The Minnesota Twins were looking to get back to .500 in the final game of their opening 4-game series against the Seattle Mariners after a 10-4 win yesterday where they hit 6 home runs, got 5 innings from their starting pitcher (Ober) and also got 4 scoreless innings from their bullpen (Coulombe, Alcala, Pagán & Romero). They’ve played very well in the first 3 games, losing 2-1 & 4-3 in the first 2 games where they were 5 feet from a walkoff home run and one out away from a save in Game 2.
New Twins SS Carlos Correa received his 2022 Gold & Platinum Gloves before the game:
Tonight’s starting pitchers were Minnesota Twins RHP Dylan Bundy against Seattle Mariners RHP Chris Flexen. Here’s how both pitchers have fared against their opponents tonight:
RHP Dylan Bundy B-vs-P Stats vs Seattle Mariners
RHP Chris Flexen B-vs-P Stats vs Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Seattle Mariners Lineup:
Game Recap
RHP Dylan Bundy was thought of as the pitcher the Twins got because they failed to get any of the better pitchers on the market before the MLB Lockout began in December. Does that motivate him or is the real question, how much does it motivate him?
Whatever the answer is to that question, every player/pitcher wants to win and play/pitch as well as they can so let’s see how joining the Twins and having a month with pitching coach Wes Johnson has hopefully helped him.
He set down the Mariners 1-2-3 to begin the game, getting 2B Adam Frazier to ground out to 3rd, 1B Ty France to strike out on a check swing and LF Jesse Winker to fly out to left field.
Twins CF Byron Buxton led off the bottom of the 1st with a walk on 9 pitches, taking a low & away fastball for ball four. SS Carlos Correa flew out to center field. 3B Luis Arraez singled to left field which advanced Buxton to 2nd. 2B Jorge Polanco then doubled (1) down the right field line to score Buxton from 2nd and advance Arraez to 3rd but DH Gio Urshela flew out to center and RF Max Kepler grounded out to 2nd to end the inning but, hey, it was 1-0 Twins.
Dylan Bundy then got Seattle RF Mitch Haniger to line out to left field but it took an Alex Kirilloff diving catch.
2B Abraham Toro then flew out to right field. 3B Eugenio Suárez then doubled down the 3rd baseline on a hard grounder that bounced over 3rd base. SS J.P. Crawford flew out to left field to end the inning so no damage was done.
Twins C Gary Sánchez flew out to right field to lead off the bottom of the 2nd. 1B Miguel Sanó walked on 8 pitches. LF Alex Kirilloff struck out swinging then Byron Buxton hit the first pitch he saw for a double (1) off the warning track in left center field. Sano was on his way to 3rd and it looked like he was slowing down but 3rd base coach Tommy Watkins sent him home putting pressure on the Mariners to make a perfect relay and throw home. They made the play and Sanó was out rather easily to end the inning.
Seattle Mariners CF Julio Rodríguez walked to lead off the top of the 3rd then stole 2nd base for his 1st MLB Stolen Base and the throw got away from Carlos Correa which allowed Rodríguez to advance to 3rd. Bundy struck out C Cal Raleigh then got both Frazier to short center field and the runner only bluffed going home. Ty France then fly out to end the half-inning. The Twins got only a walk from Jorge Polanco in the bottom of the inning.
Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 4th.
The Mariners had a runner reach on a 2-out throwing error to Twins SS Carlos Correa but Bundy got Raleigh to pop out to a shifted Correa to end the top of the 5th.
Twins LF Alex Kirilloff led off the bottom of the 5th by lining a single to left field. That brought Buxton back up to the plate and he worked the at-bat to a 3-1 count then he lined the 3-1 pitch off the top of the center field wall above the bullpen fence for another double (2). That ball had an exit velocity of 109 mph and it was inches from being his 4th HR in 4 games. Kirilloff advanced to 3rd. Correa hit a ground ball to the left side. The infield was in and the contact play was on so Kirilloff was on his way home when the ball came off the bat but he was out at home. Fielder’s choice and Buxton did not advance to 3rd so it was runners at 1st & 2nd with one out and Luis Arraez at the plate.
Seattle pitching change* to LHP Anthony Misiewicz
*Runners on 1st & 2nd are Flexen’s responsibility
Luis Arraez took a called strike on an up and in curveball then a ball on an outside cut fastball. Misiewicz followed with another cutter and Arraez lined it into left field to score Buxton from 2nd and double the Twins lead to 2-0.
Polanco then hit the next pitch for a groundball up the middle for an RBI-single to make it 3-0.
Gio Urshela also lined the next pitch for an RBI-single and, Just Like That, it was 4-0! Max Kepler then grounded into a 6-3 double play to end the inning but the Twins quadrupled their lead to 4-0!
Minnesota pitching change to LHP Caleb Thielbar
Dylan Bundy’s Final Pitching Line
5IP 1H 0R/ER 1BB 2K & in line for the Win
Caleb Thielbar got Frazier to ground out to 1st, France to fly out to center, allowed a walk to Winker but got Haniger to ground out to 3rd to end the top of the 6th.
Seattle pitching change to RHP Sergio Romo
Chris Flexen’s Final Piching Line
4.1IP 5H 3R/ER 3BB 3K & on the hook for the Loss
Former Twin Sergio Romo, his 800th game, took over and he allowed a leadoff bloop single to Sánchez. He then struck out Sanó. Kirilloff reached on catcher’s interference because the catcher’s glove was in the way of Kirilloff’s swing and hit his glove. Buxton grounded to short for a force out at 2nd. He then stole his 1st base of the season, without a throw, but Correa struck out to end the 6th inning.
Minnesota pitching change to RHP Tyler Duffey
Duffey allowed a 2-out single then struck out Julio Rodríguez looking to get through the 7th and go stretch with his teammates during the 7th-inning stretch.
Seattle pitching change to RHP Erik Swanson
Luis Arraez singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the 7th but the Twins then went down 2-3-4(?), ground out, fly out, line out, to end the 7th.
Minnesota pitching change to RHP Joe Smith
Jarred Kelenice pinch-hit for Cal Raleigh and earned a 5-pitch walk. France struck out swinging. Winker reached on a fielding error by Alex Kirilloff on a blooper that he & Arraez were going after and he called for it but didn’t catch as he had to sort of avoid Arraez to get to it but Haniger struck out to end the inning a batter later.
Seattle pitching change to RHP Andres Muñoz
Muñoz struck out the side to get through the 8th inning for Seattle.
Minnesota pitching change to RHP Jhoan Duran
Duran had an electric debut in the 2-1 opening day loss when he threw 2 innings and struck out 4. Tonight he only needed 11 pitches to get a fly out on a nice sliding catch from defensive replacement LF Gilberto Celestino* and 2 ground outs to finish the game and help get the Twins back to .500 at 2-2!
*Gilbertoooooo Celestinoooooo! That’s just fun to say!
Final Score
Seattle Mariners 0 | 4 Minnesota Twins
W-Bundy(1-0) L-Flexen(0-1)
Starting Pitchers:
MN:
Bundy: 5IP 1H 0R/ER 1BB 2K – 1 Win
SEA:
Flexen: 4.1IP 5H 3R/ER 3BB 3K – 1 Loss
HRs:
None
2Bs:
MN: Polanco (1), Buxton (1,2)
SEA: Suárez (1)
Up Next
The Minnesota Twins start a 2-game series against the 2020 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow night at 6:40 pm and RHP Chris Archer will make his Twins Debut against Dodgers LHP Andrew Heaney.
Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 12:10 pm and will have the newest Twins starting RHP Chris Paddack make his Twins debut against Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw.
Both games will air on Bally Sports North.
Minor-League Scores
We’re going to post separate articles for the Twins Minor-League Affiliate Scores and Recaps.
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