Twins 3, Royals 2: Early Inning Bombas and Bullpen Secure Sweep

[David Youngs]

Break out the brooms. Thanks to early-inning heroics from Carlos Correa and Nick Gordon, the Twins notched a critical win on Thursday night against the Royals. 

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Dylan Bundy, 4 IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 2K (60 pitches, 41 strikes, 68.3%)
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (21), Nick Gordon (7)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.155), Jhoan Duran (.153), Michael Fulmer (.115)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

In Honor of 21
Some things are bigger than the result on the field. 50 years following his passing, six Twins players donned #21 for Roberto Clemente Day on Thursday night. Puerto Rican natives Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda, Jorge López and Jovani Moran all donned #21 for the man who was arguably the father of baseball for the country. Emilio Pagán, who is of Puerto Rican descent (his father is from Puerto Rico) and Byron Buxton, who is the Twins' nominee for the 2022 Roberto Clemente Award also wore #21 on their jerseys. 

 

Early Action
After the White Sox crunched the Guardians on Thursday afternoon, the Twins wasted no time to hop on top of the Royals on Thursday. Carlos Correa launched a full-count fastball over the left-field wall to put the Twins up 1-0. That homer was Correa's fifth in the last seven games. A clubhouse leader showing up when it matters? Absolutely. 

Nick Gordon added to the fun in the second inning. After Gilberto Celestino tallied a double (which really could have been a triple (or more) without an unfortunate trip), Nick "Flash G" Gordon launched a slider over the right-center field wall to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.

Cy Bundy
Twins starter Dylan Bundy was adequate through four innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out two and walking none. The real show was the Twins bullpen, who posted five innings of scoreless innings. Trevor Megill posted a perfect fifth inning followed by a perfect sixth from Griffin Jax. Caleb Thielbar and Michael Fulmer combined for perfect seventh and eighth innings with three strikeouts and flamethrower Jhoan Duran made things interesting, but he posted a two-strikeout ninth inning to secure the win for the Twins. 

Defense Wins!
Perhaps the most brilliant play on the night came in the third inning. With Nicky Lopez at the plate, Jake Cave made arguably his best defensive play of his career with an extra-base stealer in front of the right field wall. 

Postgame Interviews

 

 

What’s Next?
This is when it counts. Four games down in the AL Central, the Twins head to Cleveland for a five-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm tomorrow night. As you can hear in the Baldelli interview above, Bailey Ober returns to the Twins and will start Game 1 in Cleveland. To make room for Ober to come off of the 60-Day IL and join the 28-man roster, RHP Jharel Cotton was again DFAd. 
 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

 

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[VivaBomboRivera!]

Pennant drive goes to Lake Erie!

[Macalesterbombasquad]

Well now….maybe we have a smidgen of hope after all, is Ober starting for the pivotal game tomorrow I wonder? 

[Nashvilletwin]

Great catch by Cave.  

 

Ok, let’s stay hot.  It ‘ain’t over ‘til it’s over. 

[milkytoast]

Off to Cleveland with a chance! A sweep there is very unlikely, but winning 4 of 5 will put us just one game back and very much in it.

[Mark G]

Good news:  Arraez does not appear to be seriously hurt, and can go this weekend (hopefully).  Correa continues to hit and looks sharp going into Cleveland.  The team hasn't quit, and Chicago beat Cleveland, closing the gap before the weekend.   

Bad news:  I don't like how many of our top bullpen guys worked going into Cleveland.  And KC will very likely be the same team the rest of the year, and Cleveland gets them the last 6 games of the season.    

[D.C Twins]

Yaaaaaawwwwn..... We beat a AAAA team with nothing to play for which is simply holding serve.

If we win 4/5 against Cleveland, optimism can creep back in.

Sadly, I don't see that happening against a real MLB team with something to play for....but I hope that I'm waaaaay wrong!

And where the hell was THIS Correa for the last months.... it certainly would have helped for him to turn on the light switch before contract push time 

[mikelink45]

We are going to miss KC, let's hope we enjoyed winning so much that we decide to continue doing it against a really good team.  

Cleveland - last six against KC - sorry to contemplate this.

[Peter]

Got the sweep, let’s see what happens this weekend ??????

[rv78]

The usage of pitchers continues to be a head scratcher. After 2 successful outings of 7 innings pitched by Ryan and Gray I thought Rocco had made an adjustment, but pulling Bundy after 4 shows he just can't commit to using a starter effectively. yes the bullpen did their job and they won the game but at what cost for the Cleveland series. If the bullpen gets overused the next 4 or 5 games and implodes due to it, Rocco only has himself to blame.

[Jeff D.]

Fun to watch some great defense game after game from the Twins!

Two ouchies that will hurt us if not corrected in the next hill to climb in Cleveland. First, we need to stop hitting into double plays and swinging at first pitches. Second, get some runs throughout the game. This crazy score 3 or 4 in the first or second and then hang on is so weird to watch.

We will have most of our answers in Cleveland after game one. 

Go Twins! Twins geezer..... out!

 

[chinmusic]

8 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Pennant drive goes to Lake Erie!

Gotta keep their heads above water. Go team!!

[Alex Schieferdecker]

I'm grumpy about the abysmal check swing call by the third base umpire last night, taking away a strikeout from Duran against Pasquantino, who then got a bloop hit. That call could've easily cost the Twins the game. If you're not able to focus on the game, especially in that situation (strikeout pitcher, left-handed batter, two strikes, ninth inning) where the potential for a critical appeal was so high, then I dunno, maybe umpiring isn't for you.

[Whitey333]

Nice sweep against Royals AAA team again.  Let's see here:. We were swept by the Guardians on our home field just before the Royals series.  That Cleveland series was supposed to be vital.  Yet we played poor lackluster baseball at home and lost all 3.  As much as I'd like to see us pounce on the Guardians and take 4 of 5 I just don't see it happening.  We have Over starting Friday that hasn't pitched in a major league game in over two months.  Then for the double header we have Winder and Varland.  Varland doing very well, Winder up and down.  Lineup is decimated by elongated injuries.  Tough road to hoe.  I don't think we have the horses left to compete.  I sure hope I am wrong.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, rv78 said:

The usage of pitchers continues to be a head scratcher. After 2 successful outings of 7 innings pitched by Ryan and Gray I thought Rocco had made an adjustment, but pulling Bundy after 4 shows he just can't commit to using a starter effectively. 

Pulling Bundy after 4 innings IS using him effectively. He has an ERA of 4.68 while averaging 4 innings a start. Do you really want to push him through the lineup another time? I'd rather use the bullpen.

Bundy's value to the Twins has been his ability to take the ball every 5th day and eat some innings. However, his strikeout rates are below average, his ERA+ is 82 and his WAR to date is 0.0. He's not a good pitcher.

[Karbo]

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Pulling Bundy after 4 innings IS using him effectively. He has an ERA of 4.68 while averaging 4 innings a start. Do you really want to push him through the lineup another time? I'd rather use the bullpen.

Bundy's value to the Twins has been his ability to take the ball every 5th day and eat some innings. However, his strikeout rates are below average, his ERA+ is 82 and his WAR to date is 0.0. He's not a good pitcher.

The only problem I have with pulling Bundy so early is using so many pen guys. To me it would have been better if 1 or 2 of those guys could go multiple innings. We'll see how this effects them in the Cleveland series.

[dex8425]

2 hours ago, rv78 said:

The usage of pitchers continues to be a head scratcher. After 2 successful outings of 7 innings pitched by Ryan and Gray I thought Rocco had made an adjustment, but pulling Bundy after 4 shows he just can't commit to using a starter effectively. yes the bullpen did their job and they won the game but at what cost for the Cleveland series. If the bullpen gets overused the next 4 or 5 games and implodes due to it, Rocco only has himself to blame.

Did you watch the game? Megill for three hitters had a waaay better chance than Bundy facing the lineup the third time through the order. Bundy was getting hammered. He was lucky to escape with only 2 runs allowed. Have to win the game. You're ahead. All the bullpen guys are available. Not a head scratcher for me at all last night.

[Dave The Dastardly]

41 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Pulling Bundy after 4 innings IS using him effectively. He has an ERA of 4.68 while averaging 4 innings a start. Do you really want to push him through the lineup another time? I'd rather use the bullpen.

Bundy's value to the Twins has been his ability to take the ball every 5th day and eat some innings. However, his strikeout rates are below average, his ERA+ is 82 and his WAR to date is 0.0. He's not a good pitcher.

Refresh my memory, why did we sign him?

[DJL44]

12 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Refresh my memory, why did we sign him?

The same reason this front office signed Matt Shoemaker, JA Happ, Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Martin Perez.

[stringer bell]

I think Bundy averages over five innings per start, which is par for the course for a 4-5th starter. I think he is the type to be managed as Rocco did last night--hard contact equals short leash. Given the dire situation, managing the bullpen as it was last night looks like the right call. They had to win the game and went with their best options (and it worked). Now they'll go into Cleveland with most everyone available except maybe Duran. The fact is that if they succeed in Cleveland (win 4 or 5 games), the less trusted bullpen options (Pagan, Moran, Megill, Sanchez) will have to come through. I wouldn't take that bet, but that is what they are up against. 

[HrbieFan]

Suck it Cave haters!

[HokieRif]

So this is basically it for the Twins this weekend.  A strong showing (wining 4 or 5) is going to make the last couple weeks really watchable.  Anything short of that pretty much eliminates us unless there is a monumental collapse in Cleveland.

[RpR]

2 hours ago, dex8425 said:

Did you watch the game? Megill for three hitters had a waaay better chance than Bundy facing the lineup the third time through the order. Bundy was getting hammered. He was lucky to escape with only 2 runs allowed. Have to win the game. You're ahead. All the bullpen guys are available. Not a head scratcher for me at all last night.

 

11 minutes ago, HokieRif said:

So this is basically it for the Twins this weekend.  A strong showing (wining 4 or 5) is going to make the last couple weeks really watchable.  Anything short of that pretty much eliminates us unless there is a monumental collapse in Cleveland.

Getting hammered based on what?

He gave up 4 hits, 2 Ks and no walks, for 2 runs.

If that is hammerd then the bar is very, very low.

[rv78]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

 

Getting hammered based on what?

He gave up 4 hits, 2 Ks and no walks, for 2 runs.

If that is hammerd then the bar is very, very low.

Some Twins fans watch the same game as Rocco. Not a clue. Letting him go out for the 5th inning and then having a short leash is the correct move, not jumping the gun and pulling him before he even gets a chance to give you another inning. Not out of the realm of possibility that Bundy who was only at 60 pitches couldn't have saved 1 arm in the pen. Rocco has done it all season and now has his bullpen NOT rested for the Cleveland series. Get ready for Pagan, Moran, Sanchez and Lopez.