Game Score: Twins 9, Red Sox 6

[Andrew Thares]

Alex Colome blew yet another save in the bottom of the 9th, but Josh Donaldson and Jake Cave both homered in the Twins five-run 10th inning to claim victory!

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Ober 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
Home runs: Sano (22), Polanco (24), Donaldson (19), Cave (3)
Top 3 WPA: Ober (.257), Donaldson (.130) Polanco (.118)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Miguel Sano Hits Longest Home Run in MLB This Season
Last week Miguel Sano blasted a 475 foot bomb as part of the Twins extra inning win against Cleveland. At the time, it was the longest home run hit by a Minnesota Twin this season. Well... Sano wasn’t content with just having the Twins longest home run of the season, he wanted more and tonight he did just that as he blasted a 495 foot home run not just over the monster, but the billboards at the back of the deepest part of the monster. Truly a majestic home run that you need to see to believe.

 

Jorge Polanco Hits 24th Home Run of the Season
After failing to come through with bases loaded and just one out in the second, Jorge Polanco redeemed himself in his next at-bat. With one on and two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Polanco became the second Twins hitter in as many innings to take Nick Pivetta deep.

Bailey Ober Has Another Strong Outing
While Griffin Jax has gotten more recognition for his performance of late, Bailey Ober has quietly been very good over the past month as he carried a 2.81 ERA over his last five starts entering Wednesday night’s game. Those numbers only continued to improve after Ober went five shutout innings against the Red Sox.

Tonight’s outing was as impressive as any he has made in his young Major League career. The only inning where the Red Sox put together a scoring threat was in the third. Christian Vasquez got the threat started with a one out single, and then advanced to second on a groundout from Enrique Hernandez. Kyle Schwarber then came through with a two-out hit, but poor baserunning from Vasquez caused him to be held up a third. This was the second chance Bailey Ober needed, as he got Xander Bogaerts to fly out to right to end the threat.

Alex Colome Blows Yet Another Save
If there has been one single theme to this disappointing season from the Twins, it has been Alex Colome blowing save after save. It started from day one and it hasn’t stopped as he blew yet another great performance from his teammates that should have led to a Twins 4-2 victory. Instead, he gave up this game-tying two-run blast to Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the ninth.

Colome then gave up a single and a walk to put the winning run on second base with still nobody out. However, he was able to work out of the jam and send this game to extra innings.

Donaldson and Cave Go Yard in the 10th
Just when all hope seemed lost, the Twins bats took back the lead with a five-run 10th inning. The inning got started with a two-run home run from Josh Donaldson.

While those two runs were nice, it hardly felt like a safe lead for the Twins to hold in the bottom of the inning. Luckily, the Twins were not done hitting. With two outs in the inning, Rob Refsnyder got on base with a line drive single to center. Ryan Jeffers followed by getting hit by his second pitch of the game, setting the stage for Jake Cave who crushed a no-doubter over the bullpen in right, giving the Twins a much more comfortable 9-4 lead.

Ralph Garza gave up two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning, but the Twins won 9-6.

Bullpen Usage Chart

	THURS	FRI	SAT	TUE	WED	TOT
Barnes	0	109	0	0	0	109
Minaya	0	16	0	30	0	46
Albers	63	0	0	0	0	63
García	0	0	28	0	0	28
Gant	61	0	0	0	0	61
Garza Jr.	0	0	31	0	24	55
Barraclough	0	46	0	0	4	50
Duffey	0	0	0	19	9	33
Colomé	0	0	0	0	20	0
Coulombe	19	0	0	0	19	19
Thielbar	0	0	0	14	22	23

What's Next?

The Twins will face the Red Sox in Game 3 of the series on Thursday night. John Gant is the scheduled Twins pitcher, and he will square off against Chris Sale.

Post Game Interviews

 

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[VivaBomboRivera!]

[RpR]

IF they win that one, it would be a very good sign for rest of the year.

[tony&rodney]

Wow! That was a massive home run. Watch that video and the arc of the ball - 500 feet easy; crazy power.

[Rosterman]

Why does anyone in the Twins organization care about Colome. Cut him loose. Use that spot to bring more aging minor league vets thru, or - how about this great idea - promote someone who MIGHT contribute to the future of the Twins. 

 

The leash needs to be short on anyone not guaranteed a 40-man spot. We know what they have done and can do at the moment. Or so one would think.

 

[Monticore]

Jettison Colome, worst Twins closer ever. Ron Davis was heinous, but not as bad as this.

[bighat]

That Robles trade is looking pretty darn good, eh?  Impressed with Ober again, he's doing what's asked of him and then some.

Agree with the sentiment above that Colome is the worst closer in Twins history. They have to DFA this guy no matter how you slice it. I'd argue that if the Twins care about this guy's career, they should do the humane thing and cut him now before he gets any more opportunities to blow leads.

I think it's time to take a good hard look at replacing Wes Anderson. How can you not, with every single pitcher regressing?

Has the Sano homer landed yet? Donaldson, Polanco, Buxton, Arraez, Kirilloff....I think we have a competitive offense in 2022.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Could we please get this version of Josh Donaldson (with healthy legs) at the start of 2022? The presence of that big bat in the middle of the lineup is a game changer. 

[prouster]

8 hours ago, bighat said:

That Robles trade is looking pretty darn good, eh?  Impressed with Ober again, he's doing what's asked of him and then some.

Agree with the sentiment above that Colome is the worst closer in Twins history. They have to DFA this guy no matter how you slice it. I'd argue that if the Twins care about this guy's career, they should do the humane thing and cut him now before he gets any more opportunities to blow leads.

I think it's time to take a good hard look at replacing Wes Anderson. How can you not, with every single pitcher regressing?

Has the Sano homer landed yet? Donaldson, Polanco, Buxton, Arraez, Kirilloff....I think we have a competitive offense in 2022.

Do you think Johnson has anything to do with Ober’s and Jax’s performances over the last month?

[Whitey333]

Colome' is a joke and has been all year.  It's an emotional letdown when he is sent in to save the game.  It is more likely he is going to blow the game.  Baldelli says he's his closer.  A closer and a loser what a combination!

[mikelink45]

Baldelli was not going to name a closer at the beginning of the year, but then decides Colome is his closer - this makes no sense.  I feel for Ober.  By the way Garza Jr.  experiment should end too.  Bring up Cano, Moran and any other MiLB reliever and no more of these expert choices of fading vets. 

Finally - thank you Red Sox for taking Robles, would you like Colome too?  Free?

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 hours ago, Monticore said:

Jettison Colome, worst Twins closer ever. Ron Davis was heinous, but not as bad as this.

Believe it or not but Davis wasn't only worse, he was MUCH WORSE.

This season, Colomé has a -2.0 WPA.

In 1986, Ron Davis had a -3.2 WPA.

EXCEPT THAT WASN'T EVEN HIS WORST SEASON

In 1984, Ron Davis had a -3.5 WPA.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, bighat said:

Impressed with Ober again, he's doing what's asked of him and then some.

...

I think it's time to take a good hard look at replacing Wes Anderson. How can you not, with every single pitcher regressing?

[roger]

Read something interesting in the Strib this morning about Sano and Cruz.  Seems Cruz was using a glove Sano gave him when he went out and played first base the other day.  They truly have developed a special relationship while Nellie was here. 

Also recall something else I read recently that I didn't know, or had forgotten.  That is that Sano and Polonco have been friends and playing together since they were teenagers back in the same home town in the D.R.  As much as we all want championships every year these players are people, people who have developed bonds over the years that can affect what they do on the field.  Rosie was part of that close group every step of the way from young kids to the Twins.  Perhaps the fact he was removed has had a negative effect on the Twins and on him as he continued playing elsewhere.  Now that doesn't explain the pitching this year, which is another topic.  

[bighat]

1 hour ago, prouster said:

Do you think Anderson has anything to do with Ober’s and Jax’s performances over the last month?

Ober and Jax?!?!

What about Shoemaker, Happ, Maeda, Pineda, Duffey, Robles, Rogers, Alcala, Barnes, Gant, Minaya, Colome, Dobnak, Law, Stashak and Thorpe!?!?!?!?!

My Lord.

Do you really think the pitching staff and their coaches have done a satisfactory job this year?

[bighat]

31 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Cheap shot, but it was low-hanging fruit.

Of course, according to this logic, it's been a wet summer in Minneapolis because it rained yesterday.

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 minutes ago, bighat said:

Cheap shot, but it was low-hanging fruit.

Of course, according to this logic, it's been a wet summer in Minneapolis because it rained yesterday.

I protest! The real low-hanging fruit was making a Wes Anderson and The Royal Tenenbaums joke.

I showed extreme restraint in my reply and demand that you acknowledge it, good sir.

[KFEY93]

1 hour ago, prouster said:

Do you think Anderson has anything to do with Ober’s and Jax’s performances over the last month?

Nope

[darwin22]

6 hours ago, Monticore said:

Jettison Colome, worst Twins closer ever. Ron Davis was heinous, but not as bad as this.

Considering that I (and many older Twins fans) still remember the utter awfulness of RD, thats a bold statement.  Saying that, I don't disagree with you.

[bighat]

16 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I protest! The real low-hanging fruit was making a Wes Anderson and The Royal Tenenbaums joke.

I showed extreme restraint in my reply and demand that you acknowledge it, good sir.

That you did. My last name is Johnson, too. Guess I am subconsciously trying to distance myself from the Twins pitching staff?

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Have you looked at the most recent AL pitching stats?

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2021-standard-pitching.shtml

 

We ARE doing better than Baltimore in most areas, so I guess 14th out of 15 is something our pitching coach can hang his hat on.

 

BTW, we also have the OLDEST average age of our pitching staff. Yeesh. A feather in Falvine's cap to boot.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Have you looked at the most recent AL pitching stats?

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2021-standard-pitching.shtml

We ARE doing better than Baltimore in most areas, so I guess 14th out of 15 is something our pitching coach can hang his hat on.

BTW, we also have the OLDEST average age of our pitching staff. Yeesh. A feather in Falvine's cap to boot.

Weird, I don't recall saying anyone has done a good job or that this pitching staff as a whole has been anything other than a trainwreck.

[mikelink45]

Having suffered through Ron Davis years, I still cannot stomach seeing Colome on the mound, but for those who missed him.  Ron Davis was a Twin for parts of 5 years.  His win loss for that time was 19 - 40 and I know RP win loss are not the most important numbers but often to get a win he had to give up the lead, to get a loss was easier, just stink.

His ERA was 4.51,  Reliever era is almost worthless because it does not credit the RP with the runs he gives up from inherited runners and since they are in for such a short time and batters only succeed 1/4th of their ABs it is easy for them to have a low era so any RP who has an era over 4 should be jetisoned.  For the record we still have Colome and Alcala (Robles would have been on the list too).  Barraclough would be on the list but has not been here long enough and we have gotten rid of many like Derek Law.  

Davis was in 249 games and saved 108.  In 380 innings he gave up 188 walks plus 38 intentional walks.  That is .6 walks per inning.  And that gives him a 1.49 Whip. 

His runs allowed better than average was -26 for the five years with zero being league average! 

In 1986 opponents line against him was 340/449/580 - an OPS of 1.029.  Everyone had a HOF year when he pitched. 

I ran a comparison of Ron Davis 1986 and Alex Colome in 2021 - it was very interesting. Colome 21 vs Davis 86 Here are some key outcomes. Davis was 30 and Colome is 32.  ERA - Colome 4.53, Davis 8.59.  Innings Colome 47, Davis 58.  ERA+ Colome 92 and Davis 49  WAR - Colome -1.1, Davis -2.7.  WPA Colome -2, Davis -3.2

What a chase - Colome still has time to catch up with some of Davis numbers.  And I would hate to try to find all the worst relievers we have had.  

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

3 hours ago, bighat said:

I think it's time to take a good hard look at replacing Wes Anderson. How can you not, with every single pitcher regressing?

He just HAS to have meticulously styled sets and a dozen extras busying themselves in the background of a tracking shot every time he makes a mound visit. I, for one, am sick of it.

[dex8425]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Having suffered through Ron Davis years, I still cannot stomach seeing Colome on the mound, but for those who missed him.  Ron Davis was a Twin for parts of 5 years.  His win loss for that time was 19 - 40 and I know RP win loss are not the most important numbers but often to get a win he had to give up the lead, to get a loss was easier, just stink.

His ERA was 4.51,  Reliever era is almost worthless because it does not credit the RP with the runs he gives up from inherited runners and since they are in for such a short time and batters only succeed 1/4th of their ABs it is easy for them to have a low era so any RP who has an era over 4 should be jetisoned.  For the record we still have Colome and Alcala (Robles would have been on the list too).  Barraclough would be on the list but has not been here long enough and we have gotten rid of many like Derek Law.  

Davis was in 249 games and saved 108.  In 380 innings he gave up 188 walks plus 38 intentional walks.  That is .6 walks per inning.  And that gives him a 1.49 Whip. 

His runs allowed better than average was -26 for the five years with zero being league average! 

In 1986 opponents line against him was 340/449/580 - an OPS of 1.029.  Everyone had a HOF year when he pitched. 

I ran a comparison of Ron Davis 1986 and Alex Colome in 2021 - it was very interesting. Colome 21 vs Davis 86 Here are some key outcomes. Davis was 30 and Colome is 32.  ERA - Colome 4.53, Davis 8.59.  Innings Colome 47, Davis 58.  ERA+ Colome 92 and Davis 49  WAR - Colome -1.1, Davis -2.7.  WPA Colome -2, Davis -3.2

What a chase - Colome still has time to catch up with some of Davis numbers.  And I would hate to try to find all the worst relievers we have had.  

Wow, negative 2.7 WAR for a reliever is really bad. Why in the world did he get 58 innings?! OPS against over 1,000 for the season is incredible. 

[mikelink45]

12 minutes ago, dex8425 said:

Wow, negative 2.7 WAR for a reliever is really bad. Why in the world did he get 58 innings?! OPS against over 1,000 for the season is incredible. 

We all kept asking why too, but had as much luck then as we have with Rocco now.  Managers just think that the RP will figure it out. 

[Mike Sixel]

This is a thread about a game they won, right?

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

He just HAS to have meticulously styled sets and a dozen extras busying themselves in the background of a tracking shot every time he makes a mound visit. I, for one, am sick of it.

[ashbury]

7 hours ago, bighat said:

That Robles trade is looking pretty darn good, eh? 

Great trade! Remind me again, who'd we get?

 

 

Yes yes, Alex "Injured Pitcher" Scherff.

[RpR]

Well two players who were team mates once were pitching on the same day and one wanted to out do the other; Robles won, two homers to one.?