Box Score
Chris Archer: 4 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Home Runs: Jake Cave (3), Nick Gordon (6), Gary Sánchez (13)
Top 3 WPA: Nick Gordon (.509), Jose Miranda (.118), Jake Cave (.085)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
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Chris Archer took the mound opposite Kutter Crawford on Tuesday. The veteran righty was well-acquainted with the Red Sox; he spent his glory years with the Rays in the same division as his opponent on Tuesday. While the players have largely changed, Boston’s laundry remains an old foe.
The early innings were easy to digest; Nick Gordon—after consecutive walks by Max Kepler and Jose Miranda—swung at an outside breaking ball and smoked a Joe Mauer special into left-center field, scoring both runners to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the 1st frame. Gordon’s eventful night would be far from over.
The Twins jabbed once more in the following inning: Jake Cave caught up to a high fastball, packing just enough oomph to will the ball over the left-center field wall. Kiké Hernández, try as he might, could not break free from gravity with enough force to rob Cave’s blast. The solo homer marked Cave’s third long ball since re-joining the Twins.
The game stopped to rest in the 3rd inning before continuing its hectic drama; a marvelous defense gem by Carlos Correa provided the sole highlight.
The fun started in the 4th inning; the Red Sox, ever aware of Archer’s struggles beyond the early frames, singled, doubled, sac-flied, and walked; a run was on the board, and the situation turned dire in an instant. Archer refused to give in, and a perfectly-placed slider coaxed a ground ball off Trevor Story’s bat; Gordon and Correa turned two, and the threat ended as quickly as it began.
Boston’s bats were not deterred, and the 5th inning proved deadly to Archer’s start. A barrage of singles scored a run, knocking Archer out of the game while leaving the inning’s fate to the cleaner, Caleb Thielbar. The lefty—so well-trusted by Rocco Baldelli in these situations—revealed mortality as Xander Bogaerts dumped a game-tying single into left field and Rafael Devers walked. With the threat still at Defcon 1, Michael Fulmer emerged to put out the fire—which he did—but not before another run scored off a wild pitch. It was messy, brutish, and downright ugly, but the Red Sox walked out of the 5th inning with a one-run lead.
Remember that sentence earlier about Nick Gordon? With aid from a truly egregious error from Alex Verdugo, the Twins loaded the bases for the second baseman, gifting him a chance to prove himself. In a season that has lacked a true ignitor—the kind of guy whose spark brings a team to life, Gordon has shown flashes of becoming that sort of player; could he do it once more? The count was 0-2, but that didn’t matter; Gordon jumped on a low fastball and crushed a grand slam over the high wall in right field.
The home run was so crucial that Gary Sánchez hit a titanic bomb the following frame, and almost no one will remember it.
The teams exchanged runs as the outs whittled away—a single here, a double there—but the game’s momentum never budged, and the Twins ended Tuesday's game as the victors.
Notes:
Nick Gordon is slashing .311/.360/.511 over his last 30 games.
Jake Cave is slugging .667 over his last seven games.
Chris Archer has crossed the five-inning threshold twice since the end of June.
Griffin Jax has not given up an earned run since August 10th; he owns 12 strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings.
Post-Game Interviews
What’s Next?
Joe Ryan and Michael Wacha will lead their respective teams in the game’s final series on Wednesday night.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
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