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After dropping games two and three of the series, the Twins bounced back tonight to force a series split against the Chicago White Sox as they won by a score of 7-2. Box Score Starting Pitcher: Pineda 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO Homeruns: Kepler (12), Polanco (14) Top 3 WPA: Polanco (0.195), Pineda (0.163), Kepler (0.144) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pineda Impresses Right Before Trade Deadline With the Twins well out of contention, it is not secret that they will be sellers at the trade deadline, and one of the names that could be on the block is starting pitcher Michael Pineda, who will be a free agent at season’s end. While Pineda is not one of the biggest names on the block, he certainly had value for a contending team looking to add depth to their rotation, and starts like tonight will only help that trade value go up. In tonight’s start, Michael Pineda allowed just one run on four hits, across five innings of work against one of the best offenses in baseball. This was a great sign, as Pineda got hit around pretty hard in his only other start since returning from the Injured List, which also came against the White Sox back on July 7th. Pineda did run into a little struggle in the bottom of the third inning. After getting Zack Collins to fly out to left to leadoff the inning, Billy Hamilton laced a ground ball double to left field. Hamilton would then steal third in the next plate appearance, which would result in a walk to Tim Anderson. After Anderson stole second, the White Sox had a serious threat going with second and third and only one out. Adam Engle then hit a hard ground ball between third and short that just deflected off the glove of a diving Josh Donaldson. Andrelton Simmons was able to field the ball, but he didn’t have a play and everyone was safe, with Billy Hamilton scoring the game tying run. After a mound visit, Pineda was then able to get Jose Abreu to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam with the game still tied at one a piece. Max Kepler Hits Another Home Run in Chicago Much like Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler has grown accustomed to hitting home runs in Chicago, as he went deep again there tonight. This home run got the scoring started in the top of the third off a 1-1 breaking ball from Dylan Cease. When Kepler first hit the ball, it was clear that the ball had enough juice to get out, the question was would it stay fair. This time that answer was yes, as the ball struck the foul pole in right about 10 feet above the wall. The Twins String Together a Two Out Rally to Take the Lead in the Fifth With the score tied at one all in the top of the fifth, it appeared that Dylan Cease would give the White Sox lineup a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the inning with two quick outs versus Andrelton Simmions and Max Kepler. However, the heart of the Twins order was not about to let that happen. Jorge Polanco got the rally going when he laced a single into right. Nelson Cruz then followed that up with a ground-rule double over Adam Engel’s head in right. The White Sox appeared to catch a break, as had that ball stayed in play, Polanco would have likely scored from first. That was a moot point, however, as both Polanco and Cruz came around to score on a ground ball single up the middle off the bat of Josh Donaldson, giving the Twins a 3-1 lead. Trevor Larnach kept the two out rally going with a single of his own, but Miguel Sano swung and missed at three straight pitches, putting an end to the rally. Jorge Polanco Adds to the Twins Lead in the Sixth After starting the two out rally the inning prior, Jorge Polanco came up with another big two out hit in the sixth, this time it was a three-run blast to bust the game open for the Twins. The sixth inning got started much the same way as the fifth, with two quick outs. However, after an Andrelton Simmons single, followed by his first stolen base of the season, and a Max Kepler walk, the table was set for Jorge Polanco to deliver, and he did just that as he sent a 3-1 fastball into the Twins bullpen in right-centerfield, extending the Twins lead to five. Jorge Polanco’s night would not end there, as he would help add another insurance run in the top of the ninth. With one out in the inning, Polanco lined a double to left field. He then attempted to steal third and was initially ruled out, but after a successful Twins challenge he was ruled safe. He then came into score the Twins seventh run of the game (his third) on a Nelson Cruz sac-fly, giving the Twins the 7-2 lead. The Twins Bullpen has Strong Showing After a good start from Michael Pineda, it was the bullpen's job to protect the Twins lead and they did just that tonight, giving up just one run over four collective innings of work. Tyler Duffey was the first out of the pen to start the sixth, and though he gave up four hits, he did not surrender a run across 1 and 2/3 innings of work. Alex Colome came in an finished things off in the seventh, before giving up a run on a pair of doubles in the eighth. Caleb Thielbar then came in to close things out in the ninth. He gave up a leadoff walk to start the inning, but then got Billy Hamilton to strikeout before inducing a 6-4-3 double-play off the batt of Tim Anderson to seal the Twins victory. Bullpen Usage Chart What is Next? The Twins will return home on Thursday to being a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Game one of the series will begin Thursday at 7:10 p.m. CDT with Kenta Maeda on the mound against Angels starter Andrew Heaney. 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In his second start back with the club, Michael Pineda held the Tigers to two runs on three hits over seven innings pitched, eclipsing the 100-pitch mark in the process. The Twins beat Detroit on a cold, wet day at Target Field, giving them wins in four of the five games this series.Box Score Pineda: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K Home Runs: Jeffers (1), Buxton (6) Top 3 WPA: Pineda .226, Jeffers .156, Rosario .150 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): Download attachment: Winchart.png The story of the game today was the Twins getting yet another impressive performance on the mound from Michael Pineda. After impressing in his first start back from his suspension, Pineda was even better today, going seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on just three hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Of his seven innings pitched, four of them were 1-2-3 innings. This was a great time for a Twins starter to go deep into the game, as the bullpen got worked pretty hard in yesterday’s game, and they will need to be fresh for tomorrow’s doubleheader in St. Louis. Ryan Jeffers got the scoring started in the third with a one out blast to straight away center field. For Jeffers, it was a statement home run coming off the bat a scorching 111.3 MPH. It was not only Jeffers first career MLB home run, but also his first career MLB extra base hit. It will likely be the first of many from a catch the possess power rarely seen from the catching position. The Twins were not done score after that, however, as LaMonte Wade got a one out rally started with a bloop double in the very next at-bat. Josh Donaldson and Brent Rooker followed that up with a walk and an opposite field single to load the bases for Eddie Rosario. After a Tigers pitching change, Rosario proceeded to come through with this bases clearing double. For the second consecutive day, Eddie Rosario made a stupid base running mistake that likely cost the Twins runs early in the game. This over aggressiveness has been a trend with Rosario throughout his career, but unlike in his early years, the excuse of Rosario still being inexperienced is gone. By this point, you would expect a veteran leader on your team to play smarter baseball than that. The Twins were able to play small ball to scratch across another run in the fifth. Jake Cave got the inning going with a one-out bunt single to beat the shift. Cave was then able to advance to second on an Ehire Adrianza groundout. This gave Ryan Jeffers another chance to come up big in this game, and he did just that, as he hit a groundball single just under the glove of a diving Jonathan Schoop into the outfield, bringing Cave around to score the Twins fifth run of the ballgame. Cody Stashak made his return from the injured list, after being out since August 11th with a lower back injury. It wasn’t the cleanest of outings from Stashak, as he allowed a rare walk, but in the end he got the job done, and maintained the Twins 5-2 lead. It was a strong day at the plate for Byron Buxton. In the sixth, he hit a hard groundball back up the middle that deflected off the glove of Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris past the infield shift, and trickled into the outfield. About as soon as you thought that was a good luck single, Buxton was standing on second, as he was hustling out of the box, and used his world class speed to turn his good fortune into what will look like a flyball in the gap in the box score. Buxton didn’t need any good fortune in his next at-bat, as he blasted this no-doubter into the second deck. Even though it was no longer a save situation, Taylor Rogers still came in in the ninth, as he was already warmed up. It was undoubtably the most impressive outing for Rogers on the season, as he struck out the side to close out the Twins 6-2 victory. Hopefully, this is the outing that Rogers needed to get things going back in the right direct as we head into the final weeks of the regular season. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Postgame Pint John, Nick and Seth discussed the game with Twins Daily's live virtual audience. Download The Postgame Pint Podcast You can also listen to the Postgame Pint and never miss another one. Just head over to our iTunes page and subscribe. Every morning you'll have a new episode waiting for you. Or listen wherever you download your favorite podcasts. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

The Twins were in desperate need of a boost, and tonight they got one. Michael Pineda delivered a quality start in his first outing in nearly a year while Buxton robbed a homer and drove in the go-ahead run in his return from the Injured List.Box Score Pineda: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Home Runs: None Win Probability Chart (via Baseball Savant): Download attachment: WinChart.png Michael Pineda’s first start back from his seemingly never-ending suspension got off to a rocky beginning. After allowing a couple singles, Pineda gave up a two-out double to Eloy Jimenez, and before you know it the White Sox has a quick 2-0 lead. After that Pineda settled in nicely, as he faced the minimum over the next three innings. He got himself into a two-out jam in the fifth, as he loaded the bases after retiring the first two batters of the inning. Fortunately, Pineda was able to get the hottest hitter on the planet in Jose Abreu to hit a squibber to Miguel Sano at first to end the inning. Edwin Encarnacion got ahold of one to leadoff the sixth, but Byron Buxton was there to save the day with this incredible (for all human beings not named Byron Buxton) catch. In total, Pineda had a strong return to the mound for the Twins. He went six strong innings, allowing just the two runs that he gave up in the first. He gave up six hits and a walk, while striking out four. While Pineda reportedly was ramped up to throw more pitches, Rocco Baldelli pulled him after just 81 pitches, though that was probably situational more than anything else. The Twins' bats were silent through the early innings of the game. They got a two out rally together in the third, but failed to cash in on two-out hits from Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz. It took until the fifth for the Twins to finally break through, thanks in part to a drop from Jose Abreu at first, which if it had been caught would have likely been an inning ending double-play. Rocco Baldelli pulled all the right strings in the sixth to help the Twins tie the game back up at two. After a Byron Buxton pop out to leadoff the inning, Baldelli had Jake Cave pinch-hit for Ildemaro Vargas, and Cave promptly rewarded that decision with a one-out triple. Baldelli went back into the well for the next at-bat, having Luis Arraez pinch-hit for Ryan Jeffers in the nine hole. On the first pitch of the at-bat Arraez drilled a ground ball down the first base line, past Jose Abreu, and into the outfield for a game-tying double. Caleb Thielbar had another impressive relief appearance in the seventh inning for the Twins. After giving up a couple runs in the third inning of his return to the majors, Thielbar has had eight consecutive scoreless outings, including tonight. Thielbar has been dominate in those outings, striking out 12 while allowing just four hits and one walk across 8 and 1/3 innings. After scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, the Twins added another in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. Nelson Cruz doubled to start the inning, which was Cruz’s third hit of the game and fourth time reaching base safely. Then, after a pitching change, Marwin Gonzalez drew a gritty walk to give the Twins first and second with nobody out. After Eddie Rosario and Ehire Adrianza both failed to advance the runners, it was Byron Buxton who came up clutch, in his return to the lineup, with a two-out single. Sergio Romo had another 1-2-3 inning tonight, showing that he has put his blow-up outing in Cleveland in the rearview mirror. Romo had a minor injury scare in the inning, that was reminiscent of the leg issues he was going through at the end of last season. In the end, Romo appeared to be fine, as he stayed in the game and finished off the inning. After much of the bullpen got used up in last night’s ballgame, it was Matt Wisler who was called upon to close the game out in the ninth. Much like he has been all season, Wisler was very impressive. Firs, he needed some help from his defense, as Ehire Andrianza made a diving play to take away a double from Eloy Jimenez, that was completed by a great pick from Miguel Sano at first. Then Wisler struck out both Luis Robert and Nomar Mazara with his trusty slider to finally put an end to the Twins six-game losing streak. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Postgame Pint Immediately following the game, Nick Nelson, John Bonnes and David Youngs are joined by Twins Daily's virtual live audience to discuss the return of Michael Pineda and Byron Buxton and a Twins win. Download The Postgame Pint Podcast You can also listen to the Postgame Pint and never miss another one. Just head over to our iTunes page and subscribe. Every morning you'll have a new episode waiting for you. Or listen wherever you download your favorite podcasts. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Kenta Maeda nearly pitched the sixth no-hitter in Twins history, carrying a no-no into the ninth inning Tuesday night. He set a new franchise record by striking out eight consecutive batters at one point. Taylor Rogers blew the save, but the Twins pulled out the win in the 12th inning.Box Score Maeda: 8.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K Home Runs: None Win Probability Chart (via Baseball Savant): Download attachment: Screenshot 2020-08-18 at 11.44.30 PM.png There have been five no-hitters in Minnesota Twins history, and seven in franchise history if you count the two by the Washington Senators, which includes one by the great Walter Johnson in 1920. Kenta Maeda gave himself a great shot at becoming the sixth pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Twins history, taking the no-no into the ninth.. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be, as it was broken up by an Eric Sogard base-hit into centerfield, that was just out of the reach of Jorge Polance, to leadoff the ninth. The new Twins record streak of eight consecutive strikeouts for Kenta Maeda began with the second out in the third inning, when Maeda got Eric Sogard on a changeup. He then polished off Avisial Garcia with three straight fastballs to end the third. Maeda then work his most impressive inning with the Twins, striking out the heart of the Brewers order, that includes Christian Yelich, Keston Hiura and Justin Smoak. In the fifth, Maeda tied the previously held Twins record of seven consecutive strikeouts by getting Omar Narvaez on a changeup for the second out of the inning. The table was then set for Maeda to break the record, which he did with ease, taking care of Ben Gamel on three pitches for his eighth consecutive strikeout. Overall, it was an excellent outing for Kenta Maeda, beyond just not allowing a hit until the ninth. He struck out 12 batters for just the fourth time in his MLB career, allowed just one run on one hit and two walks. So far, Maeda is looking like an excellent offseason acquisition for the Twins, and is up there with Nelson Cruz and Randy Dobnak for the early team MVP. Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes was matching Maeda pitch for pitch through the first four innings of the ballgame, having retired 13 of the 14 batters that he faced. Yes, he retired 13 batters in just four innings of work, as Max Kepler reached first base on a dropped third strike, which remains the dumbest “written” rule in baseball in this writer’s opinion. The Twins were finally able to break through in the bottom of the fifth, when Luis Arraez leadoff the inning with a double, for the first hit of the ballgame. He was immediately brought in, as Miguel Sano delivered a double of his own. The Twins were able to load the bases with two outs for Nelson Cruz, which has seemed like a guaranteed run scoring situation of late. However, Cruz showed that he is indeed human, as he struck out to end the inning. Jorge Polanco was able to tack on an insurance run in the seventh, with a clutch two-out base hit past the first basemen. The inning got started with yet another Miguel Sano double, his third in the last two games. Ehire Adrianza then came in to pinch-run for Sano, and replace him in the field. He would later come around to score on the RBI single from Polanco. The offense helped make the decision to send Maeda back out for the ninth by tacking on another insurance run in the eighth. Eddie Rosario drew a four pitch walk to leadoff the inning. He then stole second on what was originally ruled a strike’em out throw’em out double play. However, after a Twins challenge, the call was overturned, and Rosario was ruled safe. Rosario advance to third during the next plate appearance on a Angel Perdomo balk. After Luis Arraez walked, Ehire Adrianza brought in Rosario on a perfectly placed squeez bunt. The bunt was so well placed, the Adrianza actually got a hit. The inning came to an end the next batter on a very rare Byron Buxton double play. The top of the ninth was brutal to watch as a Twins fan, and quite frankly I don’t really want to write about it, and I’m sure none of you guys want to read about it, so here is the gist, 2020 sucks. After they failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, the Twins went to extra innings for the first time this season. That means this was the first look for the Twins with the new runner starting on second base rule. Caleb Thielbar came in to pitch in the top of the inning for the Twins, and did an excellent job, as he sent the Brewers down 1-2-3, without even allowing the runner to advance from second. Josh Hader came in to pitch for the Brewers in the bottom of the inning and was able to match Thielbar’s performance. The 11th inning was more of the same, as both teams were still unable to advance the runner on second over to third. Jorge Alcala pitched a gem of an inning, as he allowed a one out walk to Christian Yelich, but kept the runner at second from getting to third. Then the Twins set a new franchise record in this game, by having just two hitters come to the plate in the bottom of the 11th. Ehire Adrianza hit a chopper to first, and Ildemaro Vargas was thrown out trying to advance from second. Byron Buxton then ended the inning on the very next pitch, as he grounded into yet another shocking double play. The 12th inning was anything but a replica of the first two extra innings of this ballgame. With Alcala still pitching for the Twins, Ryan Braun leadoff the inning with a single to left, finally advancing the lead runner to third. Then after a Manny Pina popout, Max Kepler made this incredible diving catch on what looked like a sure fire go-ahead base hit by Orlando Arcia. Fortunately for the Twins, Jedd Gyorko was not tagging up on the play, and did not score. Jorge Alcala then picked up the biggest strikeout of his life, getting Luis Urias to end the inning. With Byron Buxton making the last out in the 11th, the Twins were able to start the bottom of the 12th with his speed on second, and did that ever come in handy. Alex Avila advance Buxton over to third with a swinging bunt to the first basemen to leadoff the inning. This led the Brewers to bring Ryan Braun in from the outfield to be the Brewers fifth infielder. After Max Kepler was hit by a pitch, Jorge Polanco came up big again, as he hit a weak groundball to second base, and Byron Buxton was able to slide in head first just ahead of the tag to secure the 4-3 win for the Minnesota Twins. Polanco’s groundball measured at just 45.6 MPH off the bat, and was the second slowest hit ball all game, behind only Ehire Adrianza’s squeeze bunt in the seventh inning. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen12.png Postgame Pint You can check out our nightly discussion of the game below: We do these immediately after the last out of most Twins’ games, and you can join us by checking out PostgamePint.com. Download The Postgame Pint Podcast You can also listen to the Postgame Pint and never miss another one. Just head over to our iTunes page and subscribe. Every morning you'll have a new episode waiting for you. Or listen wherever you download your favorite podcasts. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

With the Cleveland Indians on a mission down the stretch, the Minnesota Twins have needed to do their own dirty work to try to clinch their first division title since 2010. Luckily, the Twins have taken care of business, so far, against the bottom-feeders of the American League Central, and with tonight's 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers, their magic number is suddenly down to two, with five games to play.Box Score Odorizzi: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 64.5% strikes (60 of 93 pitches) Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Cave (2 for 4), Wade (2 for 3, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Wade .207, Odorizzi .180, Rosario .160, Astudillo .108 WPA of -0.1: Sano -.179, Polanco -.157 Jake Odorizzi did an excellent job keeping the Twins in the ballgame, as the bats struggled to come through in the early innings. After a Detroit double and single led to a run in the first inning, Odorizzi allowed just one more baserunner, on a walk, while striking out six more hitters. He did come back out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but was pulled during his warmups when Rocco Baldelli noticed something was off. The report was Odorizzi was lifted with hamstring tightness, so hopefully this shouldn’t be much of an issue for him as we move into postseason play. It took a while, but the Twins bats finally woke up in the seventh inning against Spencer Turnbull. Jake Cave led off the inning with a sharply pulled single into right field. LaMonte Wade Jr. followed that up with an excellent at-bat that resulted in a double down the third base line, and suddenly the Twins were in business with runners on second and third, with nobody out. This prompted Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire to go get Turnbull, and bring in David McKay to face Willians Astudillo. This proved favorable for the Twins, as Astudillo came through with a base hit up the middle to give the Twins their first runs of the game. After a Jason Castro hit-by-pitch and a Nelson Cruz intentional walk, Eddie Rosario came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, and he came through with a ringing double that made its way to the wall in left, scoring Astudillo and Castro, giving the Twins a 4-1 lead. Following Jake Odorizzi's six innings, Kyle Gibson came into the game to try to protect the Twins three-run lead. Gibson gave up a couple of singles in the inning, but struck out the other three batters he faced, popping as high as 96 MPH on the radar gun. He came back out in the eighth, and after the Tigers cut the lead down to two, thanks to a couple of doubles, things suddenly looked very interesting. However, after a visit to the mound, Gibson settled in to get the final two outs of the inning. Taylor Rogers came on in the bottom of the ninth and pitched an easy 1-2-3 inning, picking up his 29th save of the season. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at DET, 5:40 pm CT (TBD-Norris) Thu at DET, 12:10 pm CT (TBD-Zimmermann) Fri at KC, 7:15 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (9/22): Twins Offense Erupts for Twelve Runs Over Royals Click here to view the article

This game had pretty much everything you could ask for from a great baseball game. An historic home run, three different comebacks to tie the game, and a walk-off hit-by-pitch by Ronald Torreyes. When all was said and done, 22 different Minnesota Twins played a part in their 9-8 win over the Chicago White Sox.Box Score Perez: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 70.3% strikes (45 of 64 pitches) Home Runs: LaMarre (1), Sano (30) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (3 for 6, 2 2B), Gonzalez (3 for 6), Arraez (3 for 6, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Gonzalez .359, Rosario .307, Wade .254, Torreyes .164, Rogers .144, LaMarre .122, Romo .111, Cruz .102, WPA of -0.1: Harper -.402, Sano -.214, Littell -.145, May -.143, Polanco -.114, Schoop -.100 After the Twins failed to hit a home run in their 5-3 win over the White Sox last night, it was Ryan LaMarre of all people who hit the Twins first home run of the series, leading off the bottom of the third inning. It was just LaMarre’s third home run of his major league career. The homer drew this great reaction from Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders. Later in the third inning, Miguel Sano helped the Twins make more major league history, when he belted his 30th home run of the season, making the 2019 Minnesota Twins the first team to ever have five different 30-home run hitters in the same season. Sano’s home run traveled 482 feet, and became the second longest home run in Target Field history, behind only Jim Thome’s 490 foot blast back in 2011. Unfortunately for the Twins, the pitching staff was unable to hold the 5-0 lead they were given. Martin Perez was hit all over the yard tonight, giving up 10 hits in just 4- 2/3 innings. Somehow, he managed to give up just three runs. In the top of the sixth, Trevor May gave up home runs to Zack Collings and Adam Engel on back-to-back pitches, and just like that the game was tied. Tyler Duffey had another excellent outing tonight, striking out the White Sox' 3-4-5 hitters in the top of the seventh inning. Duffey has now worked 22 consecutive scoreless outings, dating back to July 28th. Over that time, Duffey has 33 strikeouts to just five walks in 19 2/3 innings pitched and has lowered his ERA from 3.82 down to 2.39. It was Sergio Romo’s turn in the top of the eighth inning to keep the score tied at five. Which is just what he did, getting a couple of big strikeouts with a runner on first to end the inning. However, he did so with an obvious limp after every pitch. The Twins came out to chat with him about it, be he insisted he was fine and stayed in the game to get the final two hitters. It will be worth monitoring this situation in the coming days to make sure nothing comes from it. Both Taylor Rogers and Zack Littell had to work out of jams in the top of the ninth and the top of the tenth respectively, to give the Twins hitters extra chances to try to win the game. The first two batters reached against Rogers via an error by Jorge Polanco, and a fielder’s choice by Rogers, when he tried to make the play at second after fielding a comebacker but was late with the throw. However, he was able to battle back by inducing a double play and getting Eloy Jimenez to strike out. In the tenth, Littell gave up two singles to lead off the inning. Then, after a sac bunt, Rocco Baldelli decided to load the bases with an intentional walk. That moved paid off, as Littell got a pop out and a flyout to get out of the jam. The Twins weren’t as fortunate in the 11th inning as they had been in the innings prior, as Tim Anderson led off the inning with a no-doubter off Zack Littell. Littell did a nice job not surrendering any more runs in the inning, keeping the White Sox lead at just one run. This played out huge for the Twins in the bottom of the inning, when Jonathan Schoop led off the inning with a single. He got pinch run for by LaMonte Wade Jr., who advanced to second on a C.J. Cron ground out, and to third on a wild pitch that barely got away from the White Sox catcher. This aggressive base running kept the Twins alive, as Mitch Garver came through with a sac fly to tie the game back up at six. In the 12th inning, Rocco Baldelli turned to Ryne Harper to get three outs, and the Twins bats back up with a chance to win the game. Harper did get those three outs However, that wasn’t until after he had surrendered a two-run home run to Ryan Cordell, giving the White Sox a 8-6 lead. Harper nearly gave up a few more runs, as the White Sox had first and third with two outs, but Harper got Eloy Jimenez to ground out to end the inning. The Twins may have been down but they certainly weren’t out of it, with the middle of their order due up in the bottom of the 12th. Nelson Cruz got the rally started with a lead off single, which was immediately followed by a double from Eddie Rosario, and just like that the Twins were in business. Then Miguel Sano came to the plate, and was immediately set down on three pitches. After Sano came Marwin Gonzalez, who after falling behind in the count, came through with a base hit to bring both Cruz and Rosario around to score, tying the game at eight. However, the Twins weren’t done quite yet. Luis Arraez followed up Gonzalez’s single with one of his own, Arraez’s third hit of the game. That brought LaMonte Wade Jr. up to the plate and he smacked a line-drive single up the middle. Fortunately for the Twins, Tony Diaz has learned from his mistakes earlier in the season, and held Gonzalez at third on a throw that would have had him out by 30 feet. This loaded the bases for Ronald Torreyes, who came in as a defensive replacement for C.J. Cron in the top of the 12th, and this happened. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed vs CHW, 6:40 pm CT (Cover-Odorizzi) Thu vs KCR, 6:40 pm CT (Montgomery-TBD) Fri vs KCR, 7:10 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (9/16): Berrios tosses a strong 7.1 innings Click here to view the article

It has been a rough little stretch for the Minnesota Twins of late. With the announcement of the Michael Pineda suspension, and a string of Twins' injuries, leading up to Byron Buxton undergoing surgery on his labrum, shelving him for the next 5-6 months, the Twins needed something to go their way. Fortunately, that is exactly what happened tonight, as Jose Berrios looked to be back on his front-of-the rotation form in tonight's 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals.Box Score Berrios: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 67.0% strikes (63 of 94 pitches) Home Runs: Garver (30) Multi-Hit Games: Arraez (2 for 4, 2B) WPA of +0.1: Berrios .455, Garver .143 WPA of -0.1: None The story of tonight was unquestionably the bounce back performance from Jose Berrios. After posting an 8.07 ERA over his last six starts, Berrios gave the Twins seven scoreless innings tonight against the Nationals. Berrios had a perfect game going into the fifth inning, until Howie Kendrick singled on a line drive to Eddie Rosario in right. The Twins got their first real scoring chance of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, after Luis Arraez drove a one out double over the left fielder’s head, setting the table for Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz to drive in the first run of the game. However, neither was able to come through with a clutch hit, and the game went to the seventh inning scoreless. In the bottom of the seventh the Twins finally broke the scoreless tie, thanks to Mitch Garver blasting his 30th home run of the season. The Twins were able to add one three more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, effectively blowing the game wide open. The inning started with a Jonathan Schoop hit by pitch, followed by a Luis Arraez single. Then after a wild pitch from Nationals pitcher Tanner Rainey, Jorge Polanco came through with a two-run double. The bases were reloaded thanks to walks from Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver, leading to an Ehrie Adrianza sac-fly for the Twins fifth and final run of the game. Those insurance runs were important, as Taylor Rogers was up and warming in the pen to get the save, but instead he was able to get the night off, as Trevor May came in and sent the Nationals down 1-2-3 to finish off the Twins win. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed vs WSH, 6:40 pm CT (Strasburg-Perez) Thu vs WSH, 6:40 pm CT (Corbin-Gibson) Fri at CLE, 6:10 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (9/8) Clevinger Shuts Down the Scuffling Twins Offense Click here to view the article

As the season starts to wind down, every Minnesota Twins game seems that much more important. With the Cleveland Indians blowing out the Detroit Tigers, the Twins needed to hold serve against the Chicago White Sox to maintain their 3 1/2 game lead in the American League Central. Fortunately Michael Pineda, and the back end of the Twins bullpen were up to the task, leading the Twins to a 3-to-1 victory.Box Score Pineda: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 67.4% strikes (60 of 89 pitches) Home Runs: Gonzalez (15), Schoop (19) Multi-Hit Games: Cruz (2 for 4) WPA of +0.1: Pineda .177, Duffey .108 WPA of -0.1: None Bomba Counter: 255 There was a scoring chance for the Twins right away in the first inning. Jorge Polanco drew a one out walk, and Nelson Cruz drove him over to third with a single, giving the Twins first and third with just one out. Then Eddie Rosario stepped to the plate, and with Lucas Giolito showing he didn’t have he best control early, Rosario swung at the first pitch, which was out of the zone high, and popped up to the third baseman. Giolito was able to come back in strike out Miguel Sano, and the Twins early threat was squandered. In the second inning, the Twins went back to their routine to put a couple of runs on the scoreboard. First Marwin Gonzalez leadoff the inning with his 15th home run of the season, giving the Twins nine different hitters with at least 15 home runs this season. A few batters later, Jonathan Schoop blasted a home run of his own, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead. The White Sox were able to bounce back with a home run of their own, when Tim Anderson took Michael Pineda deep to lead off the fourth inning. This was the only blemish, on what was otherwise an excellent start for Pineda. Since the start of May, Michael Pineda has a 3.60 ERA, which is slightly better than Jake Odorizzi’s 3.64 ERA and Jose Berrios’s 3.71 ERA over that time. If those three can carry that level of performance into the postseason, the Twins will have three pitchers that can give their offense a shot to win each and every game. Eddie Rosario made up for his inability to come through in the first inning by driving in a big insurance run in the eighth. Following a couple of one-out singles from Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario poked a line drive into center field, bringing around Polanco to score. With two outs in the inning, Max Kepler pinch hit for Marwin Gonzalez, and hit a popup into shallow left field that looked like it was going to drop. However, it held up just long enough for While Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez to run underneath it and make a nice sliding catch to end the inning. It was later announced that Marwin Gonzalez was lifted due to an abdominal issue, but nothing more was said about the issue before the end of the game. The Twins bullpen was on display tonight, showing just how valuable the trade deadline additions really were. After Pineda’s five strong innings, Sam Dyson, Tyler Duffey, Sergio Romo and Taylor Rogers each gave the Twins one scoreless inning to secure the Twins win. Among them, Sergio Romo deserves some recognition. He came in for the eighth inning to face the White Sox 2-4 hitters, and he made them look silly, striking out all three. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT (Odorizzi-Detwiler) Thu at CHW, 1:10 pm CT (Berrios-Cease) Fri at DET, 6:10 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (8/25): Pérez Impresses, Twins Beat Detroit for Series Win Click here to view the article

Monday night was a bit of a come down to earth for the Minnesota Twins, who cruised their way to a four-game sweep against the Texas Rangers over the weekend. However, the Twins jumped right back on the gas pedal last night again, putting up 14 runs on 10 extra-base hits against the Chicago White Sox. In New York, the Mets took care of business, beating the Cleveland Indians by a score of 9 to 2, which helped the Twins extend their lead in the division back up to three games.Box Score Pineda: 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 79.5% strikes (70 of 88 pitches) Home Runs: Kepler (34), Cruz (33), Polanco (19) Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2 for 5, 2B, HR), Cruz (4 for 5, 3 2B, HR), Rosario (2 for 5) WPA of +0.1: Cruz .347, Kepler .176 WPA of -0.1: None The pitchers were in control of this game in its early stages, as they both breezed through the first couple of innings, facing just one more batter than the minimum between the two pitchers. However, that narrative took a 180 in the third inning, when both teams found their bats. In the top of the third, Michael Pineda was one out away from another quick inning, leaving just a runner on first. That all changed when Tim Anderson roped a double down the first-base line that ricocheted off the side wall, and away from Jake Cave, allowing Yolmer Sanchez to score from first. Jose Abreu followed that up with another third-inning home run, putting the White Sox 3-0. Mitch Garver led off the bottom of the third with a double into the right-center field gap, for the Twins first baserunner of the game. Garver advanced to third on a Marwin Gonzalez groundout, but was still standing there with two outs, after Jake Cave struck out. No worries though, as Max Kepler, who was back in the lineup after missing last night’s game as a result of the heat exhaustion he suffered over the weekend in Texas, came through with a two-out, two-run home run to cut the White Sox lead down to one. After a strong showing in his return from the injured list last night, Nelson Cruz showed everyone that the ruptured tendon in his left wrist wasn’t going to slow him down, as he took Reynaldo Lopez deep to left field, to tie the game at three. After tying the game up in the bottom of the fourth, Nelson Cruz gave the Twins their first lead of the game, just an inning later. A lead they would not look back from. The inning didn’t look like it was going to be anything much after Mitch Garver and Marwin Gonzalez both grounded out to leadoff the inning. Jake Cave then followed that up with an opposite field single, extending his modest hit streak to eight games. Max Kepler then nubbed the ball two feet in front of home plate, but the inning was kept alive when Jose Abreu inexplicably missed the catch on the throw to first. Jorge Polanco kept the inning going when he was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Nelson Cruz, who promptly delivered with a two-run double off the wall in right. On the very next pitch, Eddie Rosario followed that up with a base hit, bringing in both Polanco and Cruz to extend the Twins lead to four. Tim Anderson led off the top of the sixth inning with a home run, which was the fourth earned run allowed by Michael Pineda on the night. That marks just the second start for Pineda since the beginning of May, when he has allowed more than three earned runs. The Twins busted the game wide open with a seven-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. The inning was highlighted by two doubles from Nelson Cruz, a bases clearing double from C.J. Cron, RBI-doubles from both Miguel Sano and Max Kepler, and a two-run home run by Jorge Polanco. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed vs CHW, 12:10 pm CT (Giolito-Odorizzi) Fri vs DET, 7:10 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Sat vs DET, 6:10 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (8/19): Twins Unable to Mount Comeback, Drop Series Opener 6-4 Click here to view the article

After the Minnesota Twins took the first two games of the series, on Thursday and Friday night, they were looking to clinch the series win on Saturday, against the Texas Rangers. Despite yet another poor outing from Jose Berrios, the Twins were able to do just that, defeating Texas 12-7 thanks to yet another great offensive outburst from the lineup. With the New York Yankees taking care of business against the Cleveland Indians earlier today, the Twins lead, in the American League Central, is back up to 2.5 games.Box Score Berrios: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 62.0% strikes (57 of 92 pitches) Home Runs: Cron (20), Sano (23) Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2 for 5, BB), Sano (3 for 6, HR), Polanco (3 for 5, BB), Gonzalez (3 for 5), Cron (2 for 4, HR), Cave (3 for 5) WPA of +0.1: Duffey .208, May .156, Gonzalez .151, Cron .139 WPA of -0.1: Berrios -.366, It was a fast start for the Twins, who busted open the floodgates before the Rangers even came to the plate, scoring six, count’em six, runs in the top of the first inning. Max Kepler leadoff the inning with a groundout to Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, but that was quickly followed by singles from Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco. The inning looked like it was going to come to a quick end, however, when Eddie Rosario hit a groundball to Rangers first baseman Logan Forsythe. Forsythe went to second with the throw, getting Polanco, but the return throw was a little high, and deflected off the glove of Rangers pitcher Ariel Jurado, who was coving first on the play. With the extra life, the Twins took full advantage. Mitch Garver, Luis Arraez, and Marwin Gonzalez combined to go walk, single, double to bring the score to 4-0, Twins. C.J. Cron followed that up with his 20th home run of the season, tying the 1964 Twins for the team record, for the most players with 20 home runs in a season, at six. Old friend Danny Santana answered back in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run of his own, cutting the Twins lead back down to four. Believe it or not, Santana has morphed himself into a whole new hitter in 2019, as he has already hit 21 home runs this season. For comparison, Santana hit just 38 home runs in the nine combined season he played for the Twins, and their minor league affiliates, between 2008 and 2016. The Twins answered right back in the top of the second, adding a couple more runs, to extend their lead back up to six. With the top of the order leading off for the second straight inning, the Twins had three straight runners reach bases with nobody out. Eddie Rosario was able to drive in Kepler from third, with a sac-fly to Rangers center fielder Danny Santana. In the next at-bat, Mitch Garver was able to beat out a potential double-play ball, bringing in the Twins second run of the inning. Unfortunately for the Twins, the Rangers were up to the tasks tonight, as they themselves, punched right back in the bottom of the second. Rougned Odor drew a leadoff walk, which set the table for a rough inning for Jose Berrios, and the Twins defense. Logan Forsythe followed up the Odor walk by drilling a groundball to third baseman Miguel Sano. Sano was unable to field the grounder, and the Rangers quickly had runners on second and third with nobody out. After a Isiah Kiner-Falefa RBI-single, a Jose Trevino strikeout out, and a Shin-Soo Choo RBI-groundout, Danny Santana connected on his second, two-run home run of the evening, off of Jose Berrios. Due to the Sano error, none of the four Ranger runs in the second inning were earned. After a couple of loud innings to begin the ballgame, it was quiet for a couple innings, until the Twins were able to build on their lead in the fifth. With one out in the inning, the Twins were able to quickly load the bases for Max Kepler, who came through with an RBI-single. Unfortunately, that is all the Twins were able to get in the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Rangers yet again showed they were up for the fight. After Jose Berrios finally retired Danny Santana to start the inning, he gave up a pair of singles and a pair of walks. That closed the book on Berrios for the night, and Tyler Duffey was brought in to protect a the Twins two-run lead, with the bases loaded and just one out, and that is exactly what he did, striking out Logan Forsythe and getting Isiah Kiner-Falefa to flyout to end the inning. There was some controversy from the Twins dugout in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, and nobody on, C.J. Cron hit a flyball down the right field line that was ruled foul, but upon further review, it appeared as though the ball was clearly fair. However, Rocco Baldelli was instructed not to challenge the call. This was a highly questionably call, not because it would have been an easy overturn, but because the game was in the seventh inning, so there was virtually no risk in challenging and getting the call wrong. This all became a moot point, when the Twins were able to tack on insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings, thanks to a Mitch Garver RBI-single in the eighth, and this Miguel Sano two-run home run in the ninth. The bullpen was up to the task again tonight for the Twins, who pitch 4 and 2/3 scoreless innings. In addition to Tyler Duffey getting out of the jam earlier, Ryne Harper pitched a scoreless inning, Trevor May was dominant, pitching two perfect innings, and Zack Littell closed the door in the 9th. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Sun at TEX, 2:05 pm CT (Perez-Lynn) Mon vs CHW, 7:10 pm CT (Nova-TBD) Tues vs CHW, 7:10 pm CT (Lopez-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (8/16): Twins Prevail Behind Clutch Schoop HR, Great Bullpen Performance Click here to view the article

After a brutal weekend series against the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins needed an easy win, along with some help from the Boston Red Sox, to regain the division lead. For a while it looked like that would be the case, as the Twins held a 4-1 lead over the Brewers and the Red Sox, a 6-1 lead over the Indians in the later innings. However, easy would not even come close to describing how things went down to give the Twins back the lead in the AL Central.Box Score Perez: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 61.4% strikes (54 of 88 pitches) Home Runs: Garver (22), Gonzalez (14) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (2 for 4, BB), Gonzalez (2 for 4, HR) WPA of +0.1: Gonzalez .593, Perez .252, Rosario .153, Garver .128, WPA of -0.1: Harper -.670, Cron -.103 Martin Perez worked himself into a little bit of trouble in the first after allowing a couple of singles to Keston Hiura and Ryan Braun, though he was able to work out of it when Yasmani Grandal flew out to Eddie Rosario in left. The Twins were able to get a threat of their own going in the top of the second, thanks to a Luis Arraez base hit and a C.J. Cron hit-by-pitch, both coming with one out. However, with the game being played in a National League ballpark, the Twins' hopes of scoring in the inning relied almost entirely on the number eight hitter Marwin Gonzalez to come though with a hit. Once he flew out, Martin Perez, who has just one career hit, came to the plate and promptly struck out, ending the Twins threat. The Twins were able to get the scoring going in the top of the third thanks to a Max Kepler leadoff walk, followed by Mitch Garver blasting his 22nd home run of the season. Garver is now just three home runs behind Gary Sanchez for the most home runs by a catcher in the American League, despite having roughly 90 fewer plate appearances. After the Garver home run, the Twins bats were able to tack on another run. Eddie Rosario drew a rare walk, with one out in the inning, which was followed by a Miguel Sano groundball single, thanks to a lack of communication among the Brewers infielders. This set the table for Luis Arraez, who was able to bring Rosario in from third with an RBI-groundout. In the bottom of the third, the Brewers put together a two-out rally after a Ryan Braun walk and a Yasmani Grandal single. This brought Mike Moustakas to the plate, who appeared to have an RBI-single, before Jorge Polanco made this spectacular play to end the inning. After Martin Perez escaped unscathed through the first three innings, the Brewers were able to bring a run across the plate in the fourth. With one out, the Brewers number eight hitter, Hernan Perez singled, setting up an obvious bunt situation with Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson coming to the plate. Anderson was able to get the bunt down, and Martin Perez seemed to execute it perfectly, going to second to easily get the lead runner. However the throw from Perez sailed a bit and bounced off Jorge Polanco’s glove, and instead of a potential inning-ending double play, the Brewers had first and third with just one out. They were able to bring the run home on the next batter, when Lorenzo Cain just barely beat out the doubleplay relay throw. The Twins were able to extend their lead back up to three in the top of the seventh. Marwin Gonzalez got the inning started with a leadoff single, then Ehrie Adrianza came through with a pinch-hit RBI double. Unfortunately, Adrianza was stranded on the bases, preventing what could have been a big inning that could have burst the game open. That came back to haunt the Twins in the bottom of the inning, when Ryne Harper gave up four runs, without recording an out, capped off by this three-run home run by Yasmani Grandal. To make matters worse, at that exact same moment, the Cleveland Indians came back from a 6-1 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a Francisco Lindor double. Fortunately for the Twins, the Red Sox were able to get out of the inning to force extras, where Jackie Bradley Jr. came up big with a go-ahead home run. In the bottom of the 10th, Andrew Cashner, of all people, came in and closed the door on the Indians loss. Back in Milwaukee, things still looked bleak for the Twins in the top of the eighth. Despite a leadoff double from Eddie Rosario, which was followed by a Miguel Sano walk, Luis Arraez and C.J. Cron were unable to even advance them. This set the table for one of the biggest at-bats for the Twins all season. With two-outs, and the tying run on second, the Brewers turned to shutdown closer Josh Hader to face Marwin Gonzalez, and on the first pitch, Gonzalez took Hader deep to left-center field for a three-run home run, putting the Twins back up by a score of 7-5. With Taylor Rogers apparently unavailable for tonight’s game, Rocco Baldelli had to turn to trade-deadline acquisitions Sam Dyson, who came back off the injured list tonight, and Sergio Romo, to close the door on the Twins victory. After Dyson went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Romo was able to finish off the save in the ninth, giving the Twins one of their biggest wins of the season. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at MIL, 1:10 pm CT (Gibson-TBD) Thu at TEX, 7:05 pm CT (TBD-Payano) Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (8/11): Frustrating Loss Marred by Heartbreaking Moments Click here to view the article

It seemed as though the Twins were sailing, on their way to their first series sweep since late May. They had a 4-1 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, with freshly acquired Sam Dyson coming onto the mound for what appeared was going to be an easy save against one of the worst hitting teams in the major leagues. That wasn’t the case, and when all was said and done, it was the Marlins who walked away with the victory.Box Score Pineda: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 72.5% strikes (58 of 80 pitches) Home Runs: Kepler (30) Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2 for 6, HR), Buxton (2 for 5) WPA of +0.1: Buxton .249, Pineda .175, Harper .123, WPA of -0.1: Dyson -.448, -.254, Max Kepler gave the Twins a quick 1-0 lead, blasting the fourth pitch of the game over the fence in right field. It was already Kepler’s 30th home run of the season, 10 more than his previous career high he set last year. The Marlins were able to get that run back thanks to an RBI-triple from Miami outfielder Harold Ramirez. Byron Buxton gave it his best effort tracking the ball down in the right-centerfield gap, but it was just out of his reach. Michael Pineda did do a good job of preventing the Marlins from adding any more runs, as he got Cesar Puello to strike out, followed by an intentional walk of Bryan Holaday, to bring up Marlins pitcher Jordan Yamamoto, who Pineda got to ground out to end the inning. The Twins used some clever managing to help them put up a crooked inning in the top of the fourth. Eddie Rosario led off the inning with a strikeout, before Miguel Sano lined a double to left-field. That was followed by a Jason Castro strikeout and an Ehrie Adrianza hit-by-pitch. Here is where the clever move by Rocco Baldelli came into play. With two-outs and two runners on base, and the pitcher’s spot on deck, this was a prime situation for the Marlins to intentionally walk Byron Buxton. However, Baldelli sent Mitch Garver into the on-deck circle to signify that he was going to hit for Michale Pineda, even though it was only the fourth inning. The strategy worked, as the Marlins decided to pitch to Buxton, who promptly pulled a double that caught the chalk down the third base line, bringing both Sano and Adrianza around to score. Some great base running by Luis Arraez helped the Twins extend their lead in the top of the fifth. After reaching base with a one-out single, Arraez advanced to third on some gutsy base running after Jorge Polanco lined a hit to left field. Arraez then came in to score the Twins' fourth run of the game on a sac-fly from Eddie Rosario. Michael Pineda finished off yet another quality start today, after going six-innings and giving up just the one run in the second. Dating back to the beginning of May, Pineda has a 3.48 ERA across 88 innings pitched. Over that time he has 10 quality starts, and has gone at least five innings while allowing three ER or less in 14 of those 15 starts. Things were going as planned for the Twins through the later innings. Both Tyler Duffey and Sergio Romo worked scoreless innings, keeping the Twins lead of 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. With Taylor Rogers having pitched in each of the last two ballgames, Rocco Baldelli was trying to avoid using him for the third day in a row to pick up the save. Instead, he chose to go with brand new Minnesota Twin, Sam Dyson, who had just arrived in at the ballpark about an hour or so after the game had started. Dyson came in, and proceeded to go walk, single, double, walk. Baldelli quickly got Rogers up and loose. He had to come in and protect what was now a two-run lead, with the bases loaded and nobody out. After Neil Walker singled up the middle to tie the game, Rogers was in even deeper trouble. However, Rogers did exactly what a relief ace is supposed to do and struck out the side to send the game to extra innings. The Twins hitters went dead quiet in extra innings, as not a single batter reached base in the 10th, 11th or 12th innings. Max Kepler put up a great 14 pitch at-bat in the 12th, and hit a deep drive into corner in right, but it was not enough, as it was caught on the warning track. This inability to get some big hits in extra innings came back to bite them, as Harold Ramirez connected on a Cody Stashak fastball to lead off the bottom of 12th and just like that the game was over. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Fri vs KC, 7:10 pm CT (Sparkman-Perez) Sat vs KC, 6:10 pm CT (Duffey-Gibson) Sun vs KC, 1:10 pm CT (Keller-Odorizzi) Last Game Twins Game Recap (7/31): Berrios Throws Gem as Bombas Fly Click here to view the article

After taking three of four over the weekend in Chicago, the Minnesota Twins were looking to keep their good road trip going as the made the rare trip down to South Beach to play the Miami Marlins. Jake Odorizzi took the mound and was looking to bounce back after his terrible start last time out against the New York Yankees. He did just that, and lead the Twins to a 2-1 victory in game one of the series.Box Score Odorizzi: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.0% strikes (68 of 103 pitches) Home Runs: Buxton (10) Multi-Hit Games: None WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi .200, Rogers .176, Duffey .141, Romo .129, Sano .114 WPA of -0.1: None There wasn’t a lot of action through the first couple innings of the game. Neither team was able to reach base during the first inning, and the first baserunner of the game was Miguel Sano who drew a one-out walk. He wouldn’t make it far, however, as he was thrown out on an inning-ending strike him out, thrown him out double play. The bottom of the second was going smoothly for Jake Odorizzi until Curtis Granderson hit a line drive into the left-centerfield gap. It appeared as though Eddie Rosario would have a play throw Granderson out at second, but he inexplicable misplayed the ball, allowing it to get past him and Granderson to advance to third on the error. Odorizzi was able to pick up Rosario by getting Harold Ramirez to fly out to end the inning. Byron Buxton got the scoring going in the top of the third when he hit a towering flyball over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead. The Twins were able to add to their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Jorge Polanco started the inning with a leadoff walk, and looked for a second like the Twins might not be able to turn that walk into a run. Mitch Garver followed Polanco’s walk with a strikeout, and Edie Rosario proceeded to ground into a force out. Then on a 2-1 count, Miguel Sano drilled a double out to centerfield, bringing Rosario around to score from first. The bottom of the fourth was sailing along for Jake Odorizzi, like the rest of the game had up until that point. He got each of the first two hitters to flyout, before Starlin Castro stepped to the plate and roped a two-out single to the opposite field, setting the table for Curtis Granderson who pulled a double down the line that got all the way to the wall. The relay from Kepler to Arraez to Garver was a hair late and a hair offline, allowing Castro to slide in safely, cutting the Twins lead down to one. Jake Odorizzi was cruising along through five innings and into the sixth, and it appeared as though he was going complete six innings for the first time since June 15. However, that wasn’t meant to be, as with two outs in the sixth he walked Neil Walker, ending his night. Tyler Duffey came in and shut the door in the sixth by striking out Starlin Castro. He then followed that up with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning. Sergio Romo made his Twins debut in the bottom of the eighth against the team that just traded him away. Romo got both Cesar Puello and Miguel Rojas to flyout to begin the inning before he hit Brian Anderson on the first pitch of the plate appearance. Anderson was able to advance to second on a stolen base during the next at-bat but didn’t go any further as Romo ended the inning by getting Martin Prado to strikeout on a check swing that he couldn’t quite hold up on. The often animated Romo showed that he was pumped up to pitch for a competitive ball club again. After a much-needed week off, Taylor Rogers looked fresh in the ninth inning, going 1-2-3 to complete his 16th save of the season. With the Indians losing to Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros tonight, the Twins lead is back up to three games. During the game, it was announced that the Cleveland Indians had traded away Trevor Bauer as part of a three-team trade with the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres. In return they received outfielders Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes. If you are unfamiliar with Reyes, he is one of the bright young stars in the game. In 185 career games, Reyes has already hit 43 home runs and has a wRC+ of 122. At just 24 years of age, Reyes might be a nemesis for the Twins in the years to come. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at MIA, 6:10 pm CT (Berrios-Alcantara) Thu at MIA, 11:10 am CT (Pineda-Yamamoto) Fri vs KC, 7:10 pm CT (Sparkman-Perez) Last Game Twins Game Recap (7/28): Bats Bounce Back Behind Gibson’s Strong Outing Click here to view the article