Twins 7, Royals 3: Gray Tops Greinke, Royals

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins got a great start, some strong defense, and plenty of offense on Sunday afternoon, and they were able to even the four-game series with the Kansas City Royals with a 7-3 win. 

Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (80 pitches, 52 strikes (65.0%))
Home Runs: Gio Urshela (4), Nick Gordon (1), Trevor Larnach (3)
Top 3 WPA: Gio Urshela (.238), Sonny Gray (.222), Byron Buxton (.072) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Pregame Notes
Royce Lewis is back. The Twins have recalled their top prospect from St. Paul. In the past two weeks with the Saints, Lewis has played shortstop, third base, left field, and center field. On Sunday, he is the Twins starting center fielder. 

On Saturday night, Max Kepler left the game with a leg injury. At the time, an IL stint was considered possible. However, on Sunday morning, Kepler felt better than anticipated and will not go on the IL, at least not now. Instead, the Twins optioned Jose Miranda to St. Paul. 

150 Grunts of Gray, and Greinke  
38-year-old Zack Greinke is in his 19th in the big-leagues. He was the Royals’ first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 2002 draft. He spent the first seven seasons of his big-league career with Kansas City during which time he made his first All-Star appearance and won his lone Cy Young Award. After the 2010 season, he was traded to the Brewers, and since then he has also spent time with the Angels, the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks, and the Astros. This past offseason, he returned as a free agent to the Royals. Overall, he is 219-135 with a 3.43 ERA in his career. He is a six-time All Star. Coming into Sunday, he had pitched in 26 games and made 22 starts against the Twins in his career. He was 5-10 with a 4.53 ERA. He had made seven starts at Target Field and is 1-4 with a 5.14 ERA. This marked his 498th career start which is 48th all-time. Next up is former Twins knuckleballer, Joe Niekro, at 500 starts. 

On the hill for the Twins was Sonny Gray. While he is a grizzled veteran compared to most of the Twins starters, he’s a half-dozen years younger than Greinke. While his career is not as celebrated or award-filled as Greinke, Gray has been quite good throughout his career, with Oakland and Cincinnati (not so much that year in the Bronx). While Gray throws harder than Greinke, he relies more on control and command of more than handful of pitches. 

The other huge similarity between Gray and Greinke? All the Grunting!! On this day, Sonny Gray led the Twins to a win with a very strong performance through six innings. He did leave the game with a sore right pectoral muscle, so hopefully, that is minor. 

Royce Lewis - Center of Attention 
Earlier this month, Royce Lewis made his MLB debut at Target Field. He was playing shortstop, replacing Carlos Correa. The first batter of the game found him, hitting a ground ball in his direction. Lewis flawlessly made the play. 

On Sunday, in his return to the big leagues, Lewis was in center field. The Royals' first two batters flew out to Lewis, and he made it look easy. Then in the second inning, well, just watch. 

He remained in the game for the rest of that half inning but left the dugout with trainer Michael Salazar to get checked out. As you can see, he immediately winced in pain and grabbed his right knee. He also hit his left shoulder hard against the wall. 

During the game, the Twins announced a preliminary 'right knee soreness' diagnosis, but he was set to undergo more imaging. 

Nick Gordon replaced him the next inning.

Power Play 
In the third inning, the Twins were finally able to get to Greinke. Gio Urshela launched a long, three-run homer to left to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. Urshela has been hitting quite well of late. In his last nine games, he is 12-for-32 (.375) with a double, a homer and eight RBI. 

In his first at-bat after replacing Lewis, Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a long, 390-foot homer over the tall wall in right center field. In his next at-bat, he hit one off the wall in right. Gordon has become a bit of a Royals killer... This season, he is 10-for-21 (.476) with two doubles, two triples, and a homer against Kansas City. 

Trevor Larnach followed with an opposite-field blast. It was the first time this season the Twins have gone back-to-back. Larnach went 3-for-4. He later added and RBI double and ended just a triple shy of a cycle, the first time he's done that in his young career. This marks the first time he's homered in back-to-back games in his career. He has reached base in nine of his past 12 plate appearances. 

Other Notes

• Caleb Thielbar struck out two batters to reach the 200 career strikeout mark. Just as momentous, he was called for the first balk of his career. 
• Luis Arraez went 2-for-4 and now has a nine-game hitting streak. He has 15 multi-hit games this season, seven of which have come in his last nine games. 
• In his last five starts against the Royals, Sonny Gray is 5-0 with a 1.41 ERA. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins will head to Detroit for a five-game series against the Tigers. 

Monday: Dylan Bundy (3-2, 4.54) vs RHP Beau Brieske (0-4, 5.04)
Tuesday (Game 1): LHP Devin Smeltzer (1-0, 1.04) vs RHP Rony Garcia (0-0, 3.00)
Tuesday (Game 2): RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 6.75) vs TBD 
Wednesday: RHP Bailey Ober (1-1, 3.25) vs LHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.44)
Thursday: TBD vs RHP Alex Faedo (1-2, 3.00) 

Postgame Interview 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	WED	THU	FRI	SUN	SUN	TOT
Thielbar	30	0	1	0	22	53
Duffey	0	31	0	20	0	51
Jax	23	0	0	0	20	43
Pagán	21	0	3	0	12	36
Moran	0	0	0	34	0	34
Megill	8	0	26	0	0	34
Minaya	0	0	0	31	0	31
Smith	3	0	18	0	0	21
Duran	0	0	19	0	0	19

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[h2oface]

Buxton with a 3 game hitting streak! (Albeit only .230 going 3/13 with one double and one run scored).

[Doctor Gast]

Gray pitched a great 6+ inning game, but left with a sore pectoral. Hope he didn't over do it, and able to bounce back. Urshella open the scoring with a well welcomed 3 run HR, Gordon & Larnach had great games each homering back to back. Well played game all around,

Eventhough we won the game, it left us wondering about 3 of our stars Lewis, Buxton & Gray with their injuries. My prayers go out for them. 

[mikelink45]

PLEASE - ROCCO - this injury is not because you let a starter go more than 4 innings.  It really wasn't.  You did the right thing!

Can the Twins please invest in some spongy, soft, absorbing outfield covering to project Lewis/Buxton/????

Thank you Larnach.  Come back Clestino - we are starting to get an OF. 

 

[mikelink45]

Just asking - why did we wait until Miranda was really starting to turn things around before we sent him down?

[Rosterman]

I can understand the need in baseball to have a bit of tension on outfield walls so the ball bounces, rather than dies at the track. Pretty gutsy to throw a guy into a position he hasn't played in the big leagues (and not all that much period) and not really walk thru the outfield, test the wall for "sponginess" and all. 

The Twins can't afford to carry bench bats and pitching arms that can't play in the field, period. 8 games in the next week. They need every able body to do their rotate to positions you wouldn't believe these guys are playing. Like who backs up Arraez now, at first...even though the guy is looking good at the bag!

There isn't a lot down on the farm. Kirilloff should be back, since Miranda is gone. Celestino is in the wings. Contreras and Godoy, bless their hearts, should NOT be options) oh, no - that leaves...Cave!).

So looks like Minaya is the COVID replacement and stays until Ryan comes back, and hopefully he does pitch that final game in Detroit. 

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

19 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Just asking - why did we wait until Miranda was really starting to turn things around before we sent him down?

Because they needed an OF would be my guess. 

[USAFChief]

Really can't afford to lose Gray. Hope it's nothing.

 

4-3 homestand. Was hoping for more, could have had more, but at the end of the day, a winning week.

[Rosterman]

36 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Really can't afford to lose Gray. Hope it's nothing.

 

4-3 homestand. Was hoping for more, could have had more, but at the end of the day, a winning week.

I can't quite figure out why the play against the Royals seems to be so tough. Yes, the Twins are 6-4 against them so far. The Royals pitching is a run-and-a-half worse overall than the Twins. Go figure.

[rwilfong86]

Should have been a 3-1 series victory, but I'll take a split over a series loss 

[Nine of twelve]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Was hoping for more, could have had more, but at the end of the day, a winning week.

And at the end of the week, a winning day.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Rosterman said:

I can't quite figure out why the play against the Royals seems to be so tough. Yes, the Twins are 6-4 against them so far. The Royals pitching is a run-and-a-half worse overall than the Twins. Go figure.

Analytics are like a bookie for the mob.

[jimbo92107]

I'm calling much hubbub, little real damage. Royce Lewis twisted his knee, possibly smacked his knees together as he crash landed. I did not see a large twisting action or a real hard smash of one knee against the other. Thus, I'm a guessin' that the tissues in his repaired knee have a few spots that are going to be tender for some time beyond functionally "healed." 

Sonny Gray needs a hot shower and a massage on his sore back. I bet he could pitch his next game, but the Twins will be careful with him, let him rest for a turn. Frankly I'm glad - this will give Smeltzer, Sands, etc, to get a chance to show their starter stuff. 

Question: If Devin Smeltzer does another 7-innings of shutout pitching, will the Twins DFA him? What's the guy gotta do to get a regular starter's slot? He's not just a pitch-to-contact guy, he usually gets a handful of K's per game, sometimes more. The only thing he doesn't do is tickle the laser speedo at 93 mph. 87 to 91 is his heater's velo. Thing is, he commands it, like all his pitches. I see opposing batters get very frustrated with Smeltzer. Why can't they straighten one out on him? It's because he's skillful, clever, and bulldog tough. MLB has seen finesse pitchers do well before. Devin Smeltzer is one of those guys. Plug him into the rotation, and enjoy your winnings. 

Oh, I forgot: Nick Gordon, y'all! Been trying to tell people, this is a guy that's gradually getting better and better. We're starting to see a look of confidence on his face that wasn't there before, when his life was one chunk of bad luck after another. Today we're seeing a fashionable, confident young man that's really starting to feel like he belongs on this excellent baseball team. Stay tuned for more good things from Gordon. 

[terrydactyls]

4 hours ago, Rosterman said:

I can understand the need in baseball to have a bit of tension on outfield walls so the ball bounces, rather than dies at the track. Pretty gutsy to throw a guy into a position he hasn't played in the big leagues (and not all that much period) and not really walk thru the outfield, test the wall for "sponginess" and all.

 

And you know for a fact that Lewis did not inspect the outfield wall in the five hours prior to the game?  It must be nice to have that sort of access to Target Field that other mere mortals do not have.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

And you know for a fact that Lewis did not inspect the outfield wall in the five hours prior to the game?  It must be nice to have that sort of access to Target Field that other mere mortals do not have.

I have it on good authority Lewis asked if he could have the wall padding removed entirely because he was going to show that wall who was boss and he didn't want the wall to have an excuses for losing the fight. He'd never even looked at the wall before the game. He always averts his eyes because he wants to have all new immersive experiences.

[David HK]

Jeepers, catching up after- what's up with all the injuries!  Royce, what hard, hard luck!  And Gray goes down today too?  And Bux? Where did he get tagged?  Hopefully he's not banged up again, too!

Good stuff from Gordo and Larnach- single, double, HR- wow!  Think the only way that big lad could get a triple though, is if he breaks a couple of tackles between 2nd and 3rd... ?

[The Mad King]

16 hours ago, Rosterman said:

I can understand the need in baseball to have a bit of tension on outfield walls so the ball bounces, rather than dies at the track. 

 

 

Why? Remember the hefty bag? Every stadium has their idiosyncracies. Why not a wall that doesn't ricochet? It's still the same for both teams.

[puckstopper1]

Great to see Larnach swinging well.

Five games in 4 days against the Tigers without Winder, Gray and (maybe) Ryan.  That will be "interesting".

[Mark G]

The reason I like this site so much is it has so many different viewpoints and ideas.  I love the jokes (I tell one or two myself now and then), I love the debates (I have had a few of those myself   ), and more than anything else, I love the civility.  We have never been in complete agreement on anything, and probably never will be, but if there is one subject we should at least have a super majority on is injuries.  I have watched this team for 55 years and I have literally never seen anything like this.  Again, we are all going to have our individual takes on why they keep occurring, but no one can dispute they keep on occurring, and in numbers that are surreal.  My gut tells me that it is the new way the game is managed; the less a player plays and stays in his routine the more susceptible he is to hurting himself because it isn't pure instinct anymore.  Our players play multiple positions they have to think about too much, and the pitchers overextend on every pitch until they feel something twinge, which means, of course, they have to be shut down on the spot; no building arm strength to overcome the smaller pains.  Players today get injured just throwing, running, and batting; in other words, playing baseball, and it doesn't have to be this way.  I know I can't prove a negative, so to speak, but players need to play every day and pitchers need to stretch out and build arm strength.  The old ways weren't always the wrong wrong ways.  I have never seen IL's like this.  If I am wrong, give me the stats.  Again, that is why I am on this site.