The Minnesota Twins look to rebound after a disappointing 8-3 loss yesterday!
The Minnesota Twins sent LHP J.A. Happ to the mound today for his 9th start of the season and he’s been pretty good so far this season, save for a couple starts against the Chicago White Sox. His ERA (Earned Run Average) is 5.44 and his WHIP (Walks+Hits per Inning Pitched) is 1.306. If you took out the 2 starts against Chicago, he would have an ERA of 2.64 and a WHIP of 0.968. You can’t do that but it’s interesting to see those numbers.
He faced former Minnesota Twin, Kansas City Royals RHP Ervin Santana, who was making just his 2nd start of the season as he’s been used out of the bullpen for most of the season so far. He’s made 7 appearances out of the KC bullpen after starting in his first game for them on April 17th. That start is the only game he’s appeared in that the Royals have won so he’s been doing a lot of mop-up duty just eating innings up to finish games for them. He has an overall ERA of 2.20 and a WHIP of 0.980 which is pretty good. As a reliever, he has an ERA of 2.03 and a WHIP of 1.050. His 1 start was just 3 innings and he gave up 1 run on 2 hits with no walks and 1 strikeout so that breaks down to an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 0.667.
Twinsactions
Today, the Minnesota Twins selected the contract of RHP Juan Minaya from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. They have also optioned RHP Cody Stashak to make room on the 26-man roster and they have Designated RHP Dakota Chalmers for Assignment (DFA’d) to make room on the 40-Man Roster.
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Kansas City Royals Lineup:
Recap
J.A. Happ allowed just a walk to Carlos Santana in the top of the 1st while the Twins put together 3 straight 1-out hits with back-to-back singles from Josh Donaldson & Alex Kirilloff and a ground-rule double (5) off the bat of Nelson Cruz to score Donaldson from 2nd and that run ended up being the 2,000,000th run scored in MLB History so that’s pretty cool. It put the Twins up 1-0 in the 1st inning.
Happ worked around a leadoff Adalberto Mondesi single and 1-out stolen base with a called strikeout and a flyout to center. The Twins then doubled their lead on a Trevor Larnach monster solo HR (3) on the 1st pitch of the bottom of the 2nd that was just to the right of going into the Minnie & Paul’s restaurant in the 2nd deck of center field which is where his 2nd HR of the season landed off of Baltimore LHP John Means! 2-0 Twins
Unfortunately, Minnesota Twins RF Max Kepler had to be removed* from the game before the 3rd inning due to the hamstring injury he’s been dealing with for awhile. Also unfortunately, the Royals responded in the top of the 3rd when a Carlos Santana single was followed by Salvador Perez’ 10th HR of the season to the left field seats to tie the game at 2. Happ set down the next 7 in a row beginning with 4 straight strikeouts before being replaced by RHP Jorge Alcala after the 5th inning and by that time, the Twins had given him a 2-run lead when they led off the bottom of the 4th with 3 walks and a Rob Refsnyder RBI-bloop single that scored one run and a passed ball scored another one as KC RHP Carlos Hernández had some command problems when he first entered the game. The Twins left the bases loaded again after Josh Donaldson struck out to end the 4th, though. 4-2 Twins
Alcala needed just 10 pitches to get through the 6th, striking out the 1st 2 batters then getting a flyout to center field. Mitch Garver led off the bottom of the 6th with a double (8) down the left field line and he was driven in by Trevor Larnach on a ball that was later scored as a fielding error by KC 1B Carlos Santana. 5-2 Twins
Minnesota Twins RHP Tyler Duffey pitched the 7th and struck out the side.** The Twins also went down 1-2-3 in the 7th. RHP Hansel Robles took over for Minnesota for the 8th and 2B Hanser Alberto then led it off with a double (6) to left-center field. Cam Gallagher then used the Sledge-O-Matic* to single to left field and advance Alberto to 3rd. Whit Merrifield then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to score Alberto. Carlos Santana then walked but Salvador grounded out to end the top of the 8th. 5-3 Twins
*I couldn’t resist that because of Gallagher. Haha!
Jorge Polanco saw KC leadoff the 8th with a double so he led off the bottom of the 8th with a double (11) of his own. Garver grounded out to 2nd to advance Polanco to 3rd. Larnach walked and KC made a pitching change to RHP Greg Holland but Rob Refsnyder didn’t care. He hit another RBI-single to score Polanco from 3rd and this one wasn’t one of those blooper singles like his previous RBI. This was a solid knock through the left side to get the Twins the run back they gave up in the top of the inning. 6-3 Twins
Minnesota Twins LHP Taylor Rogers came in to get the save in the 9th. Gutierrez doubled (2) to lead it off and Adalberto Mondesi hit his 1st HR of the season to get the Royals within 1 but Rogers got Hunter Dozier to lineout to center field then struck out pinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi swinging and ended the game by striking out Hanser Alberto to earn his 4th save of the season.
Final
5 #TogetherRoyal | #MNTwins 6
W-Happ(3-2) L-Santana(0-1) S-Rogers(4)
H-Alcala(1) Duffey(6) Robles(9)
Pitching:
Happ-5IP 3H 2R/ER 2BB 5K 1HR 1 Win
Alcala-1IP 2K
Duffey-1IP 3K
Robles-1IP 2H 1R/ER 1BB
Rogers-1IP 2H 2R/ER 2K 1HR 1 Save
Scoring Plays:
B1: Cruz bloop 2B(5) scored Donaldson (2,000,000th run in @MLB History)
B2: Larnach HR’d(3) on a Monster solo Blast to CF
B4: Refsnyder bloop RBI-1B w/bases loaded scored #JoPo
B4: Passed Ball scored Garver B6: Larnach reached on E3 (Fielding), Garver scored
B8: Refsnyder RBI-1B through left side scored Polanco
Notables:
Kepler left after the 2nd (hamstring)
Refsnyder keeps producing in big spots (2 big RBI-1Bs)
Larnach solo HR & 2BBs
Everyone got on base except Kepler(Sanó BB, tho)
Is the real Tyler Duffey back?
Last 4 Games:
4IP 1H 0R/ER 2BB 7K
The Minnesota Twins will go for another series win tomorrow:
RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-5, 5.48 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)
vs
KC RHP Brad Keller (4-4, 5.72 ERA, 1.73 WHIP)
Time: 1:10pm
TV: @BallySportsNOR
Radio: @wccoradio
Location: #TargetField
Game Notes
*Add Max Kepler to the long list of Minnesota Twins injuries this season. Do they have any outfielders left? Buxton, Cave, Arraez, now Kepler. Geez! You could almost say it was Injury, Incorporated. Who else? Hmmm….Maeda, Pineda, Kirilloff for a while & Cruz for a little bit, too.
Obviously, injuries stink but they’re a part of the game and every team deals with them at some point. The worst thing about them, though, is it forces the organization to bring up players who either might not be ready or, aren’t already on the 40-Man Roster so they then have to DFA (Designate For Assignment) or Waive a player and possibly lose them like they did with Travis Blankenhorn and could with RHP Dakota Chalmers who was DFA’d today.
A lot of teams are having problems with injuries this season, though, so hopefully, it’s not something the Twins are/aren’t doing to keep their players healthy.
**It sure looks like we’re starting to see the Tyler Duffey and #TheStuffOfDuff lately. In his last 4 games, Tyler Duffey has allowed just 1 hit, no runs & only 2 walks while striking out 7!
From Betsy Helfand at the Pioneer Press: He sensed things starting to change last Friday. The Twins had landed in Cleveland early that morning after a redeye flight from Los Angeles and his teammates were running on adrenaline.”
“Everyone kind of looks at each other and you just know, ‘Yeah, we’re all tired. We all feel terrible. Let’s play baseball!…And ultimately that’s what we’re here to do, and I think sometimes you need to take the thinking out of it. … I think sometimes taking the brain out of the way and just letting the body take over, that works, and I think we’re hitting that good stride right now.”
***Rob Refsnyder is making a difference for this team. It’s fun to see a guy get an opportunity and take advantage of it and it’s been exciting to see how he competes everywhere on the field whether that be at the plate taking great at-bats or in center field where it’s easy to see he’s competing as hard as he can to help his team win.
He also gets it. When asked the other day about playing center field:
Refsnyder, on playing center field:
"I'm just trying to hold the fort down until Buck gets back. That's his position out there. ... I know he's getting back soon, which, as a Twins fan, I'm sure people are very excited about."
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) May 26, 2021
Minor League Scores
May 29th, 2021
St. Paul Saints 6 at Iowa Cubs 5
W-Leyer (1-0) L-Stock (0-2) S-Law (2)
H-Coulombe (2) Hackimer (1)
Saints Pitching:
RHP Chandler Shepherd – 3IP 7H 2R 1ER 0BB 3K
RHP Robinson Leyer – 2IP 1H 3K 1 Win
LHP Danny Coulombe – 2IP 1H 4K 1 Hold
RHP Tom Hackimer – 1IP 1H 1BB 1 Hold
LHP Andrew Vazquez – 0.1IP 0H 3R/ER 4BB 1K
RHP Derek Law – 0.2IP 1H 1K 1 Save
Saints Scoring Plays:
SS JT Riddle 1B’d to 3rd, E5 (Throwing) allowed Ryan Jeffers to score in 4th
C Ben Rortvedt HR’d (1), Riddle scores in 4th
3B Damek Tomscha HR’d (2) to center field to leadoff the 7th
2B Drew Maggi 3B’d w/1-out & scored on a Tomás Telis groundout in 7th
3B Damek Tomscha HR’d (3) to lead off the 9th
Notables:
Damek Tomscha went 4-for-4 with 2 HRs (2.3) & a 2B (3)
Middle Relievers RHP Robinson Leyer & LHP Danny Coulombe combine to pitch 4 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 7 and one got the Win while the other got a Hold
Springfield Cardinals 9 vs Wichita Wind Surge 10
Coming soon…most games are still being played but the Wind Surge did just get a Game-Tying 2-Run HR (6) from Jose Miranda in the bottom of the 9th and that was followed by a Walk-Off HR (2) off the bat of Gilbertooooo Celestinooooo!!! That is just fun to say! Go ahead! Say it and tell me it’s not a lot of fun!
W-Cano (2-0) L-Escobar (0-1)
Pitching:
RHP Josh Winder – 5IP 2H 2R/ER 1BB 7K 1HR
RHP Calvin Faucher – 0.1IP 3H 3R/ER 2BB 1K
RHP Brandon Koch – 1.2IP 2H 1R/ER 0BB 1K 1 Hold
RHP Yennier Cano – 2IP 3H 0ER 0BB 3K 1HR 1 Blown Save 1 Win
Surge Scoring Plays:
Just signed on May 27th LF B.J. Boyd 2B’d (1) to CF, Aaron Whitefield scored in the 3rd – 1-0
SS Jose Miranda 1B’d on a popup to 2nd, B.J. Boyd scored in the 3rd – 2-0
CF Aaron Whitefield walked, Palacios scored in the 4th – 3-0
LF B.J. Boyd 1B’d to LF, 3B Andrew Bechtold & 2B Peter Mooney scored in the 4th – 5-0
C David Banuelos hit a Sacrifice Fly to RF, Aaron Whitefield scored in the 4th – 6-0
SS Jose Miranda grounded out to 1st, BJ Boyd scored – 7-0
Then everything switched…
After not having a hit or a baserunner in the 1st 4 innings, Springfield scored 2 in the 5th, 3 in the 6th, 1 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th to tie the game at 7 then scored 2 in the 9th to take a 9-7 lead.
And the Wind Surge had just 1 baserunner (Boyd 2-out 2B (2) in the 6th) from the 5th through the 8th…
But…
You never give up! You keep playing!
To the bottom of the 9th…
Whitefield K’d looking
Boyd 1B’d to RF on a ground ball
Sherman Johnson PH for Banuelos then K’d looking, Boyd stole 2nd (1)
Jose Miranda came to the plate with a runner on 2nd…
He swung & missed at the first pitch then took 2 pitches in the dirt then…
he got a pitch down the middle & HE DID NOT MISS IT….HR to LF and THIS GAME IS TIED, BABY!!!
Gilberto Celestino to the plate…
See for yourself…
One home run to tie it. One swing from Gilberto Celestino is all it takes to win it. pic.twitter.com/IyfrhT9ilL
— Wichita Wind Surge (Official) (@WindSurgeICT) May 30, 2021
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 8 vs Cedar Rapids Kernels 1
Game 1 of the Double-Header
The Kernels were No-Hit in Game 1
W-Adames (2-0) L-Cabezas (1-1)
Pitching:
RHP Andrew Cabezas – 4.2IP 5H 3R/ER 3BB 6K
RHP Derek Molina – 1IP 3H 5R/ER 2BB 2K
LHP Zach Featherstone – 1.1IP 1H 2BB 2K
Kernels Scoring Plays:
1B Jair Camargo grounded out, CF Michael Helman scored – 1-0
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6 vs Cedar Rapids Kernels 1
Game 2 of the Double-Header
W-Walters (3-1) L-Olsen (0-3)
Pitching:
RHP Jon Olsen – 3.2IP 4H 2R/ER 2BB 5K
LHP Tyler Watson – 3IP 6H 4R 3ER 2BB 3K 1HR
Kernels Scoring Plays:
They got their 1st hit of the day in the bottom of the 6th in Game 2
RF Trey Cabbage HR’d (3) in the 7th to avoid the shutout
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 1 at Lakeland Flying Tigers 2
W-Guzman (2-1) L-Legumina (1-1) S-Davila (1)
Pitching:
RHP Casey Legumina – 4IP 7H 2R/ER 1BB 4K
RHP Sean Mooney – 3IP 1H 6K
RHP Matthew Swain – 1IP 1K
Mighty Mussels Scoring Plays:
DH Charles Mack BB’d, RF Jeferson Morales scored in the 6th
Minor League Pitcher of the Day
Wind Surge RHP Josh Winder – 5IP 2H 2R/ER 1BB 7K 1HR
He didn’t allow a baserunner until the 5th inning
Minor League Hitter of the Day
St. Paul Saints 3B Damek Tomscha
4-for-4 with 2 HRs & a 2B
Honorable Mentions
Wind Surge RF Gilberto Celestino – Walk-Off HR in the 9th
Wind Surge SS Jose Miranda – Game-Tying 2-R HR in the 9th
Wind Surge LF BJ Boyd – 4-for-4 w/2 2Bs, 2 1Bs, 3 RBI, 3 Runs & a SB in his 1st game for AA-Wichita
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