Twins Video
Box Score
SP: Dylan Bundy: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (58 pitches, 41 strikes (70.7%))
Home Runs: Byron Buxton (22)
Top 3 WPA: Luis Arraez (0.268), Byron Buxton (0.136), Dylan Bundy (0.135)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
For some time this offseason, Twins fans were under the belief that Johnny Cueto was close to becoming a Twin, adding an interesting wrinkle to Monday night’s game. Coming into the game, Cueto had been pitching relatively well with a 3.33 ERA over 54 innings pitched coming into the night.
Through four innings, Cueto was able to hold the Twins from scoring even though he surrendered some hits and allowed four walks. After an ample missed opportunity in the first inning, it almost looked like Cueto had the Twins locked into one of those nights where the offense would go absent. Until the fifth rolled around.
Buxton’s feelin’ 22
Luis Arraez led off the game in the first inning with a double. In the fifth, he hit another. In the first, Buxton missed the opportunity to bring Arraez around, but he did not waste any time regarding the same situation in the fifth. Buxton got a hold of a Cueto offspeed pitch and planted it in the left-field seats for his 22nd home run of the season.
Bundy completes a solid five innings
While Cueto kept the Twins at bay until the fifth inning, Dylan Bundy was also pitching well. Bundy produced 12 swings and misses while striking out six White Sox batters. The Twins starter also only allowed one walk. There were some loudly hit balls, and thankfully the Twins defense came through for Bundy multiple times to keep runners off the bases and runs off the scoreboard.
The one ball that the defense couldn’t do anything about was in the second inning off of the bat of Jose Abreu. Abreu tagged Bundy for a home run that just missed Max Kepler’s glove and landed on the other side of the fence instead.
Jax struggles in his second inning
The Twins called on Griffin Jax to relieve Bundy to start the sixth inning. After cruising through the sixth, he was asked to continue into the seventh. The seventh would prove to be a very tough inning for Jax to navigate. After a potentially missed hit-by-pitch call, Abreu was once again a thorn in the Twins side and reached base by way of a double. Gavin Sheets then occupied first base after being hit by a pitch of his own out of the hand of Jax.
With those runners on first and second, Yoan Moncada came to the plate with no outs and singled the ball to left field. That single allowed Abreu to come around and score as the White Sox tied the game up 2-2.
The seventh inning could have been disastrous if it wasn’t for a big break in the form of the Twins franchise 16th triple play. AJ Pollock gave a Jax pitch an excellent ride to right-center field, where Buxton, in a majestic way, tracked the fly ball down. With Adam Engel and Moncada running with no expectation of the ball being caught, once Buxton got the ball into the infield, Gio Urshela could make easy work of outs two and three.
Hendriks, Graveman prove to be too tough of a task
The Twins saw firsthand why the White Sox were picked to have one of the best bullpens entering the 2022 season. Liam Hendriks came into the eighth inning fresh off the IL and struck out the side. He sent Correa, Kepler, and Polanco all packing. While Nick Gordon was able to get on base against Kendall Graveman, that was all the Twins were able to do against the White Sox reliever. Setting the scene for Emilio Pagan to once again pitch in relief for the Twins with a walk-off opportunity ripe for the taking for the opposing team.
Pagan holds the ninth
Every Twins fan collectively had nightmarish-type visions of what happened against Cleveland as Pagan took the mound in the bottom of the ninth. For one night, Pagan righted the ship. With two-outs, danger lurked as the right-hander walked Engel to bring Moncada to the plate.
Engel attempted to steal second base off of Pagan, but Ryan Jeffers had other thoughts as he made a fantastic throw to second. It was met by an equally incredible tag by Carlos Correa. Initially, Engel was called safe, but after a challenge, the call was overturned to end the ninth inning.
Arraez, Twins bats with extra-inning magic
The Twins began the tenth inning with Gilberto Celestino on second base. Arraez would have the first crack at bringing the speedy Celestino around to score. There may not have been a more perfect setup for the Twins. With a 2-1 count, Arraez took a Joe Kelly curveball to center field to bring Celestino around to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.
Jorge Polanco would add to the lead with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that moved every runner up and plated Arraez. It was then Alex Kirilloff's turn to get a hit off of Kelly as he sent the ball through the left side of the infield to score two runs and increase the Twins lead to 6-2. Those runs allowed Jhoan Duran to come on to finish off the game. After allowing the lineup to turn over and Time Anderson to hit again, Duran ultimately only allowed the spotted runner on second to come around to score and cut the winning score down to 6-3.
What’s Next?
Tomorrow evening the Twins will get set for game two of this series against the White Sox. Chris Archer will toe the rubber for the Twins as he looks to continue his string of solid performances and improve upon his 3.08 ERA. The Twins could have a challenging task ahead of them in White Sox right-handed starter Michael Kopech. Kopech is only 2-5 on the season but will bring to the table a 2.78 ERA.
Postgame Interview
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| Duffey | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 41 |
| Cotton | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 38 |
| Moran | 20 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 38 |
| Pagán | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 28 |
| Jax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 26 |
| Duran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Megill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.