Tigers 3, Twins 2: More Missed Opportunities in Twins Loss in Detroit

[Sherry Cerny]

Dylan Bundy stepped onto the mound for the final time this season against the Detroit Tigers and the Twins last Saturday night of the baseball season.

Image courtesy of David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Dylan Bundy 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (77 pitches, 53 strikes (69%))
Home Runs: Mark Contreras (3)
Top 3 WPA:  Gio Urshela (0.132), Gilberto Celestino (0.98), Jake Cave (0.54)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

The Tigers took advantage of Dylan Bundy early and the Twins' defense scoring a run in the first. Matt Wallner was charged with an error when a bounding single from Riley Greene got past him and turned into a single two-base error. The Tigers struck first blood and got a run on the board in the first inning. 

The Twins shut out the Tigers on Friday night and Saturday's game continued to trend. The two teams battled back and forth through the first few innings. Detroit pitcher Drew Hutchison ran up 72 pitches by the time Gary Sanchez came to bat in the fourth. Jake Cave led the fourth inning off with a single, and as Hutchinson labored through the line-up, a grounder from Sanchez killed the inning with a double-play, and Matt Wallner struck out swinging. The Twins batting with Runners in Scoring Position this season has been frustrating. 

Leaving Nothing on the Field
Both teams are out of the postseason chase. For Carlos Correa, it is the first time since 2016 that he hasn't played in the playoffs. Gio Urshela is another player missing the post-season but, has been a huge asset in the Twins' clubhouse and on the field throughout the season. 

The best thing about this club is that there is depth and options for next season. The Twins were plagued with injuries throughout the season, but many replacements who came up stepped up. Manager Rocco Baldelli stepped in when the Twins came up against rough games or bad calls. Baldelli spent a lot of time challenging plays this season and in this game, that was no exception. Gary Sanchez, who isn't fast, rocketed to first base on a fielder's choice. Detroit shortstop Ryan Kreidler flipped to second to get Cave out and the throw to first base appeared to get Sanchez out. Baldelli challenged the play, the call was overturned, and Sanchez was safe. 

Jose Miranda has been another player putting on quite the clinic during his time with the club. Miranda leads the club with 66 RBIs and has been one of the hottest rookies in MLB this season. Dick Bremer mentioned that Miranda will be spending with Correa in Houston in the off-season, which certainly will give Miranda an education. 

A Fight to the End (of the Night)
Bundy gave up his 24th home run of the season when Eric Haase hit his eighth home run to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. 

That changed when Mark Contreas came up to bat in the top of the fifth frame and hit a bomb into the right field stands just inside the foul pole, Luis Arraez started the night 0-for-2 and ripped a ball into right field for a single. Arraez grabbed at his hamstring as he approached first base, but he remained in the game. During a Detroit pitching change, Arraez walked over to third base coach Tommy Watkins and was still out on second after the commercial break. 

Urshela came up to bat and hit a single to left, and Arraez took off; not without a grimace and a slight hobble, but he dug deep, found speed, and made it home to tie the game at two!

The season may be over for the Twins, but Arraez is still contending for the American League batting title. Hitting .315, he is just edging out Aaron Judge, who is striving for the MVP and a Yankees home run record. The race for the batting title potentially could keep Judge from achieving the Triple Crown. During an earlier interview, Baldelli said, "There is a new calm with Arraez over the past few days."

Arraez has stated that he's enjoying the race but wants to win. While everyone loves a good contention, no one deserves the AL batting title more than Luis Arraez (at least in the mind of Twins fans... right?). 

The Tigers changed their pitcher, and the Twins had bases loaded and two outs with Sanchez up to bat. Sanchez was due for a hit, and with a .323 average with RISP, it would have been beautiful to see a grand slam. Instead, Jose Cisnero saw an opportunity out of the corner of his eye and picked off Urshela at second base to end the inning.

Finishing out the Night
Ronny Henriquez came in to pitch in the sixth inning. Henriquez came to the Twins in the Mitch Garver trade in spring training and has had two appearances with the Twins. In his previous games, he has posted a 3.12 ERA with seven hits, three earned runs, and six strike-outs. He gave up an unearned run on an error by Arraez on a chopper from Harold Castro. 

The Tigers held the lead, but the Twins loaded the bases in the eighth inning. Instead of Wallner coming to the plate, the Twins pulled Ryan Jeffers off the bench as a pinch hitter. A smart decision by Baldelli when All-Star lefty Gregory Soto came in. Jeffers had an 0-2 count and hit a hard groundball that was destined for centerfield, but Soto deflected it with his glove and it went right to the shortstop who turned a double play to end the inning and another rally for the Twins.

The Twins were only down a run going into the ninth and quickly got the tying run on a single from Arraez. Correa came up to bat and hit a fly-out (liner) to right field, but with two outs and the Twins history of late-inning rallies, the dream was still alive. The rally fell short when Nick Gordon, who had two hits earlier in the game, struck out swinging.

Pitching for tomorrow’s game: 
Thursday 11:10 am CST: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (MLB Debut, as reported on Friday by Twins Daily) v. LHP Joey Wentz (2-2, 3.54 ERA)

Postgame Interview

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

 

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[DJL44]

Quote

Dylan Bundy stepped onto the mound for the final time this season

This was my favorite part of the recap

[tony&rodney]

Sometimes players fail to execute on the fundamentals of the game, but it doesn't hurt them. The 2022 Twins are very poor at the fundamentals of baseball and it seems to hurt them on too many occasions. Tonight the Twins lost because they simply do not manage to play fundamental baseball. Those of you who watched the game on television know what I am saying. The effort seems to be fair though and change in the future is actually possible, if the will is present.

[Vanimal46]

2 out of 3 of these teams fired their front office. 

[h2oface]

It is like watching little league baseball at times. The Wallner error, Arraez' horrible underhand toss to first error. Ushela getting picked of second with the bases loaded (like where was he going to go anyway?). Pretty damn pathetic. 

10 hits and 2 runs. This is a AAA team right now.

[DocBauer]

Cave has been much better of late, more like the player he was hus first 2 years. No matter what his future in baseball, Contreras will be able to point to 2022 as being a ML ballplayer with some HR's and runs scored and knocked in. I wouldn't mind seeing both back next season for St Paul on milb deals but their future might be elsewhere.

Wish Bundy had gotten his winning record for 2022, and he's been an average pitcher this season, he's taken the ball every 5th day and largely given the team a chance, but he should be in a different uniform next year.

Despite getting hung with the loss today, Henriquez seemed to finish his time at St Paul on the upswing and hasn't looked bad with the Twins. I don't like pulling SP candidates out of the rotation too early...understanding they can still return...but I think he might be a mid/long relief candidate in 2023. No matter how the pen is ultimately constructed next year, the Twins simply can't ignore the role of middle inning arms any longer. It would be nice to have 2. Having a LH would be a bonus, but not a necessity. Any starter not in the rotation should be under consideration for such a role. Henriquez is one of those to consider.

Really looking forward to SWR's ML debut Sunday!

[mikelink45]

Sloppy play!  Not going out on a high note.  Vanimal's note with the Gleeman summary of the season records is eye opening.  Wallner is playing himself into DH.  Bundy is perfect for a 500 team, not what we want if the playoffs are in our mind.

I am still rooting for Judge.  Arraez had a slump that carried through the critical period of the season and is hitting well and happy when the pressure is off.  I really like him, but I am not excited about him getting the BA title. 

[rv78]

"The game was right there in front of us. We weren't able to take care of the parts of the game that we need to take care of."

How many times have we heard that this season? WAY TOO MANY.

[milkytoast]

Excited to see SimWoodRich tomorrow!

[RJA]

Henriquez, like Moran, was inconsistent as heck at St. Paul, but like Moran seems to have stepped it up in the majors. He has good stuff and it will be interesting to see how he shows next spring. 

[Whitey333]

The writer of the article must be Baldellis PR person.  Or his agent.  My God he's one of the poorest managers in the majors.  Come to think of it maybe he needs a PR person.

[Rosterman]

How do you get picked off of second base in a bases loaded situation.

Matt Walner, we love you, and you will work hard to become and stay a major league player, but...

When our bench is basically Caleb Hamilton, Ryan Jeffers and Billy Hamilton, we are in ntrouble......

 

[dex8425]

On 10/1/2022 at 10:48 PM, Vanimal46 said:

2 out of 3 of these teams fired their front office. 

Well that's really comforting...