Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (90 pitches, 53 strikes (59 strike %))
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Jake Cave .665, Jhoan Duran .304, Carlos Correa .231
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
With Sonny Gray on the mound, the Twins had a good start to their Saturday evening, keeping the Giants shutout through the first two innings. Gray only allowed one base runner in the first two innings on a walk to Thairo Estrada.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Twins mounted a two-out threat against Giants starter Alex Cobb. Max Kepler and Gilberto Celestino reached base on back-to-back walks, but with two outs, a ground out to first ended the threat.
Even with no runs scored, the Twins still managed to get Cobb to throw 31 pitches in the second inning alone. He tallied 49 pitches in two innings of work.
Gray faced trouble for the first time in the third when he walked back-to-back batters with one out. Fortunately, he got out of the jam by striking out former Twin LaMonte Wade Jr. and getting Wilmer Flores to ground out.
The Twins once again mounted a two-out threat in the bottom of the fourth inning with singles from Gio Urshela and Kepler. A strikeout ended the inning.
Gray started the fifth with another walk to Austin Slater, his fourth of the game. Slater took a risky lead off first and was picked off for the first out of the inning. The pickoff was only the seventh of Gray’s career.
The next at-bat saw Giants left fielder Luis Gonzalez get hit on the foot to reach base as Gray’s command continued to slip in the middle innings. Gray’s no-hit bid ended in the next at-bat when he gave up a double to Joey Bart to put runners on second and third with one out.
The Giants took advantage with a Tommy La Stella sacrifice fly that scored Slater and put the Giants up 1-0.
The Twins remained scoreless through five innings, but they were able to push Cobb’s pitch count to 99 pitches for the evening. Carlos Correa was the last Twins hitter to get a hit off him for the day.
Caleb Thielbar was the first reliever for the Twins, and he pitched an effective 1 1/3 innings, facing just four batters. When Thielbar was removed for Griffin Jax with one out in the seventh, Jorge Polanco also exited the game with a bum knee. Nick Gordon shifted to second base and Jake Cave came into the game in left field to bat in Polanco’s spot.
Gary Sanchez came on to pinch hit for Leon and walked to keep the seventh alive. Luis Arraez came up looking to end his cold streak of one hit in his last 20 at-bats. Unfortunately, the streak continued as Arraez flew out to end the seventh.
The Twins and Giants sat threw a 51-minute rain delay putting the eighth inning on hold. Once the delay was lifted, Trevor Megill came into the game for the Twins and retired the side on 11 pitches.
A rain delay might have been just what the Twins needed. Carlos Correa led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single and advanced to third on a Cave single. But again, scoring opposite wasted.
Megill remained on the mound for the ninth and ran into trouble. He gave up three singles which were followed by a Slater sacrifice fly which put the Giants up 2-0. Megill got out of the jam, but the Twins now needed to score at least two runs in the bottom of the ninth just to keep the game alive.
Kepler led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but the next two batters got out. Arraez was the last hope for the Twins and kept the game alive with a walk.
That brought up Correa for the opportunity to do what he does best (even though he hasn't very often this season). Shine in big moments. Could he walk-off for the Twins for the first time all season?
He didn’t walk it off, but the Twins caught a break on a base running communication that ended up with Kepler scoring and Arraez at third. Now down by just one run, Jake Cave came to the plate and delivered his biggest hit this season, a single to left to tie the game at 2-2..
The Twins were headed to extra frames for the sixth time in the month of August.
Jhoan Duran was given the ball for the 10th. The Twins caught a huge break when the Manfred Man left second on a ground ball to Correa. The shortstop threw the ball to third base for an easy first out. Joey Bart, a slower runner, was left at first base with one out. Duran retired the next two hitters without another runner making it to first base. He was throwing hard and his fastest pitch at 102.3 MPH against Evan Longoria.
Caleb Hamilton came into the game as the ghost runner in place of Jose Miranda. Nick Gordon placed a sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance Hamilton to third, Gio Urshela followed with a walk and Kepler was given an intentional pass which loaded the bases with one out for Gilberto Celestino. He was unable to record a big hit but only because the Giants reliever Dominic Leone threw four pitches nowhere near the strike zone. Celestino took four pitches, jogged down to first base and Caleb Hamilton cross home plate to give the Twins a 3-2 victory.
What’s Next?
The Twins concluded their series against the Giants at 1:10 tomorrow afternoon. Aaron Sanchez is on the mound for the Twins against Jakob Junis.
Postgame Interviews
The game was a nationally-televised game on Fox. No Bally Sports North broadcast, so no postgame video.
Bullpen Usage Sheet
| TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | TOT | |
| Megill | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 35 | 66 |
| Pagán | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 42 |
| Fulmer | 0 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 35 |
| Duran | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 33 |
| Smeltzer | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 22 |
| López | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Jax | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 14 |
MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
— Become a Twins Daily Caretaker
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.