Game Score: Twins 10, Mariners 4, Bats Come Alive with Six Home Runs in Twins First Win of 2022

[Theo Tollefson]

After starting the season 0-2 and only scoring four runs combined in those games, the Twins bats came alive on Sunday afternoon. They hit six home runs in a 10-4 victory over the Mariners and improved to 1-2 on the season. 

 

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (79 pitches, 48 strikes (60.7 strike %))
Home Runs: Byron Buxton 2 (3), Gary Sanchez (1), Max Kepler (1),  Jorge Polanco (1), Carlos Correa (1)
Top 3 WPA: Gary Sanchez (.228), Byron Buxton (.127), Max Kepler (0.75)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Byron Buxton was the star at the plate on Sunday hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to put the Twins up 1-0. Buxton then made it three consecutive at-bats with a home run in the bottom of the second which earned a curtain call of MVP chants from the crowd. Buxton’s second home run gave the Twins a 6-0 lead. 

Gary Sanchez made his first start of the season behind the plate today and after almost giving the Twins an Opening Day victory with a fly ball that fell a few feet short of the left field bleachers. Sanchez crushed a grand slam in the bottom of the first to make it a 5-0 game and show the left field bleachers will be a common landing spot for his hits. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Sanchez tagged his fifth RBI of the game with a two out double to right center that scored his former Yankee teammate Gio Urshela and gave the Twins a 10-4 lead. 

Bailey Ober made his first start for the 2022 season. Ober struggled in the first inning throwing 27? pitches , walking Jesse Winker and giving up a double to Mitch Haniger. Following a rocky first inning, Ober had a one, two, three second inning that helped him cool off. 

Going into the third the Twins held a 6-0 lead for Ober but the Mariners bats came alive in the top half scoring four runs, three of which came from another Haniger home run. After giving up four runs in the third, Ober cooled off for his final two innings and kept the Mariners scoreless in the fourth and fifth. 

Correa continued his hot streak in the field. In the top of the first when it looked like Winker would score on Haniger’s double, Correa caught Alex Kirilloff’s relay throw and nailed a strike to Sanchez who tagged Winker out at home. 

After going hitless in his first three at bats, Correa joined in with Sanchez getting his first home run as a Twin on Sunday. Correa crushed a 83 MPH slider from Yohan Ramirez to the third deck of the left field bleachers making it a 9-4 Twins lead. 

In addition to the power hitting Buxton, Sanchez, and Correa showcased for Twins fans on Sunday. Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco also awoke at the plate hitting their first homers of the season. Polanco reached base a second time as well with a single. 

Sunday’s game showed that even with new faces on this 2022 squad, the Twins are still very much the Bomba Squad crushing six home runs after having only two from the season's first two games. Through the first three games, Buxton leads the team with three home runs. 

The Twins bullpen recovered from yesterday’s loss keeping the Mariners scoreless through the final four innings of the game. Danny Coulombe, Jorge Alcala, Emilio Pagan, and Jhon Romero combined for 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 

Pagan, making his season and team debut with the Twins, threw only ten pitches in a scoreless eighth, striking out two of three batters faced. Romero also made his season and team debut and threw 15 pitches giving up a hit and a walk in the ninth.

What’s Next? 

The Twins will play their final game of this four-game series against the Mariners Monday night at 6:40 p.m. CT start time. Dylan Bundy will be making his 2022 Twins debut against the Mariners Chris Flexin. 

Postgame Interviews 

 

Bullpen Availability  

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Coulombe	0	0	27	0	15	42
Alcalá	0	0	13	0	27	40
Duran	0	0	31	0	0	31
Cotton	0	0	0	20	0	20
Smith	0	0	0	20	0	20
Thielbar	0	0	0	18	0	18
Duffey	0	0	0	18	0	18
Romero	0	0	0	0	15	15
Pagán	0	0	0	0	10	10
Winder	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

Twins Daily’s own John Bonnes will be at today’s post game press conference and provide coverage, so check back over the next few hours.

In the postgame interviews, we learned a little bit more about the key factor that got Ober back on track after that home run. “He seemed good,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He seemed kind of pissed off.” Ober confirmed that the home run really bugged him and helped him get more aggressive over his last couple of innings. 

Ober lasted five innings, and though he gave up four runs, three of them happened on the aforementioned pitch that he would surely like back. After managing his way through the first and second inning, he started the third giving up a double and a walk before a bloop single scored a run. A visit from pitching coach Wes Johnson followed and Ober went back to work.

Ober lasted five innings, and though he gave up four runs, three of them happened on the aforementioned pitch that he would surely like back. After managing his way through the first and second inning, he started the third giving up a double and a walk before a bloop single scored a run. A visit from pitching coach Wes Johnson followed and Ober went back to work.

 

 

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[wsnydes]

Helluva breakout for the bats!

And the pitching kept up the good work, too!

[Monticore]

Liking this Stanks trade!

[Doctor Gast]

The breaking loose of that bats log jam was all we needed. I loved how Baldelli used his long relief in game 1 but in game 2&3 he has gone back to his old ways of using only short relief in every BP situation. After Ober was an ideal time to use Winder to get his feet wet & see what he has but Baldelli reverted to his image of himself as a chess master using only short relief & left Winder wanting. I'd like to see Baldelli develope a SP + long relief + short relief formula, keeping the rotation & short relief fresh throughout the season (Not having them burn out like prior seasons.) and giving long relief opportunity to prove themselves.

P.S. I followed the Twins via Game Day so I couldn't really see how well Pagan pitched, he seemed fine.

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

I'm guessing we see winder tomorrow 

[jorgenswest]

Sanchez looked better at catcher receiving balls than I had expected. Nice job on the end of that relay. He positioned himself well in receiving the ball before the runner. I suppose my expectations were not very high but he didn’t stand out like Astudillo or Pinto have in the past. I am more hopeful that he can be a passable catcher.

[Melissa]

Now, That’s Entertainment!! ?

[bighat]

Great interview with Buxton, "Go Twins!"

[Unwinder]

Sanchez's grand slam takes some of the sting out of Donaldson's walk off for the Yankees the other night.

[GNess]

Power plus decent pitching  and defense was the formula for some recent successful seasons. Good to catch a glimpse of it today.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Buxton on pace for 162 home run

 

 

 

seems kinda conservative 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

That relay from Kirilloff to Correa to Sanchez was beautiful. Then Dick and Justin replayed it several times and explained why the throw to Correa was on the glove side of Correa and how all 3 players involved, had set themselves up for success  by Kirilloff's footwork, Correa glancing back at the runner and his footwork and Sanchez placing his legs in front of the plate, thus blocking the runner,  and catching and holding the ball.  Morneau said it takes a good first relay throw to make the second relay throw successful. It was a beautiful  play which was explained to us viewers in an excellent manner. 

[baul0010]

Big sigh of relief.  I was worried we were going to go 0-162.  

[minman1982]

It will be interesting to see if this opens the gates a little bit for the offense.  Overall in this series, I feel the pitching has been decent.  If we ignore the stinker of an inning that Duffey threw yesterday, the bullpen has been nearly rock solid.  All three starters have been about what I would have expected.

It was really nice to see the bats get going this afternoon.  Six homeruns from 5 players today with Arraez and Urshela getting into the action the last couple days shows that there is some power in this lineup.  It feels like this is a team that could score ten runs in about any game they play this season. 

Play of the day for me was the throw from Correa in the first to prevent Winker from scoring.  Great relay from Kirilloff and great throw to the plate.  Winker was almost to third when Kirilloff started to throw the ball from the outfield wall.  Correa has shown just with his defensive play that he is worth $30M this season.

The Donaldson trade is looking pretty good right now.  Urshela and Sanchez have shown they can contribute.  We dumped Donaldson's contract and freed up the money to get Correa.  Lastly, I never felt that Donaldson ever really fit in with this team and in this clubhouse.  Urshela, Sanchez, and Correa all seem to fit in.

[minman1982]

7 minutes ago, baul0010 said:

Big sigh of relief.  I was worried we were going to go 0-162.  

1-161?

[jmlease1]

Nice game for the Twins. The power production is for real with the lineup, and we can definitely punish lefties. Really happy for Gary Sanchez, who missed a walkoff by no more than 2 feet the other night, to see him have a good day behind the plate (excellent tag to finish off that great relay from Correa and fine throw from Kirilloff, nearly picked off a runner at first, and looked pretty comfortable behind the plate) and drop a bomb of a home run.

I wonder if pairing with a pitcher like Ober, who works up in the zone, is going to be good for Sanchez behind the plate? Regardless, I thought he was respectable back there, and I have to wonder if getting him out of NYC is going to be really good for him.

Buxton showed exactly why we signed him to that big extension. Good grief, he's a wonderful player. When he's locked in at the plate, you can't get him out. And there's no one smoother in the OF.

Hopefully the command problems from Ober are just him getting into the groove of the season (or warmer weather, or whatever); I was surprised to see him struggling to throw strikes early and not getting ahead of hitters. Hopefully that works itself out. He finished strong, which was encouraging.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

13 minutes ago, minman1982 said:

1-161?

Nope 160-2

[Nine of twelve]

With this lineup this game could be the blueprint for a lot of games this season. Score a lot of runs with power, enough to provide a cushion for our pitching staff.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, minman1982 said:

It will be interesting to see if this opens the gates a little bit for the offense.  Overall in this series, I feel the pitching has been decent.  If we ignore the stinker of an inning that Duffey threw yesterday, the bullpen has been nearly rock solid.  All three starters have been about what I would have expected.

It was really nice to see the bats get going this afternoon.  Six homeruns from 5 players today with Arraez and Urshela getting into the action the last couple days shows that there is some power in this lineup.  It feels like this is a team that could score ten runs in about any game they play this season. 

Play of the day for me was the throw from Correa in the first to prevent Winker from scoring.  Great relay from Kirilloff and great throw to the plate.  Winker was almost to third when Kirilloff started to throw the ball from the outfield wall.  Correa has shown just with his defensive play that he is worth $30M this season.

The Donaldson trade is looking pretty good right now.  Urshela and Sanchez have shown they can contribute.  We dumped Donaldson's contract and freed up the money to get Correa.  Lastly, I never felt that Donaldson ever really fit in with this team and in this clubhouse.  Urshela, Sanchez, and Correa all seem to fit in.

I agree with your astute assessments.

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

The pitching has been pretty good with the obvious exception of the "Duffey the closer" experience.   Of course,  we haven't seen Bundy and Archer yet (I am skeptical - please prove me wrong).  I really think that when this team hits, they win.

[TwinsDr2021]

33 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_For_Life said:

The pitching has been pretty good with the obvious exception of the "Duffey the closer" experience.   Of course,  we haven't seen Bundy and Archer yet (I am skeptical - please prove me wrong).  I really think that when this team hits, they win.

Besides Duffey the Bullpen has been amazing, 12 1/3 and 0 runs, but lets not get ahead of ourselves yet on the starters, yes it was their first game, but only Ober made the 5th and his ERA is 7.20, Ryan's ERA is 4.50 which I would assume everybody including me are expecting that to be sub 4 this year. Gray is 3.86 which is good. (If Bundy, Archer and Paddack can do what Ryan did (or better) I would say it was a pretty successful first time though the 6 starters.

[Loops]

I am glad the Twins finally won a game. They could easily be undefeated at this point if things had fallen the right way. That being said I am disappointed. I know I am in the minority, but I hate watching a game where all the runs are via the home run. To me that is a boring game to watch. I realize that is where the league has gone. Watching players either hit a home run or strike out makes for a long uninteresting game. At least for me. I want the Twins to win any way they can, but baseball in general is coming down to me just looking at the scores and standings to see what the teams have done.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

7 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Besides Duffey the Bullpen has been amazing, 12 1/3 and 0 runs, but lets not get ahead of ourselves yet on the starters, yes it was their first game, but only Ober made the 5th and his ERA is 7.20, Ryan's ERA is 4.50 which I would assume everybody including me are expecting that to be sub 4 this year. Gray is 3.86 which is good. (If Bundy, Archer and Paddack can do what Ryan did (or better) I would say it was a pretty successful first time though the 6 starters.

By the end of the year, every guy in the 'pen will give up two runs in an inning at least once.  Let's get over this.

[bighat]

12 hours ago, Unwinder said:

Sanchez's grand slam takes some of the sting out of Donaldson's walk off for the Yankees the other night.

Donaldson's "walk off" was a seeing-eye dribbler that squeaked through the infield, after a man had automatically been put on 2nd base for him.

Sanchez breathed life into a winless team with a 2-out grand slam, rallied the crowd with the no-doubt blast. I'll take that any day over a weak ground ball through the shift.

[bighat]

6 hours ago, Loops said:

I am glad the Twins finally won a game. They could easily be undefeated at this point if things had fallen the right way. That being said I am disappointed. I know I am in the minority, but I hate watching a game where all the runs are via the home run. To me that is a boring game to watch. I realize that is where the league has gone. Watching players either hit a home run or strike out makes for a long uninteresting game. At least for me. I want the Twins to win any way they can, but baseball in general is coming down to me just looking at the scores and standings to see what the teams have done.

I hear ya - I mean, that's really a much longer discussion than we can have on a post-game thread about the 3rd game of the year. Short response is that honestly I think they're going to have to move the mound back, but it'll probably be 10 years before they are going to even seriously discuss it.

 

[IndianaTwin]

Following the recent death of C.W. McCall, it’s nice to get a big 10-4 with the win. 

[Trov]

I know early, but this team offense is reminding me of 2019 team.  A ton of HR.  I wonder if we are back to some juiced baseballs following the lockout to increase HR and fan excitement.  Maybe it is just small sample size, but some of those bombs are crazy deep.  

[ashbury]

6 hours ago, bighat said:

Donaldson's "walk off" was a seeing-eye dribbler that squeaked through the infield, after a man had automatically been put on 2nd base for him.

Sanchez breathed life into a winless team with a 2-out grand slam, rallied the crowd with the no-doubt blast. I'll take that any day over a weak ground ball through the shift.

If we're going to discount Donaldson's accomplishment, it's only fair to point out that the inning was still alive and the bases were loaded for Sanchez because Kirilloff hit into an error instead of the third out.

[Theo Tollefson]

5 hours ago, Trov said:

I know early, but this team offense is reminding me of 2019 team.  A ton of HR.  I wonder if we are back to some juiced baseballs following the lockout to increase HR and fan excitement.  Maybe it is just small sample size, but some of those bombs are crazy deep.  

Talked about this exact theory with a friend yesterday. As of right now I don't think juiced balls are happening because it's too small a sample size, but if there are say, 10-15 players with 25 or more HR by mid June, I'd buy it.