Thiéres Rabelo

Second to Team USA, Minnesotans might look at Puerto Rico fondly during this edition of the WBC, as seven of the ten current Twins, plus four former ones will be playing the event for the Borícua team. Relievers Emilio Pagán, Jorge López, José de León, Dereck Rodríguez and Jovani Morán, catcher Christian Vázquez, and infielder José Miranda are the current Twins on Team Puerto Rico. Former Twins José Berríos and Hector Santiago and outfielder Eddie Rosario are also on the squad. In addition, the team's pitching coach, Ricky Bones, who spent about five months in early 1998 in the Twins organization. 
Back-to-back runners-up, the Puerto Ricans could even have another Twin in Carlos Correa, but the superstar shortstop opted not to take part in this year’s edition as his wife is expected to give birth to the couple’s second child during the competition. But despite also having names like Francisco Lindor, Javier Báez, and Martín Maldonado, Puerto Rico won’t have an easy life in Pool D, as another team full of former Twins will fight them for one of the two spots in the quarterfinals.
Venezuela is another strong team in the group, and despite having only one current Twin, he’s perhaps the team’s ace, Pablo López. Four former Twins will join him. Fan favorites Luis Arráez and Eduardo Escobar in the infield and Jhoulys Chacín (pitched in spring training 2020 before the pandemic and was cut in July, just before the season started) and Martín Pérez in the pitching staff. Also, the Venezuelan coaching staff includes Twins assistant pitching coach Luis Ramírez and long-time Twins minor-league manager, currently with the Wichita Wind Surge, Ramón Borrego. Former Twins minor-league pitching coach Ivan Arteaga is the team's pitching coach.
With names like José Altuve, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Salvador Pérez, among others, Venezuela the main competition to Puerto Rico for the second spot in the group. I said “second” because one other team is considered by many to be the pool’s favorite. The Dominican Republic doesn’t have a single current Twin. However, former Minnesota sluggers Gary Sánchez and Nelson Cruz, who's also the team manager. Still, they’ll be one of the most exciting teams in the tournament, with players like Sandy Alcántara, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Rafael Devers, Manny Machado, and more. Only a tragedy would keep the Dominicans out of the quarterfinals.
There are several other current Minnesota Twins (or Twins minor leaguers) in the competition. Newcomer Carlos Luna will be playing for Panama, and prized-prospect Édouard Julien, for Team Canada. Joining the latter is former Twins pitcher Andrew Albers. Seven other former Twins will also be fighting for the world title: pitchers Lance Lynn and Ryan Pressly will play for Team USA. In addition, reliever Brooks Raley spent much of the 2014 season on the Twins 40-man roster, and Jason Adam was the player acquired from the Royals for Josh Willingham in 2014. 
Two infielders who had short stints with Minnesota, Andrelton Simmons and Jonathan Schoop will represent The Kingdom of the Netherlands. So will former pitcher Shairon Martis. Former Twins first base/outfield prospect Zander Wiel will also be on the team. Their pitching coach will again be Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. 
Last year’s fan favorite Gio Urshela will represent Colombia, alongside reliever Jhon Romero, who pitched in four games in a Twins uniform early last season. The Twins long had a pipeline in Australia. There are five former Twins minor leaguers on Team Australia including Aaron Whitefield who spent some time with the Twins in 2020. The others include infielder Logan Wade and pitchers Todd Van Steensel, Tim Atherton and Josh Guyer. 
Great Britain is in the tournament this year. On their roster include former Twins pitchers Ian Gibaut and Vance Worley. Tyler Viza pitched for Wichita and St. Paul early in the 2022 season before being released. In addition, Antoan Richardson stole 39 bases between New Britain and Rochester in 2013. He is the team's bench coach. 
Slugger ByungHo Park, who played for the Twins in 62 games during the 2016 season, will represent his home country of South Korea. Several former Twins minor leaguers will also be participating in Pool A or Pool B in the first round. For Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) pitchers Chi-Wei Hu and Kai-Wei Teng, as well as Saints infielder Tzu-Wei Lin will participate. The team representing China will include former minor leaguer Ray Chang.  
Team Israel will include former Twins third baseman Danny Valencia, along with pitcher Zack Weiss who spent a little time in Double-A and Triple-A in the Twins system in 2019. In maybe a fun story, 35-year-old Jakub Hajtmar is competing with the team from the Czech Republic. He played in 33 games for the GCL Twins in 2008. 
The WBC will take place from March 8 until March 21, with the four pools having a different host city: Taichung, Taiwan, for Pool A; Tokyo, Japan, for Pool B; Phoenix, USA, for Pool C; and Miami, USA, for Pool D. Below is a picture of the competition structure, with the four pools and the bracket all the way to the final. Who do you think is going to win it all?

 
 
 

Second to Team USA, Minnesotans might look at Puerto Rico fondly during this edition of the WBC, as seven of the ten current Twins, plus four former ones will be playing the event for the Borícua team. Relievers Emilio Pagán, Jorge López, José de León, Dereck Rodríguez and Jovani Morán, catcher Christian Vázquez, and infielder José Miranda are the current Twins on Team Puerto Rico. Former Twins José Berríos and Hector Santiago and outfielder Eddie Rosario are also on the squad. In addition, the team's pitching coach, Ricky Bones, who spent about five months in early 1998 in the Twins organization. 
Back-to-back runners-up, the Puerto Ricans could even have another Twin in Carlos Correa, but the superstar shortstop opted not to take part in this year’s edition as his wife is expected to give birth to the couple’s second child during the competition. But despite also having names like Francisco Lindor, Javier Báez, and Martín Maldonado, Puerto Rico won’t have an easy life in Pool D, as another team full of former Twins will fight them for one of the two spots in the quarterfinals.
Venezuela is another strong team in the group, and despite having only one current Twin, he’s perhaps the team’s ace, Pablo López. Four former Twins will join him. Fan favorites Luis Arráez and Eduardo Escobar in the infield and Jhoulys Chacín (pitched in spring training 2020 before the pandemic and was cut in July, just before the season started) and Martín Pérez in the pitching staff. Also, the Venezuelan coaching staff includes Twins assistant pitching coach Luis Ramírez and long-time Twins minor-league manager, currently with the Wichita Wind Surge, Ramón Borrego. Former Twins minor-league pitching coach Ivan Arteaga is the team's pitching coach.
With names like José Altuve, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Salvador Pérez, among others, Venezuela the main competition to Puerto Rico for the second spot in the group. I said “second” because one other team is considered by many to be the pool’s favorite. The Dominican Republic doesn’t have a single current Twin. However, former Minnesota sluggers Gary Sánchez and Nelson Cruz, who's also the team manager. Still, they’ll be one of the most exciting teams in the tournament, with players like Sandy Alcántara, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Rafael Devers, Manny Machado, and more. Only a tragedy would keep the Dominicans out of the quarterfinals.
There are several other current Minnesota Twins (or Twins minor leaguers) in the competition. Newcomer Carlos Luna will be playing for Panama, and prized-prospect Édouard Julien, for Team Canada. Joining the latter is former Twins pitcher Andrew Albers. Seven other former Twins will also be fighting for the world title: pitchers Lance Lynn and Ryan Pressly will play for Team USA. In addition, reliever Brooks Raley spent much of the 2014 season on the Twins 40-man roster, and Jason Adam was the player acquired from the Royals for Josh Willingham in 2014. 
Two infielders who had short stints with Minnesota, Andrelton Simmons and Jonathan Schoop will represent The Kingdom of the Netherlands. So will former pitcher Shairon Martis. Former Twins first base/outfield prospect Zander Wiel will also be on the team. Their pitching coach will again be Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. 
Last year’s fan favorite Gio Urshela will represent Colombia, alongside reliever Jhon Romero, who pitched in four games in a Twins uniform early last season. The Twins long had a pipeline in Australia. There are five former Twins minor leaguers on Team Australia including Aaron Whitefield who spent some time with the Twins in 2020. The others include infielder Logan Wade and pitchers Todd Van Steensel, Tim Atherton and Josh Guyer. 
Great Britain is in the tournament this year. On their roster include former Twins pitchers Ian Gibaut and Vance Worley. Tyler Viza pitched for Wichita and St. Paul early in the 2022 season before being released. In addition, Antoan Richardson stole 39 bases between New Britain and Rochester in 2013. He is the team's bench coach. 
Slugger ByungHo Park, who played for the Twins in 62 games during the 2016 season, will represent his home country of South Korea. Several former Twins minor leaguers will also be participating in Pool A or Pool B in the first round. For Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) pitchers Chi-Wei Hu and Kai-Wei Teng, as well as Saints infielder Tzu-Wei Lin will participate. The team representing China will include former minor leaguer Ray Chang.  
Team Israel will include former Twins third baseman Danny Valencia, along with pitcher Zack Weiss who spent a little time in Double-A and Triple-A in the Twins system in 2019. In maybe a fun story, 35-year-old Jakub Hajtmar is competing with the team from the Czech Republic. He played in 33 games for the GCL Twins in 2008. 
The WBC will take place from March 8 until March 21, with the four pools having a different host city: Taichung, Taiwan, for Pool A; Tokyo, Japan, for Pool B; Phoenix, USA, for Pool C; and Miami, USA, for Pool D. Below is a picture of the competition structure, with the four pools and the bracket all the way to the final. Who do you think is going to win it all?

 
 
 

Second to Team USA, Minnesotans might look at Puerto Rico fondly during this edition of the WBC, as seven of the ten current Twins, plus four former ones will be playing the event for the Borícua team. Relievers Emilio Pagán, Jorge López, José de León, Dereck Rodríguez and Jovani Morán, catcher Christian Vázquez, and infielder José Miranda are the current Twins on Team Puerto Rico. Former Twins José Berríos and Hector Santiago and outfielder Eddie Rosario are also on the squad. In addition, the team's pitching coach, Ricky Bones, who spent about five months in early 1998 in the Twins organization. 
Back-to-back runners-up, the Puerto Ricans could even have another Twin in Carlos Correa, but the superstar shortstop opted not to take part in this year’s edition as his wife is expected to give birth to the couple’s second child during the competition. But despite also having names like Francisco Lindor, Javier Báez, and Martín Maldonado, Puerto Rico won’t have an easy life in Pool D, as another team full of former Twins will fight them for one of the two spots in the quarterfinals.
Venezuela is another strong team in the group, and despite having only one current Twin, he’s perhaps the team’s ace, Pablo López. Four former Twins will join him. Fan favorites Luis Arráez and Eduardo Escobar in the infield and Jhoulys Chacín (pitched in spring training 2020 before the pandemic and was cut in July, just before the season started) and Martín Pérez in the pitching staff. Also, the Venezuelan coaching staff includes Twins assistant pitching coach Luis Ramírez and long-time Twins minor-league manager, currently with the Wichita Wind Surge, Ramón Borrego. Former Twins minor-league pitching coach Ivan Arteaga is the team's pitching coach.
With names like José Altuve, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Salvador Pérez, among others, Venezuela the main competition to Puerto Rico for the second spot in the group. I said “second” because one other team is considered by many to be the pool’s favorite. The Dominican Republic doesn’t have a single current Twin. However, former Minnesota sluggers Gary Sánchez and Nelson Cruz, who's also the team manager. Still, they’ll be one of the most exciting teams in the tournament, with players like Sandy Alcántara, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Rafael Devers, Manny Machado, and more. Only a tragedy would keep the Dominicans out of the quarterfinals.
There are several other current Minnesota Twins (or Twins minor leaguers) in the competition. Newcomer Carlos Luna will be playing for Panama, and prized-prospect Édouard Julien, for Team Canada. Joining the latter is former Twins pitcher Andrew Albers. Seven other former Twins will also be fighting for the world title: pitchers Lance Lynn and Ryan Pressly will play for Team USA. In addition, reliever Brooks Raley spent much of the 2014 season on the Twins 40-man roster, and Jason Adam was the player acquired from the Royals for Josh Willingham in 2014. 
Two infielders who had short stints with Minnesota, Andrelton Simmons and Jonathan Schoop will represent The Kingdom of the Netherlands. So will former pitcher Shairon Martis. Former Twins first base/outfield prospect Zander Wiel will also be on the team. Their pitching coach will again be Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. 
Last year’s fan favorite Gio Urshela will represent Colombia, alongside reliever Jhon Romero, who pitched in four games in a Twins uniform early last season. The Twins long had a pipeline in Australia. There are five former Twins minor leaguers on Team Australia including Aaron Whitefield who spent some time with the Twins in 2020. The others include infielder Logan Wade and pitchers Todd Van Steensel, Tim Atherton and Josh Guyer. 
Great Britain is in the tournament this year. On their roster include former Twins pitchers Ian Gibaut and Vance Worley. Tyler Viza pitched for Wichita and St. Paul early in the 2022 season before being released. In addition, Antoan Richardson stole 39 bases between New Britain and Rochester in 2013. He is the team's bench coach. 
Slugger ByungHo Park, who played for the Twins in 62 games during the 2016 season, will represent his home country of South Korea. Several former Twins minor leaguers will also be participating in Pool A or Pool B in the first round. For Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) pitchers Chi-Wei Hu and Kai-Wei Teng, as well as Saints infielder Tzu-Wei Lin will participate. The team representing China will include former minor leaguer Ray Chang.  
Team Israel will include former Twins third baseman Danny Valencia, along with pitcher Zack Weiss who spent a little time in Double-A and Triple-A in the Twins system in 2019. In maybe a fun story, 35-year-old Jakub Hajtmar is competing with the team from the Czech Republic. He played in 33 games for the GCL Twins in 2008. 
The WBC will take place from March 8 until March 21, with the four pools having a different host city: Taichung, Taiwan, for Pool A; Tokyo, Japan, for Pool B; Phoenix, USA, for Pool C; and Miami, USA, for Pool D. Below is a picture of the competition structure, with the four pools and the bracket all the way to the final. Who do you think is going to win it all?

 
 
 

No position player in the Minnesota Twins organization has been less appreciated in the last few weeks/months than Max Kepler. After a hot start to the 2022 season, the German outfielder saw his offensive productivity dramatically decrease in the second half of the season, mainly after suffering a fracture in his right pinky toe in mid-July.
He’s now the guy most Twins fans want the team to get rid of, but since his trade value isn’t very high right now, Minnesota might have no other option but to stick with him for now. Which brings me to the question: can Kepler get back on track and help the Twins' offense in 2023? I think there are reasons to believe so. 
Kepler’s regression isn’t an individual outcome
Kepler had arguably the worst offensive performance of his career in 2022. With a career-worst .666 OPS. It was the first time in his big-league career that it went below .719 for a season. But he was hardly the only Twin to see his offensive productivity plummet in the last three years.
In three seasons under former hitting coach James Rowson (2017-2019), Minnesota had an elite offense, ranking among the top five or six best offenses in baseball in a number of offensive metrics: fifth in baseball in wRC+ (105), sixth in OPS (.775), fifth in SLG (.445), sixth in wOBA (.330), and fifth in ISO (.185). In the following three seasons after the New York native departed the organization, the Twins failed to rank at the league’s top ten in most of those same metrics.
Kepler experienced his offensive peak with Rowson as the Twins' hitting coach with back-to-back above-average seasons (wRC+ above 100). Since his departure, he regressed into a slightly below-average hitter, similar to the one he was when Rowson joined the club.

The past couple of seasons have been rough for the entirety of Minnesota’s offense, which possibly had more downs than ups. David Popkins took over as the team’s hitting coach after the 2021 season, making 2022 a season of getting used to a whole new regime. Kepler struggled overall, but that doesn’t mean he did everything wrong. Here’s why.
Kepler might be a few tweaks away from getting back on track
When browsing through Kepler’s Baseball Savant page, you get smacked in the face with his surprisingly good 2022 Percentile Rankings. What conclusions can we draw from this?

He failed to get good quality, hard contact last season. While his average exit velocity (89.1 MPH), Barrel% (7.1), and HardHit% (39.9) are still slightly above league average, last year’s percentile rankings in those metrics are some of the worst in his career. Curiously, though, all three of them were worse in 2020, the last season in which Kepler finished with an above-average wRC+. He might never have been more disciplined at the plate than last season. Despite his struggles with hitting for power, Kepler posted a career-best 14.8% K%, making him better than 88% of all hitters in baseball. Also, he had an 11% BB%, well above league average (8.4%), making it the third consecutive season with an 11% or better walk rate. He draws more walks than 84% of all major-league hitters. His Whiff% (19.9) and Chase% (23.5) are also among the league’s best. His expected stats might indicate some improvement is coming. Expected statistics are fun to look at. They aren’t necessarily predictive, but they can tell you how well a player is doing things compared to the league-wide execution. For instance, Kepler’s expected stats trended upward in the first two seasons of Rowson with the Twins, resulting in a great 2019 season for him. Then, they started trending downward for the following two seasons, resulting in a poor overall performance in 2022. But as you can see in the image above, his xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG had some of the best percentile rankings of his career. So what does Kepler need to do to improve in 2023? And will he?
When you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up. Assuming 2022 was Kepler’s rock bottom offensively, it is logical to believe that he’s bound for some improvement, especially after finding out he’s in an upward trend in his expected stats. This is not just a logical conclusion from myself: several projections also believe Kepler will be a better hitter in 2023. On his FanGraphs page, you can see how every pre-season projection (the green rows) expects him to reach at least 103 wRC+ this year, with the most optimistic one saying he could reach 113 wRC+.

But how can that happen?
Well, the good news is that we know what he needs to work on this offseason and preseason: putting the ball in the air. Kepler’s decreased productivity on offense goes hand in hand with his reduced launch angle and increased ground ball rate. In 2020, his last season with a wRC+ above 100, his launch angle average was 22.2, a career-best. In 2022, however, that came down to 11.2, the smallest one since his rookie season. His ground ball rate also increased significantly in that span, going from 32.4% in 2020 to 45.7% last year.
If Kepler gets back on track, what does that mean for the Twins?
Kepler is one of MLB’s best defensive outfielders, ranking sixth in the majors in OAA (11) and ninth in DRS (9). Most of his 2.0 fWAR in 2022 was thanks to his defensive contributions. If he can improve the aspects mentioned in the previous paragraph and regain some confidence offensively, he can become an important cog in the Twins' offense. But does that mean he’ll stick around long? Not necessarily.
The Luis Arraez trade proved Minnesota’s front office is willing even to part ways with a fan-favorite in order to improve their roster. In the eyes of Twins fans, Kepler’s appreciation was never close to that of Arráez’s, so if Kepler actually manages to get back on track offensively, he might become a valuable trade piece. With outfielders such as Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, and Mark Contreras having already made their big-league debut, it’s hard to imagine Kepler, who’s in the final year of his contract, not getting dealt soon, provided he regains some of his trade value.
 

No position player in the Minnesota Twins organization has been less appreciated in the last few weeks/months than Max Kepler. After a hot start to the 2022 season, the German outfielder saw his offensive productivity dramatically decrease in the second half of the season, mainly after suffering a fracture in his right pinky toe in mid-July.
He’s now the guy most Twins fans want the team to get rid of, but since his trade value isn’t very high right now, Minnesota might have no other option but to stick with him for now. Which brings me to the question: can Kepler get back on track and help the Twins' offense in 2023? I think there are reasons to believe so. 
Kepler’s regression isn’t an individual outcome
Kepler had arguably the worst offensive performance of his career in 2022. With a career-worst .666 OPS. It was the first time in his big-league career that it went below .719 for a season. But he was hardly the only Twin to see his offensive productivity plummet in the last three years.
In three seasons under former hitting coach James Rowson (2017-2019), Minnesota had an elite offense, ranking among the top five or six best offenses in baseball in a number of offensive metrics: fifth in baseball in wRC+ (105), sixth in OPS (.775), fifth in SLG (.445), sixth in wOBA (.330), and fifth in ISO (.185). In the following three seasons after the New York native departed the organization, the Twins failed to rank at the league’s top ten in most of those same metrics.
Kepler experienced his offensive peak with Rowson as the Twins' hitting coach with back-to-back above-average seasons (wRC+ above 100). Since his departure, he regressed into a slightly below-average hitter, similar to the one he was when Rowson joined the club.

The past couple of seasons have been rough for the entirety of Minnesota’s offense, which possibly had more downs than ups. David Popkins took over as the team’s hitting coach after the 2021 season, making 2022 a season of getting used to a whole new regime. Kepler struggled overall, but that doesn’t mean he did everything wrong. Here’s why.
Kepler might be a few tweaks away from getting back on track
When browsing through Kepler’s Baseball Savant page, you get smacked in the face with his surprisingly good 2022 Percentile Rankings. What conclusions can we draw from this?

He failed to get good quality, hard contact last season. While his average exit velocity (89.1 MPH), Barrel% (7.1), and HardHit% (39.9) are still slightly above league average, last year’s percentile rankings in those metrics are some of the worst in his career. Curiously, though, all three of them were worse in 2020, the last season in which Kepler finished with an above-average wRC+. He might never have been more disciplined at the plate than last season. Despite his struggles with hitting for power, Kepler posted a career-best 14.8% K%, making him better than 88% of all hitters in baseball. Also, he had an 11% BB%, well above league average (8.4%), making it the third consecutive season with an 11% or better walk rate. He draws more walks than 84% of all major-league hitters. His Whiff% (19.9) and Chase% (23.5) are also among the league’s best. His expected stats might indicate some improvement is coming. Expected statistics are fun to look at. They aren’t necessarily predictive, but they can tell you how well a player is doing things compared to the league-wide execution. For instance, Kepler’s expected stats trended upward in the first two seasons of Rowson with the Twins, resulting in a great 2019 season for him. Then, they started trending downward for the following two seasons, resulting in a poor overall performance in 2022. But as you can see in the image above, his xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG had some of the best percentile rankings of his career. So what does Kepler need to do to improve in 2023? And will he?
When you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up. Assuming 2022 was Kepler’s rock bottom offensively, it is logical to believe that he’s bound for some improvement, especially after finding out he’s in an upward trend in his expected stats. This is not just a logical conclusion from myself: several projections also believe Kepler will be a better hitter in 2023. On his FanGraphs page, you can see how every pre-season projection (the green rows) expects him to reach at least 103 wRC+ this year, with the most optimistic one saying he could reach 113 wRC+.

But how can that happen?
Well, the good news is that we know what he needs to work on this offseason and preseason: putting the ball in the air. Kepler’s decreased productivity on offense goes hand in hand with his reduced launch angle and increased ground ball rate. In 2020, his last season with a wRC+ above 100, his launch angle average was 22.2, a career-best. In 2022, however, that came down to 11.2, the smallest one since his rookie season. His ground ball rate also increased significantly in that span, going from 32.4% in 2020 to 45.7% last year.
If Kepler gets back on track, what does that mean for the Twins?
Kepler is one of MLB’s best defensive outfielders, ranking sixth in the majors in OAA (11) and ninth in DRS (9). Most of his 2.0 fWAR in 2022 was thanks to his defensive contributions. If he can improve the aspects mentioned in the previous paragraph and regain some confidence offensively, he can become an important cog in the Twins' offense. But does that mean he’ll stick around long? Not necessarily.
The Luis Arraez trade proved Minnesota’s front office is willing even to part ways with a fan-favorite in order to improve their roster. In the eyes of Twins fans, Kepler’s appreciation was never close to that of Arráez’s, so if Kepler actually manages to get back on track offensively, he might become a valuable trade piece. With outfielders such as Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, and Mark Contreras having already made their big-league debut, it’s hard to imagine Kepler, who’s in the final year of his contract, not getting dealt soon, provided he regains some of his trade value.
 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 5 IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 5K (78 pitches, 55 strikes, 70.5%)
Home Runs: Gary Sanchez (16), Jermaine Palacios (2)
Top 3 WPA: Gary Sánchez (.249), Jermaine Palacios (.088), Matt Wallner (.058)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Arráez is the American League batting champion!
This is not breaking news, but… Luis Arraez has done it! Despite watching New York Yankee Aaron Judge briefly surpass him for the highest batting average in the American League, the Venezuelan hitting machine kept on hitting and regained first place, never letting it go again. He walked twice today before doubling to deep center in the third inning, raising his batting average to .316, and leaving the game after that.
Even if he hadn’t doubled, his case for winning the crown was just too good. Coming into today, Arráez's batting average sat at .315, while Judge’s sat at .311. The Yankees outfielder would need to go 4-for-4 today just to match Arráez’s average while also hoping “La Regadera” would have some bad at-bats in Chicago. However, the Yankees decided not to play Judge for the day, making Arráez the batting champion right away. Even if Arráez had gone 0-for-4 for the day, his batting average would still be higher than that of Judge.
Arráez becomes the fifth Twin to ever win the AL batting title, the first one since 2009, joining Tony Oliva (1964, 1965), Rod Carew (1969, 1971-75, 1977, 1978), Kirby Puckett (1989), and Joe Mauer (2006, 2008, 2009). He also becomes the sixth Venezuelan to win the distinction, the first one since 2017, joining Andres Galarraga, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, and Jose Altuve.
 
The offense gets the job done early
The game was basically decided after just two innings. The Twins' offense knocked around Chicago starter Davis Martin right out of the gate, building a six-run lead in the first inning. After Arráez drew a leadoff walk and was followed by a Gio Urshela single, Gary Sánchez obliterated a slider on the heart of the plate for a three-run rocket (106.2 MPH off his bat).
On the very next at-bat, Jake Cave doubled to left, and he scored on a Matt Wallner single to center a couple of at-bats later. Then, Jermaine Palacios, who had hit his first major league home run on Tuesday night, made it back-to-back days with a dinger, taking Martin deep to left for a two-run jack, making it 6-0 Twins in the first.
Three more runs scored in the second inning. Sánchez got another RBI with a double, bringing home Arráez from second after he got another leadoff walk and moved to second on a Nick Gordon single. That prompted a pitching change by Chicago, but it didn’t help. Both Sánchez and Gordon were pushed across by a Gilberto Celestino two-out single against reliever Vince Velasquez, making it 9-0 Minnesota.
Things could’ve gotten even worse for Chicago in the third, as the offense loaded the bases with only one out against Velasquez. One of those runners was Arráez and his double, shortly before being lifted for pinch runner Jose Miranda. But this time, one run was all Minnesota could get after a Gordon sacrifice fly to score Caleb Hamilton.
Varland takes advantage, secures first big league win
Making his fifth start in the majors, rookie Louie Varland was still chasing his first big league win. Before today’s game, he had lost two and gotten a couple of no-decisions. Also, in his previous four starts, Varland had failed to prevent runs from scoring. He would reach both of those personal milestones by the end of the fifth inning today.
Against an uninspired White Sox offense, Varland looked more comfortable than in any of his big league starts so far. He allowed a couple of hits early, one in each of the two first innings, including a leadoff double in the second. He pitched around that with three consecutive strikeouts. Despite not missing a lot of bats, Varland didn’t allow quality contact. Chicago hitters had an average 79.3 MPH exit velocity against him. Varland completed five on 78 pitches, throwing over 70% strikes. Also, this was the first start in his short big league career in which he didn’t allow a walk.
Cole Sands pitched the rest of the way, and Chicago’s offense didn't pose a threat against him until the final inning, when they put two men on and scored a run, but Sands secured the four-inning save. With the win today, the Twins finish the season with a frustrating 78-84 record, but they do salvage one thing: they take the series season against the Sox with 10 wins in 19 games.
Postgame interview
 
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Sands 0 0 0 0 59 59 Jax 0 12 21 0 0 33 Sanchez 0 0 0 33 0 33 López 0 18 0 9 0 27 Fulmer 0 26 0 0 0 26 Moran 0 0 0 21 0 21 Pagán 0 0 5 15 0 20 Thielbar 0 0 15 0 0 15 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0    

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 5 IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 5K (78 pitches, 55 strikes, 70.5%)
Home Runs: Gary Sanchez (16), Jermaine Palacios (2)
Top 3 WPA: Gary Sánchez (.249), Jermaine Palacios (.088), Matt Wallner (.058)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Arráez is the American League batting champion!
This is not breaking news, but… Luis Arraez has done it! Despite watching New York Yankee Aaron Judge briefly surpass him for the highest batting average in the American League, the Venezuelan hitting machine kept on hitting and regained first place, never letting it go again. He walked twice today before doubling to deep center in the third inning, raising his batting average to .316, and leaving the game after that.
Even if he hadn’t doubled, his case for winning the crown was just too good. Coming into today, Arráez's batting average sat at .315, while Judge’s sat at .311. The Yankees outfielder would need to go 4-for-4 today just to match Arráez’s average while also hoping “La Regadera” would have some bad at-bats in Chicago. However, the Yankees decided not to play Judge for the day, making Arráez the batting champion right away. Even if Arráez had gone 0-for-4 for the day, his batting average would still be higher than that of Judge.
Arráez becomes the fifth Twin to ever win the AL batting title, the first one since 2009, joining Tony Oliva (1964, 1965), Rod Carew (1969, 1971-75, 1977, 1978), Kirby Puckett (1989), and Joe Mauer (2006, 2008, 2009). He also becomes the sixth Venezuelan to win the distinction, the first one since 2017, joining Andres Galarraga, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, and Jose Altuve.
 
The offense gets the job done early
The game was basically decided after just two innings. The Twins' offense knocked around Chicago starter Davis Martin right out of the gate, building a six-run lead in the first inning. After Arráez drew a leadoff walk and was followed by a Gio Urshela single, Gary Sánchez obliterated a slider on the heart of the plate for a three-run rocket (106.2 MPH off his bat).
On the very next at-bat, Jake Cave doubled to left, and he scored on a Matt Wallner single to center a couple of at-bats later. Then, Jermaine Palacios, who had hit his first major league home run on Tuesday night, made it back-to-back days with a dinger, taking Martin deep to left for a two-run jack, making it 6-0 Twins in the first.
Three more runs scored in the second inning. Sánchez got another RBI with a double, bringing home Arráez from second after he got another leadoff walk and moved to second on a Nick Gordon single. That prompted a pitching change by Chicago, but it didn’t help. Both Sánchez and Gordon were pushed across by a Gilberto Celestino two-out single against reliever Vince Velasquez, making it 9-0 Minnesota.
Things could’ve gotten even worse for Chicago in the third, as the offense loaded the bases with only one out against Velasquez. One of those runners was Arráez and his double, shortly before being lifted for pinch runner Jose Miranda. But this time, one run was all Minnesota could get after a Gordon sacrifice fly to score Caleb Hamilton.
Varland takes advantage, secures first big league win
Making his fifth start in the majors, rookie Louie Varland was still chasing his first big league win. Before today’s game, he had lost two and gotten a couple of no-decisions. Also, in his previous four starts, Varland had failed to prevent runs from scoring. He would reach both of those personal milestones by the end of the fifth inning today.
Against an uninspired White Sox offense, Varland looked more comfortable than in any of his big league starts so far. He allowed a couple of hits early, one in each of the two first innings, including a leadoff double in the second. He pitched around that with three consecutive strikeouts. Despite not missing a lot of bats, Varland didn’t allow quality contact. Chicago hitters had an average 79.3 MPH exit velocity against him. Varland completed five on 78 pitches, throwing over 70% strikes. Also, this was the first start in his short big league career in which he didn’t allow a walk.
Cole Sands pitched the rest of the way, and Chicago’s offense didn't pose a threat against him until the final inning, when they put two men on and scored a run, but Sands secured the four-inning save. With the win today, the Twins finish the season with a frustrating 78-84 record, but they do salvage one thing: they take the series season against the Sox with 10 wins in 19 games.
Postgame interview
 
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Sands 0 0 0 0 59 59 Jax 0 12 21 0 0 33 Sanchez 0 0 0 33 0 33 López 0 18 0 9 0 27 Fulmer 0 26 0 0 0 26 Moran 0 0 0 21 0 21 Pagán 0 0 5 15 0 20 Thielbar 0 0 15 0 0 15 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0    

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 5 2/3 IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 3K (88 pitches, 58 strikes, 65.9%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Gilberto Celestino (-.203), Matt Wallner (-.161), Jermaine Palacios (-.140)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Varland and Ohtani both debut at Target Field, both pitch into the sixth
Two teams with disappointing seasons and miles away from playoff contention met on a cold, somewhat rainy Friday night at Target Field. Everything pointed out to this being one of the most irrelevant games for both fanbases to attend or watch from home, except for one thing: the pitching duel. After two starts on the road, St. Paul native and recently appointed Twins Daily’s minor league starting pitcher of the year, Louie Varland, finally made his Target Field debut. Furthermore, Shohei Ohtani, one of our generation’s greatest talents, was set to toe the rubber for the Angels, also representing his first-ever start at Target Field.
Varland was off to a hot start, tossing a 1-2-3 top of the first on only seven pitches, retiring Ohtani himself with a groundout on the first pitch. Then, Shohei took to the mound for what might’ve been the coldest temperature he’s ever experienced at first pitch in his MLB career. To make matters even worse for him, the rain came down during his first trip to the mound and almost caused him some serious damage.
After Ohtani retired leadoff hitter Luis Arraez, the rain got stronger, and he started to struggle with his command. So much so that he lost the next three batters, giving up walks to Jose Miranda and Gio Urshela and hitting Nick Gordon in the ankle. Then, Jake Cave grounded into an inning-ending double play which, at first, kept this a scoreless game. But after review, it was noticed that Miranda crossed home plate before third baseman Matt Duffy could glove the throw by second baseman Livan Soto, scoring the game’s first run.
But that lead didn’t last long. Varland gave up a leadoff home run to Taylor Ward in the top of the second that tied the game. Then, in the third inning, after losing the first two batters, Varland gave up an RBI single to Mike Trout, which scored Max Stassi from third. Ohtani couldn’t get anything going in his second at-bat of the game, but, back on the mound, he really got into the zone. He pitched a perfect bottom of the third, and after giving up a leadoff walk in the fourth – matching his season-high four walks in a game – he went on to strike out five Twins batters in a row. Minnesota didn’t have a hit until the fifth when Arráez hit a two-out grounder to left.
Despite allowing a few hits, Varland managed to deliver a couple of scoreless frames after the Angels scored their second run. But for the second time on the night, Ward took him deep to lead off an inning. The Angels’ cleanup hitter crushed another fastball up the middle, basically at the same location as his first home run, making it 3-1 Angels in the top of the sixth. Varland retired the next two batters before Rocco Baldelli brought in Trevor Megill to get the inning’s final out.
Twins get one run back but waste a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation
After four dominant innings from Ohtani, the Twins’ offense finally made him sweat and ended the night for him. Gordon led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, then Urshela drew his third walk of the night. As the Angels bullpen started to warm up, Cave singled to center, and Gordon scored from second, cutting the Angels’ lead in half.
Ohtani was allowed to face another batter in Gary Sanchez, and the Twins’ catcher also drew a walk, loading the bases for the second time on the night for Minnesota – this time with no outs. Ball four was rightfully protested as the Twins caught a huge break, but it ended up going to waste anyway. With reliever Aaron Loup pitching, Matt Wallner and Gilberto Celestino couldn’t capitalize. Loup escaped with a strikeout and an inning-ending double play.
Minnesota failed to add on, but Los Angeles didn’t. Megill got two outs in the seventh, but not before he had also allowed two men to reach on a couple of walks. The latter came after a hard-fought, ten-pitch at-bat against Trout that brought Ohtani to the plate with two men on instead of ending the inning. Baldelli decided to bring Caleb Thielbar to face a still-hitless Ohtani, but it didn’t pan out. The superstar hit a ground ball to center and brought Soto home, making it 4-2 Angels. Overall, Minnesota’s offense went 2-for-13 against the Angels bullpen and didn’t come even close to sparkling a late rally.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Game two of the series is scheduled for this Saturday, with first pitch at 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins will bring Joe Ryan (3.61 ERA) to the mound, whereas Los Angeles will start lefty Reid Detmers (3.71 ERA).
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Henriquez 73 0 0 0 0 73 Megill 0 17 0 0 28 45 Pagán 15 0 0 0 23 38 López 34 0 0 0 0 34 Thielbar 0 23 0 0 10 33 Moran 0 0 0 31 0 31 Fulmer 0 23 0 0 0 23 Jax 0 4 0 0 0 4 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 5 2/3 IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 3K (88 pitches, 58 strikes, 65.9%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Gilberto Celestino (-.203), Matt Wallner (-.161), Jermaine Palacios (-.140)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Varland and Ohtani both debut at Target Field, both pitch into the sixth
Two teams with disappointing seasons and miles away from playoff contention met on a cold, somewhat rainy Friday night at Target Field. Everything pointed out to this being one of the most irrelevant games for both fanbases to attend or watch from home, except for one thing: the pitching duel. After two starts on the road, St. Paul native and recently appointed Twins Daily’s minor league starting pitcher of the year, Louie Varland, finally made his Target Field debut. Furthermore, Shohei Ohtani, one of our generation’s greatest talents, was set to toe the rubber for the Angels, also representing his first-ever start at Target Field.
Varland was off to a hot start, tossing a 1-2-3 top of the first on only seven pitches, retiring Ohtani himself with a groundout on the first pitch. Then, Shohei took to the mound for what might’ve been the coldest temperature he’s ever experienced at first pitch in his MLB career. To make matters even worse for him, the rain came down during his first trip to the mound and almost caused him some serious damage.
After Ohtani retired leadoff hitter Luis Arraez, the rain got stronger, and he started to struggle with his command. So much so that he lost the next three batters, giving up walks to Jose Miranda and Gio Urshela and hitting Nick Gordon in the ankle. Then, Jake Cave grounded into an inning-ending double play which, at first, kept this a scoreless game. But after review, it was noticed that Miranda crossed home plate before third baseman Matt Duffy could glove the throw by second baseman Livan Soto, scoring the game’s first run.
But that lead didn’t last long. Varland gave up a leadoff home run to Taylor Ward in the top of the second that tied the game. Then, in the third inning, after losing the first two batters, Varland gave up an RBI single to Mike Trout, which scored Max Stassi from third. Ohtani couldn’t get anything going in his second at-bat of the game, but, back on the mound, he really got into the zone. He pitched a perfect bottom of the third, and after giving up a leadoff walk in the fourth – matching his season-high four walks in a game – he went on to strike out five Twins batters in a row. Minnesota didn’t have a hit until the fifth when Arráez hit a two-out grounder to left.
Despite allowing a few hits, Varland managed to deliver a couple of scoreless frames after the Angels scored their second run. But for the second time on the night, Ward took him deep to lead off an inning. The Angels’ cleanup hitter crushed another fastball up the middle, basically at the same location as his first home run, making it 3-1 Angels in the top of the sixth. Varland retired the next two batters before Rocco Baldelli brought in Trevor Megill to get the inning’s final out.
Twins get one run back but waste a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation
After four dominant innings from Ohtani, the Twins’ offense finally made him sweat and ended the night for him. Gordon led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, then Urshela drew his third walk of the night. As the Angels bullpen started to warm up, Cave singled to center, and Gordon scored from second, cutting the Angels’ lead in half.
Ohtani was allowed to face another batter in Gary Sanchez, and the Twins’ catcher also drew a walk, loading the bases for the second time on the night for Minnesota – this time with no outs. Ball four was rightfully protested as the Twins caught a huge break, but it ended up going to waste anyway. With reliever Aaron Loup pitching, Matt Wallner and Gilberto Celestino couldn’t capitalize. Loup escaped with a strikeout and an inning-ending double play.
Minnesota failed to add on, but Los Angeles didn’t. Megill got two outs in the seventh, but not before he had also allowed two men to reach on a couple of walks. The latter came after a hard-fought, ten-pitch at-bat against Trout that brought Ohtani to the plate with two men on instead of ending the inning. Baldelli decided to bring Caleb Thielbar to face a still-hitless Ohtani, but it didn’t pan out. The superstar hit a ground ball to center and brought Soto home, making it 4-2 Angels. Overall, Minnesota’s offense went 2-for-13 against the Angels bullpen and didn’t come even close to sparkling a late rally.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Game two of the series is scheduled for this Saturday, with first pitch at 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins will bring Joe Ryan (3.61 ERA) to the mound, whereas Los Angeles will start lefty Reid Detmers (3.71 ERA).
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Henriquez 73 0 0 0 0 73 Megill 0 17 0 0 28 45 Pagán 15 0 0 0 23 38 López 34 0 0 0 0 34 Thielbar 0 23 0 0 10 33 Moran 0 0 0 31 0 31 Fulmer 0 23 0 0 0 23 Jax 0 4 0 0 0 4 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober, 5 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 5K (70 pitches, 47 strikes, 67.1%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-.305), Jhoan Duran (-.239), Nick Gordon (-.123)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Ober looks sharp in his return, tosses five scoreless
Bailey Ober was activated from the 60-day injured list earlier on Friday and was set to make his first big league start since June 1. That last start, which came a few days before he was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right groin strain, didn’t make for a very good impression, as he gave up five runs in a 5-0 loss to a fourth-place Detroit team. But since returning to action on a minor league rehab assignment, he looked sharp, maintaining a 3.24 ERA through four starts in the minors. That good performance carried on into tonight’s game.
Ober looked fantastic to start this game. It took him only 32 pitches to get through the first three innings, and he didn’t allow a single hit in that span. Despite not missing a lot of bats and allowing some hard contact, Ober made sure to induce bad-quality contact. Cleveland hitters couldn’t figure him out earlier, and the only Guardians baserunner came when José Ramírez got hit on the foot during the bottom of the first.
The offense came through in response to Ober’s hot start. José Miranda nearly hit a home run in the first after a tremendous 12-pitch at-bat, but he had to settle for a double. Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie got on a roll and retired six consecutive batters after that Miranda double, but he ran into trouble during the third inning. Luis Arráez and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back two-out singles, and Miranda made McKenzie pay. With another double, the rookie pushed Arráez across to score the game’s first run.
The bats weren’t done. Gio Urshela led off the top of the fourth with a ground ball single, and a couple of at-bats later, Jake Cave crushed the first pitch he saw on the at-bat for a 412-feet two-run bomb, making it 3-0 Minnesota. That poor ball – may it rest in peace – left his bat at 105.2 MPH.
Ober found himself in his only jam of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Ramírez reached for the second time on the night by drawing a one-out walk, then suddenly reached third when Óscar González knocked a two-out single. Ober calmly struck out the last batter to end the threat, though. He came back for the fifth, his final inning of the night, and completed his shutout on 14 pitches.
As solid as he had been this season before he got injured – he maintained a 3.25 ERA through the first six of his seven starts before tonight – this was actually Ober’s first shutout of the season. Now, the Twins have gotten three shutout starts from their starters in the last four games, which have combined for a total of 19 innings.
Cleveland takes advantage of mistakes, takes the lead
It wasn’t just the starting pitching that started clicking for the Twins in the last few days. Coming into tonight’s game, Minnesota’s bullpen had pitched nine consecutive shutout innings in the previous three games. Michael Fulmer came into tonight’s game in relief of Ober, and he extended that streak to ten innings with a scoreless sixth in which he pitched around a Ramírez double.
But that streak came to an end during the seventh inning, and it all started with a fielding error. Andrés Giménez reached on a throwing error by Nick Gordon to lead off the inning. He was moved up to third on an Owen Miller single next and scored the Guardians’ first run on a Myles Straw one-out single off Griffin Jax (who was replacing Caleb Thielbar). Had Gordon not made the fielding error, not only would Gimenez not have scored, but Cleveland wouldn’t have tied the game. Jax retired Steven Kwan for the second out of the inning, but he couldn’t get Amed Rosario, who lined to center for a two-run single, to tie it up.
After the Cave home run in the fourth, the offense couldn’t figure out McKenzie anymore, going 1-for-12 against him before he departed the game. The bats also went down in order in the top of the eighth, allowing Cleveland to snatch the lead in the home half of the inning. And once again, they took advantage of a Minnesota mistake. Before he could record a single out, Jhoan Duran lost the first two batters on back-to-back singles. Then, on a wild pitch in which Gary Sánchez couldn’t find the ball behind him, pinch-runner Ernie Clement had time to round third and score the winning run.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
On Saturday, both teams will be back on the field for a doubleheader. Game one is set to begin at 12:10 pm CDT, with rookie Louie Varland (3.38 ERA) taking on staff ace Shane Bieber (2.91 ERA). Then, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT, Josh Winder (3.83 ERA) gets the start of game two, facing Konnor Pilkington (4.30 ERA).
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Moran 0 40 0 0 0 40 Jax 0 0 0 18 22 40 Thielbar 0 0 12 12 15 39 Duran 0 0 0 19 16 35 Fulmer 0 0 0 21 11 32 López 0 0 17 0 0 17 Megill 0 0 0 14 0 14 Pagán 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sanchez 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray, 4 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K (59 pitches, 40 strikes, 67.8%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Lopez (-.367), Caleb Thielbar (-.205), Gary Sanchez (-.116)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Gordon, Offense Put Chicago on the Ropes Early
Nick Gordon has been living what can perhaps be considered the hottest offensive streak of his major league career – and he simply doesn’t look like he wants to slow down. Coming into tonight’s game, he had been slashing .364/.391/.682 (1.073) for his previous seven games. The White Sox decided to have a bullpen game, bringing Joe Kelly to open the game. Gordon and the Twins took advantage of that.
After the four first batters faced by Kelly, Minnesota had loaded the bases with one out, bringing red-hot Gordon to the plate. The Twins’ second baseman smacked his 22nd double to the right field corner, scoring Carlos Correa and Max Kepler. That was all the Twins could get, as Kelly stranded both remaining runners with a couple of strikeouts, but it was a great start for Minnesota nonetheless.
Davis Martin, who was originally scheduled to start tonight’s game for Chicago, took over in relief of Kelly in the second inning. Still, Minnesota’s offense continued to push forward but failed to add on. Luis Arraez, who singled in the first, hit a two-out double, seemingly putting the August slump behind him. Correa drew a walk after him, and suddenly, the Twins were posing a threat once again, but Kepler lined out, and the inning was over.
Gray Tosses Three Solid but Struggles with Command in the Fourth
Sonny Gray gave up a two-out single in the bottom of the first, but that was pretty much all the White Sox could get off him for the first three innings, as he retired seven consecutive batters after that single. Then, in the fourth inning, things abruptly changed for him.
Andrew Vaughn led off the inning with a double, but it didn’t look too serious after Gray induced back-to-back ground ball outs. But Yasmani Grandal hit a bloop single off the glove of Gio Urshela to score Vaughn. That was when things spiraled out of control for Gray, who started having command issues. Grandal moved to second on a wild pitch, then A.J. Pollock and Leury Garcia reached on a walk and a single, respectively, to load the bases.
Facing Josh Harrison, all Gray needed was another out to end the threat. Instead, he (barely) brushed Harrison’s forearm with a fastball, and the game was tied. Gray got the final out to limit the damage, but, despite his pitch count not having reached 60, Rocco Baldelli decided he was done. At four innings pitched, this was Gray’s shortest start since July 14, tied for his third shortest start of the season.
During the seventh inning, it was reported that Gray left the game due to some right hamstring tightness. The injury must have been caused by the last play of the third inning when Gray fielded a comebacker on the infield before throwing to Arráez at first. He clearly grabbed his hamstring after the play.
Bullpen does a Good Job, Gordon Comes Through Again…
After Gray’s injury, the bullpen had their work cut out for them, having to throw at least five innings. Michael Fulmer gave up back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth but eventually got the final out. Then, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran combined for a couple of quick, scoreless frames. Came the eighth inning, with the game tied, the offense showed up again.
After the productive first two innings, the Twins’ lineup went quietly for most of the game, going 2-for-17 after Correa’s second-inning walk. But the bats came back to life in the eighth. Facing reliever Jimmy Lambert, Kepler got an infield leadoff single but ended up at second base on a throwing error from Harrison. Jose Miranda followed that with a single of his own, moving Kepler to third. Gordon stepped up to the plate and got his third run batted in on a ground out, putting the Twins back in front.
…but the Sox Tied the Game, Walk it off
After four consecutive scoreless appearances and nine out of the previous ten, Caleb Thielbar came in to try and keep the one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth. After retiring Eloy Jimenez to open the inning, he couldn’t get past Grandal, who crushed a game-tying solo shot to the left field corner.
Gilberto Celestino got a single in the top of the ninth, but the Twins couldn’t capitalize. Then, with Jorge López pitching in the bottom of the inning, Chicago loaded the bases on back-to-back singles and a hit batter that caused the benches to clear. Next, López seemingly hit Abreu, ending the game, but after a challenge, the call was overturned, as the ball actually hit Abreu’s bat.
It was no use, though. As the Abreu at-bat continued, the former AL MVP hit into a groundout that could’ve led to an inning-ending double play, but Correa couldn’t fire the throw to first, allowing Romy Gonzalez to score the winning run.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Game two of the series is scheduled for tomorrow, with the first pitch at 6:15 pm CDT. Tyler Mahle (4.17 ERA) toes the rubber for Minnesota, while Dylan Cease (2.27 ERA) gets the start for Chicago.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Moran 0 0 52 0 0 52 Jax 17 8 0 0 20 45 Thielbar 15 13 0 0 13 41 Megill 0 23 14 0 0 37 Fulmer 0 13 0 0 17 30 Duran 14 0 0 0 11 25 López 9 0 0 0 13 22 Pagán 0 21 0 0 0 21  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray, 4 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K (59 pitches, 40 strikes, 67.8%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Lopez (-.367), Caleb Thielbar (-.205), Gary Sanchez (-.116)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Gordon, Offense Put Chicago on the Ropes Early
Nick Gordon has been living what can perhaps be considered the hottest offensive streak of his major league career – and he simply doesn’t look like he wants to slow down. Coming into tonight’s game, he had been slashing .364/.391/.682 (1.073) for his previous seven games. The White Sox decided to have a bullpen game, bringing Joe Kelly to open the game. Gordon and the Twins took advantage of that.
After the four first batters faced by Kelly, Minnesota had loaded the bases with one out, bringing red-hot Gordon to the plate. The Twins’ second baseman smacked his 22nd double to the right field corner, scoring Carlos Correa and Max Kepler. That was all the Twins could get, as Kelly stranded both remaining runners with a couple of strikeouts, but it was a great start for Minnesota nonetheless.
Davis Martin, who was originally scheduled to start tonight’s game for Chicago, took over in relief of Kelly in the second inning. Still, Minnesota’s offense continued to push forward but failed to add on. Luis Arraez, who singled in the first, hit a two-out double, seemingly putting the August slump behind him. Correa drew a walk after him, and suddenly, the Twins were posing a threat once again, but Kepler lined out, and the inning was over.
Gray Tosses Three Solid but Struggles with Command in the Fourth
Sonny Gray gave up a two-out single in the bottom of the first, but that was pretty much all the White Sox could get off him for the first three innings, as he retired seven consecutive batters after that single. Then, in the fourth inning, things abruptly changed for him.
Andrew Vaughn led off the inning with a double, but it didn’t look too serious after Gray induced back-to-back ground ball outs. But Yasmani Grandal hit a bloop single off the glove of Gio Urshela to score Vaughn. That was when things spiraled out of control for Gray, who started having command issues. Grandal moved to second on a wild pitch, then A.J. Pollock and Leury Garcia reached on a walk and a single, respectively, to load the bases.
Facing Josh Harrison, all Gray needed was another out to end the threat. Instead, he (barely) brushed Harrison’s forearm with a fastball, and the game was tied. Gray got the final out to limit the damage, but, despite his pitch count not having reached 60, Rocco Baldelli decided he was done. At four innings pitched, this was Gray’s shortest start since July 14, tied for his third shortest start of the season.
During the seventh inning, it was reported that Gray left the game due to some right hamstring tightness. The injury must have been caused by the last play of the third inning when Gray fielded a comebacker on the infield before throwing to Arráez at first. He clearly grabbed his hamstring after the play.
Bullpen does a Good Job, Gordon Comes Through Again…
After Gray’s injury, the bullpen had their work cut out for them, having to throw at least five innings. Michael Fulmer gave up back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth but eventually got the final out. Then, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran combined for a couple of quick, scoreless frames. Came the eighth inning, with the game tied, the offense showed up again.
After the productive first two innings, the Twins’ lineup went quietly for most of the game, going 2-for-17 after Correa’s second-inning walk. But the bats came back to life in the eighth. Facing reliever Jimmy Lambert, Kepler got an infield leadoff single but ended up at second base on a throwing error from Harrison. Jose Miranda followed that with a single of his own, moving Kepler to third. Gordon stepped up to the plate and got his third run batted in on a ground out, putting the Twins back in front.
…but the Sox Tied the Game, Walk it off
After four consecutive scoreless appearances and nine out of the previous ten, Caleb Thielbar came in to try and keep the one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth. After retiring Eloy Jimenez to open the inning, he couldn’t get past Grandal, who crushed a game-tying solo shot to the left field corner.
Gilberto Celestino got a single in the top of the ninth, but the Twins couldn’t capitalize. Then, with Jorge López pitching in the bottom of the inning, Chicago loaded the bases on back-to-back singles and a hit batter that caused the benches to clear. Next, López seemingly hit Abreu, ending the game, but after a challenge, the call was overturned, as the ball actually hit Abreu’s bat.
It was no use, though. As the Abreu at-bat continued, the former AL MVP hit into a groundout that could’ve led to an inning-ending double play, but Correa couldn’t fire the throw to first, allowing Romy Gonzalez to score the winning run.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Game two of the series is scheduled for tomorrow, with the first pitch at 6:15 pm CDT. Tyler Mahle (4.17 ERA) toes the rubber for Minnesota, while Dylan Cease (2.27 ERA) gets the start for Chicago.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Moran 0 0 52 0 0 52 Jax 17 8 0 0 20 45 Thielbar 15 13 0 0 13 41 Megill 0 23 14 0 0 37 Fulmer 0 13 0 0 17 30 Duran 14 0 0 0 11 25 López 9 0 0 0 13 22 Pagán 0 21 0 0 0 21  

Community topics include forecasting, reflection, the dulcet tones of former Twins, the best ballparks to visit before you die, and the worst ballpark to visit while you are dying.
Last Friday, @Thiéres Rabelo asked the community for their opinions on Rocco Baldelli's future; the Twins skipper responded by helming 5 consecutive victories. Who would we like to see in Thiéres' crystal ball this week?
Instead of the future, @mikelink45 looks to the past, specifically Correa and the SS market from last offseason. Maybe Correa hasn't been the super-duper-star we hoped, but he's still ahead of his free agent competition. If he opts out, will the same hold true next year?
What do you listen to during Twins games -- the TV broadcast, or the radio? @peterb18 isn't thrilled about the Twins color announcers, specifically the Justin Morneau and Glen Perkins back-and-forth, aka the "metronome from the Metrodome." Has anyone tried listening to the Twins Daily Game Thread with text-to-speech instead?
Rumor has it that @Monkeypaws wished upon their namesake artifact last year, that our Twins wouldn't lose in the postseason again in 2021. Avoiding a curse in the minor league forum this week, they provide an update on the lesser-known players involved in a notable deadline deal from four years ago: Escobar for Duran, Maciel, De La Trinidad. As good as Duran has been, he may never be achieve a first- last-name basis with Nicolas Cage.
Finally, ballpark connoisseur @Riverbrian, fresh off documenting an 18-day American odyssey in the Sports Bar (now with photos!), kicks off a lively discussion of Baseball Stadium Rankings. What's your favorite ballpark, and why is it the Metrodome?
Share your stadium take or pennant race prediction in the forums!

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 5 IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 8K (100 pitches, 69 strikes, 69.0%)
Home Runs: Luis Arraez (8)
Bottom 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (-.335), Joe Ryan (-.263), Luis Arráez (-.137)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Boston burns Ryan early
Things didn’t click for Joe Ryan on Wednesday night, and his start was stained pretty early in the game. After a couple of scoreless innings, including a 1-2-3 second, the Twins’ starter was ambushed in the top of the third. Despite getting ahead on the count against all of them, Ryan failed to retire the first four batters he faced, and Boston took advantage of that.
Kevin Plawecki and Tommy Pham got back-to-back singles to start the inning, the latter with a tough eight-pitch at-bat. When Alex Verdugo hit a grounder towards first, Jose Miranda decided to throw home to prevent Plawecki from scoring, allowing Verdugo to reach and load the bases with no outs. Xander Bogaerts wasted no time and destroyed a low-hanging slider down the middle for a grand slam.
A flyout following the grand slam didn’t help much: despite getting ahead J.D. Martinez 0-2, Boston’s designated hitter took him deep for a second time in the evening, making it 5-0 Red Sox. With Michael Wacha having tossed two perfect innings to start the game, it was hard to imagine Minnesota would have the energy for a comeback. Their only chance would be to do some damage quickly.
Twins get two runs back, can’t complete a rally
By retiring Nick Gordon and Gilberto Celestino to open the bottom of the third, Wacha made it eight consecutive batters retired to start the game. Sandy Leon broke the streak with a bloop single to center and salvaged the inning, with Luis Arráez stepping up to the plate. He fought hard to turn a 1-2 count into a full count before hitting a liner to right for a two-run shot to put the Twins back in contention.
Ryan remained in the game and pitched for two more innings. He got into a jam to begin the fourth, when he gave up a leadoff single and hit a batter, but pitched around those to end the inning. The offense started putting together another potential rally in the bottom of the inning when Kyle Garlick reached on a fielding error from second, and Gio Urshela singled, but Gordon struck out, ending the inning. Ryan also tossed a scoreless fifth to conclude his outing at exactly 100 pitches, his highest-scoring start in over three weeks.
Moran has another good outing, maintains great season numbers
Making his first big league appearance since August 2, Jovani Moran seemed to have picked up right where he left off when he last appeared in the majors. He couldn’t prevent Boston from scoring, with Plawecki hitting a leadoff double in the sixth and scoring later on a Bogaerts two-out double to right.
Outside of those two extra-base hits allowed, Moran’s outing was brilliant. He struck out five batters through the sixth and seventh innings, then induced three groundball outs in a 1-2-3 eighth to complete three innings of one-run ball without any walks. He now has a 2.05 ERA through 21 appearances this season, making up for a fantastic second season in the majors.
Too bad the offense couldn’t capitalize on several opportunities they’ve created. They had two men on in the sixth after a Correa walk and a Max Kepler double but came out empty-handed. Then, in the seventh, the Twins had men on the corners with one out after a Gordon leadoff double and a Gary Sanchez one-out walk. However, all they could get was a single run that came on an Arráez sac-fly.
Gordon comes through again, but it’s not enough
Gordon’s epic display last night was an indicator that this kid is ready for stardom, and he continued to swing the bat brilliantly tonight. His second hit of the night was a huge one in the eighth inning that made things very interesting. Kepler and Urshela both reached with a single each, making Gordon the tying run when he stepped up to the batter’s box.
Gordon jumped on the first pitch for a long double that hit the right field wall, deep enough to push both runners across and make this a one-run game. Unfortunately, Gordon was caught at third trying to stretch a double into a triple, and the inning was over.
Despite Gordon’s baserunning blunder, his two runs batted in in the eighth proved vital for Minnesota’s chances. After Trevor Megill delivered a scoreless top of the ninth (throwing 12 strikes in 14 pitches), Celestino led off the bottom of the inning with a chopper that Bogaerts couldn’t glove in time. Then, Sánchez drew a five-pitch walk, his second of the night, to put two men on with no outs for Arráez. Sadly, for Minnesota, Arráez flied out, and Correa grounded into a double play next, ending the game. The offense finished the night going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position after Correa's double play.
What’s Next?
On Thursday, the Twins have a day off that they’ll use to travel to South Side Chicago, where they’ll begin a three-game set against the White Sox. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday, with first pitch at 7:10 pm CDT. Sonny Gray (3.04 ERA) takes the mound for the Twins, with Davis Martin (4.62 ERA) starting for Chicago.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Megill 35 0 0 23 14 72 Moran 0 0 0 0 52 52 Thielbar 22 0 15 13 0 50 Pagán 0 22 0 21 0 43 Jax 8 0 17 8 0 33 Fulmer 0 15 0 13 0 28 Duran 13 0 14 0 0 27 López 0 0 9 0 0 9    

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 6 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 8K (106 pitches, 68 strikes, 64.2%)
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (15), Gary Sánchez (12), Kyle Garlick (9)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.207), Joe Ryan (.156), Kyle Garlick (.095)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Twins get an early lead, nearly lose it
The Twins entered tonight’s trying to prevent their losing streak from reaching seven games, which would represent their longest one since April 26, 2018. This current six-game losing streak is the longest one since the shortened 2020 season when they lost six in a row in the final week of August. Furthermore, tonight’s game marked the one-week anniversary since their last win, a week in which they were outscored 29-12. Could tonight finally be the one they would put an end to all of those narratives?
Not only had it been a whole week since the last time the Twins won a game, but it had also been a week since they had a two-run lead in a game (seriously, how did we make it through this week without losing our minds?). That changed right from the get-go tonight. After a long but scoreless top of the first by Joe Ryan, the offense decided to show up early: leadoff man Kyle Garlick got hit by Giants’ starter Alex Wood, and, immediately after that, Carlos Correa hit a two-run bomb to deep left field. That was Correa’s first dinger since August 13.
Seeing some runs on the board early on might’ve been a relief, but it felt like it would all melt away soon. After a 20-pitch first, Ryan struggled once again to put away batters quickly in the second. Despite facing the bottom half of the San Francisco lineup, he allowed Brandon Crawford (walk) and Austin Slater (double) to reach, and suddenly, the Giants had two men in scoring position with one out. Ryan managed to induce a pop out and a fly out to end the threat, but not before his pitch count had been driven to 45 pitches.
Minnesota scores six runs on five hits in the third
Ryan settled in nicely in the top of the third, finishing off the top of the Giants’ order on 15 pitches. In retribution, the offense decided to put the game away. They loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles (Sandy León, Garlick, and Correa) for José Miranda. The rookie couldn’t make it four in a row, but he hit a line drive long enough to bring León home from third.
When Wood struck out Gio Urshela for the second out, it felt like he would limit the damage to a minimum, but Minnesota’s bats had other plans. Jorge Polanco was hit on the foot, and once again, the bases were juiced. Gilberto Celestino stepped up to the plate and was a few feet away from hitting a grand slam, but he settled for a bases-clearing double off the center field wall to make it 6-0 Twins.
And they weren’t done! As former Twin Zack Littell was warming up to replace Wood, Gary Sánchez also went yard for a two-run laser to right, his 12th home run of the season and the first one since August 10. This eight-run lead was the largest one the Twins had built since August 16, when they crushed the Royals at Target Field for a 9-0 win.
Such a comfortable lead helped Ryan. He faced the minimum with only 24 pitches in the fourth and fifth innings; to start the sixth, he lost the first two batters he faced by giving up a leadoff walk to Tommy La Stella and hitting Wilmer Flores on the elbow. But after a mound visit, he retired the next three batters, including a couple of punch outs, for a total of eight in the game. Ryan completed six without allowing a run, making this the first time he’s tossed at least six shutout innings in a game since April 27. Also, for only the fifth time this season, he surpassed the 100-pitch mark with 106, his second-lengthiest start of the season.
Bullpen is spotless, offense adds on
Emilio Pagán took over for Ryan in the seventh, and he delivered two scoreless frames, allowing only one hit. This was his third multi-inning appearance in his last four outings, possibly confirming his new role as a long middle man. After his eighth inning, the offense added another run to this blowout: Garlick jumped on the first pitch of his at-bat for a solo home run. Michael Fulmer came in to pitch the ninth, and he sealed the deal on 12 pitches.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Both teams take the field again tomorrow for game two, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 pm CDT. Sonny Gray (3.10 ERA) will toe the rubber for Minnesota, while Alex Cobb (3.99 ERA) will try to avoid a series loss for the Giants.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Fulmer 12 0 23 0 12 47 Pagán 0 14 0 0 28 42 Megill 0 8 0 23 0 31 Smeltzer 0 0 27 0 0 27 Duran 0 0 0 20 0 20 Jax 14 0 0 6 0 20 López 0 0 0 18 0 18 Thielbar 12 0 0 0 0 12  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 6 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 8K (106 pitches, 68 strikes, 64.2%)
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (15), Gary Sánchez (12), Kyle Garlick (9)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (.207), Joe Ryan (.156), Kyle Garlick (.095)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Twins get an early lead, nearly lose it
The Twins entered tonight’s trying to prevent their losing streak from reaching seven games, which would represent their longest one since April 26, 2018. This current six-game losing streak is the longest one since the shortened 2020 season when they lost six in a row in the final week of August. Furthermore, tonight’s game marked the one-week anniversary since their last win, a week in which they were outscored 29-12. Could tonight finally be the one they would put an end to all of those narratives?
Not only had it been a whole week since the last time the Twins won a game, but it had also been a week since they had a two-run lead in a game (seriously, how did we make it through this week without losing our minds?). That changed right from the get-go tonight. After a long but scoreless top of the first by Joe Ryan, the offense decided to show up early: leadoff man Kyle Garlick got hit by Giants’ starter Alex Wood, and, immediately after that, Carlos Correa hit a two-run bomb to deep left field. That was Correa’s first dinger since August 13.
Seeing some runs on the board early on might’ve been a relief, but it felt like it would all melt away soon. After a 20-pitch first, Ryan struggled once again to put away batters quickly in the second. Despite facing the bottom half of the San Francisco lineup, he allowed Brandon Crawford (walk) and Austin Slater (double) to reach, and suddenly, the Giants had two men in scoring position with one out. Ryan managed to induce a pop out and a fly out to end the threat, but not before his pitch count had been driven to 45 pitches.
Minnesota scores six runs on five hits in the third
Ryan settled in nicely in the top of the third, finishing off the top of the Giants’ order on 15 pitches. In retribution, the offense decided to put the game away. They loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles (Sandy León, Garlick, and Correa) for José Miranda. The rookie couldn’t make it four in a row, but he hit a line drive long enough to bring León home from third.
When Wood struck out Gio Urshela for the second out, it felt like he would limit the damage to a minimum, but Minnesota’s bats had other plans. Jorge Polanco was hit on the foot, and once again, the bases were juiced. Gilberto Celestino stepped up to the plate and was a few feet away from hitting a grand slam, but he settled for a bases-clearing double off the center field wall to make it 6-0 Twins.
And they weren’t done! As former Twin Zack Littell was warming up to replace Wood, Gary Sánchez also went yard for a two-run laser to right, his 12th home run of the season and the first one since August 10. This eight-run lead was the largest one the Twins had built since August 16, when they crushed the Royals at Target Field for a 9-0 win.
Such a comfortable lead helped Ryan. He faced the minimum with only 24 pitches in the fourth and fifth innings; to start the sixth, he lost the first two batters he faced by giving up a leadoff walk to Tommy La Stella and hitting Wilmer Flores on the elbow. But after a mound visit, he retired the next three batters, including a couple of punch outs, for a total of eight in the game. Ryan completed six without allowing a run, making this the first time he’s tossed at least six shutout innings in a game since April 27. Also, for only the fifth time this season, he surpassed the 100-pitch mark with 106, his second-lengthiest start of the season.
Bullpen is spotless, offense adds on
Emilio Pagán took over for Ryan in the seventh, and he delivered two scoreless frames, allowing only one hit. This was his third multi-inning appearance in his last four outings, possibly confirming his new role as a long middle man. After his eighth inning, the offense added another run to this blowout: Garlick jumped on the first pitch of his at-bat for a solo home run. Michael Fulmer came in to pitch the ninth, and he sealed the deal on 12 pitches.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Both teams take the field again tomorrow for game two, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 pm CDT. Sonny Gray (3.10 ERA) will toe the rubber for Minnesota, while Alex Cobb (3.99 ERA) will try to avoid a series loss for the Giants.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Fulmer 12 0 23 0 12 47 Pagán 0 14 0 0 28 42 Megill 0 8 0 23 0 31 Smeltzer 0 0 27 0 0 27 Duran 0 0 0 20 0 20 Jax 14 0 0 6 0 20 López 0 0 0 18 0 18 Thielbar 12 0 0 0 0 12  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Dylan Bundy, 5 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K (66 pitches, 44 strikes, 66.6%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Max Kepler (-.301), Michael Fulmer (-.200), José Miranda (-.088)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Bundy tosses five solid innings, gives Twins a chance
Right out of the gate, this game seemed doomed for the Twins. Houston starter Framber Valdez had a 1-2-3 first inning that took him only 14 pitches. Then, when Dylan Bundy took the mound for the bottom half, José Altuve took him deep on his very first pitch, putting the Astros on the board right away. Fortunately, Bundy settled in and retired six of the next seven batters faced, only giving up a walk.
Meanwhile, the offense attempted to put something together and managed to get two men on base during the second inning after a walk by Luis Arráez followed by a Gilberto Celestino single. They kept pushing until they manufactured the tying run in the next inning. Sandy León led off the third with a walk, and, suddenly, Minnesota had two men in scoring position after a Jorge Polanco double. Former Astro Carlos Correa hit a liner to left, and León tagged and scored.
Martín Maldonado broke Bundy’s hot streak with a leadoff double to start the bottom of the third. He was eventually brought home by an Altuve single and a Yuli Gurriel sac fly, regaining the lead for Houston. Once again, Bundy didn’t lose control: by retiring Alex Bregman on a lineout to conclude the third, he began a streak of seven consecutive batters retired, keeping this a one-run game into the sixth. With tonight’s start, Bundy has completed five consecutive starts in which he gives up three earned runs or less.
 
Houston breaks it open against Fulmer
Bundy departed the game after two trips through the order, despite having thrown only 66 total pitches. Should he have been kept in the game, given his pitch count? His 8.53 season ERA in the third time through the order sure isn’t very encouraging, so Rocco Baldelli decided to activate the bullpen, bringing Michael Fulmer to pitch the sixth.
Houston added a run after Yordan Álvarez stretched a single into a double after a defensive miscue by the Twins’ outfield. He also moved up to third on a wild pitch, which allowed him to score on a Bregman sac fly. Fulmer couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up another double, this time to Kyle Tucker with two outs. Then, Trey Mancini blasted a two-run shot to right field, making it 5-1 Astros.
With Valdez completing seven innings, the Twins’ struggling offense was once again severely uninspired to spark a rally. Devin Smeltzer came in to eat up the final two innings and did a fine job at it, tossing two scoreless frames. After reliever Bryan Abreu pitched a scoreless eighth, Rafael Montero came in to try to close out the game,
Montero failed to retire the first four batters he faced, and the Twins scored a couple of runs: Arráez doubled Gio Urshela home after he had hit a leadoff single; then, Arráez himself was brought home from second on a Jake Cave fielder’s choice (a ball that was bobbled by Altuve). But when Max Kepler grounded into a double play, Montero had no trouble retiring Gary Sanchez for the game’s final out.
 
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
On Thursday, these two teams play the final game of the series, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT. To try and avoid the sweep, the Twins turn to Chris Archer (4.02 ERA), who will be facing Luis Garcia (4.09 ERA). After the game, the Twins head back to Minnesota for a six-game homestand.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Smeltzer 45 0 0 0 27 72 Pagán 0 39 0 14 0 53 Fulmer 0 0 12 0 23 35 Jax 11 0 14 0 0 25 Megill 0 15 0 8 0 23 Thielbar 11 0 12 0 0 23 López 9 0 0 0 0 9 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0    

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Dylan Bundy, 5 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K (66 pitches, 44 strikes, 66.6%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Max Kepler (-.301), Michael Fulmer (-.200), José Miranda (-.088)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Bundy tosses five solid innings, gives Twins a chance
Right out of the gate, this game seemed doomed for the Twins. Houston starter Framber Valdez had a 1-2-3 first inning that took him only 14 pitches. Then, when Dylan Bundy took the mound for the bottom half, José Altuve took him deep on his very first pitch, putting the Astros on the board right away. Fortunately, Bundy settled in and retired six of the next seven batters faced, only giving up a walk.
Meanwhile, the offense attempted to put something together and managed to get two men on base during the second inning after a walk by Luis Arráez followed by a Gilberto Celestino single. They kept pushing until they manufactured the tying run in the next inning. Sandy León led off the third with a walk, and, suddenly, Minnesota had two men in scoring position after a Jorge Polanco double. Former Astro Carlos Correa hit a liner to left, and León tagged and scored.
Martín Maldonado broke Bundy’s hot streak with a leadoff double to start the bottom of the third. He was eventually brought home by an Altuve single and a Yuli Gurriel sac fly, regaining the lead for Houston. Once again, Bundy didn’t lose control: by retiring Alex Bregman on a lineout to conclude the third, he began a streak of seven consecutive batters retired, keeping this a one-run game into the sixth. With tonight’s start, Bundy has completed five consecutive starts in which he gives up three earned runs or less.
 
Houston breaks it open against Fulmer
Bundy departed the game after two trips through the order, despite having thrown only 66 total pitches. Should he have been kept in the game, given his pitch count? His 8.53 season ERA in the third time through the order sure isn’t very encouraging, so Rocco Baldelli decided to activate the bullpen, bringing Michael Fulmer to pitch the sixth.
Houston added a run after Yordan Álvarez stretched a single into a double after a defensive miscue by the Twins’ outfield. He also moved up to third on a wild pitch, which allowed him to score on a Bregman sac fly. Fulmer couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up another double, this time to Kyle Tucker with two outs. Then, Trey Mancini blasted a two-run shot to right field, making it 5-1 Astros.
With Valdez completing seven innings, the Twins’ struggling offense was once again severely uninspired to spark a rally. Devin Smeltzer came in to eat up the final two innings and did a fine job at it, tossing two scoreless frames. After reliever Bryan Abreu pitched a scoreless eighth, Rafael Montero came in to try to close out the game,
Montero failed to retire the first four batters he faced, and the Twins scored a couple of runs: Arráez doubled Gio Urshela home after he had hit a leadoff single; then, Arráez himself was brought home from second on a Jake Cave fielder’s choice (a ball that was bobbled by Altuve). But when Max Kepler grounded into a double play, Montero had no trouble retiring Gary Sanchez for the game’s final out.
 
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
On Thursday, these two teams play the final game of the series, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT. To try and avoid the sweep, the Twins turn to Chris Archer (4.02 ERA), who will be facing Luis Garcia (4.09 ERA). After the game, the Twins head back to Minnesota for a six-game homestand.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Smeltzer 45 0 0 0 27 72 Pagán 0 39 0 14 0 53 Fulmer 0 0 12 0 23 35 Jax 11 0 14 0 0 25 Megill 0 15 0 8 0 23 Thielbar 11 0 12 0 0 23 López 9 0 0 0 0 9 Duran 0 0 0 0 0 0    

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 6 1/3 IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K (88 pitches, 56 strikes, 63.3%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Trevor Megill (-.174), Nick Gordon (-.111), Carlos Correa (-.065)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Gladden and Tovar are inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame
Before first pitch, Twins legends Dan Gladden and César Tovar were honored by the organization with their induction into the club’s Hall of Fame. You can watch Gladden’s emotional speech by clicking here, courtesy of Bally Sports North. The late Tovar, who past away in 1994, was represented by his son César Tovar Jr. during the ceremony. What are your favorite memories of Gladden and Tovar in a Twins uniform?
Starters overpower opposing offenses
Both starting pitchers dominated their opposing lineups with somewhat ease. Joe Ryan no-hit the Rangers through three on only 29 pitches, with a fantastic 75.9% of strikes and five strikeouts in his first time through the order. During that same span, Rangers starter Kohei Arihara was almost just as brilliant, as he kept the Twins scoreless despite giving up a couple of singles.
Ryan’s first mistake came in the fourth inning. He fell behind 3-1 on the count trying to get leadoff man Marcus Semien to chase down and away. On the next pitch, he went up and in, and Semien made him pay: a 418-feet bomb to left put the Rangers on the scoreboard first. Ryan didn’t let that affect him, as he retired the next three batters on nine pitches, including a punchout.
Unfortunately for the Twins, their bats were a no-show for most of the game. After the Max Kepler leadoff single in the second, Minnesota’s lineup went 0-for-14 against Arihara, with the only runner produced by the Twins coming off a hit-by-pitch on Jorge Polanco. Fortunately, what was lacking on offense was compensated on defense, as a couple of nice defensive moves by Polanco and Kepler helped get Ryan out of a two-men on and no outs jam in the top of the sixth.
Ryan himself made a fine catch on a comebacker to end the sixth inning, and he was allowed to get to the seventh. Then, for a fourth consecutive inning, he allowed the leadoff man to reach with an Adolis García single – only his second hit allowed on the day. He retired the next batter, and Rocco Baldelli decided to remove him from the game.
Texas breaks the game open with good baserunning, home run
After the single to lead off the seventh against Ryan, García stole second and was suddenly on third after a groundout. When Trevor Megill took over, he hit Leody Taveras, who also stole second. Megill managed to strike out Kole Calhoun for the inning’s second out, but he couldn’t finish things off. He gave up three consecutive singles, and Texas scored three more runs to make it 4-0. It would’ve been four if the Twins hadn’t challenged and overturned a tag play at home to end the inning.
In the same inning, the Twins nearly put together a rally for themselves. Arihara came back with a healthy 65 pitch count, but he lost the first two batters of the seventh in Polanco and José Miranda, who hit back-to-back singles. This prompted manager Chris Woodward to pull him from the game. With Tim Beckham pinch-hitting for Nick Gordon, a fifth pitch of the at-bat was initially called a ball that was going to load the bases with one out. Instead, first base umpire Malachi Moore said he went around for a swinging strike. Beckham ended up striking out, and Gio Urshela flied out, ending the Twins' threat.
With Emilio Pagán pitching in the eighth, Nathaniel Lowe obliterated a splitter deep into the right field for a 424-feet solo shot, making it 5-0 Rangers. This was basically the final nail in the coffin for the Twins in the afternoon, but the Rangers didn’t stop there. By opening the ninth inning with three consecutive singles, Texas pushed another run across on a Brad Miller RBI. With men on the corners, Semien flied out to right, deep enough to score Bubba Thompson from third.
With the postponement of Sunday's Guardians game against the White Sox, the Twins (62-57) are still just a game and a half behind Cleveland (64-56) and one game ahead of Chicago (62-59).
Postgame interviews
What’s Next?
The series continues on Monday, with both teams squaring off at Target Field starting at 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins will get Sonny Gray (3.11 ERA) to the mound for this final game, while Texas will turn to Cole Ragans (5.02 ERA) for the start. After wrapping up the Rangers series, Minnesota heads to Texas for a three-game set against the Houston Astros starting on Tuesday before coming back to the Twin Cities for a six-game homestand.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  WED THUR FRI SAT SUN TOT               Pagán 35 0 0 0 39 74 Megill 13 0 24 0 15 52 López 0 0 20 9 0 29 Duran 18 0 10 0 0 28 Thielbar 0 0 17 11 0 28 Fulmer 23 0 0 0 0 23 Jax 12 0 0 11 0 23 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0    

Atteberry clip on Scully being his dad's first LA friend.mp3  
Schulman Clip on Scully Grocery List (8-4-22).mp3    
Late Tuesday night, America lost the greatest voice to ever sit behind a microphone and call a sporting event; Vin Scully. Mr. Scully died at the age of 94 and was the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950-2016, totaling 67 years with the franchise. 
Although he will be remembered best as the voice of the Dodgers, Mr. Scully was more than a voice for Dodger Baseball. From 1975-82, Mr. Scully called NFL games for CBS in addition to tennis and golf matches aired by the network. 
In addition to all this, Mr. Scully was a mentor for many, whether directly or indirectly throughout their careers. Prior to the Twins, Blue Jays game at Target Field on August 4, members of both the Twins and Blue Jays broadcast crews and beat report reminisced about Mr. Scully's impact on their careers and lives. 
Dick Bremer, Twins TV Play-by-play
“Growing up I watched as much of the games as I could. But the weekday games are in the afternoon when I was in school, right? With that announcing team, I knew Ray Scott, because back then they would take an announcer from the Dodgers and an announcer from another team. Ray Scott was doing Twins games at the time. Back then as a kid, I had no concept of the fact that this guy had been with the Dodgers going back to the Brooklyn Dodgers. As I grew through adolescence, then adulthood, and developed a career in this business. I was just so incredibly impressed with who he was, what he meant to the game, and how he went about his craft. It was my pleasure to meet him in 2005, and get the chance to express to him as so many others did, how much he's meant to the game of baseball. And for those of us who are trying to do what he did.”
“We tend to forget he was a really good NFL and golf announcer. He gave the impression, and I think it was genuine, that there was no place he'd rather be than at that sporting event. That's something that hopefully, now that he's gone, those of us who have been blessed to be able to do this. And especially the younger guys who are going to be doing it now for the next few decades. They appreciate how well he did his job, but also how he did his job. And it wasn't about him. It's never about Vin Scully. It's about the players, and what’s happening to them because that's what people want to know. The irony is people I'm sure tuned in to him just to listen to him. But he never gave you that impression. He was still about what's happening to the people.”
 

Bremer Clip on Scully's Castro bat.mp3 Dan Schulman, Blue Jays TV Play-by-play
“I don't remember the first time but it was when I would have been doing ESPN Dodger games in the late 90s. Once I got to Sunday Night Baseball [calling Dodger games], Vin wasn't there because only Sunday Night Baseball was there. So this was a long time ago in the 90s. And he was just the kindest, most considerate man. I'd go up and introduce myself to him, shake his hand and ‘oh, I know who you are.’ He just had time for everybody with such a good soul and a good heart. Indisputably the greatest baseball announcer who's ever been and you could listen to him talk about anything, and it was riveting. That's a skill and a gift very few people have, but he got a double dose of it.”
 

Schulman Clip on Scully Grocery List (8-4-22).mp3 Cory Provus, Twins Radio Play-by-play
“I met Vin in 2007, my first year working the Cubs broadcast, and I remember we were out in LA and I asked Pat Hughes - he’s going to be in the hall of fame one day himself - and asked him, ‘Hey can you do me a favor? Can you introduce me to Vin?” He [Hughes] said, absolutely. And then Pat sees Vin and Vin in that beautiful voice says “Paaat”. 
I was right there, Pat said hello, shook his hand. Then he said ‘I want to introduce you to the new member of our team. This is Cory Provus. ‘Cory, nice to meet you. Vin Scully.” And you never forget that that's all. And this was pre iPhone, I had flip phones I couldn't take a picture of it was never one of those kinds of things.
There was a sign outside the Dodgers TV booth. I don't know if it's still there. But it was when Vin was doing games. It said, 'Do Not Enter, On the Air.' It's kind of like, ah probably shouldn't go in. But inside that booth was the most welcoming warm man imaginable. So there’s this uninviting don't enter sign but that was anything but the case for the man inside. He was incredibly kind and welcoming. He was with the Dodgers TV booth, the first booth down this long hallway. I forgot what inning it was but he would do a daily nightly walk down the hallway. The radio booth for the visiting team was towards the other end of the hallway. So you would see then, I don't know if it was the fifth, sixth, or seventh inning, but he would walk down the hallway and you'd see Vin walk right by your booth and say ‘Just my nightly stroll, that's all.'
He just a wonderful man and I was lucky enough to meet him just a few times. 
 

Provus Clip on Mr. Scully Personal Influence for Broadcasting.mp3 Kris Attebery, Twins Radio Studio Host 
“I was still doing the postgame show when the news broke. We had one segment left, Gina [producer for Twins radio] looked through the glass and kept saying what’s wrong, and I went, Vin died. And I'm like well, we gotta get through the same segment. So I was on the highlights and then I just said on air, Hey, if I don't sound enthusiastic, here's why that we just kind of off the top expository tribute for a couple of minutes. But yeah, that one hurts.”
"Growing up in Montana, I didn’t have any teams but we had AM radio and signals traveled forever. So Vin was game of the week for me, so you would get Vin once a week. Later on, as I got older, you could at night in your car, you could pick up the Cardinals or the Giants and you could get the Dodgers on a good night and you could hear it on the radio. It was amazing."
"He would reference a story or a book and I read that book, you know, that's what it was for me. You would come away from listening to Vin do a game and you'd want to do a deeper dive on what he was talking about. He told a story that alluded to x. I should read that when he tells someone about the Odyssey, let me get in on that. I want to read more. He always made you want to, to ask more, learn more, read more."
 

Atteberry clip on Scully being his dad's first LA friend.mp3 Dan Hayes, Twins Beat Writer for the Athletic 
"Whether it's Dodger Stadium or at Petco Park occasionally you’d run into Vin Scully in the elevator. Even if it was like 30 seconds, it was gonna be the greatest part of the day because he was always beyond cheerful. You could tell he'd never had a bad day in his life, or that day was the greatest day. It flowed out of just how much he loved life and baseball, and he made you, as little stature as you had next to him, feel like a king.  The personality was just so generous. It just was something he didn't have to do but he always did."
Phil Miller, Twins Beat Writer for the Star Tribune
"This is a year after he retired from broadcasting, so I'm kind of surprised to see him there. He was standing outside the clubhouse, hard to miss. It was early in the day, and I don't know where Molitor was, but he said he was just gonna say hi to Molitor. But I guess it's still hard. He asked if I liked working with Paul. I said, great baseball mind. I've learned more from him than anyone I've ever known. And Vin said, ‘Yes, he's got a reputation there for being a good teacher.’
"I said the best coach I ever saw was Jerry Sloan. I covered the Utah Jazz for six years and he was the coach. We stood there for 10 minutes talking about Jazz basketball and Jerry Sloan. Vin’s a great storyteller. but I got some stories about Jerry. He's [Sloan] a singular personality. very driven, very high standards. I just told Vin about all that. How simple Sloan's rules were but how people followed them and what a great teacher he was. That was it but the thing that I remember about it was that he knew Sloan, he knew something about the Jazz, and he seemed really interested about it all and asked 10 minutes of questions. I felt like I was being interviewed a little bit. And I always thought it was too bad that he was retired then because I always thought I'd turn on a Dodger game someday and hear Vin say, ‘And that reminds me about a story about Jerry Sloan.’ But I was just really impressed with how he drew information out. You know, that was the thing he did on the broadcast and shared this stuff that you never thought of, that you have never heard before."

These voices from the broadcast booth and press box are only a small sample size of the larger impact Mr. Scully had on those who cover the game of baseball. Rarely are there people like Mr. Scully where their actions and impact of his hard work and kindness can be found in even the smallest of people that work to make sure baseball is played every day. 
Even if everyone cannot tell a story like Mr. Scully could, everyone still has a Mr. Scully story of their own to keep the legacy of America’s greatest broadcaster alive for generations to come. 
 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Tyler Mahle, 6 IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 5K (86 pitches, 61 strikes, 70.9%)
Home Runs: Mark Contreras (2), Nick Gordon (5)
Top 3 WPA: Michael Fulmer (.307), Carlos Correa (.205), Jhoan Duran (.118)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

A good turnout showed up at Target Field on a lovely evening, and all eyes were on the Twins’ new starter Tyler Mahle, who was set to make his first start for Minnesota since being acquired at the trade deadline. Well, some hundreds of eyes might’ve also been on old friend and still beloved by all, José Berríos, especially those of Blue Jays fans all over the place.
The first two innings of this game seemed to set the tone: it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. Both starters faced the minimum, with Berríos needing only 14 pitches to do so – 12 fewer pitches than Mahle. But things took a shift in a very different direction once the third inning started.
After Mahle pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the inning, Berríos suffered his first punch. Mark Contreras fell behind in the count 0-2, but he came back to crush a line drive to left-center for his second home run in the big leagues, putting the Twins on the board.
Berríos limited the damage to the one run heading to the fourth, and while Mahle continued to dominate the Blue Jay lineup, the former Twins ace just lost it. After Mahle tossed a quick, 1-2-3 top of the fourth on seven pitches, Berríos’ nightmare against his old teammates was about to start. Carlos Correa and Jorge Polanco opened up the home fourth with a long double and a walk, respectively. Next, José Miranda lined a single to center to push Correa across.
Then, Nick Gordon didn’t waste any time and jumped on the first pitch he saw for a three-run bomb to right-center. A definite no-doubter to break the game wide open, making it 5-0 Twins before Berríos could even record an out. Minnesota’s offense continued to pound him, and after a Tim Beckham one-out single and a Sandy León two-out walk, Berríos was pulled from the game.
Toronto rallies back with three home runs
After four innings of sheer dominance over the Blue Jays lineup, Mahle started to lose his stuff. After retiring seven batters in a row and just as he was one out away from delivering a scoreless fifth, he gave up a two-out home run to Matt Chapman, putting Toronto on the board. He completed five innings of one-run ball on only sixty pitches, still in his second time through the order.
But just as Berríos’ first home run given up gave Minnesota some momentum, Chapman’s dinger did exactly the same. After a lengthy at-bat by Raimel Tapia to start the sixth inning, Toronto’s number nine hitter, Santiago Espinal, hit a one-out solo homer to center to score the visitors’ second run. Newcomer Whit Merrifield, a career .297 hitter against the Twins, followed Espinal’s home run with a single that set Blue Jays fans on fire at Target Field.
Then, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a long two-run dong to cut Minnesota’s lead to 5-4. Mahle managed to get back on track and finish the inning, but only after he tossed 26 pitches, the most out of any inning in this game. By doing so, he became the first Twins starter to complete six innings in a game in almost two weeks.
Bullpen withstands pressure, but missed opportunities prove costly
On Thursday, the Twins bullpen had one of the worst outings of the season, giving up all nine Toronto runs in a devastating loss. Tonight, they had a great opportunity to rebound from such an awful display, and they did a fine job. Griffin Jax struck out the side facing the heart of the Blue Jays lineup for a quick, 11-pitch seventh inning. Then, Jhoan Duran got two quick outs in the eighth but gave up a single to Merrifield, having to face Guerrero Jr. with the game on the line next.
Pete Maki made a mound visit and decided not to intentionally walk the All-Star first baseman. Duran couldn’t retire Guerrero Jr., but he managed to induce weak-enough contact to hold him to a groundball single. Facing Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Duran got the huge final out on a force out, setting Jorge López up for the save. After not capitalizing on leadoff doubles in the seventh and the eighth innings, the Twins had flame-throwing closer López in the ninth to try to hold on to a one-run lead. The All-Star closer lost Bo Bichette to a one-out single but retired Chapman next after a tough at-bat for the second out. However, Danny Jansen and Tapia hit back-to-back singles and scored Bichette. That was López’s third blown save all year.
Offense loads the bases in the 9th, but comes out empty-handed
Gio Urshela was briefly brought into the game in the ninth inning to pinch-hit for León, and for a third consecutive inning, Minnesota had the leadoff man on. He smacked a single off Yimi Garcia, then left the game for pinch-runner Gilberto Celestino. Luis Arráez moved him to second on a groundout, then he reached third on a fielding error by Cavan Biggio. With only one out, the Jays made the bold decision to intentionally walk Polanco and bring none other than Miranda to the plate with the bases loaded. He struck out swinging, and Garcia got Gordon to fly out on the next at-bat, taking the game to extra innings.  The Twins finished regulation with an awful 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Twins walk off on a couple of defensive mistakes by Toronto
Michael Fulmer, making his second appearance as a Twin, scared us all when he gave up a walk to Guerrero Jr. and a single to Gurriel Jr. to load the bases in the 10th inning. However, he bounced back incredibly by striking out Teoscar Hernández and Bichette. It was again up to the offense to salvage this game. Jake Cave had a great, six-pitch at-bat against Jordan Romano, which ended in a strikeout that Jansen couldn’t hold on to. When he made the throw to first, Guerrero Jr. couldn’t hold on to the ball, and ghost runner Gordon reached third. With two men on and no outs, Beckham grounded to short, and Gordon beat the throw by Chapman at home to win the game.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Both teams are back on the field tomorrow for game three, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins turn to Dylan Bundy (5.04 ERA), while Mitch White (3.70 ERA) starts the game for Toronto.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Jax 20 24 0 0 11 55 Fulmer 23 0 13 0 15 51 Duran 10 0 19 0 17 46 Pagán 0 16 0 25 0 41 Megill 0 8 0 29 0 37 López 0 0 7 0 30 37 Thielbar 0 0 11 0 0 11 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Tyler Mahle, 6 IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 5K (86 pitches, 61 strikes, 70.9%)
Home Runs: Mark Contreras (2), Nick Gordon (5)
Top 3 WPA: Michael Fulmer (.307), Carlos Correa (.205), Jhoan Duran (.118)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

A good turnout showed up at Target Field on a lovely evening, and all eyes were on the Twins’ new starter Tyler Mahle, who was set to make his first start for Minnesota since being acquired at the trade deadline. Well, some hundreds of eyes might’ve also been on old friend and still beloved by all, José Berríos, especially those of Blue Jays fans all over the place.
The first two innings of this game seemed to set the tone: it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. Both starters faced the minimum, with Berríos needing only 14 pitches to do so – 12 fewer pitches than Mahle. But things took a shift in a very different direction once the third inning started.
After Mahle pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the inning, Berríos suffered his first punch. Mark Contreras fell behind in the count 0-2, but he came back to crush a line drive to left-center for his second home run in the big leagues, putting the Twins on the board.
Berríos limited the damage to the one run heading to the fourth, and while Mahle continued to dominate the Blue Jay lineup, the former Twins ace just lost it. After Mahle tossed a quick, 1-2-3 top of the fourth on seven pitches, Berríos’ nightmare against his old teammates was about to start. Carlos Correa and Jorge Polanco opened up the home fourth with a long double and a walk, respectively. Next, José Miranda lined a single to center to push Correa across.
Then, Nick Gordon didn’t waste any time and jumped on the first pitch he saw for a three-run bomb to right-center. A definite no-doubter to break the game wide open, making it 5-0 Twins before Berríos could even record an out. Minnesota’s offense continued to pound him, and after a Tim Beckham one-out single and a Sandy León two-out walk, Berríos was pulled from the game.
Toronto rallies back with three home runs
After four innings of sheer dominance over the Blue Jays lineup, Mahle started to lose his stuff. After retiring seven batters in a row and just as he was one out away from delivering a scoreless fifth, he gave up a two-out home run to Matt Chapman, putting Toronto on the board. He completed five innings of one-run ball on only sixty pitches, still in his second time through the order.
But just as Berríos’ first home run given up gave Minnesota some momentum, Chapman’s dinger did exactly the same. After a lengthy at-bat by Raimel Tapia to start the sixth inning, Toronto’s number nine hitter, Santiago Espinal, hit a one-out solo homer to center to score the visitors’ second run. Newcomer Whit Merrifield, a career .297 hitter against the Twins, followed Espinal’s home run with a single that set Blue Jays fans on fire at Target Field.
Then, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a long two-run dong to cut Minnesota’s lead to 5-4. Mahle managed to get back on track and finish the inning, but only after he tossed 26 pitches, the most out of any inning in this game. By doing so, he became the first Twins starter to complete six innings in a game in almost two weeks.
Bullpen withstands pressure, but missed opportunities prove costly
On Thursday, the Twins bullpen had one of the worst outings of the season, giving up all nine Toronto runs in a devastating loss. Tonight, they had a great opportunity to rebound from such an awful display, and they did a fine job. Griffin Jax struck out the side facing the heart of the Blue Jays lineup for a quick, 11-pitch seventh inning. Then, Jhoan Duran got two quick outs in the eighth but gave up a single to Merrifield, having to face Guerrero Jr. with the game on the line next.
Pete Maki made a mound visit and decided not to intentionally walk the All-Star first baseman. Duran couldn’t retire Guerrero Jr., but he managed to induce weak-enough contact to hold him to a groundball single. Facing Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Duran got the huge final out on a force out, setting Jorge López up for the save. After not capitalizing on leadoff doubles in the seventh and the eighth innings, the Twins had flame-throwing closer López in the ninth to try to hold on to a one-run lead. The All-Star closer lost Bo Bichette to a one-out single but retired Chapman next after a tough at-bat for the second out. However, Danny Jansen and Tapia hit back-to-back singles and scored Bichette. That was López’s third blown save all year.
Offense loads the bases in the 9th, but comes out empty-handed
Gio Urshela was briefly brought into the game in the ninth inning to pinch-hit for León, and for a third consecutive inning, Minnesota had the leadoff man on. He smacked a single off Yimi Garcia, then left the game for pinch-runner Gilberto Celestino. Luis Arráez moved him to second on a groundout, then he reached third on a fielding error by Cavan Biggio. With only one out, the Jays made the bold decision to intentionally walk Polanco and bring none other than Miranda to the plate with the bases loaded. He struck out swinging, and Garcia got Gordon to fly out on the next at-bat, taking the game to extra innings.  The Twins finished regulation with an awful 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Twins walk off on a couple of defensive mistakes by Toronto
Michael Fulmer, making his second appearance as a Twin, scared us all when he gave up a walk to Guerrero Jr. and a single to Gurriel Jr. to load the bases in the 10th inning. However, he bounced back incredibly by striking out Teoscar Hernández and Bichette. It was again up to the offense to salvage this game. Jake Cave had a great, six-pitch at-bat against Jordan Romano, which ended in a strikeout that Jansen couldn’t hold on to. When he made the throw to first, Guerrero Jr. couldn’t hold on to the ball, and ghost runner Gordon reached third. With two men on and no outs, Beckham grounded to short, and Gordon beat the throw by Chapman at home to win the game.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Both teams are back on the field tomorrow for game three, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins turn to Dylan Bundy (5.04 ERA), while Mitch White (3.70 ERA) starts the game for Toronto.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Jax 20 24 0 0 11 55 Fulmer 23 0 13 0 15 51 Duran 10 0 19 0 17 46 Pagán 0 16 0 25 0 41 Megill 0 8 0 29 0 37 López 0 0 7 0 30 37 Thielbar 0 0 11 0 0 11 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Tyler Mahle, 6 IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 5K (86 pitches, 61 strikes, 70.9%)
Home Runs: Mark Contreras (2), Nick Gordon (5)
Top 3 WPA: Michael Fulmer (.307), Carlos Correa (.205), Jhoan Duran (.118)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

A good turnout showed up at Target Field on a lovely evening, and all eyes were on the Twins’ new starter Tyler Mahle, who was set to make his first start for Minnesota since being acquired at the trade deadline. Well, some hundreds of eyes might’ve also been on old friend and still beloved by all, José Berríos, especially those of Blue Jays fans all over the place.
The first two innings of this game seemed to set the tone: it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. Both starters faced the minimum, with Berríos needing only 14 pitches to do so – 12 fewer pitches than Mahle. But things took a shift in a very different direction once the third inning started.
After Mahle pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the inning, Berríos suffered his first punch. Mark Contreras fell behind in the count 0-2, but he came back to crush a line drive to left-center for his second home run in the big leagues, putting the Twins on the board.
Berríos limited the damage to the one run heading to the fourth, and while Mahle continued to dominate the Blue Jay lineup, the former Twins ace just lost it. After Mahle tossed a quick, 1-2-3 top of the fourth on seven pitches, Berríos’ nightmare against his old teammates was about to start. Carlos Correa and Jorge Polanco opened up the home fourth with a long double and a walk, respectively. Next, José Miranda lined a single to center to push Correa across.
Then, Nick Gordon didn’t waste any time and jumped on the first pitch he saw for a three-run bomb to right-center. A definite no-doubter to break the game wide open, making it 5-0 Twins before Berríos could even record an out. Minnesota’s offense continued to pound him, and after a Tim Beckham one-out single and a Sandy León two-out walk, Berríos was pulled from the game.
Toronto rallies back with three home runs
After four innings of sheer dominance over the Blue Jays lineup, Mahle started to lose his stuff. After retiring seven batters in a row and just as he was one out away from delivering a scoreless fifth, he gave up a two-out home run to Matt Chapman, putting Toronto on the board. He completed five innings of one-run ball on only sixty pitches, still in his second time through the order.
But just as Berríos’ first home run given up gave Minnesota some momentum, Chapman’s dinger did exactly the same. After a lengthy at-bat by Raimel Tapia to start the sixth inning, Toronto’s number nine hitter, Santiago Espinal, hit a one-out solo homer to center to score the visitors’ second run. Newcomer Whit Merrifield, a career .297 hitter against the Twins, followed Espinal’s home run with a single that set Blue Jays fans on fire at Target Field.
Then, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a long two-run dong to cut Minnesota’s lead to 5-4. Mahle managed to get back on track and finish the inning, but only after he tossed 26 pitches, the most out of any inning in this game. By doing so, he became the first Twins starter to complete six innings in a game in almost two weeks.
Bullpen withstands pressure, but missed opportunities prove costly
On Thursday, the Twins bullpen had one of the worst outings of the season, giving up all nine Toronto runs in a devastating loss. Tonight, they had a great opportunity to rebound from such an awful display, and they did a fine job. Griffin Jax struck out the side facing the heart of the Blue Jays lineup for a quick, 11-pitch seventh inning. Then, Jhoan Duran got two quick outs in the eighth but gave up a single to Merrifield, having to face Guerrero Jr. with the game on the line next.
Pete Maki made a mound visit and decided not to intentionally walk the All-Star first baseman. Duran couldn’t retire Guerrero Jr., but he managed to induce weak-enough contact to hold him to a groundball single. Facing Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Duran got the huge final out on a force out, setting Jorge López up for the save. After not capitalizing on leadoff doubles in the seventh and the eighth innings, the Twins had flame-throwing closer López in the ninth to try to hold on to a one-run lead. The All-Star closer lost Bo Bichette to a one-out single but retired Chapman next after a tough at-bat for the second out. However, Danny Jansen and Tapia hit back-to-back singles and scored Bichette. That was López’s third blown save all year.
Offense loads the bases in the 9th, but comes out empty-handed
Gio Urshela was briefly brought into the game in the ninth inning to pinch-hit for León, and for a third consecutive inning, Minnesota had the leadoff man on. He smacked a single off Yimi Garcia, then left the game for pinch-runner Gilberto Celestino. Luis Arráez moved him to second on a groundout, then he reached third on a fielding error by Cavan Biggio. With only one out, the Jays made the bold decision to intentionally walk Polanco and bring none other than Miranda to the plate with the bases loaded. He struck out swinging, and Garcia got Gordon to fly out on the next at-bat, taking the game to extra innings.  The Twins finished regulation with an awful 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Twins walk off on a couple of defensive mistakes by Toronto
Michael Fulmer, making his second appearance as a Twin, scared us all when he gave up a walk to Guerrero Jr. and a single to Gurriel Jr. to load the bases in the 10th inning. However, he bounced back incredibly by striking out Teoscar Hernández and Bichette. It was again up to the offense to salvage this game. Jake Cave had a great, six-pitch at-bat against Jordan Romano, which ended in a strikeout that Jansen couldn’t hold on to. When he made the throw to first, Guerrero Jr. couldn’t hold on to the ball, and ghost runner Gordon reached third. With two men on and no outs, Beckham grounded to short, and Gordon beat the throw by Chapman at home to win the game.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
Both teams are back on the field tomorrow for game three, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins turn to Dylan Bundy (5.04 ERA), while Mitch White (3.70 ERA) starts the game for Toronto.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT               Jax 20 24 0 0 11 55 Fulmer 23 0 13 0 15 51 Duran 10 0 19 0 17 46 Pagán 0 16 0 25 0 41 Megill 0 8 0 29 0 37 López 0 0 7 0 30 37 Thielbar 0 0 11 0 0 11 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 5 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 9K (78 pitches, 63 strikes, 80.8%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Sandy León (.200), Joe Ryan (.155), Michael Fulmer (.079)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Four new ballplayers joined the Twins at Tuesday’s trade deadline, three pitchers (Tyler Mahle, Jorge López, and Michael Fulmer) and a catcher (Sandy León). With Minnesota’s pitching going through an incredibly rough patch for weeks now, it was natural for the pitcher trades to be celebrated the most. But it was the lone bat acquired in those deals to make some noise first.
After going down in order in the first inning, the offense set the wheels in motion in the second. TD’s hitter of the month of July, José Miranda kicked things off with a leadoff single shortly before Nick Gordon drew a one-out walk. Lefty Tyler Alexander managed to retire Jake Cave for the second out, but he couldn’t dodge the León bullet. Batting eighth in his very first at-bat as a Twin, León drove in both runners with a double to the left-field corner.
Unfortunately for the Twins, the offense couldn’t do much outside that second inning. Alexander pitched three perfect innings around it, keeping the Twins bats on a leash. Fortunately for the Twins, though, Joe Ryan had a tremendous start to this game – perhaps another impact brought to the table by León. Ryan tossed four scoreless innings to open this game, allowing only two hits while striking out seven.
During the fifth, he had some issues, causing him to hit two batters and allowing Riley Greene to push the leadoff runner across, scoring Detroit’s first run. Ryan limited the damage to the one run by striking out the next two batters for a total of nine through five. Also, TD’s Nick Nelson found this gem:
Came the sixth inning, and Rocco Baldelli decided it was time to have another new Twin make his debut for Minnesota. Fulmer needed only 13 pitches, nine of which were strikes, to toss a scoreless frame with a punch out. He also caught former teammate Harold Castro trying to steal second to end the inning. In the home sixth, Byron Buxton led things off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and was pushed across by a Carlos Correa single, making it 3-1 Minnesota.
While Caleb Thielbar and Jhoan Duran did a fine job keeping the lead intact through the seventh and eighth innings, the bats had a hard time adding on. Cave and León got back-to-back hits in the seventh (León’s first multi-hit game of the season), but both runners ended up being stranded. But they managed to get one more insurance run for Jorge Lopez to have an easier time trying to get his first save as a Twin in the ninth.
Buxton led off the eighth with a single, shortly before Jorge Polanco got his first hit of the afternoon, a one-out single. Miranda drew a walk to load the bases with one out, and the Twins had the chance to break the game open. Gio Urshela hit a sac-fly to center to score Buxton from third, but that was all Minnesota got, as Gordon struck out next to end the inning. López stepped up for his first save opportunity with Minnesota and he breezed through the ninth, retiring the side on seven pitches, concluding a perfect debut for the new fellows.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
The Twins continue their homestand on Thursday when they start a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for tomorrow at 6:40 pm CDT, with Sonny Gray (3.41 ERA) taking the mound for Minnesota and Alek Manoah (2.43 ERA) starting for Toronto.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Pagán 20 20 0 16 0 56 Jax 11 0 20 24 0 55 Duran 11 0 10 0 19 40 Megill 7 23 0 8 0 38 Fulmer 0 0 23 0 13 36 Duffey 28 0 0 7 0 35 Moran 0 16 0 10 0 26 Thielbar 0 7 0 0 11 18 López 0 0 0 0 7 7  

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 5 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 9K (78 pitches, 63 strikes, 80.8%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Sandy León (.200), Joe Ryan (.155), Michael Fulmer (.079)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Four new ballplayers joined the Twins at Tuesday’s trade deadline, three pitchers (Tyler Mahle, Jorge López, and Michael Fulmer) and a catcher (Sandy León). With Minnesota’s pitching going through an incredibly rough patch for weeks now, it was natural for the pitcher trades to be celebrated the most. But it was the lone bat acquired in those deals to make some noise first.
After going down in order in the first inning, the offense set the wheels in motion in the second. TD’s hitter of the month of July, José Miranda kicked things off with a leadoff single shortly before Nick Gordon drew a one-out walk. Lefty Tyler Alexander managed to retire Jake Cave for the second out, but he couldn’t dodge the León bullet. Batting eighth in his very first at-bat as a Twin, León drove in both runners with a double to the left-field corner.
Unfortunately for the Twins, the offense couldn’t do much outside that second inning. Alexander pitched three perfect innings around it, keeping the Twins bats on a leash. Fortunately for the Twins, though, Joe Ryan had a tremendous start to this game – perhaps another impact brought to the table by León. Ryan tossed four scoreless innings to open this game, allowing only two hits while striking out seven.
During the fifth, he had some issues, causing him to hit two batters and allowing Riley Greene to push the leadoff runner across, scoring Detroit’s first run. Ryan limited the damage to the one run by striking out the next two batters for a total of nine through five. Also, TD’s Nick Nelson found this gem:
Came the sixth inning, and Rocco Baldelli decided it was time to have another new Twin make his debut for Minnesota. Fulmer needed only 13 pitches, nine of which were strikes, to toss a scoreless frame with a punch out. He also caught former teammate Harold Castro trying to steal second to end the inning. In the home sixth, Byron Buxton led things off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and was pushed across by a Carlos Correa single, making it 3-1 Minnesota.
While Caleb Thielbar and Jhoan Duran did a fine job keeping the lead intact through the seventh and eighth innings, the bats had a hard time adding on. Cave and León got back-to-back hits in the seventh (León’s first multi-hit game of the season), but both runners ended up being stranded. But they managed to get one more insurance run for Jorge Lopez to have an easier time trying to get his first save as a Twin in the ninth.
Buxton led off the eighth with a single, shortly before Jorge Polanco got his first hit of the afternoon, a one-out single. Miranda drew a walk to load the bases with one out, and the Twins had the chance to break the game open. Gio Urshela hit a sac-fly to center to score Buxton from third, but that was all Minnesota got, as Gordon struck out next to end the inning. López stepped up for his first save opportunity with Minnesota and he breezed through the ninth, retiring the side on seven pitches, concluding a perfect debut for the new fellows.
Postgame interview
What’s Next?
The Twins continue their homestand on Thursday when they start a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for tomorrow at 6:40 pm CDT, with Sonny Gray (3.41 ERA) taking the mound for Minnesota and Alek Manoah (2.43 ERA) starting for Toronto.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
  SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT               Pagán 20 20 0 16 0 56 Jax 11 0 20 24 0 55 Duran 11 0 10 0 19 40 Megill 7 23 0 8 0 38 Fulmer 0 0 23 0 13 36 Duffey 28 0 0 7 0 35 Moran 0 16 0 10 0 26 Thielbar 0 7 0 0 11 18 López 0 0 0 0 7 7