Twins Video
Box Score
Bailey Ober: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (64 pitches, 44 strikes (68.8%))
Home Runs: Jeffers (9),
Top 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco (0.126), Bailey Ober (0.117), Miguel Sano (.109)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
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The Return of Arraez
Before Saturday’s game, the Twins announced that Luis Arraez was being activated from the Injured List. Gilberto Celestino was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul (will he finally make his Saints debut?).
He was put into the cleanup spot in the Twins lineup. It paid immediate dividends for the team. In the first inning, he came up with runners on second and third base. He gave the Twins a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly. He added another RBI his second time up. With runners on first and second, he hit a double down the right field line. He added a walk later in the game.
Bailey’s Big Hit
Bailey Ober had not had an at-bat in a baseball game in eight years, since he and Vikings center Garrett Bradbury were starring at Charlotte Christian High School in North Carolina. He stepped to the plate, and on an 0-1 pitch, lined a single to right field for his first big-league hit. OK, softly lined a single to right field. It doesn’t matter. Congratulations to Ober!
The Twins' pitchers haven’t had a lot of hits of late.
More importantly, Bailey Ober pitched well. He began with three scoreless innings, and then in the fourth, he gave up a run but was able to limit damage with a big double play ball. Despite a 7-1 lead, Ober was due to bat for the third time but Willians Astudillo pinch hit and grounded a single through the infield to give the Twins an 8-1 lead.
Ober’s fastball sat between 92 and 93 mph, but he is able to get swings and misses with it up in the strike zone. Why?
As important, the Twins bullpen combined for five shutout innings. Jorge Alcala worked two innings, and then Caleb Thielbar, Juan Minaya and Alexander Colome each pitched one inning. (see the bullpen usage chart below)
Jeffers Jolts
In the third inning, Ryan Jeffers came to the plate and hit a three-run homer to give the Twins a 7-0 lead. It was his ninth homer of the season, but it was his third in his past two starts. Remember, he had two homers in that crazy, 17-14 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday.
In his past nine games, Jeffers is 9-for-29 (.310) with two doubles, three homers and an OPS north of 1.000).
Since returning from the IL, Mitch Garver has played in five games and hit .278 (1.324 OPS) with two doubles, three homers and ten RBI.
After both struggled mightily at the plate in April, Twins fans are now seeing what we thought we might from the Twins catching duo.
It feels appropriate to talk about the performance of Twins catchers on a night when Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons' number was retired by the Cardinals and a statue of his likeness was unveiled outside the stadium.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | TOT | |
| Coulombe | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 33 |
| Thielbar | 13 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 43 |
| Alcala | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 32 |
| Gant | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Colomé | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 32 |
| Minaya | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 63 |
| Duffey | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 50 |
| Burrows | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
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