Game Score: Royals 6, Twins 4

[Thiéres Rabelo]

A big four-run first inning was all the Twins got from their offense tonight, as they couldn’t produce a single run after that. The bullpen had an inspired night before giving up a game-winning home run to Andrew Benintendi in the 11th inning.

Box Score
Jax: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (75% strikes)
Home Runs: Buxton (12), Donaldson (22)
Bottom 3 WPA: Refsnyder -.296, Rooker -.274, Gordon -.208
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Seven runs scored right away, in the first inning of this game. Looking to bounce back after three consecutive bad starts, Griffin Jax struggled early tonight. Despite getting ahead on the count, the Twins starter gave up a double to Nicky Lopez and a walk to Salvador Pérez before facing Andrew Benintendi. A lifetime .349 hitter (1.035 OPS) at Target Field, the former Red Sock improved those numbers even more by hitting a three-run bomb to put Kansas City ahead.

But rookie lefty Daniel Lynch didn’t take advantage of all the run support. The Virginia native gave up four consecutive hits to open the game. The first one was a mammoth, 457-feet leadoff home run to Byron Buxton.

Minnesota was definitely not done hitting that inning. Jorge Polanco followed that Buxton homer with a double, with Rob Refsnyder adding a single. Josh Donaldson didn’t care that Lynch hadn’t brought an umbrella with him and brought the rain to catapult the Twins into the lead, 4-3.

But contrary to what happened in the first inning, both starters settled down and mostly dominated their opposing lineups for the following innings. Lynch tossed four scoreless, and, beginning with the final two outs of the first, Jax was able to retire eight in a row, including a pair of 1-2-3 innings. Benintendi broke the streak leading off the fourth and later scored from first on a long double from Michael Taylor, tying the game.

That didn’t affect Jax at all. The rookie retired seven of the final eight batters he saw, going scoreless in the fifth and the sixth. He didn’t come back for the seventh, even though his pitch count was still at only 76 pitches, 57 of which were thrown for strikes (75%!). Tonight’s start was the first since Aug. 16, in which Jax completed six innings of work. After a 23-pitch first inning, he navigated through the next five on only 53 pitches. Can he use this outing to regain some confidence and finish the season on a high note?

Neither offense performed well against opposing bullpens. Tyler Duffey and Jorge Alcalá threw a couple of scoreless innings on only 20 pitches, 80% of which were strikes. Royals hitters didn’t know what hit them. While Kansas City’s relievers were just as effective, Donaldson did drew a two-out walk in the eighth, bringing Miguel Sanó to the plate. However, he struck out, ending the threat.

Benintendi was at it again, hitting a leadoff single off Alexander Colomé in the ninth inning. But Colomé did a great job, striking out the next two batters on six pitches, before retiring Taylor. The offense couldn’t take advantage of yet another great outing by a Twins reliever, as they fell in order in the bottom half of the inning, taking the game to extra innings.

To the extras, we go
Red-hot Juan Minaya came in to pitch the 10th, posting a 0.98 ERA in his previous 14 outings. He struck out the first batter he saw but then gave up a walk to Kansas City’s number nine hitter, Edward Olivares, forcing him to face the top of the Royal lineup with two men on. He struck out Whit Merrifield but then committed a fielding error against Lopez, loading the bases to face Pérez. Fortunately, “Salvy” swung on the first pitch he saw and grounded out, with a beautiful throw from Polanco to first.

In the bottom half of the 10th, Luis Arráez drew a leadoff walk, putting two men on. But the Twins couldn’t move either runner, with the following three batters being retired. Buxton, who hit immediately after Arraez, made an absolutely awful bunt attempt.

Following that, Minaya continued in the game, and Benintendi (who else?) swung on the first pitch he saw, homering to center field, scoring him and Pérez, the ghost runner. Kansas City took a definitive two-run lead, 6-4. Donaldson, Sanó, and Brent Rooker went down in order in the bottom of the 11th.

Minnesota drops the first of three games of the series. They send Michael Pineda to the mound on Saturday evening, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT.

Postgame Interview

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Minaya	0	21	0	0	40	61
Colomé	9	17	0	0	12	38
Duffey	8	0	17	0	11	36
Thielbar	0	25	8	0	0	33
Farrell	0	0	0	32	0	32
Alcalá	0	19	0	0	9	28
Garza Jr.	0	0	0	19	0	19
Coulombe	0	0	0	15	0	15

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[TwinsChupacabra]

Last place in the worst division in baseball, the Comedy Central.  Thankfully it will be over soon.

 

[Mark G]

4 runs before an out is recorded.  11 innings later we come up with a total of 3 hits and 0 runs additional.  0 for 6 with a runner at 2nd in extra innings.  Oh, and did I mention that all 4 runs came on home runs?  When the pitcher can keep the ball in the ballpark we may be the worst team in this old man's memory; we simply do not move runners along and in to score, even when the runners are handed to us.  And check out the ERA's of the 2 pitchers who handed us the 0 for 6 in the extra innings; and the 6 hitters were the top 6 in our lineup.  A word to Rocco:  put your computer sheets down and play the game of baseball.  The team isn't hitting 307 home runs anymore; you need to score the old fashioned way.........or do you not know how?

[theBOMisthebomb]

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

4 runs before an out is recorded.  11 innings later we come up with a total of 3 hits and 0 runs additional.  0 for 6 with a runner at 2nd in extra innings.  Oh, and did I mention that all 4 runs came on home runs?  When the pitcher can keep the ball in the ballpark we may be the worst team in this old man's memory; we simply do not move runners along and in to score, even when the runners are handed to us.  And check out the ERA's of the 2 pitchers who handed us the 0 for 6 in the extra innings; and the 6 hitters were the top 6 in our lineup.  A word to Rocco:  put your computer sheets down and play the game of baseball.  The team isn't hitting 307 home runs anymore; you need to score the old fashioned way.........or do you not know how?

Wait, I'm confused. I only watched the replay on the Bally Sports app (the world's worst app). Didn't Buxton try to bunt in the tenth inning and fail? 

[yeahyabetcha]

I only watched from the 8th inning on…but.  Watching and trying to understand Rocco’s late inning maneuvers is painful.  For instance, bottom of ninth, KC has a right hander on the mound, Twins have 3 left handed batters on the bench, Arraez, Gordon and Cave.  Due up is Rooker, Kepler, Jeffers.  Rooker gets to bat and makes an out, Kepler makes an out.  So bottom of ninth with no one on and two outs, Gordon is sent for Jeffers and makes an out.  Rortvedt goes into catch, Gordon goes to bench.  Next inning Rortvedt gets placed on 2nd and Gordon is unavailable???

secondly, bullpen usage.  Duffey, Alcala, Colome all get one inning each throwing around 10 pitches and are removed.  Minaya gets an inning, struggles a bit, gets thru it with 20 plus pitches.  He gets the next inning. Twins lose the game.

I don’t understand analytics.

[Mark G]

Best post I have seen in a while.  There are times when I wouldn't let Rocco coach my neighborhood little league team.  

[Mark G]

1 hour ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Wait, I'm confused. I only watched the replay on the Bally Sports app (the world's worst app). Didn't Buxton try to bunt in the tenth inning and fail? 

Yea, and pretty badly at that.  I have said for years that Buxton should be getting 30-40 bunt singles a year with his speed, but he doesn't want to.  So when we need it the most, he isn't able to.  And no one on this team cares, because the bunt goes against the analytics.  Frustrating to watch at times.

[Nashvilletwin]

Another great example of why Rocco is probably not the right guy to coach this club in the future.

With this team likely getting much younger and filled with more prospects transitioning into true big leaguers, fundamentals trump analytics.

[mnfireman]

Was thinking to myself during the game that Benintendi was killing the Twins this year, so I looked his numbers up. He is!! .405/.422/.833 slash line with 5 HR's and 15 RBI in 12 games

[puckstopper1]

Beautiful, momentum-turning swing by Buxton in the first.  

Horrible, momentum-turning bunt attempt by Buxton in the 10th.

Baldelli's managerial decisions are confounding...

[DocBauer]

I was impressed with how Jax responded. He could have allowed himself to be rattled but he didn't.  He went out and threw 5 more really good innings. Does make me wonder why he didn't get another one though, considering the pit h count. 

[mikelink45]

Too many decisions that were questionable.  So hard to keep making comments without letting the frustration show.

[roger]

Like all rookies, Jax makes mistakes and has tough innings.  But he seems to be learning from them and becoming a pitcher who may earn a spot in future rotations.  Gonna be real interesting to see what he looks like in the spring.

[roger]

Something else I noticed thinking about the Wichita game last night.  The Twins played the Royales.  The Saints played Omaha, the Royales AAA team.  Wichita played NW Arkansas, the Royales AA team. Interesting.

[theBOMisthebomb]

3 hours ago, roger said:

Something else I noticed thinking about the Wichita game last night.  The Twins played the Royales.  The Saints played Omaha, the Royales AAA team.  Wichita played NW Arkansas, the Royales AA team. Interesting.

What is a "Royale"? ?

I'd like a Royale with cheese, please. 

[Monticore]

 Bunting used to be important. If Buxton doesn't fail so egregiously, the runner reaches 3d and Polanco's flyball wins the game.