Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Dylan Bundy, 6.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (94 pitches, 57 strikes, 60.6%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Dylan Bundy (-.362), Jorge Polanco (-.042), Luis Arráez (-.032)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
Tampa roughs up Bundy early, building a six-run lead
Before tonight’s game, Dylan Bundy had given up only one earned run in over fifteen innings of work this season. But he had a 6.19 career ERA against Tampa Bay, and, apparently, that track record came back to haunt him in this game. The Rays severely roughed him up before he could record his first out of the evening, building a four-run lead only eight pitches into Bundy’s start.
A pair of doubles to open the game, and the home team took a quick one-run lead. That was followed by a Yandy Díaz line drive to right that put men in the corners before Josh Lowe hammered a three-run shot to deep center. Bundy’s struggles continued as he walked the next batter, Randy Arozarena, who almost scored in the next at-bat, but he was caught at home plate by a beautiful Trevor Larnach assist from left.
On the other side, Corey Kluber had no trouble early against the Twins lineup. Despite some hard contact from Twins bats early, it took him only 20 pitches to retire the first six Minnesota batters in order. His offense provided him with some more run support in the second, as Bundy, still struggling with his command, gave up a leadoff walk to Taylor Walls, and he was pushed across a couple of at-bats later, making it 5-0 Tampa in the second.
Bundy settles down, but the offense can’t rally
After Kluber finished his first time through the other with yet a third perfect inning, Bundy started to find some groove. For the first time in the evening, he quickly retired the first two batters of the inning in the third. But Mike Zunino jumped on the first pitch he saw next for another Tampa Bay home run. He came back for the fourth and tossed his first 1-2-3 inning of the night.
Bundy's adjustments after the third inning would be pointless unless the offense could back him up. In the fourth, the bats came to life briefly and put the Twins on the board. Kluber hit Byron Buxton to lead off the inning, and a couple of at-bats later, Carlos Correa got Minnesota’s first hit of the night, scoring Buxton from second. After that, Jorge Polanco grounded into a double play, and the Twins had to settle for the one run.
Though the offense couldn’t come through and rally, Bundy made sure to eat up some more innings. He threw a couple more 1-2-3 innings, in the fifth and the sixth, before departing the game. Curiously enough, his final line saw him walking only two batters while striking out seven.
A couple of positive takeaways
Only a miracle could save the Twins offensively, but that didn't come close to happening. The silver lining tonight was Danny Coulombe's solid-as-a-rock outing out of the bullpen. He pitched a couple of scoreless frames, inducing six swinging strikes. He also avoided hard contact really well, limiting Rays batters to an average of only 85.1 mph exit velocity.
Despite the horrific night at the plate for Minnesota, another silver lining from tonight might have been another good game from Correa. Minnesota was limited to only three hits in the night, and two of them belonged to him. His overall season numbers still don't look good, but he is now 5-for-9 in the past two games, with a double and four runs batted in.
What’s Next?
Game 2 of the series is tomorrow, with the first pitch scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT. Former Ray Chris Archer (3.18 ERA) takes the mound for Minnesota, facing lefty Shane McClanahan (2.45 ERA).
Postgame Interview
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | TOT | |
| Jax | 0 | 10 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 56 |
| Coulombe | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 35 | 55 |
| Duffey | 0 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 27 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Pagán | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Stashak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Smith | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Duran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Winder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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