Twins 9, Orioles 6: Twins Rally Back From 6-Run Deficit

Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs)

Trailing by six runs with just a few days to go until the All-Star break, you could understand if maybe the Twins were going to ease up the rest of the night. Instead, they put together maybe their finest inning of the entire season.

The fourth frame opened up with Miguel Sano making a diving stop to his left and firing to first for the out. Trevor Hildenberger, who earned his first major league victory tonight, retired the next two batters on strikeouts.

In the bottom of that inning, the Twins strung together four-straight singles followed by a Chris Gimenez hit by pitch with the bases loaded. What was remarkable about the inning was how the team grinded out at-bats. When they were down by six runs. In early July.

Robbie Grossman, Sano, Kennys Vargas, Eddie Rosario and Chris Gimenez all worked a full count in that inning. Vargas and Rosario each had eight-pitch at bats. But even with all that work, at the end of the inning the Orioles were still leading 6-2.

Manny Machado led off the top of the fifth with a single, but Hildenberger induced a 5-4-3 double play. Jorge Polanco made a fielding error on the next batter, but Hildy managed to get him a second chance and Polanco responded by cleanly fielding a Mark Trumbo grounder and throwing to first for the third out.

The fourth inning may have been their finest, but the fifth was the most fun. Brian Dozier hit a leadoff triple, Grossman doubled, Sano reached on an error and Kepler singled. Then Vargas, who was just called back up to replace an injured Joe Mauer, delivered a game-tying double.

https://twitter.com/BaseballByTom/status/883524941555134467

Big Kennys would come around to score the go-ahead run on a Gimenez single. Two insurance runs were later added in the eighth inning. Byron Buxton managed to score from first base on a ground ball that was hit to the shortstop.

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/883536109610954752

Brandon Kintzler, who was added to the All-Star team earlier in the day, recorded his 24th save of the season. Hildenberger threw 2.1 innings followed by an inning each by Pressly, Belisle, Rogers and Kintzler. They did not surrender a run and only yielded five hits while not issuing a single walk. What a performance it was by the bullpen.

Jorge’s Target Field debut didn’t last long. He lasted just 2.2 innings before getting the hook. Jorge is only 23-years-old. He’s made 25 starts at Double A, and hasn’t appeared at Triple A yet. These are important things to keep in mind when trying to evaluate his performance. Jorge gave up six runs on seven hits (three of them homers) and a walk. His ERA jumped to 10.57.

Jorge was sent back to Chattanooga at the conclusion of the contest, with Zack Granite being called up from Rochester as his replacement. With the break looming, the Twins won’t need a fifth starter for awhile. Granite, who will be making his major league debut, was hitting .360/.412/.492 (.904 OPS) for the Red Wings.

And that wasn’t the only big transaction. The next time the Twins do need a fifth starter, it’s possible big Bartolo Colon will fill that role. The Twins signed the 44-year-old to a minor league deal. He’s heading to Rochester for now.

Postgame With Molitor

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/883535826059051008

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Saturday

Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Baltimore (Wade Miley), 1:10 pm CT

Miley got rocked in his last start, as the Brewers lit him up for seven runs over 1.2 innings. Over his last six starts, Miley has an 11.69 ERA and hitters have compiled a .387/.468/.604 line (1.072 OPS).

Over his last four starts, Mejia has a 2.01 ERA, but his WHIP is 1.39. He’s struggled to keep leadoff hitters off the bases this season, giving up a .443 OBP to the first batter of each inning. But he’s also been excellent at finishing off innings, as opponents have just a .552 OPS with two outs. He’s also been great with runners on, limiting opposing hitters to a .176/.258/.241 line (.499 OPS) with men on and a .173/.270/.231 line (.501 OPS) with runners in scoring position.