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Down big after four innings, the Minnesota Twins fought back to make the game interesting in the ninth but would come up 180 feet away from tying the game. If you gave up on the game early, you did miss some fun! While in Chicago, the Twins combined to go 1-5 against the Windy City tandem and largely it was pitching to blame instead of the offense. They scored 32-runs in the six games (5.33/game) but will have to head north along the Lake Michigan shoreline to try to salvage, against the Milwaukee Brewers, something out of their nine-game road trip .Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: Lance Lynn: 8 Game Score, 1.2 IP, 7 ER, 1 K, 3 BB, 53.2% strikes Bullpen: 6.1IP, 4 ER, 6 K, 3 BB Lineup: 5-for-13 w/RISP, 11 LOB Top three per WPA: Garver .100, Cave .090, Dozier .080 Download attachment: game chart.png The Twins got the scoring started in the top of the second inning, as Jake Cave hit a monster blast to center field for a 1-0 lead: Cave would finish the game 3-for5 with two RBI, adding an RBI double and a single later in the game. In the bottom of the second however, Lance Lynn was chased after giving up two more walks, five hits, and six runs. The biggest of those hits was a three-run home run to opposing starter Jon Lester: An inherited runner would be added on to Lynn’s line in the eight-run inning, and his 1 2/3 innings pitched was the first time he hadn’t gone at least five innings in his last eight turns. With the scoreboard reading 9-1 after four frames, the Twins did not go away. Mitch Garver added an RBI single to Cave’s RBI double in the fifth. Brian Dozier clubbed his twelfth home run of the season in the top of sixth, a two-run shot to make it 10-5. It still wasn’t looking good with two outs in the top of the eighth inning and the score 11-5, but that’s when things got weird in a good way. Eduardo Escobar hit his major league leading 34th double, Dozier drew a walk, and Logan Morrison drove in one to cut the lead to five. Astudillo then drove in two more with a triple, and Mitch Garver made it 11-10 with his third home run on the season before the Cubs summoned closer Brandon Morrow to escape the two-out rally: Minnesota got Eddie Rosario into scoring position in the ninth but were unable to bring him in and left Chicago being swept by the Cubs, who outscored them 35-25 in the series. The game marked the first time since 1930 the Cubs have scored ten or more runs in four consecutive games. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: bullpen chart.jpg AL Central Standings CLE 45-37 MIN 35-45 (-8.5) DET 37-48 (-9) CWS 28-54 (-16.5) KC 25-57 (-19.5) Next Three Games Mon @ MIL, 7:10PM CST – RHP Kyle Gibson (2-6, 3.48 ERA) Tue @ MIL, 3:10PM CST – RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-5, 4.62 ERA) Wed @ MIL, 3:10PM CST – RHP Jose Berrios (8-6, 3.52 ERA) Last Three Games CHC 14, MIN 9: It’s Not the Heat, It’s … Actually, It Is the Heat This Time CHC 10, MIN 6: Hey, Remember Joe Mauer? MIN 2, CWS 1: Walking Away With a Win More From Twins Daily Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher Of The Month – June 2018 Twins Minor League Report (6/30): Grand Night for Cedar Rapids Revisiting Molitor vs. Lovullo Click here to view the article

Free agency has been slow moving this off-season. Few of the top free agents have signed and there has even been talk about collusion among MLB’s teams. Realistically, teams are smarter about the way they spend money and this year’s crop of free agents has plenty of flaws. The Twins have been tied to Yu Darvish from the beginning. Minnesota’s front office hasn’t been shy about mentioned their intentions of trying the hook the biggest fish on the free agent market. A thrilling conclusion could be coming and Twins’ fans could have an answer as early as this week.Darvish Decision Looming Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and MLB Network is reporting that Darvish is expected to make his decision this week. He also adds that the Twins are one of the teams still in discussion with the star pitcher. It is interesting that his only note about a current team is the Twins. However, there have been plenty of other teams connected to Darvish in recent weeks. The list of teams includes the Twins, Cubs, Rangers, Dodgers and Brewers. Gimenez Signing Former Twins catcher Chris Gimenez signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs this week. Sporting News compared this move to when the Cubs brought in David Ross to be paired with Jon Lester in 2015. Gimenez worked with Darvish in Texas and helped the pitcher on his way back from Tommy John surgery. Darvish has also called Gimenez his “all-time favorite catcher.” Five-Year Offer Darvish will turn 32 next August and he has only pitched one season of more than 200 innings. This might make it tough for team’s swallow a long-term deal. With many big free agent signings, there is some “dead” money at the end of the deal where the player isn’t playing at the same level as prior to his contract signing. According to reports, Darvish has at least one five-year offer on the table. There are still multiple teams in the mix for Darvish’s services but it sounds like his decision will be made by the end of the week. What are your thoughts on the latest Darvish news? Will he be in a Twins uniform by the end of the week? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Terry Ryan and the Minnesota Twins extended Phil Hughes through 2019, effectively making his contract a five-year, $58 million deal. He will earn $9.2 million in 2015 and 2016 before earning $13.2MM annually from 2017 to 2019. Considering his 2014 numbers, the $11.6 million per year average salary is more than reasonable. This blog was originally published at Go Gonzo Journal. If you consider the Twins’ recent signing of Ervin Santana, the extension looks even better. Ryan cut a check to Santana for four years and $55 million – a reasonable price to pay for a proven middle-of-the-rotation starter. But that’s roughly $2 million more per year for a guy whose numbers weren't in Hughes’ ballpark. Santana’s FIP (3.39), xFIP (3.47), and SIERA (3.63) indicate he was better than his ERA (3.95), but not nearly as good as Hughes. Hughes had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in baseball history last season at 11.63, allowing less than a walk per game. He gave up as many homers (16) as walks in 2014. His 3.52 ERA was inflated due to terrible outfield defense and below-average infield defense. In fact, Hughes’ sabermetric numbers make him look like a god. FIP (2.65), xFIP (3.18) and SIERA (3.17) all show that Hughes was a lot better than his ERA. He finished seventh in the 2014 Cy Young voting, however, most wouldn't consider him an ace, despite finishing tied for fourth among all pitchers with 6.1 Wins Above Replacement last season. The two guys he tied, David Price and Jon Lester, will both make more than Hughes next season. Price made $14 million in arbitration last year, and Lester signed a monstrous six-year deal worth nearly $26 million per year on average. The extension includes a limited no-trade clause allowing Hughes to block trades to three teams each year, so if Hughes can repeat his ace-like 2014 season, Terry Ryan will have an excellent trade chip with a team-friendly contract. If Hughes gets hurt or takes a step back, the deal doesn't look as good, but given his strategy of limiting free passes and forcing harmless fly balls in big Target Field, I don't think it’s likely he regresses. He’s a new man in Minnesota. I mostly like the deal except I would have waited until after the 2015 season to do it. Hughes was set to make just $8 million next year, but the difference between $8 million and $9.2 million or even $11.6 million is negligible. Also, Hughes could have performed even better in 2015 and priced himself out of Minnesota, so Terry Ryan hit it out of the park with this deal. Hughes and Santana look to be the veterans that will lead this young Twins squad into the future, and if they're still around when Byron Buxton roams center field, their numbers will look even better. Let’s just hope Ryan doesn't fail to trade Hughes or Santana when they're most valuable.