Twins 1, Rangers 2: Triple Play Turned, Buxton Exits in Loss

[Nate Palmer]

The Minnesota Twins came into Monday night needing a win. The defense came through with the season's second triple play, but continued struggles from the offense and an early exit from Byron Buxton led to a loss.

 

Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (69 pitches, 47 strikes (68.1%))
Home Runs: N/A 
Bottom 3 WPA: Jose Miranda (-.225), Luis Arraez (-.150), Max Kepler (-.145)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

As the Minnesota Twins have scuffled through what was supposed to be an easy part of their schedule, they looked to even up the series with the Rangers Monday night. Continuing to sit in second place in the AL Central standings, Monday’s night game felt like a must-win game for the Twins. If not must-win, very important. 

The struggle to hit with RISP continues
The Twins struggle to get hits with runners in scoring position has been well documented. That struggle was highlighted early on Monday night in almost identical fashions. In the first inning, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton reached base and stood on second and third with only one out in the inning. It looked like the Twins were cruising to an early lead. Instead, Jose Miranda struck out, and Max Kepler continued his struggles by pulling a pitch into a ground out to end the inning and the threat. 

Once again, in the third inning, Correa was again standing on third base and Buxton on second. This time it was with two outs after Jose Miranda grounded into a fielder’s choice to put the two Twins stars in those positions. Kepler’s overall batting struggles were highlighted once again as he couldn’t muster anything more than a fly out to center field. 

Twins turn second triple play of season
The fourth inning started in a way that did not look favorable for the Twins. Starter Sonny Gray who was off to a great start sending the first nine batters faced down without incident, wasn’t as fortunate as the lineup turned over. Marcus Semien broke through with a single for the first hit off of Gray Monday evening. Corey Seager followed up with a walk putting runners on first and second with no outs. 

Not only did Gray look to be in trouble, but he looked so with the middle of the Rangers lineup due up. With Nathaniel Lowe at the plate, Gray caused the left-handed batter to pull a liner right at Miranda. Miranda was able to step on first for out number two. Miranda then spun and fired down to second where Correa had to leap to snag the throw and was still able to come down and get Semien out to complete the Twins second triple play on the season. The 17th in franchise history. 

Nick Gordon breaks through
To start the fourth inning, Gio Urshela gave the Twins their second lead-off triple after sending a pitch the opposite way down the first baseline. Nick Gordon came to the plate and nearly broke through to start the run-scoring with a true exclamation point. Gordon sent a moonshot down the first base line that just hooked foul. It was called so live on the field and was later confirmed by a crew chief review. 

Gordon wouldn’t be fully denied. He came back and lined the ball down the third base line to score Urshela and add a double to his resume. That double brings Gordon up to 18 for the 2022 season. 

Middle-inning pitching struggles
The Twins have seemingly been plagued repeatedly by starting pitchers struggling in the middle innings of games. That was again the case Monday evening as Gray saw all the damage done against him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. 

In fairness, Gray was able to mute the actual damage done, leaving the game with the Twins down 2-1. The solo homerun by Adolis Garcia and RBI-single from Corey Seager did carry much more weight as the Twins offense could only muster up one run of support for Gray. 

Buxton leaves after 6th inning
Buxton had two significant instances where it was evident his hip was once again bothering him. After swinging through a pitch during an at-bat in the 5th inning, it could be seen on Buxton's face that it was painful. Then again, after attempting to dive to catch a fly ball, he was slow to get up. 

It has been well documented that Buxton has been working extremely hard to make it onto the field each day he plays. It does not remove the frustration present as the Twins best player is sidelined and sidelined in a game where they desperately needed some offensive firepower. 

What’s Next?
The Twins will catch a late-night flight to Houston, where they will open a three-game series against the always-tough Astros. It already was an important series, and became that much more important with Monday's loss, as the Twins try to keep pace in the central and compete with a playoff-caliber team. Currently, the probable starters lineup as follows:

Tuesday: Aaron Sanchez vs. Justin Verlander
Wednesday: Dylan Bundy vs. Framber Valdez
Thursday: Chris Archer vs. Luis Garcia

 

Postgame Interview 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THUR	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Thielbar	0	17	11	0	12	40
Pagán	0	0	0	39	0	39
Megill	0	24	0	15	0	39
López	0	20	9	0	0	29
Jax	0	0	11	0	14	25
Fulmer	0	0	0	0	12	12
Duran	0	10	0	0	0	10
Sands	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

 

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[BH67]

Tim Beckham, designated hitter.

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

[tony&rodney]

Bah. Put it in the books. It is on to Houston.

[USAFChief]

5 minutes ago, BH67 said:

Tim Beckham, designated hitter.

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

What that does is rob me of my beloved and long held "Jason Tyner, DH"  go-to line depicting mind numbingly inept sports management. 

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Abysmal at-bats.  Boos from the stands on Kepler's strikeout in the bottom of the 8th.

Poor hitting has lurked as an issue for over a season, and now that pitching issues are addressed, it is clear that this is the other major problem holding the team back. Upcoming matches with HOU and NYY will provide opportunities for these guys to learn a better plate approach by watching how real pennant contenders do it.

[AceWrigley]

Tuesday: TBD vs Justin Verlander

TBD better = Throw Big Donuts

[RpR]

15 minutes ago, BH67 said:

Tim Beckham, designated hitter.

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

Replacement did no better.

[USAFChief]

Turning Triple plays must be bad luck.

We can do it twice in ONE game and lose:

https://youtu.be/WP8uSPaggmc

 

 

[Rosterman]

Beckham when he needed to advance Gordon looked awful at the plate. Why didn't Gordon steal during Beckham's at bat?

Gray headed thru the order the third time. But, hey, a starter IS expected to give up runs in a game.

The Twins rotation looks AWFUL against Hosuton.

[Nate Palmer]

Tomorrow's starter announced. 

[MABB1959]

Stats and numbers seem to make this one of the weakest lineups to date.  Buxton leaving is more than disappointing, especially with Houston coming up.    

[David Maro]

I've seen enough of team now to know they are done. Rocco and the whole staff need to go. It has become embarrassing to watch. Your starter gets a missile hit off him for a triple play and you run him out again with no one up in the pen. A real manager has a feel for the game Rocco only goes by the analytics. If you play 10 games that way of thinking will lose you 7 of the 10. He also needed to bench Correa on his triple for not running out of the box. But there again let the player do what he what's. Better luck next year!!

[MMMordabito]

This should turn into a six game skid real quick. Lackluster bunch led by a robot.

[Chachi]

How does Miranda end up with A top and bottom WPA?

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

Tuesday: TBD vs Justin Verlander

TBD better = Throw Big Donuts

I believe you meant LPTBD (Losing Pitcher To Be Determined) vs. Justin Verlander or...

SL (Sacrificial Lamb) vs. Justin Verlander 

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, BH67 said:

Tim Beckham, designated hitter.

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

You way beat me to it. 

I would be fascinated to see the algorithm that spit out Beckham as the DH on Rocco's spreadsheet. (And what went through his head.!!!!...

"well seems kinda crazy using simple logic, but the spreadsheet doooes say it, so apparently that 0.091 batting average and OBP could be juuuust what the doctor ordered for this offence!"

There is a little saying that researchers use about statistical analysis/analytics that Rocco may need to be made aware of: Garbage in... Garbage out. 

 

 

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

What that does is rob me of my beloved and long held "Jason Tyner, DH"  go-to line depicting mind numbingly inept sports management. 

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Maybe Baldi is trying to get fired?!?!  I have such a morbid curiosity (ok unhealthy perseveration  about his decision to DH Beckham....

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Nate Palmer said:

Tomorrow's starter announced. 

Guess I have egg on my face over that one LOL.

[howeda7]

Season fading fast. If it means the end of the Falvey/Rocco era, and it should, that will be the only positive. 

[Blyleven2011]

Injuries  ...

Good pitching ...

Situational hitting not good  ...

[bighat]

6 hours ago, David Maro said:

I've seen enough of team now to know they are done.

Yeah it's over. They can't score runs against the TEXAS RANGERS. Not just one night, but for 4 straight games. At home. 

Embarrassing. At this point I'd prefer they just end the season now just to save us the agony of checking the scoreboard for the next month. 

It's extremely likely they lose all 3 in Houston, then split with SF, go 1-2 against the Red Sox, 1-2 against the White Sox and then get swept by the Yanks in NY.  That'll put them at 4-12 over their next 16 games. Even if they do better than that (5-11, 6-10) they'll still be below .500 by Sept. 8.

The Correa experiment was bold but it unfortunately didn't work out. Shows how bandboxes like MinuteMaid can make guys look way better offensively than they really are. Trevor Story hasn't been that good either after leaving Coors. 

Not sure how anyone can truly believe this team has a chance at finishing .500, let alone the division at this point. 

[rwilfong86]

8 minutes ago, bighat said:

Yeah it's over. They can't score runs against the TEXAS RANGERS. Not just one night, but for 4 straight games. At home. 

Embarrassing. At this point I'd prefer they just end the season now just to save us the agony of checking the scoreboard for the next month. 

It's extremely likely they lose all 3 in Houston, then split with SF, go 1-2 against the Red Sox, 1-2 against the White Sox and then get swept by the Yanks in NY.  That'll put them at 4-12 over their next 16 games. Even if they do better than that (5-11, 6-10) they'll still be below .500 by Sept. 8.

The Correa experiment was bold but it unfortunately didn't work out. Shows how bandboxes like MinuteMaid can make guys look way better offensively than they really are. Trevor Story hasn't been that good either after leaving Coors. 

Not sure how anyone can truly believe this team has a chance at finishing .500, let alone the division at this point. 

They will be lucky to be at .500 by September 1. 

[rwilfong86]

4 hours ago, howeda7 said:

Season fading fast. If it means the end of the Falvey/Rocco era, and it should, that will be the only positive. 

Let's hope so. 

[wsnydes]

Really bad time for the bats to go silent for a series.  And it ain't going to get any easier!

They needed to make hay during this past week or so, and they didn't do it.

[insagt1]

They mustered nothing in the final 2 innings in a game that was there for the taking (Pagan didn't pitch!)

No way they win any of the games against Houston. Buxton exiting again is just putting another nail in his season of perpetual injury. But realistically, his offense has been terrible, especially with RISP. Kepler is lost. Polanco is invisible. Why is beckham on the team? The Orioles had one like him...Phillips. Couldn't hit sand on the beach. Finally DFA'ed him.

Twins probably won't finish .500. But the AL Central winner may be fortunate to end up a few games over .500, the way its shaping up. Right now though, our team is dead, lifeless and going thru the motions. Looks a lot like 2021 actually. The boos we heard in the 8th inning were out of total frustration. While directed at Kepler, they should have been directed at the whole team.

For those here who really care about this team, the season is collapsing. For those who just follow metrics and enjoy beer and hotdogs, none of this matters.

[mikelink45]

It is sad to read the comments and know that these are all people who really care about the team.  Yesterday we talked about the lack of fire in the team, but they have now taken the fire out of the fans and Rocco and the FO just don't seem to get that.  Beckham and Cave were miserable call ups for the team.  If he were doing rehab, I would be happy to see Sano come in and do his big whiff routine. 

I am hoping something happens to give us at least a 500 finish, but I am not sure what it would be.  

[1Hit the ball]

10 hours ago, BH67 said:

Tim Beckham, designated hitter.

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

Did Kepler reach a plea deal because he's just as guilty? 

[wabene]

54 minutes ago, insagt1 said:

 

For those here who really care about this team, the season is collapsing. For those who just follow metrics and enjoy beer and hotdogs, none of this matters.

You can care about the team without being miserable and complaining constantly (not directed at you personally). Someone above stated the team will be below 500 by Sept 1. They have been saying that for 2 months.  Eventually they may be right, but what a sad journey. 

[umterp23]

This team has never been a situational hitting team, rare sighting was a Jeffers bunt rbi and maybe Leon following suit.  Since it is so rare you would think I could track them, but I don't watch all the games.  Best money not spent on MLB package this year.  

Buxton with way too many rest days and still "playing injured" all the time.  History of his ailments every year are catching up to him once again.

Correa experiment while nice on paper, was not a great $34MM spend for this year.  He bet on himself with the deal and will be highly surprised to see any team give him 7 to 10 years of retirement money.  Not say a team won't do it, but he is no Aaron Judge who bet on himself.  

Pretty telling that Leon gets more at bats than Sanchez behind the dish since his acquisition. Sanchez appears to not really want to be behind the plate as he would actually have to work a full 9 innings vs DH for 3 or 4 at bats.  Jeffers playing with a broken bone in hand for almost 2 weeks is gritty and hell he was playing well during that stretch tells me more about the catcher position the Sanchez's mouth of they traded for me to be the guy.  More like we traded Donaldson away and you were a Yankee piece they were glad to get rid of.

Beckham and Cave, nice story but not MiLB material only.  

Gordon, steady as a rock and has played really well filling outfield holes.  Glad for him.

Tough sledding ahead, GO TWINS

[Whitey333]

All great comments.  Yes we are all frustrated.  None more than me.  This has been going on for most of the season.  What is disheartening to me is the lack of fire and sense of urgency from the team and manager Rocco.  Why is everyone so whoa is me on Buxton being hurt. Big deal.  He's been hurt for 8 seasons now.  Aren't we used to?  Of his 28 Homer's 17 are solo.  The past two months he's been absolutely terrible in batting average and in clutch situations.  It really doesn't matter much if he's in there or not.  He doesn't produce much anyway.  Twins are cooked.  They have no heart and are playing out the season.