Twins 8, Tigers 4: Thumbs Up! Twins Top Tigers in Return from Break

[Sherry Cerny]

It was the first game following the Twins extended, All-Star break. The fans are ready for the second half of the season, and so were the Twins.

 

Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (86 pitches, 57 strikes (66%))
Home Runs:  Carlos Correa (12)
Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (.190), Carlos Correa (.140), Luis Arraez (.116)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

The Twins came back with a good line-up to start the second half of the baseball season. Notably missing, however, was Byron Buxton who is coming off of his game-winning home run at the All-Star game on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. The outfielder did an interview with The Athletic's Dan Hayes and spoke about not being comfortable with the Home-Run Derby and being willing to continue the rest and day-to-day work to stay healthy and in the lineup most nights. 

Buxton will miss this series against the Detroit Tigers but will be ready to return to action when they travel to Milwaukee early in the week. 

The Twins started out the series against former teammate Michael Pineda who allowed first-inning singles to Luis Arraez and Carlos Correa. With no outs, Jorge Polanco slapped a ball into center field to load the bases for Max Kepler. Kepler hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Arraez, giving the Twins an early lead. 

Pineda avoided any further disaster but needed 29 pitches to finish the first inning. Pineda was a lot more composed in the second and third innings before getting pulled after Carlos Correa hit a solo home run to give the Twins a two-run lead. 

The Twins started the seventh as they had in the first inning, with singles, this time from Alex Kirilloff and Jose Miranda. With a left-hander now pitching, Kyle Garlick pinch hit for Nick Gordon. Garlick is fantastic against the lefties and was again tonight. He drove a ball into the hole between third base and shortstop. The ball went under the glove of Jeimer Candelario for an error to load the bases with no outs. Gio Urshela came up to bat and hit a sac-fly that scored Kirilloff. 

Arraez thought the inning was over when he hit a high foul ball to the third base side and Candelario slid to make the play but missed the ball, giving Arraez another chance to finish his at-bat. Arraez took advantage of the new life and hit a two-run single, scoring Miranda and Garlick, making it a three-hit game for the All-Star and a 5-1 lead for the Twins. 

The Twins stayed focused in the eighth inning and loaded the bases again. The lineup took turns hitting singles and scored three insurance runs. Gary Sanchez, who was hitless at to this point, hit a ball into the gap in right field which scored Kirilloff and opened up the Twins' lead to 8-1. 

Joe Ryan made his 15th start for the Twins. He had struggled in his two previous outings. He came out with the confidence we had seen so many times before he got sick with Covid. In the first two innings, he had quick 1-2-3 inning to keep the Twins ahead and his pitch count down. 

In the third inning, he faced six batters. He had a prolonged at-bat with Javier Baez which really drove up his pitch count. With two on and two out, Ryan faced another former Twins player, Robbie Grossman. With the Detroit fans cheering for what they hoped would be a chance to get on the board, the defense neutralized the threat when Grossman ground out to end the inning, the shutout still intact. 

It's Challenging!  
The sixth inning started out with Ryan giving up a triple to rookie sensation Riley Greene with the first at-bat. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli challenged, arguing that Greene did not touch second base. The call stood on the field after review, much to the Twins' chagrin.

Baldelli has been generous with his challenges this season. As of today, he has challenged 29 calls this season and only 14 of them have been overturned.

After allowing his first and only run in the sixth inning, Ryan got a fly out and then struck out Miguel Cabrera swinging before he was relieved from the mound with only one out left. An interesting move...two-game writer’s opinion. 

Do you think the Twins can get a sweep on their first albeit small series tomorrow?  

What’s Next?
The Twins finish up game two of the two game series Sunday with the Tigers before heading to Milwaukee for the early part of the week.

Pitching matchup for Sunday:
●       Sunday 1:10 pm CST: Sonny Gray (4-3, 3.71ERA)  vs RHP Rony Garcia (3-2, 4.28ERA)
 
Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart 

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Moran	0	0	0	0	28	28
Duran	0	0	0	0	11	11
Duffey	0	0	0	0	11	11
Megill	0	0	0	0	7	7
Pagan	0	0	0	0	2	2
Thielbar	0	0	0	0	0	0
Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jax	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cotton	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[Nashvilletwin]

Arraez is really good - what an incredible at bat to drive in two and open up the lead. Wow.

[cHawk]

That’s a great way to start the second half

[ashbury]

"I just enjoyed my first All-Star game."  LOL.  To quote Dizzy Dean, it ain't braggin' if you can back it up.  I hope Luis does!

[USAFChief]

Sunday 1:10 pm CST: Sonny Gray (4-3, 3.71ERA)  vs RHP Rony Garcia (3-2, 4.28ERA)

 

I believe start time Sunday is 1:40 EDT, 12:40 CDT.

[BH67]

Bullpen bewilders.  Offense runs hot and cold.  Twins show glimpses of huge potential mixed with baffling ineffectiveness.

On the other hand, there's Luis Arraez, his optimism and his relentlessness.  Arguably, the closest model to Kirby Puckett in a Twins uniform since Kirby Puckett.  And the whole team continues to fight hard even on bad days.

That's good enough for me.  Good win tonight.  Go Twins.

[DJwessmix]

Sherry, it wasn't Candelario that muffed the foul pop-up, it was old friend Akil Baddoo. In case you wanted to edit the story

 

[1Hit the ball]

I've become a boxscore baseball fan.  I see our young stud pitcher threw a whipping five innings and couldn't crack 100 pothead.  Meanwhile Verlander is throwing close to 100 mph in the 7th inning. Baldelli and the Twins "braintrust" would never allow a pitcher to show he has a pair of gonads like that. It must be nice to be a fan of other ball teams that think pitching less than 7 innings is subpar.

[wabene]

4 hours ago, 1Hit the ball said:

I've become a boxscore baseball fan.  I see our young stud pitcher threw a whipping five innings and couldn't crack 100 pothead.  Meanwhile Verlander is throwing close to 100 mph in the 7th inning. Baldelli and the Twins "braintrust" would never allow a pitcher to show he has a pair of gonads like that. It must be nice to be a fan of other ball teams that think pitching less than 7 innings is subpar.

I just checked on Baseball Reference and the average start in the major league this year is 5.2 innings. Joe Ryan went 5.67 innings last night so it was an above average length of start this year. My guess on why he was pulled was because the next batter was already 2 for 2 against him. Tight game. I also would have liked to see him go longer, but your comment about other teams having a different philosophy isn't backed up by the facts. There are a couple of teams that lead the way for longest starts and they are averaging 5.7 innings per start. That is a half inning longer than average, not much of a difference. You are complaining about a start where Ryan went essentially as deep into the game as an average start for the teams that lead the league in that stat. 

[1Hit the ball]

Could you show me the line where I said other teams have a different philosophy? The facts, as you mentioned, are i compared what the Twins pulling Ryan compared to 39 yeasts old Justin Verlander. You are correct in the complaint about the average start, however.  And as an HOF baseball guy told me, "those decisions are made upstairs by some guys that never played the game and only know baseball through their computer". He is correct and it had taken away from the game. There would be no great 91 game 7 in today's game.  Morris would have been pulled in the 4th because some stat head who never played noticed that Loonie Smith hit .404  in his second at bat against pitchers named Jack while pitching in domes. 

[bighat]

Head-scratching outing from Moran, and I can't remember the last time I saw Magill do anything worthwhile. This game became very close in the 8th inning - those who were watching know what I'm talking about - and it's just incredibly frustrating to see the bullpen once again pouring gasoline onto a dying fire.

Correa should have had 2 bombs, Baddoo really robbed him late in the game with an amazing catch - making up for his mistake that cost the team a couple runs earlier that inning.

Twins are really going to have to start lighting it up on offense until pitching help arrives, nice to see them lay down an 8 spot.

Very interested to see how Gray responds today after the long break. He's averaged 4 innings, 5.5 ER and just 1.5 strikeouts over his last two appearances. A stellar outing today would restore some much needed confidence.

[umterp23]

Garlic being fantastic vs lefties is a bit of a stretch.  Hard groundball for an error.  He has what maybe 1 at bat in last 10 games? sarcasm yes, but not sure he stays on roster at this point when Sano gets activated.  Celestino most likely done, but Garlick is my first option, doesn't play

[rv78]

The more things change the more they stay the same....... ok nothing changed, my bad. First game of the 2nd half and Rocco proves he's learned nothing from the first half burning though 6 pitchers in 1 night. So what if Castro had 2 hits off of Ryan already. Odds are huge Ryan gets him out to end the 6th inning. Only at 86 pitches and hasn't pitched in 10 days there's was no reason to pull Ryan. Then only use Pagan to face 1 batter. Another moronic move. Correct pitcher usage would have been Ryan for 7, 1 pitcher in the 8th(Duffey) and 1 in the 9th(Duran). Over managing does not make you a good manager.

[Whitey333]

Sano is due back.  Unless he is traded he will be taking someone spot.  My guess Garlick is sent down.  I believe he has an option left.  His performance is greatly exaggerated and over hyped.  After all Sano can pinch hit and strike out too.  Sano needs a new fresh start.  Twins need a new fresh start without him.  The worst thing would be for Sano coming back and taking playing time away from miranda, Arraez, or kirilloff.  Please Twins move on from Sano.

[Mike Sixel]

Good golly, they won, right?

[Linus]

Detroit proved that fielding matters. I’m confused why Duran would pitch to the bottom of the order in the bottom of the ninth with a four run lead. Unless they were ok with using him two days in a row. 

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, bighat said:

Head-scratching outing from Moran, and I can't remember the last time I saw Magill do anything worthwhile. This game became very close in the 8th inning - those who were watching know what I'm talking about - and it's just incredibly frustrating to see the bullpen once again pouring gasoline onto a dying fire.

Correa should have had 2 bombs, Baddoo really robbed him late in the game with an amazing catch - making up for his mistake that cost the team a couple runs earlier that inning.

Twins are really going to have to start lighting it up on offense until pitching help arrives, nice to see them lay down an 8 spot.

Very interested to see how Gray responds today after the long break. He's averaged 4 innings, 5.5 ER and just 1.5 strikeouts over his last two appearances. A stellar outing today would restore some much needed confidence.

While the BP is frustrating, closing the gap from 8-1 to 8-4 ... I don't consider it close. Okay, maybe for this BP is was, but once we got out of the bad inning, I could breathe a bit better. It wasn't a save situation. However, yes, the BP should be able to do better than that and not give up 3 runs. 

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, 1Hit the ball said:

Could you show me the line where I said other teams have a different philosophy? The facts, as you mentioned, are i compared what the Twins pulling Ryan compared to 39 yeasts old Justin Verlander. You are correct in the complaint about the average start, however.  And as an HOF baseball guy told me, "those decisions are made upstairs by some guys that never played the game and only know baseball through their computer". He is correct and it had taken away from the game. There would be no great 91 game 7 in today's game.  Morris would have been pulled in the 4th because some stat head who never played noticed that Loonie Smith hit .404  in his second at bat against pitchers named Jack while pitching in domes. 

Ryan gave up a triple, then a single and a run, then got a couple outs ... and was about to face someone who was 2 for 2 against him ... while I get your angst about how the game has changed, in this case, I think pulling when he was pulled was the right decision. It's not always my choice in other games, but this game, and that's what this thread is about, I don't think the argument for not pulling him holds up as well.

[Squirrel]

5 minutes ago, Linus said:

Detroit proved that fielding matters. I’m confused why Duran would pitch to the bottom of the order in the bottom of the ninth with a four run lead. Unless they were ok with using him two days in a row. 

Yeah ... well ... thankfully he didn't throw a lot of pitches, and with the day off on Monday, he could be used today, too. I'm not sure I would have used him, but, with our BP, I don't necessarily think a 4-run lead is safe, and I think it was important we come out of this game with a win.

[USAFChief]

14 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

While the BP is frustrating, closing the gap from 8-1 to 8-4 ... I don't consider it close. Okay, maybe for this BP is was, but once we got out of the bad inning, I could breathe a bit better. It wasn't a save situation. However, yes, the BP should be able to do better than that and not give up 3 runs. 

The potential tying run was on deck, with Megill on the mound.

I guess opinions on this can differ, but it felt unnecessarily close to me.

[Squirrel]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The potential tying run was on deck, with Megill on the mound.

I guess opinions on this can differ, but it felt unnecessarily close to me.

Honestly, once the inning was over, and I double-checked the score, I said to myself, 'Wait, they only scored 3 runs? Okay, phew.' It felt close, yes, but I don't think it really was that close ... once it was over. However, as I said in my post, with our PB, you just never know.

[wabene]

@1Hit the ball "Could you show me the line where I said other teams have a different philosophy?"

Here ya go 

"It  must be nice to be a fan of other ball teams that think pitching less than 7 innings is subpar."

You didn't use the word philosophy, but you were describing teams that thought differently.

I do think teams do have some different ideas on how to do things, but for me the biggest difference is in the horses they have. Houston is what the 3rd largest "city (giant suburb)" in the US and are willing to vastly out spend the Twins. The other problem with your argument is the pitcher you used as an example of how you want things done is a generational first ballot HOF'er. That ain't Joe Ryan. 

 

 

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Disappointing to see Moran's control issues return after a string of very good outings. It would be great for the Twins bullpen if he would be able to earn more trust, but yesterday he just didn't have it.

[tony&rodney]

Twins offense showed up and we can hope the offense is the best in baseball going forward. The first game after the All Star game was a success and did show a need for Falvey to add a few pitchers via trades too.

Ryan was fine and looked ready to exit. I am not always in agreement with the team strategies concerning pitchers but nobody should ever compare any Twin to Verlander. The Twins haven't had a pitcher capable of a decade of dominance since Blyleven. Johan was a miracle whose career merits massive praise but didn't last more than a decade. Verlander, Kershaw, Greinke, and Scherzer are special players. Ryan is having a terrific rookie season and I would suggest he has been handled well thus far. 

[puckstopper1]

11 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Arraez is really good - what an incredible at bat to drive in two and open up the lead. Wow.

And to think people on this board were upset when Arraez was taking away playing time from Sano earlier this season.

[Squirrel]

5 minutes ago, puckstopper1 said:

And to think people on this board were upset when Arraez was taking away playing time from Sano earlier this season.

Who was upset by that? Was anyone? Maybe one or two persons, but certainly not people. I think most people were worried about anyone taking time away from Arraez and finding space for Arraez in the lineup.

[Blyleven2011]

Moran got the first 2 outs and then walked the next 2 batters ,,, 

This seems like a common occurrence  with our bullpen ,,, duffey , pagan  too ... 

Why does this happen ????  ...

[Mortimerkenny21]

13 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Why does this happen ????  ...

Because we must suffer here in Minnesota! This is what we get for being so nice, bad things happen to good people! We're so nice that we have to give other teams ample and extra opportunities to score! ?

[chinmusic]

1 hour ago, wabene said:

The other problem with your argument is the pitcher you used as an example of how you want things done is a generational first ballot HOF'er. That ain't Joe Ryan. 

You read my mind!

[PDX Twin]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

While the BP is frustrating, closing the gap from 8-1 to 8-4 ... I don't consider it close. Okay, maybe for this BP is was, but once we got out of the bad inning, I could breathe a bit better. It wasn't a save situation. However, yes, the BP should be able to do better than that and not give up 3 runs. 

It would help if our BP understood the letters to mean bullpen rather than batting practice,,,