Padres 3, Twins 2 Twins Still Can't Solve a NL Team

Box Score
SP: Dylan Bundy 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (78 pitches, 56 strikes (71.7 strike %))
Home Runs: Luis Arraez (6), Jose Miranda (10)
Top 3 or Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco -.125, Kyle Garlick -.121, Byron Buxton -.107

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Sean Manaea made the start for the Padres and had a rocky first inning as he walked Byron Buxton to lead off the game and later Jorge Polanco with one out. Neither Polanco or Buxton would score, though, as Manaea retired Kyle Garlick and Jose Miranda to get out of the inning. 

On the Twins side of the mound, Dylan Bundy had the start. Bundy held the Padres to one hit in his first two innings of work, but gave up a home run to Jurickson Profar in the bottom of the third for the first run of the game giving the Padres a 1-0 lead. 

The Twins had been without a hit the first time through the batting order and carried that into the top of the fifth inning. That was until Luis Arraez crushed a solo home run to tie the game, leading off the inning. He raised his league leading batting average back to the .335 mark. 

Following Arraez, Tim Beckham, who made his 2022 season debut on Sunday, hit a single up the middle to give the Twins their fourth base runner of the day. Gilberto Celestino followed up with a hit of his own and Caleb Hamilton was able to advance both runners on a sacrifice bunt. 

With runners in scoring position, Buxton came to the plate with a big RBI opportunity. Buxton hit the first pitch of his at-bat to the foul net near first base and what looked like a catch by Eric Hosmer, turned out to be a trap after the ball hit the net before it landed in Hosmer’s glove. The original call of the play was an out but the Twins challenged and it was overturned to be a foul ball as the umpire crew gave the Twins a second straight game with a big break. 

However, Buxton failed to drive in a run as he struck out. The Padres decided to intentionally walk Carlos Correa, giving Polanco an opportunity to do some damage with the bases loaded. However, he also failed to drive in any runs as he grounded out to the shortstop on the second pitch of his at-bat. 

Although the Twins lineup couldn’t capitalize on that bases loaded opportunity, Dylan Bundy shut down the Padres lineup to keep the game tied 1-1 through the bottom of the fifth. Thankfully for the Twins, they wouldn’t miss the opportunity to add runs in the top of the sixth as Jose Miranda had another solo home run of his own. 

The game went downhill for the Twins following Miranda’s home run. with runners on the corners and no outs, and facing the Padres order a third time, Rocco Baldelli pulled Bundy with his pitch count at 78 through five. In came Emilio Pagan and the former Padre’s old teammates took advantage of him working back-to-back days. 

The Padres were able to retake the lead on two singles surrendered by Pagan with Jake Cronenworth and Luke Voit getting the runs batted in. This gave the Padres a 3-2 lead and it held as the final score of the game. 

The Twins went nine up and nine down in the final three frames of the game while the Padres came close to adding more runs to their win in the bottom of the seventh when Garlick made an error on a routine fly ball to left.

The win for the Padres brings their overall record to 57-46 on the season while the Twins fall to 53-48. The Twins now only lead Cleveland by one game for the AL Central lead and the White Sox by two games. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins return home Monday to start a three-game series against the Tigers. The month of August will also see the most home games in one month in Target Field history as the Twins are set to play 20 of their 28 games for the month at home. The starters for both the Twins and Tigers are yet to be announced for Monday night with first pitch at 6:40 p.m.

Postgame Interview 

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