Minnesota Twins Recap at Cleveland Guardians – May 18th, 2024

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Robb
Minnesota Twins Recap at Cleveland Guardians - May 18th, 2024

The Minnesota Twins lost Game 1 but they had RHP Bailey Ober starting and hopefully ending a 4-game losing streak in Game 2 of a 3-game series in Cleveland. He’s been rolling but he hasn’t been counted on to be a stopper so maybe this was his first test. Cleveland for sure knows how well he’s been pitching and they’ll have a game plan to get to him so who will win this battle? Let’s find out.

2024 Minnesota Twins Schedule
24-20

MLB Standings
3rd Place in AL Central

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2024 Cleveland Guardians Schedule
28-15

MLB Standings
1st Place in AL Central

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Twinsactions

The Twins activated CF Byron Buxton from the 10-Day Injured List (IL) (Right knee inflammation) & optioned UTIL Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul. Will Byron Buxton be able to spark this Minnesota Twins offense? They seem to need a spark or something to kick them back in gear.

The Twins activated CF Byron Buxton from the 10-Day Injured List (IL) (Right knee inflammation) & optioned UTIL Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul.

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Minnesota Twins Lineup at Cleveland Guardians - May 18th, 2024

Cleveland Guardians Lineup:

Cleveland Guardians Lineup vs Minnesota Twins - May 18th, 2024

Game Recap

The pitching matchup:

Minnesota Twins 
RHP Bailey Ober 
(4-1, 3.77 ERA, 0.844 WHIP*)

vs

Cleveland Guardians 
RHP Logan Allen 
(4-2, 5.56 ERA, 1.377 WHIP*)

*ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

The Minnesota Twins got a leadoff single from DH Ryan Jeffers followed by a walk of SS Carlos Correa but LF Willi Castro struck out swinging and 3B Jose Miranda grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to quickly end the top of the 1st.

Cleveland CF Tyler Freenan singled to left field to leadoff the bottom of the 1st inning. 2B Andrés Giménez then flew out to left field and that brought up 3B José Ramirez and he battled through a 12-pitch at-bat and…

1B Josh Naylor followed that with a line drive single to right field but Bailey Ober got both LF David Fry & RF Will Brennan to strike out swinging to end the inning.

Minnesota Twins 0 | 2 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 1st

Newly activated Minnesota Twins CF Byron Buxton grounded out to 2nd. RF Manuel Margot singled to left field but 1B Carlos Santana & 2B Kyle Farmer struck out swinging to end the top of the 2nd. Bailey Ober rebounded for a very good 2nd inning as he set the Cleveland hitters down 1-2-3 with a lineout (DH Kyle Manzardo) & 2 swinging strikeouts (C Bo Naylor & SS Brayan Rocchio).

Cleveland CF Tyler Freeman led off the the bottom of the 3rd with a single then stole 2nd then Andrés Giménez singled and José Ramírez doubled (7) to score Freeman and Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly to score Giménez to make it 4-0. David Fry walked then Will Brennan grounded a ball to 1st for a rare 3-2 double play as 1B Carlos Santana tagged the runner then threw home to get Ramírez at the plate to end the 3rd inning.

Minnesota Twins 0 | 4 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 3rd

Twins LF Willi Castro led off the top of the 4th with a single to 2nd that went off pitcher Logan Allen but 2 pitches later, Jose Miranda cleared the bases by grounding into a 5-4-3 double play. Buxton then struck out swinging for the 3rd out.

Cleveland tacked on another run with a 2-out single followed by a 2-out double to make it…

Minnesota Twins 0 | 5 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 4th

A leadoff single by Twins RF Manuel Margot was followed by a lineout, a strikeout looking and a flyout then Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen and brought in LHP Kody Funderburke.

Minnesota Twins
RHP Bailey Ober
4IP 8H 5R/ER 1BB 4K 1HR

91 pitches, 63 strikes

Ramírez greeted Funderburke with a single to right field but he rebounded by getting Josh Naylor to ground into a 4-6-3 double play then he hit David Fry with a pitch. Fry stole 2nd base and Will Brennan singled him in with a hit to center field then Brennan came home on a Kyle Manzardo double (2). Funderburke walked Bo Naylor but got Rocchio to ground out back to the pitcher to end the 5th.

Minnesota Twins 0 | 7 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 5th

A 1-out single from Carlos Correa turned into nothing after a lineout and a forceout then Correa was replaced by Edouard Julien, batting 2nd & playing 2nd. Kyle Farmer moved from 2nd to shortstop. Funderburke pitched another inning & allowed a leadoff walk and a single but got a popout then another double play ball to end the 6th inning with no more runs added from the Guardians.

Cleveland went to their bullpen and RHP Nick Sandlin and he allowed just a 1-out single to Manuel Margot. Twins RHP Jay Jackson replaced Funderburke. Jackson walked the leadoff batter and gave up 4 straight 2-out singles for 4 runs before getting Ramírez to ground out to end the 7th inning.

Minnesota Twins 0 | 11 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 7th

Twins LF Willi Castro replaced Jay Jackson on the mound to pitch the 8th inning and he set the Guardians down 1-2-3 on 2 flyouts & a groundout then he led off the top of the 9th and reached on a fielding error. Back-to-back singles scored Castro. A Carlos Santana scored Miranda and a Kyle Farmer double (7) scored Buxton & Santana but Christian Vázquez flew out and Alex Kirilloff struck out swinging to end the game.

And the losing streak has reached 5 games. Can the Minnesota Twins take something from a 4-run top of the 9th & turn it into a better showing in the 3rd game on Sunday afternoon with Chris Paddack on the mound against Tanner Bibee?

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Final Score
Minnesota Twins 4 | 11 Cleveland Guardians
W-Logan Allen (4-2) L-Bailey Ober (4-2)

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Minnesota Twins Recap at Cleveland Guardians – May 17th, 2024

Posted on May 18, 2024 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins had lost 3 games from April 22nd through May 12th before losing 3 straight at home to the New York Yankees but they don’t have time to worry about it as they flew to Cleveland to take on the Central Division-leading Cleveland Guardians.

2024 Minnesota Twins Schedule
24-19

MLB Standings
3rd Place in AL Central

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2024 Cleveland Guardians Schedule
27-15

MLB Standings
1st Place in AL Central

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Minnesota Twins Lineup at the Cleveland Guardians - May 17th, 2024

Cleveland Guardians Lineup:

Cleveland Guardians Lineup vs the Minnesota Twins - May 17th, 2024

Game Recap

The pitching matchup:

Minnesota Twins
RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
(1-0, 3.24 ERA, 1.240 WHIP*)

vs

Cleveland Guardians
RHP Triston McKenzie
(2-3, 3.54 ERA, 1.377 WHIP*)

*ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

Minnesota Twins 2B Edouard Julien led off the game by hitting the 2nd pitch he saw for a screaming liner to left center field…


Geez! How ‘bout that for the 1st play of the game? That ball was off the bat with an exit velocity of 105.6 mph.

DH Trevor Larnach walked on 4 pitches but C Ryan Jeffers grounded into a double play to end the top of the 1st.

Minnesota Twins RHP Simeon Woods Richardson took the mound for the 6th time this season and for the first time after getting hit pretty hard & allowing 5 runs at Toronto so how will did he do in this one?

He set ‘em down 1-2-3 to begin his evening by getting CF Tyler Freeman to fly out to center, 2B Andrés Giménez to ground out to short & 3B José Ramírez to ground out to 2nd to end the 1st inning.

Twins RF Max Kepler reached on catcher’s interference to lead off the 2nd inning but SS Carlos Correa grounded into a 5-4-3 double play then 1B Carlos Santana struck swinging to end the top of the 2nd.

Cleveland Guardians 1B Josh Naylor grounded out to 1st. DH David Fry singled to 2nd. LF Will Brennan grounded out to 1st and RF Ramón Laureano flew out to right field to end the 2nd inning.

LF Alex Kirilloff led off the top of the 3rd…

That’s Alex Kirilloff’s 3rd Home Run of the season to put his team up 1-0. 3B Jose Miranda walked but CF Willi Castro grounded into a 5-6-3 double play then Edouard Julien struck out looking to end the top of the 3rd but…

Minnesota Twins 1 | 0 Cleveland Guardians
Middle of the 3rd

In the bottom of the 3rd, Cleveland C Bo Naylor struck out swinging. SS Gabriel Arias grounded out to short. CF Tyler Freeman singled but Simeon Woods Richardson got Giménez to fly out to center to end the 3rd inning.

The Twins were set down 1-2-3 in the top of the 4th. Cleveland had a baserunner when Josh Naylor was hit by a pitch then David Fry singled for the 2nd time to advance Naylor to 2nd. Will Brennan flew out to center and Laureano lined out to center field to end the 4th inning.

Minnesota had a 2-out walk in the 5th from Alex Kirilloff but he was picked off at 1st.

In the bottom of the 6th, Cleveland got a leadoff single off the bat of 2B Andrés Giménez on a grounder to 3rd. Ramírez struck out swinging as Giménez stole 2nd and a throwing error by C Ryan Jeffers allowed him to advance to 3rd on the play. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli decided to make a pitching change and brought in LHP Steven Okert to replace RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (Sim Woo Rich?) to face Josh Naylor…

Huge play to keep the lead for Minnesota.

That finishes off RHP Simeon Woods Richardson’s pitching line:

Minnesota Twins

RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
5.1IP 4H 0R/ER* 0BB 2K

Up to the plate came DH David Fry who was 2-for-2 already on the day. Okert started him off with 2 sliders for 2 swinging strikes then…

Okert & C Ryan Jeffers saw those 2 swinging strikes and went back to the same pitch but was the location off because it was basically the same pitch David Fry just saw and…

Ughh. Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, this one may cost the Twins in a big game. A flyout ended the 6th inning.

Minnesota Twins 1 | 2 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 6th

The Minnesota Twins had a 2-out double from Max Kepler (10) and a Carlos Correa walk in the top of the 7th to force Cleveland to bring in reliever RHP Hunter Gaddis and he got Carlos Santana to strikeout swinging to end the scoring threat.

Twins RHP Griffin Jax replaced LHP Steven Okert to pitch the 7th and he needed just 9 pitches to set the Guardians down 1-2-3 on 2 swinging strikeouts and a flyout.

RHP Scott Barlow replaced Hunter Gaddis to pitch the 8th for Cleveland. He struck out Alex Kiriloff swinging for the 1st out. Jose Miranda singles to right field and was then removed for pinch-runner Austin Martin. Willi Castro was called out on strikes but Martin stole 2nd…

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt brought in LHP Tim Herrin to face Twins 2B Edouard Julien so Twins manager Rocco Baldelli pinch-hit for Julien with Kyle Farmer and…

Kyle Farmer has struggled most of the season but since April 27th, he’s started to figure it out as he is now 8-for-24 with 5 doubles & 3 walks &…

This…

Game…

was…

TIED!!!

OF Manuel Margot then pinch-hit for Trevor Larnach and walked but Ryan Jeffers grounded out to 3rd to end the top of the 8th.

Minnesota Twins 2 | 2 Cleveland Guardians
Middle of the 8th

Farmer remained in the game at 2nd, Margot remained in the game as the DH, Martin remained in the game at CF & Willi Castro moved from CF to 3B. RHP Jhoan Duran replaced Griffin Jax to pitch the 8th.

Andrés Giménez hit a 1-out single to left field to bring José Ramírez to the plate…

Here’s that at-bat…

So… if called correctly, that would’ve been a strikeout for the 2nd out and Josh Naylor struck out swinging to end the inning so it would’ve still been a 2-2 game but 2 bad calls turn strikes into balls and the Twins are down a run. When does Major League Baseball fix this? It’s ridiculous to keep going this way when the technology exists to get correct calls. The Twins also needed to challenge the call at 2nd base to turn that into an out.

Minnesota Twins 2 | 2 Cleveland Guardians
End of the 8th

Cleveland brought in their closer RHP Emmanuel Clase. Max Kepler grounded out to 2nd for the 1st out. Carlos Correa was called out on a ball in a 9-pitch at-bat.

Carlos Santana then grounded out to short to end the game.

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Final Score
Minnesota Twins 2 | 3 Cleveland Guardians
W-Tim Herrin (2-0) L-Jhoan Duran (0-1)
S-Emmanuel Clase (13)

Here’s the Umpire Scorecard from @UmpireScorecards on X and what do you know, it favored the Cleveland Guardians by 1+ run:

Here's the Umpire Scorecard from @UmpireScorecards on X and what do you know, it favored the Cleveland Guardians by 1+ run

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs the Boston Red Sox – May 3rd, 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Robb
Minnesota Twins Recap vs the Boston Red Sox - May 3rd, 2024

The Minnesota Twins started a 7-game homestand with a 3-game series against the Boston Red Sox while also trying to extend their winning streak to 11. They’ve won 10 in a row against two teams with losing records. Boston was 18-14 entering the first game of this series and they were sending RHP Tanner Houck to the mound for this game. He was 3-2 with a 1.60 ERA & a 0.921 WHIP including a complete game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians so the Twins had their work cut out for them in the first game.

2024 Minnesota Twins Schedule
17-13

MLB Standings
3rd Place in AL Central

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2024 Boston Red Sox Schedule
18-14

MLB Standings
3rd Place in AL East

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Twinsactions

The Minnesota Twins were busy with moves since their last game:

May 1st:

Selected the contract of RHP Caleb Boushley & optioned LHP Kody Funderburk to Triple-A St. Paul

May 2nd:

RHP Matt Bowman* was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations; optioned RHP Caleb Boushley

*Bowman was Designated For Assignment (DFA’d) on April 30th when the Twins activated RHP Jhoan Duran.

Matt Bowman showed well in his cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins. In 6 games, he had a 2.89 ERA and a 0.857 WHIP. In the April 26th game at the Los Angeles Angels, he came in to relieve RHP Bailey Ober in a 4-1 game with 1 out in the 8th & a runner on 2nd and he had to face Mike Trout. He walked him on 4 pitches but it was one of those non-intentional intentional walks meaning he was told not to give him anything to hit. He then allowed an RBI-1B to Nolan Schanuel but struck both Taylor Ward and former Twin Ehire Adrianza looking to end the 8th inning. He has good stuff and it’s a shame the way baseball works for players on the edge of the 40-man roster. Is there a better way? He pitched well but ended up being squeezed out because of how it works. Then he had to move to Arizona & start over with a new team. He’s 32 years old and he makes $925K. A lot of us can easily say we’d play baseball for that much money but these players go through a lot and it makes you wonder how quickly we’d go back to our daily jobs after going through what they go through to keep pursuing their dreams.

May 3rd:

Placed CF Byron Buxton on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) (Right Knee Inflammation); recalled UTIL Austin Martin from Triple-A St. Paul

Placed RHP Brock Stewart on the 15-Day IL (Right Shoulder Tendonitis); Recalled RHP Jorge Alcala & LHP Kody Funderburk from Triple-A St. Paul

Signed RHP Adam Plutko to a minor league contract.

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Boston Red Sox Lineup:

Game Recap

The pitching matchup:

Boston Red Sox
RHP Tanner Houck
(3-2, 1.60 ERA, 0.921 WHIP*)

vs

Minnesota Twins
RHP Chris Paddack
(2-1, 5.88 ERA, 1.692 WHIP*)

*ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

This game started with a pretty routine groundball to short off the bat of Boston Red Sox CF Jarren Duran. At short for the Minnesota Twins was former Gold & Platinum Golve winner SS Carlos Correa but the ball took a weird bounce and hit the palm of his glove & bounced away from him for his 2nd error of the season. 2 pitches later, Duran was on 3rd after 3B Rafael Devers hit a double to the right center field wall so 2 on (2nd & 3rd) & no outs for Twins RHP Chris Paddack. That’s a rough start to a game but he struck out LF Tyler O’Neill swinging for the 1st out, got RF Wilyer Abreu to pop out to short then got 1B Garrett Cooper to ground out to 2nd to end the inning with the game still scoreless. That’s some great work.

In the bottom of the 1st, LF Alex Kirilloff led off by striking out swinging 2B Edouard Julien walked. C Ryan Jeffers struck out looking and RF Max Kepler grounded out to short to end the 1st inning.

In the 2nd, Paddack set ‘em down 1-2-3 on 3 groundouts to 2nd but the Twins were also set down 1-2-3 on a line out, a ground out and another line out.

In the top of the 3rd, Red Sox SS Ceddanne Rafaela singled to lead off the inning but he was promptly thrown out trying to steal 2nd with a great tag by Twins SS Carlos Correa. Duran grounded out to 1st & Devers struck out swinging.

Minnesota Twins CF Willi Castro doubled (9) down the left field line then advanced to 3rd on a 1-out ground out to 2nd and later scored on an Edouard Julien seeing-eye RBI-single:

Ryan Jeffers flew out to left field to end the inning.

Boston Red Sox 0 | 1 Minnesota Twins
End of the 3rd

After allowing the double in the 1st inning, Minnesota Twins RHP Chris Paddack allowed just a single and a walk through the next 5 innings while also striking out 5. He was replaced by RHP to begin the 7th inning and struck out the side with just 11 pitches:

The Twins started the bottom of the 7th with back-to-back singles from Trevor Larnach & Carlos Santana. Austin Martin pinch-ran for Trevor Larnach then Willi Castro laid down a sacrifice bunt…

Boston C Reese Maguire tried to get Carlos Santana at 2nd but threw the ball wide which allowed Austin Martin to score from 2nd base. Boston made a pitching change to RHP Naoyuki Uwasawa and he walked Jose Miranda to load the bases but got Alex Kirilloff to ground into a fielder’s choice and 2B Vaughn Grisson threw home to keep the score at 2-0. Edouard Julien then walked to score Willi Castro and Ryan Jeffers came up to the plate…

A sharp line drive to left center field scored Miranda & Kirilloff and just like that, it was a 5-run lead for the Twins. Kepler popped out & Correa struck out looking to end the 7th.

Boston Red Sox 0 | 5 Minnesota Twins
End of the 7th

OF Manuel Margot replaced Alex Kirilloff in left field, batting 1st, and Austin Martin stayed in the game as the designated hitter. RHP Cole Sands replaced Griffin Jax to pitch the 8th. He got a line out then hit Reese Maguire with a pitch but struck out Ceddanne Rafaela for the 2nd out. Jarren Duran singled to center field so Twins manager Rocco Baldelli made a pitching change to LHP Caleb Thielbar to face left-handed hitter Rafael Devers and he hit a high outside fastball off the center field wall to score 2 runs.

Thielbar struck out Tyler O’Neill swinging to end the top of the 8th.

Boston Red Sox 2 | 5 Minnesota Twins
Middle of the 8th

The Twins got a 2-out single off the bat of Max Kepler in the bottom of the 8th but Miranda popped up to the pitcher to send us to the 9th inning and Twins closer RHP Jhoan Duran came into the ballgame looking for his 2nd save of the season…

2 swinging strikeouts on high heat with a groundout to 3rd in between for 11 straight wins for the Minnesota Twins.

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Final Score
Boston Red Sox 2 | 5 Minnesota Twins 
W-Chris Paddack (3-1) L-Tanner Houck (3-3)
S-Jhoan Duran (2)

Pitching
Starters
MN:

Minnesota Twins RHP Chris Paddack pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball against the Boston Red Sox

BOS:
RHP Tanner Houck: 
6IP 6H 4R 3ER 2BB 5K – 3rd Loss

Bullpen
MN:
RHP Griffin Jax: 
1IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 3K – Hold (5)
RHP Cole Sands
0.2IP 1H 2R/2ER 0BB 1K
LHP Caleb Thielbar
0.11IP 1H 0R/0ER 0BB 1K
RHP Jhoan Duran
1IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 2K – Save (2)

BOS:
RHP Naoyuki Uwasawa: 
2IP 2H 1R/1ER 2BB 2K

Hitting
Home Runs
None

Doubles
MN:
Willi Castro (9), Ryan Jeffers (9)

BOS:
Rafael Devers 2 (6,7)

2-Out RBI
MN:
Edouard Julien

BOS:
Rafael Devers 2

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Next Up

Game 2 on Saturday at 1:10 pm on Bally Sports North

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Thank You for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes!

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Minnesota Twins Recap at the Chicago White Sox – April 29th, 2024

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Robb
Minnesota Twins Recap at the Chicago White Sox - April 29th 2024

The Minnesota Twins are rolling as they’re on a 7-game winning streak after sweeping a 4-game series at home vs the Chicago White Sox and then sweeping a 3-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Now they are playing Chicago again but it’s in their park. They also just swept the Tampa Bay Rays in a 3-game series to double their win total so… are they a different team now?

2024 Minnesota Twins Schedule
14-13

MLB Standings
4th Place in AL Central

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2024 Chicago White Sox Schedule
6-22

MLB Standings
5th Place in AL Central

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Twinsactions

Minnesota Twins reinstate SS Carlos Correa from the 10-Day Injured List (right intercostal strain) and option UTIL Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul

The Minnesota Twins activated SS Carlos Correa off the 10-Day Injured List (mild right intercostal strain previously reported as a right oblique strain) and optioned UTIL Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul. Martin showed well in his first MLB call-up, playing LF, CF & 2B and making some spectacular defensive plays. He had 7 extra-base hits (6 doubles & 1 home run) among his 14 hits in 22 games. He’ll be back at some point.

Some older Twinsaction news:

RHP Jhoan Duran (right oblique strain): “successfully completed a two-game rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on April 27, when his fastball averaged a much more typical 101.8 mph, and he was in Chicago for the start of the Twins’ series against the White Sox on April 29, with the expectation that he’ll be activated on April 30 to join the roster for the first time this season.”

RHP Justin Topa (left patellar tendinitis): sent on a rehab assignment on April 25th; threw 15 pitches, fanning the side; rainouts have pushed his 2nd appearance back a couple days, presumably on April 30th

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Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Minnesota Twins Lineup at the Chicago White Sox - April 29th, 2024

Chicago White Sox Lineup:

Chicago White Sox Lineup vs the Minnesota Twins - April 29th, 2024

Game Recap

The pitching matchup:

Chicago White Sox
LHP Garrett Crochet
(1-4, 6.37 ERA, 1.180 WHIP*)

vs

Minnesota Twins
RHP Joe Ryan
(1-1, 3.45 ERA, 1.012 WHIP*)

*ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

Minnesota Twins DH Ryan Jeffers flew out to left field to begin the game. SS Carlos Correa grounded out to short & 3B Jose Miranda struck out swinging to end the top of the 1st.

Chicago White Sox 2B Nicky Lopez singled to center field on the 1st pitch he saw. 1B Andrew Vaughn was up next. He fouled off the first 2 pitches to go down 0-2 then took a pitch outside for ball 1. The 4th pitch, a sweeper up & in sure looked like it should’ve been strike 3 but the ump didn’t call it so the count was even instead of being the 1st out. The catcher was set up for a pitch on the outside of the plate but the ump is set up to see that pitch perfectly so… why isn’t it called a strike? Is it the ump’s strike zone?

It looks like he swung on the next pitch but the 1st base ump said he didn’t:

He fouled off the next pitch then got an inside fastball that he hammered to the left center field wall to score Nicky Lopez from 1st:

RF Gavin Sheets followed with a single to right field & Andrew Vaughn advanced to 3rd. Twins pitcher Joe Ryan then got DH Eloy Jiménez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play but Vaughn scored from 3rd. LF Andrew Benintendi then grounded out to 1st to end the 1st inning.

So… if strike 3 or the check swing was called on Andrew Vaughn for the 1st out, who knows how that inning would’ve played out. If some a challenge system was in place, the Twins would likely have challenged that 4th pitch & it would’ve been a strike if we agreed that the broadcast’s box is a good measurement of the actual strike zone.

Minnesota Twins 0 | 2 Chicago White Sox
End of the 1st

Twins CF Byron Buxton struck out looking at three pitches to lead off the 2nd inning. LF Manuel Margot walked and there were 2 called balls (pitches 3 & 5) that were in the zone.

Minnesota Twins LF Manuel Margot walked on 5 pitches but were they all balls?

The home plate umpire’s high zone was apparently a lot lower than the broadcast’s or the real strike zone. Great! This should be an interesting thing to keep track of. Ahh… the strike zone is like pi. We will never know what the answer to it is.

On the next pitch, Carlos Santana was at the plate and…

THIS…

GAME…

WAS…

TIED!!!

Does that make it even on bad calls from the home plate umpire? The Twins only got one run because of it whereas the White Sox got two so… whatever! LF Willi Castro singled on a soft grounder to the pitcher who threw wildly to 1st but Castro didn’t advance to 2nd on the play. He then stole 2nd but C Christian Vázquez struck out looking & 2B Kyle Farmer flew out to right field to end the top of the 2nd.

Minnesota Twins 2 | 2 Chicago White Sox
Middle of the 2nd

Chicago got a 1-out walk from CF Rafael Ortega in the bottom of the 2nd but SS Paul Dejong grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the 2nd inning.

Over the next 6 innings, there were just 3 walks & 3 hits (all singles) and the Twins only had 2 of the walks and none of the hits but the game was still tied at 2.

RHP Brad Keller replaced Garrett Crochet to begin the 6th inning. He allowed 2 walks but no hits over 1.2 innings before he was replaced by LHP Tim Hill who finished off the 7th inning.

Chicago White Sox
RHP Garrett Crochet’s Final Line:
5IP 2H 2R 2ER 1BB 7K 1HR

Twins RHP Joe Ryan was replaced by RHP Brock Stewart to begin the 7th inning and Stew sandwiched a groundout between 2 swinging strikeouts.

Minnesota Twins
RHP Joe Ryan’s Final Line:
6IP 6H 2R 2ER 1BB 3K

RHP Michael Kopech replaced Tim Hill to pitch the 8th inning for Chicago & he set down the Twins 1-2-3. RHP Griffin Jax replaced Brock Stewart and he allowed a leadoff single to C Korey Lee & a 2-out walk to Gavin Sheets before striking out DH Eloy Jiménez with a nasty changeup to end the 8th.

So it was on to the 9th in a tie ballgame…

Byron Buxton, Max Kepler & Carlos Santana were due up against White Sox RHP John Brebbia. Buxton hit the 1st pitch down the left field line for a double (8)

That’s some Buck Trucking:

Byron Buxton - Buck Yeah! Trucking Company from

RF Max Kepler worked the count full…

He hit the inside fastball for a single to right field to score Buxton & put the Twins up 3-2.

Santana struck out swinging. Castro lined out to center field & Vázquez struck out swinging.

Minnesota Twins 3 | 2 Chicago White Sox
Middle of the 9th

LHP Caleb Thielbar was called on to save the game for Minnesota. He got Benintendi to strike out swinging. He walked Mendick but then got pinch-hitter Tommy Pham to line out to right field for the 2nd out. Former Twin Robbie Grossman hit a bloop single to right to put the tying run in scoring position on 3rd base and the winning run on. To the plate was C Korey Lee.

<iframe src=”https://streamable.com/m/caleb-thielbar-swinging-strike-to-korey-lee?partnerId=web_video-game-index-page_video-share” width=”560″ height=”315″></iframe>

Even though Caleb starts with a C,  the man at the plate’s name started with a K & Thielbar needed just 3 pitches to strike him out swinging for his 2nd save and an 8-game winning streak for the Minnesota TWWWWWWWWINS!

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Final Score
Minnesota Twins 3 | 2 Chicago White Sox
W-Griffin Jax (2-2) L-John Brebbia (0-1)
S-Caleb Thielbar (2)

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs the Detroit Tigers – April 19th, 2024

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins may be starting a Tortured Blow-It Department soon if this losing streak doesn’t end soon. They’ve lost 4 straight after losing the finale in Detroit then getting swept by Baltimore with the last game ending in a walkoff home run. We do know they will never stop battling and we think they’ve established a good clubhouse culture & they expect to have a great season in 2024. 

They have responded to some adversity already this season. They lost 4 straight from April 4th through April 9th with 2 losses against Cleveland & 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They responded with a great 3-2 win to snap that 4-game losing streak and a 3-game losing streak against the Dodgers. They lost the next game 8-2 in Detroit but then swept a doubleheader before the current losing streak began.

2024 Minnesota Twins Schedule
6-11

MLB Standings
4th Place in AL Central

2024 Detroit Tigers Schedule
10-9

MLB Standings
3rd Place in AL Central

After starting the season by winning 5 straight, the Detroit Tigers have gone 5-9 since then so… let’s see if this Twins team can get something going to begin this 7-game homestand.

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Minnesota Twins Lineup vs the Detroit Tigers - April 19th, 2024

Detroit Tigers Lineup:

Detroit Tigers Lineup at the Minnesota Twins - April 19th, 2024

Game Recap

Hey! Happy 41st Birthday to one of the Twins greats, Joe Mauer, who will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer!

Detroit Tigers DH led off the game & grounded out to 3rd. RF Wenceel Pérez struck out swinging for the 2nd out but LF Kerry Carpenter doubled (4) to the right field wall. 1B Spencer Torkelson singled on a softly hit ball to 2nd to Twins 2B Edouard Julien would probably make that play 9 out of 10 times but this must’ve been the time he wouldn’t make it but he quickly got to the ball & fired home to try to get Carpenter and the ball beat the runner but Twins C Christian Vázquez didn’t catch the ball after it bounced off the ground so Detroit took an early 1-0 lead. Torkelson tried for 2nd when he saw the ball get past Vázquez but the ball took a good bounce off the back wall to come back to Vázquez so he was able to get Torkelson at 2nd base to end the top of the 1st:

Detroit Tigers 1 | 0 Minnesota Twins

In the bottom of the 1st, Twins 2B Edouard Julien led off but grounded out to 2nd then DH Ryan Jeffers flew out to right field for the 2nd out but 1B Alex Kirilloff doubled (5) to center field. Recently recalled* OF Trevor Larnach then took a low slider that was called for a strike so that likely made him swing at the next pitch since the first one was called a strike but… t

Pitch 1 was called a strike. Pitch 2 was a swinging strike because it looked very similar to pitch 1.
Pitch 1 was called a strike. Pitch 2 was a swinging strike because it looked very similar to pitch 1.

they then tried to sneak a fastball past Mr. Larnach was ready for it:

*April 16th after OF Matt Wallner was optioned down to AAA-St. Paul.

Detroit Tigers 1 | 2 Minnesota Twins

That blast had an exit velocity of 106.9mph with a 27º launch angle and it traveled 415 feet! LARNACH!!! CF Byron Buxton struck out to end the 1st inning.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 2nd inning.

In the 3rd inning, Parker Meadows got a 1-out walk on very questionable ball 4:

That would’ve been strike 3 & the 2nd out but it was called a ball.
That would’ve been strike 3 & the 2nd out but it was called a ball.

Here’s the pitch:

The next batter struck out swinging which would’ve ended the inning but the bad call allowed the inning to continue. Meadows stole (3) 2nd base then RF Wenceel Pérez singled to left field to score Meadows from 2nd to tie the game at 2. Pérez then stole 2nd and scored on another weakly hit ball to left field by Kerry Carpenter.

Detroit Tigers 3 | 2 Minnesota Twins

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd. Detroit followed with the same in the 4th. The Twins had a 1-out single from Trevor Larnach but did nothing with it. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 5th.

Detroit led off the top of the 6th with a triple from Wenceel Pérez & LF Kerry Carpenter hit a soft grounder to left field to score Pérez from 3rd & put Detroit up 4-2. Spencer Torkelson singled then Matt Vierling tried to put down a sacrifice bunt but he popped it up and Twins pitcher Joe Ryan caught it for the 1st out. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli pulled Joe Ryan to go to LHP Kody Funderburke against left-handed hitter Colt Keith and he needed just 2 pitches to get a grounder to 2B Edouard Julien who started a 4-6-3 double play to end the 6th inning.

Detroit Tigers 4 | 2 Minnesota Twins

The Twins led off the bottom of the 6th with an Edouard Julien walk then Ryan Jeffers reached on an error when CF Parker Meadows & RF Wenceel Pérez had a miscommunication that allowed the ball to land instead of being caught advancing Julien to 3rd & Jeffers to 2nd. Kirilloff & Larnach both struck out swinging so it was up to Byron Buxton to make something out of having 2 runners in scoring position. With the count at 2-1, Buxton laid off a low knuckle curve & a low slider. Detroit pitcher Jack Flaherty tried to raise that slider a little but he hung it a little & Byron Buxton hit it to deep left field where LF Kerry Carpenter leaped to catch the ball but he misjudged it and…

Buxton was about 5 feet from putting his team in front. He thought he got enough of it so he only ended up at 2nd base & he was angry at himself for it but 1B Carlos Santana flew out to right field to end the inning.

Detroit Tigers 4 | 4 Minnesota Twins

Minnesota RHP Brock Stewart replaced Kody Funderburke. He allowed a 1-out single but induced a flyout then struck out Mark Canha looking and Canha wasn’t too happy about the last too pitches that were called strikes. He was angrier about strike 2 than strike three:

Here’s the 2nd strike (or 5th pitch):

Detroit also went to their bullpen. They brought in RHP Will Vest to face Castro, Vázquez & Farmer. Castro singled to lead off then Vázquez sacrifice bunted Will Castro to 2nd base. Kyle Farmer struck out for the 2nd out. Detroit went to LHP Andrew Chafin to face Edouard Julien so Minnesota pinch-hit for Julien with Jose Miranda but he just flew out to center field to end 7th inning.

Miranda stayed in the game at 3rd base. Kyle Farmer moved to 2nd base and RHP Griffin Jax replaced Brock Stewart to pitch the 8th inning. Jax struck out Pérez but allowed a single to Kerry Carpenter then threw a wild pitch that advanced Carpenter to 2nd. Torkelson singled to left field which advanced Carpenter to 3rd. Detroit pinch-hit Riley Greene for Matt Vierling…

HUGE STRIKEOUT from Griffin Jax!

Jax then got 2B Colt Keith to ground out to 1st to end the top of the 8th.

Detroit SS Javier Baez replaced Riley Green, playing shortstop. Zach McKinstry moved from shortstop to 2nd base.

Twins DH Ryan Jeffers flew out to right field. Manuel Margot pinch-hit for Alex Kirilloff then flew out to 2nd. Trevor Larnach grounded out to 2nd to end the 8th inning.

Margot stayed in the game as the left fielder. Larnach moved from left field to right field & LHP Caleb Thielbar replaced Griffin Jax to pitch the 9th. Detroit 2B Zach McKinstry flew out to left field. C Carson Kelly struck out swinging for the 2nd out. Parker Meadows singled to right field. Theilbar tried a pickoff throw…

The Twins caught a break when the ball got stuck under the wall padding so Parker Meadows had to go back to 2nd base. They intentionally walked Mark Canha to face rookie Wenceel Pérez and he made them pay by hitting a line drive up the middle to center field to score Meadows from 2nd and put Detroit in the lead at 5-4. Mark Canha advanced to 2nd.

Detroit Tigers 5 | 4 Minnesota Twins

Thielbar then struck out Kerry Carpenter to end the top of the 9th.

RHP Jason Foley replaced Andrew Chafin to try to close out a win for Detroit.

Byron Buxton struck out swinging for the 1st out. Carlos Santana grounded out to 1st for the 2nd out. Willi Castro worked a walk in an 8-pitch at-bat then stole 2nd base but C Christian Vázquez flew out to left field to end the game.

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Final Score
Detroit Tigers 5 | 4 Minnesota Twins

W-Andrew Chafin (2-0) L-Caleb Thielbar (0-1) S-Jason Foley (6)

Pitching

Starters
MN:
RHP Joe Ryan:
5.1IP 7H 4R/4ER 1BB 6K – No Decision

DET:
RHP Jack Flaherty:
6IP 4H 4R/2ER 1BB 10K 1HR – No Decision

Bullpen
MN:
LHP Kody Funderburke:
0.2IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 0K
RHP Brock Stewart:
1IP 1H 0R/0ER 0BB 1K
RHP Griffin Jax:
1IP 2H 0R/0ER 0BB 2K
LHP Caleb Thielbar:
1IP 2H 1R/1ER 1BB 2K – Loss (0-1)

DET:
RHP Will Vest:
0.2IP 1H 0R/0ER 0BB 1K
LHP Andrew Chafin:
1.1IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 0K – Win (2-0)
RHP Jason Foley:
1IP 0H 0R/0ER 1BB 1K – Save (6)

Hitting

Home Runs
MN:
Trevor Larnach (1)

DET:
None

Doubles
MN:
Alex Kirilloff (5); Byron Buxton (5)

DET:
Kerry Carpenter (4)

2-Out RBI
MN (Inning):
Trevor Larnach 2; Byron Buxton 2

DET:
Spencer Torkelson; Wenceel Pérez 2, Kerry Carpenter

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Next Up

Game 2 at 1:10 pm on Bally Sports North Extra:

RHP Bailey Ober
(0-1, 6.57 ERA, 1.46 WHIP*)

vs

RHP Reese Olson
(0-2, 3.86 ERA, 1.47 WHIP)
*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

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