The Minnesota Twins played their last regular season home game at Target Field yesterday but it wasn’t their last home game of the 2023 season since we do know the American League Central Division Champions will play at home again in the postseason when it begins in just 5 days on October 3rd. Are You Ready?
The Twins had RHP Sonny Gray (8-8, 2.80 ERA* 1.150 WHIP**) on the mound against Oakland Athletics RHP Luis Medina (3-10, 5.64 ERA, 1.543 WHIP) so it was a Sonny day but it was…
*Earned Run Average **Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched
A lot more Gray than Sonny so far today but that’s okay! It’s still ⚾️!!!
Last regular season home game of the season for the @twins!!! #LetsGo!!!
–
From TwinsTakes…
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Oakland Athletics Lineup:
Game Recap
Minnesota Twins RHP Sonny Gray has been great all year for them. Unfortunately, they haven’t been very great for him since he has a record of 8-8 as they’ve been scoring less than 3 runs per 9 innings to help win the games he starts
Minnesota Twins RHP Sonny Gray’s Run Support per 9 Innings is at a career low making it very difficult to win games.
He does lead Major League Baseball in FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), a stat that measures a pitcher’s effectiveness at preventing home runs (HR), walks (BB), hit-by-pitch (HBP) and causing strikeouts and HR9, which is Home Runs allowed per 9 innings pitched, with a 0.4.
Let’s see how he did today:
Sonny Gray began the game by striking out 1B Ryan Noda swing then worked around a 1-out single from 2B Zach Gelof by getting former Twins OF Brent Rooker to fly out to right field and DH Seth Brown to ground out to 2nd. The Twins had a 1-out walk but 2B Donovan Solano flew out to right field & 1B Alex Kirilloff lined out to right field. Scoreless after 1.
Mr. Gray allowed another 1-out single in the 2nd inning. This time it was to LF JJ Bleday on a liner to right field. 3B Aledmys Diaz grounded to 1st for the 2nd out but SS Nick Allen hit a bloop single to right field on a slider that was left up a little and Oakland got on the board first. The next batter popped out to 3rd to end the top of the 2nd.
Twins LF Matt Wallner struck out swinging and C Ryan Jeffers struck out looking. RF Trevor Larnach walked & SS Kyle Farmer singled on a swinging bunt but CF Michael A. Taylor struck out swinging to end the 2nd. Minnesota 0 | Oakland 1
Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd inning. Oakland had a 2-out walk but then flew out to right to end the top of the 4th and the Twins went down 1-2-3 for the 2nd straight inning. Minnesota 0 | Oakland 1
Minnesota Twins RHP Kenta Maeda replaced RHP Sonny Gray in the top of the 5th. It was a typical Sonny day from the pitching side:
RHP Sonny Gray’s Final Pitching Line:
4.0 IP 3 H 1 R/ER 1 BB 4 K (all swinging)
55 Pitches, 33 Strikes
The Twins are preparing for the postseason so they took Sonny out after 4 innings so he’s plenty rested for Game 2 of the Playoffs on Wednesday. Unfortunately, it was another Gray day for Sonny as his team didn’t provide him with any run support in those 4 innings & just 1 hit and 2 walks. Did they provide some run support for Maeda?
In the 5th, Oakland went down 1-2-3 with 2 swinging strikeouts while the Twins got a 2-out walk from Taylor but DH Edouard Julien flew out to left field to keep the score 1–0 Oakland.
Oakland had two 2-out walks but Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda got JJ Bleday to fly out to left field to end the threat and keep his team within 1. The Twins got back-to-back singles from 3B Willi Castro & 2B Donovan Solano then 1B Alex Kirilloff was hit by a pitch (HBP) to load the bases with no outs with power bat LF Matt Wallner coming to the plate. He did this on Tuesday night:
What a Mammoth Blast from Matty Wallner! WOW!!!
But… in yesterday’s game, Matt Wallner grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Willi Castro did score on the play to tie the game though.* Ryan Jeffers than grounded out to short to end the 6th inning but the game was tied.
*Wallner doesn’t get credit for a run batted in (RBI) even though he hit the ball that brought in the run. Check our Game Notes section at the bottom of this article for more on this topic.
Minnesota 1 | Oakland 1
End of 6
Twins RHP Kenta Maeda continued cruising as he set Athletic batters Aledmys Diaz (ground out to 3rd), Nick Allen (line out to center) & Lawrence Butler (swinging strikeout) down 1-2-3 to get the Twins to the 7th-inning stretch.
Oakland replaced RHP Luis Medina with RHP Lucas Erceg to start the bottom of the 7th.
Luis Medina’s final pitching line:
6.0 IP 3 H 1 R/ER 3 BB 4 K 1 HBP
93 pitches, 55 strikes
Oakland RHP Lucas Erceg walked RF Trevor Larnach to leadoff the bottom of the 7th. Both SS Kyle Farmer and Michael A. Taylor flew out to right field but Julien & Castro walked to load the bases and 2B Donovan Solano ended up striking out on a 99mph fastball in a 12-pitch at-bat to keep the game tied at 1!
So Kenta Maeda came out to start his 4th inning and on a 2-2 pitch, Oakland 1B Ryan Noda untied the game with a massive home run over the right field seats that had kids chasing the bouncing ball.
Maeda struck out the next batter then was relieved by RHP Louie Varland who struck out Rooker swinging then forced a groundout to 3rd to end the top of the 8th.
Minnesota 1 | Oakland 2
Middle of 8
Oakland replaced Erceg with RHP Dany Jiménez and he struck out Kirilloff to leadoff the bottom of the 8th but Twins LF Matt Wallner doubled (10) down the right field line to get in scoring position but Jeffers flew out to left field and Larnach grounded out to first to end the 8th inning.
Twins RHP Louie Varland came out to start the 9th. He struck out the first 2 batters via swinging strikeouts then got Aledmys Diaz to ground out to short to send the game to the bottom of the 9th with Kyle Farmer (1-3), Michael A. Taylor (0-2 w/a walk) & Edouard Julien (0-3 w/a walk) due up…
Oakland brought in their closer and former Twins closer, RHP Trevor May to keep the Twins from a sweep. Farmer grounded out to 3rd. Taylor struck out looking and Julien popped out to short to end it.
Not a great way to end the home regular season with just 4 hits. They did have 6 walks but also left 9 runners on base.
––––– TT –––––
Minnesota Twins 1 | 2 Oakland Athletics
W-Lucas Erceg(4-4) L-Kenta Maeda (6-8)
H-Dany Jiménez(6)
S-Trevor May(21)
Pitching
Starters
MN:
RHP Sonny Gray:
4IP 3H 1R/ER 1BB 4K – No Decision
OAK:
RHP Luis Medina:
6IP 3H 1R/ER 3BB 4K – No Decision
Bullpen
MN:
RHP Kenta Maeda:
3.1IP 1H 1R/ER 2BB 5K 1HR – Loss
RHP Louie Varland
1.2IP 0H 0R/ER 0BB 3K
OAK:
RHP Lucas Erceg:
1IP 0H 0R/ER 3BB 1K – Win
RHP Dany Jiménez
1IP 1H 0R/ER 0BB 1K – Hold
RHP Trevor May
1IP 0H 0R/ER 0BB 1K – Save
Hitting
Home Runs
MN:
None
OAK:
Ryan Noda (16)
Doubles
MN:
Matt Wallner (10)
OAK:
None
2-Out RBI
MN:
None
OAK (Inning):
Nick Allen (2nd)
––––– TT –––––
Game Notes
*
Why is a Run Batted In (RBI) taken away when it’s scored off of a double play?
The stat is called “Run/s Batted In” so that should qualify if the batter hit the ball and the run scored. He put the ball in play and a runner came home. Someone or many people obviously thought getting 2 outs should be penalized for some reason. Isn’t getting two outs on one swing enough punishment?
Runs Batted In (RBI) | MLB Glossary
During the game, Twins play-by-play broadcaster, Dick Bremer, said Wallner wouldn’t get an RBI because of that rule then said someone had just started an argument to change that rule then asked his broadcasting analyst partner & former player (& hitter) Justin Morneau what he thought of that rule & if it should be changed to which Morneau said, “Well, he did bat him in.” So we know where Morneau stands on it. Bremer said they disagreed on it but they never said anything more about it. It doesn’t really make sense to not award an RBI if the run comes in because the ball was put in play. If it’s because of an error then sure because the run may not have come in if the play was made. Should a run scored from a walk be scored as a RWI (Run Walked In?) It wasn’t batted in. Maybe it should be Run Scoring Play or RSP so Rispy? Yeah… I’ll show myself out. 😂
**
Prepping for the Playoffs
It was nice to be able to set up the playoff rotation and get some relievers some work on coming into a game mid-inning. Louie Varland could be huge in the playoffs with his arm and that heated fastball. Then they have RHPs Chris Paddack and Brock Stewart not to mention the rest of the bullpen in RHPs Griffin Jax & Emilio Pagán plus LHPs Caleb Thielbar & Dallas Keuchel. Is RHP Jorge Alcala going to be an option? He was pitching in AAA for the St. Paul Saints a week ago.
From the Twins Injuries & Moves article:
“RHP Jorge Alcala (right radial stress fracture)
Expected return: Possibly September
Following the completion of the Triple-A season, Alcala continued his baseball activity by pitching in the Twins’ simulated game at Target Field on Sept. 27.
The Twins placed Alcala on the IL on May 16 after he was unable to participate in his throwing program without discomfort. Further tests revealed a stress fracture to the radius bone in his right forearm, an injury without much precedent among pitchers, according to head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta. (Last updated: Sept. 27)”
Baseball Notes
Minor League Baseball Gets a Major League Logo – SportsLogos.Net News
Minor League Baseball has a new league logo… well, new for them, at least.
Unveiled this evening, the new MiLB logo features the silhouette from the long-used Major League Baseball logo, a step or two closer to the pitcher in the batter’s box, with a new double blue colourway and four stars placed diagonally. The actual baseball from MLB’s version of the logo has been removed.
Next Up
The Twins head to Colorado to face the Rockies for three games to finish the regular season.
––––– TT –––––
Sadly this is our first recap of the season. You can check out our Season Preview HERE!
Thank You for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes!
So, hit us up on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and/or LinkedIn!!!
That’s why it’s…
