hit a batter then surrendered a three-run home run to Tyler Naquin to put the Reds up 10-7 and surely put the game beyond the Twins reach, for the second time. Amir Garrett closed out the game for the Reds, snapping the Twins win streak at five.

Bullpen Usage Chart

	WED	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Thielbar	38	0	12	0	19	12	81
Colomé	20	0	15	0	7	30	72
Alcalá	10	18	0	18	20	0	66
Rogers	15	12	13	0	16	0	56
Robles	0	20	14	0	0	21	55
Duffey	0	20	0	21	0	11	52
Farrell	0	0	0	0	19	25	44
Shoemaker	0	0	0	0	32	0	32
Dobnak	0	0	start	0	0	0	0

What’s Next?

After an off day Wednesday, the Twins will send José Berríos to the mound to face Cleveland. The Cleveland starter has not yet been announced. First pitch is at 7:10 CST.

 

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[wsnydes]

Part of me is glad that this team gets to sit on an off day dwelling on a game like this.  Nothing frustrates me more than wasting a big inning by allowing a big inning the very next half inning.

Just another way for this team to lose.

 

Nice to see Larnach and Kirilloff come up big in a big, late game spot though.  

[Mike Sixel]

Jeffers, Lanarch, and Kiriloff look like they might be legit. Now go find some dang pitching. You put a ton of draft capital into hitting....and it might be paying off. How do you plan to get pitching?

that's what I'd ask if I was a reporter....which is one reason I am not.

[h2oface]

Good to see some late inning moxie. Too bad we have the pitching we do. But the other thing I noticed was that the Reds batters, particularly in the 8th against Colome, were defensive hitters, and guarded the plate. Naquin, Farmer, and Barnhart all got dink hits by putting the ball in play and relied on the Twins horrible fielding to score the three runs. All of them got hits (or Sano error) by hitting balls low and out of the zone. In the mean time, Arraez was begging for a walk, instead of taking care the plate to end the eighth, even after he was gifted a ball on a second pitch strike. He takes pitch six for another called third strike and Ks to end the rallly.

[mikelink45]

Well the BP is consistent.  It blew games in the past and now that we are past the 60 games of last season they are starting over to blow games again.  Is there any hope for Colome?  I know a lot of  people like Robles, personally I hope he is traded and we start over in the Pen.  The bats are looking great and these young hitters are here to stay.  Maybe Celestino will see his bat wake up, his fielding is picking up and he is our Buxton replacement, not Gordon.  Gordon is good as a utility man and back up.

[chpettit19]

10 minutes ago, h2oface said:

Good to see some late inning moxie. Too bad we have the pitching we do. But the other thing I noticed was that the Reds batters, particularly in the 8th against Colome, were defensive hitters, and guarded the plate. Naquin, Farmer, and Barnhart all got dink hits by putting the ball in play and relied on the Twins horrible fielding to score the three runs. All of them got hits (or Sano error) by hitting balls low and out of the zone. In the mean time, Arraez was begging for a walk, instead of taking care the plate to end the eighth, even after he was gifted a ball on a second pitch strike. He takes pitch six for another called third strike and Ks to end the rallly.

Arraez is in the 99th percentile for K rate and he's the one you want to call out? Talk about small sample size bias.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Am I the only one confused by Rocco's pinch hitting today?  Sending Donaldson in with 2 outs and a runner on first in the 7th?  I feel he would have been better served being kept available for a juicier opportunity in the 8th or 9th.

Even more baffling is letting Simmons hit in the 8th, but then pinch hitting the very next at bat for Gordon.  I think I would rather have Arraez and Gordon bat, and not Simmons and Arraez.

[stringer bell]

It would have been nice to watch a comeback win in person on a beautiful June afternoon, but it was not to be. Bad defense in the eighth was more responsible for the three runs than Columé IMHO. It seems that all year, the errors have come at crucial times. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Arraez is in the 99th percentile for K rate and he's the one you want to call out? Talk about small sample size bias.

It's perfectly valid to call out Arraez in this situation.  It's not that he's never allowed to strikeout--it's that he failed to protect the plate on a two strike count, and so let the umpire take the bat out of his hands.  In that situation, if you aren't 100% sure a pitch will be a ball, you need to foul it off.

Arraez' PA came across as a guy hoping not to make an out, rather than a guy hoping to get a hit.  Championship players live for that opportunity, and the past few games, Arraez has been coming through in those situations.  Because of that, I'm not calling Arraez unclutch or anything, but I am fairly surprised he was totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate.

[h2oface]

Also noticed this in the excellent Minors weekly update.... It looks like Duran is not going to be in the near future plans now, either..... 

" on Sunday he was placed on the Injured List with a right elbow strain. That is the same injury that both Blayne Enlow and Matt Canterino were IL’d with last month."

Enlow has already had TJ surgery on June 9.

 

[darwin22]

Bummer to see our winning streak come to an end, but with this pitching staff (see below) it was inevitable. A few other observations:

1.  Nice to see the continued development of Kirilloff and Larnach.  Hopefully, they'll both remain healthy for remainder of season.  2 huge building blocks for the future.  Got to believe the defensive future for Kirilloff will be at 1B next season.

2.  Nelson Cruz:  Nice to see the resurgence of Cruz this month (.400 avg) going 24-60 with 6 jacks and 1`3 RBI after after an abysmal performance in May (.221 avg/ 3 HR/ 6 RBI).  Hopefully Falvey can get something of value in a trade as he deserves a shot with team contending to make playoffs.

3.  Ryan Jeffers:  Also continues to improve with his bat and is FAR superior defensively to Garver.  Hope Garver can recover to platoon with Jeffers.  As much as I like Rortvedt---his production at the plate is beyond poor (6-47/.128 avg).

4.  Gilbert Celestino:  Honestly, I like this kid and strongly believe DOWN THE ROAD (2023) he could be a viable MLB starter for Twins somewhere in the OF.  Saying that-----he's NOT ready to be playing CF at this level as evidenced by continued lack of production.  Now hitting .118 (4-34)--which is bad enough, but it forces Baldelli to pinch hit for him early in the game in any situation with runners on base.  Celestino's bat needs development in the minors.  He was barely hitting .250 at AA Wichita before his brief call up to Saint Paul.  Kid has some excellent defensive tools---not taking into account his bonehead play in KC a couple of weeks ago---but he needs to develop confidence refining his batting skills in AAA or AA.

....and finally............our woebegone pitching staff.  Sure would've like to see Ober's command allow him to finish stronger than he did.  I think he can be part of the puzzle in our future rotation with Winder, Balazovic, Duran, Sands, Canterino and a few others. 

Until those young SPs can develop---whatever "plan" Falvey/Levine-Pohlad has for the offseason MUST focus 90% on pitching.  Not sure what the ERA is now for our staff/bullpen, but I did discover that in 19 of our now 42 losses (45.2%) our pitching staff has been bludgeoned for 7+ runs.  In 10 of those 19 losses (52.6%) our offense has actually scored 4+ runs.

For those "keeping score"-------today was the 7th time our pitchers have given up 10 or more runs.  

Whatever plan was used to put this staff together in the offseason----can be described as nothing better than TOTAL FAILURE.

[insagt1]

Bullpen blew our great comeback.  Colome was awful for several reasons. Bad enough he couldn't keep the score close...but he was slow as a tortoise  on the hill...that puts everyone in a bad spot. It was commented on during the telecast and rightly so. Pitchers who work too slow don't do anyone any favors.

Robles today was terrible. I guess it happens. but after a 5 run comeback, his outing was pretty discouraging.

[darwin22]

13 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Am I the only one confused by Rocco's pinch hitting today?  Sending Donaldson in with 2 outs and a runner on first in the 7th?  I feel he would have been better served being kept available for a juicier opportunity in the 8th or 9th.

Even more baffling is letting Simmons hit in the 8th, but then pinch hitting the very next at bat for Gordon.  I think I would rather have Arraez and Gordon bat, and not Simmons and Arraez.

Very good observation as I wondered the same thing.  Right now-----and for a large chunk of the season------Simmons ABs have been painful to watch.  Far too many unproductive outs with some of the absolute WORST I'VE EVER SEEN swings by a MLB player.  His .242 avg and .314 OBP will not be missed next season......or hopefully in August or September as some team desperate for defense will make a decent offer of a prospect or two.

[chpettit19]

7 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

It's perfectly valid to call out Arraez in this situation.  It's not that he's never allowed to strikeout--it's that he failed to protect the plate on a two strike count, and so let the umpire take the bat out of his hands.  In that situation, if you aren't 100% sure a pitch will be a ball, you need to foul it off.

Arraez' PA came across as a guy hoping not to make an out, rather than a guy hoping to get a hit.  Championship players live for that opportunity, and the past few games, Arraez has been coming through in those situations.  Because of that, I'm not calling Arraez unclutch or anything, but I am fairly surprised he was totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate.

He got fooled and got caught looking. It happens literally 1000s of times a season across the league. Including to Trout, Acuna, Soto, Tatis Jr, Vlad Jr, and every other superstar hitter. Even in late game, clutch situations. It makes no sense to me to say how he's been coming through in these situations since coming off the IL and then suggest he was "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate." If he hadn't swung at a pitch all at bat maybe you could make an argument somewhere along those lines, but he got fooled. It happens. But it almost never happens to Arraez. So picking out the 1 time it does seems off base to me.

And h2oface suggested he was up there "begging for a walk." Again, if he hadn't swung at a pitch all AB maybe you could argue that, but he had fouled off a pitch 2 pitches earlier so he was clearly up there to hit. He got froze on a fastball on the black. It happens. They made a 5 run comeback in that inning and the choice you guys are making is to focus on one of the least strikeout prone hitters in baseball finally being struck out. Why choose that as your focus? It was unfortunate it happened, but to suggest that specific player was "begging for a walk" or "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate" is the epitome of unnecessarily negative fandom.

[USAFChief]

12 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He got fooled and got caught looking. It happens literally 1000s of times a season across the league. Including to Trout, Acuna, Soto, Tatis Jr, Vlad Jr, and every other superstar hitter. Even in late game, clutch situations. It makes no sense to me to say how he's been coming through in these situations since coming off the IL and then suggest he was "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate." If he hadn't swung at a pitch all at bat maybe you could make an argument somewhere along those lines, but he got fooled. It happens. But it almost never happens to Arraez. So picking out the 1 time it does seems off base to me.

And h2oface suggested he was up there "begging for a walk." Again, if he hadn't swung at a pitch all AB maybe you could argue that, but he had fouled off a pitch 2 pitches earlier so he was clearly up there to hit. He got froze on a fastball on the black. It happens. They made a 5 run comeback in that inning and the choice you guys are making is to focus on one of the least strikeout prone hitters in baseball finally being struck out. Why choose that as your focus? It was unfortunate it happened, but to suggest that specific player was "begging for a walk" or "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate" is the epitome of unnecessarily negative fandom.

Not important, but he took a breaking ball for strike 3, not a fastball.

 

I  was also disappointed to see a hitter--any hitter--take strike 3 with the go ahead run on Second base. You're not up there to walk, you're up there to drive in that run. 

It's just another example of why I strongly disagree with those who downplay RBI these days. 

There were certainly other issues, both today and season long, but in a thread about today's game, I do think Luis's pinch hit AB is worthy of discussion.

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Not important, but he took a breaking ball for strike 3, not a fastball.

 

I  was also disappointed to see a hitter--any hitter--take strike 3 with the go ahead run on Second base. You're not up there to walk, you're up there to drive in that run. 

It's just another example of why I strongly disagree with those who downplay RBI these days. 

There were certainly other issues, both today and season long, but in a thread about today's game, I do think Luis's pinch hit AB is worthy of discussion.

Sorry, the pitch before was the fastball, you're right it was a breaker. I think we're all always disappointed to see someone strike out looking. Many of us are disappointed to see any kind of strike out. It was a disappointing outcome for sure. My problem is with the phrases "begging for a walk" and "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate."

There's a difference between being disappointed in the outcome of the AB and making statements like that. Especially about that hitter. He got fooled. That's disappointing. Worthy of discussion about it being disappointing. "Begging for a walk" is a gross misrepresentation of that AB and that was the first comment I replied to. He got fooled. There's a difference. Then someone replied to me stating he was "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate." Which is also a misrepresentation of that AB. He got fooled. He was frozen. However you want to say it. It happens. It's disappointing, but suggesting Arraez wasn't up there looking to drive in that run by swinging the bat is flat out wrong. He swung the bat. Miguel Cabrera got K'd looking to end a world series. He's one of the 5 best hitters of his generation and a top 5 to 10 right handed hitter of all time. It happens. Guys get fooled.

As for RBIs being downplayed (and I'm someone who downplays them) picking 1 AB where he failed to come through after having driven in 3 in his last 4 games is something else I'd throw into the small sample size bias. Picking out 1 AB is never a good idea.

[Game7-91]

48 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

It's just another example of why I strongly disagree with those who downplay RBI these days. 

 

31 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

As for RBIs being downplayed (and I'm someone who downplays them)

OK, so we are now onto the great RBI vs RBI's debate, and fella's, there is only one right answer here?:  R'sBI.

Runs is plural, always has been, always will be. We are not talking intestinal distress here, but moving multiple runners across home plate over time. 

An argument may be made to move the possessive to the end, after In, but, for consistency, I prefer it remain where it rightfully belongs, proximate to the noun it so modifies, hence, R's it is. I have dutifully notified MLB of the same and expect full compliance forthrightly, in about the same time frame as the sticky stuff disappears from pitching gloves.

[roger]

And after winning four straight, some of us may have been thinking maybe there is a way for them to dig their way back into this race.  Then Buxton gets taken out and we have another shot of their bullpen today....and reality sets in!

[VivaBomboRivera!]

1 hour ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'm not calling Arraez unclutch or anything

Good, because he's been totally clutch of late. Fair to say it was not his best AB.

[h2oface]

55 minutes ago, Game7-91 said:

 

OK, so we are now onto the great RBI vs RBI's debate, and fella's, there is only one right answer here?:  R'sBI.

Runs is plural, always has been, always will be. We are not talking intestinal distress here, but moving multiple runners across home plate over time. 

An argument may be made to move the possessive to the end, after In, but, for consistency, I prefer it remain where it rightfully belongs, proximate to the noun it so modifies, hence, R's it is. I have dutifully notified MLB of the same and expect full compliance forthrightly, in about the same time frame as the sticky stuff disappears from pitching gloves.

RBI is Runs Batted In. Already Plural. Redundant and unnecessary to add any s anywhere. (Funny that one of the oldest baseball stat abbreviations is one that is used technically wrong - RBIs - so often). Good luck on your mission. 

It is so often used wrong, but I know what they mean when they use it with an s. Like ath-a-lete and real-a-tor, as long as the communication is there, it works for me. I know you didn't axe me, but I chimed in just the same. 

[USAFChief]

3 hours ago, Game7-91 said:

 

An argument may be made to move the possessive to the end, after In, but, for consistency, I prefer it remain where it rightfully belongs, proximate to the noun it so modifies, hence, R's it is. I have dutifully notified MLB of the same and expect full compliance forthrightly, in about the same time frame as the sticky stuff disappears from pitching gloves.

Possessive?

[USAFChief]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Sorry, the pitch before was the fastball, you're right it was a breaker. I think we're all always disappointed to see someone strike out looking. Many of us are disappointed to see any kind of strike out. It was a disappointing outcome for sure. My problem is with the phrases "begging for a walk" and "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate."

There's a difference between being disappointed in the outcome of the AB and making statements like that. Especially about that hitter. He got fooled. That's disappointing. Worthy of discussion about it being disappointing. "Begging for a walk" is a gross misrepresentation of that AB and that was the first comment I replied to. He got fooled. There's a difference. Then someone replied to me stating he was "totally comfortable allowing the ump to decide his fate." Which is also a misrepresentation of that AB. He got fooled. He was frozen. However you want to say it. It happens. It's disappointing, but suggesting Arraez wasn't up there looking to drive in that run by swinging the bat is flat out wrong. He swung the bat. Miguel Cabrera got K'd looking to end a world series. He's one of the 5 best hitters of his generation and a top 5 to 10 right handed hitter of all time. It happens. Guys get fooled.

As for RBIs being downplayed (and I'm someone who downplays them) picking 1 AB where he failed to come through after having driven in 3 in his last 4 games is something else I'd throw into the small sample size bias. Picking out 1 AB is never a good idea.

All fair points.

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

5 hours ago, Game7-91 said:

OK, so we are now onto the great RBI vs RBI’s debate...

Runs is plural, always has been, always will be. We are not talking intestinal distress here

In that case, we would call them ‘Ribbies’  

[bighat]

13 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Well the BP is consistent.  It blew games in the past and now that we are past the 60 games of last season they are starting over to blow games again.  Is there any hope for Colome?  I know a lot of  people like Robles, personally I hope he is traded and we start over in the Pen. 

Robles stinks, has stunk all year. He was carrying a sub 3.00 ERA going into the game yesterday which shocked me. Alas, after his implosion it's at 3.50 and his 19 walks in 30 innings are enough to scare teams away. I think the Twins will be lucky to get anything for him. Colome is pretty much worthless, you might be able to get someone to take on his salary but I can't imagine another team who would want him. If you're a Boston fan, a Rays fan, a Houston fan, do you want Colome in your bullpen? Rhetorical question, of course.

All new pitching signees this year were older vets who were coming off either bad or subpar years.  They let their best arm (May) walk. Super lazy and cheap effort by the FO and they burned down the whole building.

I think the Twins try to compete next year with Bux and Berrios entering their final seasons on the team. Throw in an aging Donaldson on a big contract, they pretty much have to throw the kitchen sink at 2022.

[Dodecahedron]

There are positives to take from this game.  The offense is better, the defense is improving, and the position players are no longer rolling over for the rest of the game when the opponent scores.  The Twins have finally stopped playing as if they were in the playoffs.

Whether or not this burst of energy is short-lived or not depends on them.

As for RBIs, I think what the poster is trying to get at is this is the old Attorneys General debate, where the s for plural does not go at the end of the phrase.  Things change when something becomes an acronym, though, unless you are one of those people whose mind reads out the whole phrase when one sees an acronym.  Yes, there are people who do that, thus the debate.  If you don't do that, the word "RBI" is singular, grammatically speaking, and yes the way to pluralize that is to put an s at the end.  This is true even if the full phrase, not the acronym, puts the s somewhere else.

[theBOMisthebomb]

1 hour ago, Dodecahedron said:

There are positives to take from this game.  The offense is better, the defense is improving, and the position players are no longer rolling over for the rest of the game when the opponent scores.  The Twins have finally stopped playing as if they were in the playoffs.

Whether or not this burst of energy is short-lived or not depends on them.

As for RBIs, I think what the poster is trying to get at is this is the old Attorneys General debate, where the s for plural does not go at the end of the phrase.  Things change when something becomes an acronym, though, unless you are one of those people whose mind reads out the whole phrase when one sees an acronym.  Yes, there are people who do that, thus the debate.  If you don't do that, the word "RBI" is singular, grammatically speaking, and yes the way to pluralize that is to put an s at the end.  This is true even if the full phrase, not the acronym, puts the s somewhere else.

The entire RBI or RBIs or RsBI debate is R BS I. Who is pedantic enough to care? 

[Dodecahedron]

1 minute ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

The entire RBI or RBIs or RsBI debate is R BS I. Who is pedantic enough to care? 

Like it or not, some people are wired in a way that stuff like this aggravates them.  I'm not sure that's "pedantic."

[garn from vancouver]

hola.

 

i think robles became too concerned with the runner on second after that double in the 9th. he could not take his eyes off the runner and was pissed off - he was dissed and he didn't like it. it got into his head and he couldn't deliver the pitches after that and gave up the home run. his head was a mess.

[djvang]

Watching Colome and Robles is torture. They are sooooooooo slooooooooooow. Throw the ball!