Twins Video
Box Score
Starter: Griffin Jax 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Home Runs: Max Kepler (16), Ryan Jeffers (11)
Top 3 WPA: Thielbar (.486), Polanco(.241), Colome (.144)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
In case you missed it, the Twins have been pretty good as of late. They have won a series against three first-place teams in the last week and carrying a record of 7-3 in their previous ten games. Tonight’s starter, Griffin Jax, also had himself a great outing on August 10th against the White Sox, going 6.0 innings with ten strikeouts and three earned runs.
With Cleveland coming to town Monday night, the hope for the Twins would be that they could carry all those good fortunes into the new week as they play a rare series against another non-competitive team. The game did start on the right foot for the Twins.
After a scoreless first by Jax, Max Kepler led off the Twins half of the 1st with a home run off of Cal Quantrill to put the Twins up 1-0 early. Kepler would also make a tremendous foul territory catch in the 3rd over some fans and finish the game going 1- with a walk and an RBI on a fielder’s choice on the weirdest 6-4 putout ever.
By the second inning, some of those good vibes started to wear off. If there was one thing in Jax’s last outing that was a negative, it was the two home runs he surrendered. It was a home run that would get Jax in Monday night’s game as well. After giving up a walk to Franmil Reyes, Bradley Zimmer smashed a 446-foot no-doubter to center field, putting Cleveland up 2-1.
Polanco ties the game with his wheels
After reaching on a fielder’s choice, Polanco was standing on first with two outs in the third inning. Josh Donaldson was the next batter and just blooped a single into right-center field. Everything looked pretty routine until Polanco rounded third and blew through Tony Diaz’s somewhat casual stop sign.
Something about the play even caused Cleveland’s defense to be somewhat lulled into a daze, allowing Polanco to score and tie up the game 2-2 on a play that results typically in him still standing at third base at its conclusion.
Twins Out Run Defensive Miscues, Until They Didn’t
While Jax didn’t pitch with the strikeout dominance, he did last week. He still did well to pitch around a lot of defensive miscues. Beginning with the second inning, the Twins had three consecutive innings with defensive miscues that extended the inning.
The fifth inning included another miscue that didn’t extend the inning but allowed Ahmed Rosario to take an extra-base as Jake Cave overran a ball in the outfield that turned a double into a triple. Rosario would score on a single by the next batter, Jose Ramirez.
The sixth inning brought another one of those inning extending plays as Andrelton Simmons committed an error trying to pick up a grounder to short. This miscue led to an Andres Gimenez walk and then a single down the left-field line by Austin Hedges to bring Gimenez to the plate and give Cleveland a 4-3 lead.
Jeffers To The Rescue
After allowing Cleveland to go ahead in the top part of the inning, Ryan Jeffers didn’t want to leave his pitcher hanging out there with the chance of getting the “L.” Jeffers took a Justin Garza pitch and relocated it to the other side of the outfield fence.
Another One for Jorge
If the Twins were going to walk off this game, it seemed only fitting that it would be Jorge Polanco once again. After a deflating double play masterfully put together by Cleveland's Ramirez, Polanco ended the game by driving home Kepler.
Sound off in the comments about the win, and get ready for another game tomorrow night! The Twins will look to keep the winning ways going tomorrow, with Bailey Ober slated to take the mound against Cleveland's Eli Morgan.
Postgame Interview
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | MON | TOT | |
| Barnes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 0 | 73 |
| Gant | 0 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 58 |
| García | 0 | 27 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 48 |
| Vincent | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 19 | 34 |
| Duffey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 27 |
| Colomé | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| Minaya | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 19 |
| Garza Jr. | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Coulombe | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
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