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  • Game Recap: Rangers 6, Twins 3

    Jamie Cameron

    By Jamie Cameron

    The Twins looked as if they would continue their hot streak Tuesday, until another harrowing bullpen performance cost the team yet another winnable game. J.A. Happ delivered another strong performance against old friend Kyle Gibson.

    Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today Sports

    Twins Video

    Box Score

    Happ: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 K

    Home Runs: Buxton (9), Astudillo (3)

    Bottom 3 WPA: Waddell -.293, Rogers -.245, Polanco -.218

    Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs)

    ccs-6423-0-66210200-1620184205.png

    Arraez to IL, Kirilloff Scratched

    Luis Arraez was placed on the 7 day concussion IL after a home plate collision on Monday, with Nick Gordon being recalled on MiLB opening night (what does he have to do to get an at bat?) Elsewhere, hot hitting Alex Kirilloff was a late scratch from the lineup after experiencing wrist soreness which is likely to cause significant anxiety for Twins Territory until the extent of the injury is known.

    https://twitter.com/DanHayesMLB/status/1389717314900201482

    Dueling Aces?

    Elsewhere, the battle of the mound consisted of the Twins most effective pitcher this season against an old friend, as J.A. Happ took on Kyle Gibson. After getting rocked on opening day, Gibson has been excellent for Texas, dominating for an ERA in the low twos, in addition to not allowing a home run. That changed early Tuesday, as Byron Buxton continued his torrid season, launching a 433 foot home run into the bullpen on a sinker left up by Gibson.

    https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1389733195978059776

    Gibson then settled in, retiring nine straight Twins hitters before Mitch Garver ripped a 100 mph single to right field, continuing his encouraging trend of squaring up the ball with more consistency in recent games. Happ meanwhile, was giving up plenty of hard contact, with batted ball events with xBA of .650, .970, .930, and .500.

    Tortuga Adds On

    In spite of Gibson’s excellence, the Twins managed to add on in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gibson hung a slider to Willians Astudillo, who deposited it into the left field seats for his third home run of the year.

    https://twitter.com/dohyoungpark/status/1389748852333416453

    https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1389749251123593217

    Despite not making it through the sixth inning, Happ again gave the Twins an excellent chance to win the game, lowering his ERA in 2021 to 1.91. Hansel Robles replaced Happ with a man on base and Joey Gallo at the plate. Gallo grounded out to first before Willie Calhoun struck out looking to end the inning. While Happ is due for some regression, his 3.75 xERA is an excellent return on the Twins investment so far in 2021, a product of his ability to generate consistently soft contact.

    Over to the Pen

    With the Twins bullpen remaining one of the biggest issues with the team currently, Robles came back out for seventh. David Dahl crushed a 103 mph line drive after a strong at bat at the top of the 7th, but made the mistake of hitting it to the area of the field covered by Byron Buxton.

    https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1389759921877569536

    Baldelli faced an interesting bullpen decision in the top of the eighth, inserting Tyler Duffey in the top of the inning, despite having thrown 24 pitchers Monday night.

    https://twitter.com/NickNelsonMN/status/1389760375969615875

    Despite giving up a ground rule double, Duffey struck out Adolis Garcia before turning the ball over to Joey Gallo, who had taken Taylor Rogers deep for a two run home run on Monday night. Rogers won round two, getting Gallo to strike out swinging to end the eighth.

    Rogers took the top of the ninth, and immediately served up a home run to Willie Calhoun, cutting the lead to one. Donaldson was then unable to play a Culberson ground ball to third. Culberson came around to score on a sac fly to shallow center field which Andrelton Simmons did incredibly well to snag. Solak flew out to end the inning with the score tied at three heading to the bottom of the ninth.

    Extra Innings? Familiar Outcome

    Joely Rodríguez entered in the bottom of the ninth for Texas, easily dispatching the heart of the Twins lineup, before Rocco Baldelli brought in Brandon Waddell for the 10th. A taxed Twins bullpen produced an outcome all too familiar and pitiful in close and late situations in 2021. Waddell served up a two run home run to Adolis Garcia. It’s telling that with almost no relievers available, Baldelli preferred Waddell to Alexander Colome. Wednesday’s game with spot starter Lewis Thorpe promises to be challenging if Thorpe struggles.

    Garver singled Polanco to third to lead off the bottom of the 10th. Jake Cave then struck out, before Astudillo ground into a double play to end another late game meltdown.

    What is your take on the Twins performances over the last week? How do you think the team will absorb new injuries and manage a taxed bullpen throughout the rest of the week?

    Bullpen Usage Chart

    Click here to see the bullpen usage over the past five days (link opens a Google Sheet).

    What’s Next?

    On Wednesday, the Twins will send Lewis Thorpe to the hill for a spot start against Rangers lefty Hyeon-Jong Yang. First pitch is at 6:40 CT.

    Attachments:
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    Ex-Londoner, adopted Minnesotan
    Follow Jamie Cameron on Twitter: J_D_Cameron

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    Featured Comments

    hybridbear

    hybridbear 351

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I was at the game last night & when Rogers came back out for the 9th instead of Colomé or Alcala I said to my friends that the Twins would lose. And once Rogers let the Rangers tie the game & Wadell was the only reliever warming in the pen I said that Baldelli didn't care about winning the game. It's time for Baldelli to be fired. The Twins have the worst manager in all of baseball.

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    rdehring

    rdehring 3,816

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Don't have Twins on tv, but turned on the radio when I went to bed. Listened to the 9th and then the 10th.

     

    Was furious with Rocco for not playing AK, until I learned this morning that his wrist is back. Will his wrists keep him from becoming the star he potentially should be?

     

    But after Waddell took a crap on the mound Monday, how can any Manager bring him back for the 10th on Tuesday? We all know that the Twins have one 18 game record going in the playoffs. Are they destined to have another 18-game record this year...losing consecutive extra innings games. Yes, I hate this stupid second base rule, but both teams have the same advantage for that to bring in runs. Maybe our Manager needs to sit down and think about baseball rather than asking a computer what he should do.

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    Dodecahedron

    Dodecahedron 747

  • Twins Daily Jail

    • Posted

    Baldelli's insistence on limiting how long the starters pitch contributes to the implosion of the bullpen.

     

    It's a team effort -- if the bullpen pieces aren't working, the starters can stay in for another couple of batters if their pitches are still working.

     

    Happ would rather go to the playoffs than have his 2.00 ERA protected through September. It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

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    ashbury

    ashbury 48,546

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    The late-inning bullpen should be expected to extract a win from a 2-run lead in the ninth. 40%

     

    But scoring 3 runs in 9 innings is not winning baseball. Yes, Kyle Gibson is a pretty good pitcher. But if this team flatters itself to think it's playoff-bound, they will face pretty good pitchers each and every game in Octoberball. This loss is in great part attributable to the bats. 30%

     

    The starter consumed 101 pitches and covered only 16 outs. That is not winning baseball either. The game was handed to the bullpen in the 6th inning, and for a few innings they actually did their job, but you can't expect perfection over and over, so the starters have to succeed for longer. 20%

     

    The damage was done before Rocco had to choose a 10th inning arm, but he did choose strangely. 10%

     

    This loss was a team effort, and that's how I'd allocate blame.

     

     

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    Trov

    Trov 2,980

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I want to know when Acala will get a chance to pitch late in games.  Last night would have been perfect spot to throw him in the 9th.  Rodgers was pitching in back to back, and not that he did "good" the day prior.  Yes, if Donaldson makes his play we win, but Rodgers still failed overall.  

     

    We need to figure out this pen situation quickly, or start having our starters pitch more than 90 pitches a game and ask them to go into 7th.  We keep using too many pen guys each night.

     

    I do not understand using Waddell again in the 10th, he did terrible the day prior against the same guys. 

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    blindeke

    blindeke 1,200

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    Baldelli's insistence on limiting how long the starters pitch contributes to the implosion of the bullpen.

     

    It's a team effort -- if the bullpen pieces aren't working, the starters can stay in for another couple of batters if their pitches are still working.

     

    Happ would rather go to the playoffs than have his 2.00 ERA protected through September. It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

     

    Happ threw 101 pitches.

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    MMMordabito

    MMMordabito 3,585

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

     

    Not to mention that with Thorpe going today, Happ may be pushed back an extra day anyway.

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    USAFChief

    USAFChief 58,010

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

    asking JA Happ to go longer wasn't, isn’t, and won't be the answer.

     

    The Twins got more than what can reasonably be expected from Happ last night...1 run in 5.1 IP. You might get 6 on a couple good nights, but you'll get less than 5.1 some nights too.

     

    Everyone in the dugout, and front office, knew that when Happ was signed. You're PLANNING on 3 to 4 innings from the pen almost every time Happ takes the mound when you ink him to a contract.

     

    The failure is with not having a good plan for that, rather than for expecting more from Happ.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    asking JA Happ to go longer wasn't, isn’t, and won't be the answer.

    The Twins got more than what can reasonably be expected from Happ last night...1 run in 5.1 IP. You might get 6 on a couple good nights, but you'll get less than 5.1 some nights too.

    Everyone in the dugout, and front office, knew that when Happ was signed. You're PLANNING on 3 to 4 innings from the pen almost every time Happ takes the mound when you ink him to a contract.

    The failure is with not having a good plan for that, rather than for expecting more from Happ.

     

    I thought the plan was to piggyback Dobnak and / or Thorpe with Happ and Shoemaker, but apparently not. Like you, I don't understand the plan.

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    Dodecahedron

    Dodecahedron 747

  • Twins Daily Jail

    • Posted

     

    Everyone in the dugout, and front office, knew that when Happ was signed. You're PLANNING on 3 to 4 innings from the pen almost every time Happ takes the mound when you ink him to a contract.

     

    Given the bullpen problems, sounds like Happ is not a fit for the team. The team needs starters they can lean on.

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    Hosken Bombo Disco

    Hosken Bombo Disco 15,870

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

     

    It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

    Agree. Although next time a starting pitcher gives up a couple runs in the 7th, someone is bound to say Told you So. (not naming names :))

     

    But one more inning, here and there, from a starter, will provide some benefit. Many things need to be done. Leaving a starter in for another inning or another batter is going to have to be part of the, *ahem*, process, of getting the bullpen back on its feet and salvaging this season. 

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    SoDakTwinsFan4

    SoDakTwinsFan4 199

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Baldelli's insistence on limiting how long the starters pitch contributes to the implosion of the bullpen.

     

    It's a team effort -- if the bullpen pieces aren't working, the starters can stay in for another couple of batters if their pitches are still working.

     

    Happ would rather go to the playoffs than have his 2.00 ERA protected through September. It's OK to use your eyes and ears to see if a pitcher needs to be pulled instead of a pitch count.

     

    Exactly. Morneau made a great point by saying these short outings put a great deal of pressure on the BP..I'm done with Rocco

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    Dodecahedron

    Dodecahedron 747

  • Twins Daily Jail

    • Posted

     

    Agree. Although next time a starting pitcher gives up a couple runs in the 7th, someone is bound to say Told you So. (not naming names :))

     

    But one more inning, here and there, from a starter, will provide some benefit. Many things need to be done. Leaving a starter in for another inning or another batter is going to have to be part of the, *ahem*, process, of getting the bullpen back on its feet and salvaging this season. 

     

    Right. Heck, it can just be one or two more batters. Anything to move a bit closer to the finish line.

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