
Twins Video
Matt Shoemaker: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Home Runs: Alex Kiriloff (3), Nelson Cruz (8)
Bottom 3 WPA: Shoemaker -.347, Garlick -.045, Buxton -.039
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):
Well, the Minnesota Twins’ winning streak was fun while it lasted.
The Twins dropped to 9-16 following their drubbing at the hands of the Kansas City Royals Saturday afternoon.
The long and short of the team’s loss was that Royals’ pitcher Danny Duffy dealt, while Twins’ pitcher Matt Shoemaker decidedly did not.
Duffy threw seven innings of one run ball and allowed only six runners to reach base, three coming via walk and two via hit, including Alex Kiriloff’s third home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh.
Unfortunately for the Twins, for as effective as Duffy was, Shoemaker was equally ineffective.
He allowed two runs in the top of the first inning, in large part due to Byron Buxton coming up short on a dive on a sinking line drive off the bat of Salvador Pérez that resulted in a double, and things only went downhill from there. Shoemaker exited in the middle of the fourth inning after serving up two home runs and allowing eight runners to cross the plate.
https://twitter.com/NickNelsonMN/status/1388569451126083586
Shoemaker — whose ERA ballooned to 7.83 during the loss — had difficulty locating his pitches all afternoon. His fastball sat in the low-90s and was frequently placed in the middle-middle portion of the zone, which isn’t exactly a great recipe for success, particularly when the sinker and splitter aren’t missing bats, either.
https://twitter.com/seehafer_/status/1388575543667437575
https://twitter.com/seehafer_/status/1388596117328236544
Nelson Cruz’s two run home run in the bottom of the eighth after Willians Astudillo singled was the only other source of offense for the Twins.
Cody Stashak provided 1.2 solid innings of relief after Shoemaker exited, striking out two and bringing his strikeout to walk ratio to 15:4 on the season. Randy Dobnak also appeared out of the pen, pitching three innings and allowing two home runs, both to Andrew Benintendi.
The Twins and Royals will meet Sunday afternoon for the rubber match of the series. José Berríos is set to face off against Brad Keller with first pitch slated for 1:10 p.m. CT.
Postgame Interview
https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1388610109857832961?s=20
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
Click here to see the bullpen usage over the past five days (link opens a Google Sheet).
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