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2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Ten

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NEW YORK METS 9, MINNESOTA 6 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, April 10.

Batting stars:  Jonathan Schoop was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Mitch Garver was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two runs.  Max Kepler was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Trevor May struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jeff McNeil was 2-for-4.  Michael Conforto was 1-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.

The game:  It started out as a pitchers' duel.  Neither team even got a baserunner in the first two innings.  In the third, Schoop led off with an infield single, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Kepler's two-out single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

It was still 1-0 going to the bottom of the fifth and Twins starter Jake Odorizzi appeared to be cruising.  Then, suddenly, the roof fell in.  With one out, McNeil singled and Amed Rosario and J. D. Davis both walked, loading the bases.  Odorizzi then threw one to the backstop, but McNeil was thrown out trying to score and it appeared the Twins might get out of the inning.  It was not to be.  Mets starter Noah Syndergaard walked to re-load the bases.  Odorizzi came out of the game, and Rocco Baldelli chose to bring in Andrew Vasquez, just up from AAA and the most recent fresh arm for the bullpen.  Vasquez hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch, forcing in the tying run, and walked Pete Alonso and Robinson Cano, handing the Mets a 3-1 lead.  Trevor Hildenberger then came in and walked Conforto, forcing home another run, and gave up a two-run single to Wilson Ramos.  It was a six-run inning for the Mets in which they got just two hits, but it made the difference in the game.

The Mets added three more in the seventh, again aided by the base on balls.  Nimmo led off with a single, and again Alonso and Cano walked, loading the bases.  Conforto delivered a two-run single and McNeil singled home another run.  New York had a 9-1 lead and it appeared the game was over.

To the Twins' credit, though, they battled to get back into the game.  Garver led off the eighth with a single, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on a Schoop double.  Byron Buxton tripled and Jake Cave singled, making the score 9-4.  Kepler doubled and Jorge Polanco walked, loading the bases with still none out.  It looked like the Twins might make a game of it, but Willians Astudillo hit into a double play and Eddie Rosario grounded out, ending the inning with the Twins still trailing 9-5.

The Twins still weren't done.  Garver homered with one out in the ninth to cut the lead to 9-6 and Schoop followed with a single.  But Byron Buxton and pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza each struck out and the game was over.

WP:  Syndergaard (1-1).  LP:  Odorizzi (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  We discussed the move to Vasquez extensively in the game log, and I see no reason to repeat that.  I did not hear the post-game press conference, so I don't know if Baldelli explained the decision or what his reasons might have been.  I assume he had reasons--despite our criticisms, managers rarely just make moves at random.  But at this time, it still makes no sense to me that you bring in the AAA guy with the game on the line.  I get saving guys for later in the game, but the plan was to use Martin Perez for multiple innings, so what are you saving those guys for?  Yes, many of them had pitched the game before, but most for less than an inning, so they surely could have pitched again.  If/when I hear what Baldelli's reasons were I'll consider them, but right now it still strikes me as a bad move.

I also don't understand sending Adrianza to bat to make the last out with Nelson Cruz on the bench.  Yes, it would've been nice to send Cruz up to represent the tying run, but that chance ended when Buxton struck out.  At this point you need at least two consecutive batters to come through to have a chance.  What's better:  Adrianza and then, if he gets on, Cruz, or Cruz and then, if he gets on, Kepler?  The latter seems better to me, and it doesn't seem all that close.  Again, if/when I hear Baldelli's reasons I'll consider them, but this just again seems like a clearly bad move.

Just for completeness, some stats:

Odorizzi pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on one hit and four walks and striking out three.  Syndergaard pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on five hits and no walks and striking out seven.

Garver is batting .474.  Polanco was 0-for-3 and is batting .375.  Astudillo was 0-for-4 and is batting .348.  Schoop raised his average to .313.  Hildenberger and May continue to have ERAs of zero.

The Twins out-hit the Mets 9-5.  It is not easy to score nine runs on five hits, but the Twins allowed the Mets to do it.

Record:  The Twins are 6-4, in third place in the American League Central, one game behind Detroit.

Projected record:  We'll just have to settle for 158-4!

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Nine

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MINNESOTA 14, NEW YORK METS 8 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Tuesday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Mitch Garver was 4-for-5 with two home runs and three runs.  Jorge Polanco was 3-for-5 with a home run (his second) and a triple, scoring twice and driving in two.  Eddie Rosario was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second), a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Jonathan Schoop was 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Byron Buxton was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his third), scoring twice.

Pitching star:  Trevor May pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Trevor Hildenberger retired the only man he faced, which would not normally get him star mention, but it was a very big out.

Opposition stars:  Amed Rosario was 3-for-5 with a double.  Michael Conforto was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a double, and two walks, scoring three times.  Brandon Nimmo was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Pete Alonso was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth) and three RBIs.

The game:  Garver opened the second inning with a home run, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  It lasted until the bottom of the second, when Conforto doubled and scored on Rosario's double to tie it 1-1.  The Twins took the lead back with a four-run third.  Polanco tripled and scored on a wild pitch.  Willians Astudillo singled and Rosario and Garver hit back-to-back home runs to put the Twins up 5-1.  The Mets got two of the runs back in the bottom of the third, with home runs by Nimmo and Conforto cutting the margin to 5-3.

In the fourth, Buxton doubled and scored on a Max Kepler single to put the Twins up 6-3.  In the fifth, Nimmo led off with a double.  He was still on second with two out, but walks to Conforto and J. D. Davis loaded the bases.  Starter Kyle Gibson came out of the game, and Hildenberger came on to retire Jeff McNeil on a deep fly ball to keep the score 6-3.  Schoop homered in the sixth to increase the lead to 7-3.

Alonso homered in the seventh to make the score 7-4.  The Twins took control of the game in the eighth.  Buxton doubled and scored when Ehire Adrianza reached on an error.  Polanco then hit a two-run homer to make the score 10-4.  The Twins got some insurance in the ninth.  Rosario doubled, Garver singled, and Jason Castro hit a pinch-hit single.  Schoop followed with a three-run homer to make it 14-4.  The extra runs came in handy, as the Mets rallied for four in the bottom of the ninth.  Nimmo walked and Alonso hit a two-run homer.  A single, a walk, and another single loaded the bases with none out.  A walk to McNeil forced in a run and made the score 14-7, still with none out.  At that point, Chase De Jong pulled himself together and got a foul out, a force out, and a foul out to end the game.

WP:  Hildenberger (2-0).  LP:  Jacob deGrom (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Garver is batting .467.  Astudillo was 1-for-5 and is batting .421.  Polanco is batting .405.

Hildenberger, May, and Ryne Harper all have ERAs of zero.  Blake Parker has an ERA of 2.25.

Gibson pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks.  He did strike out six.  He was pulled one out shy of qualifying for a win, which shows that Rocco Baldelli is more concerned with team wins than pitcher wins.  It seems obvious that this is how it should be, but we can all think of Twins managers who did not seem to understand that point.

The Twins used six relievers, which is a lot, but none of them pitched more than one inning and four of them pitched less than one inning.  There's no reason all of them except De Jong couldn't pitch again tonight.

De Jong, of course, is the pitcher the Twins just had to have, couldn't get along without, was worth giving up Tyler Austin to have in the majors by Saturday.  This was the first time he's pitched, and quite frankly a position player probably could have done as well as he did.  It's not De Jong's fault that the Twins let Austin go, of course, and I have nothing against him.  I hope he gets another chance, and I hope he pitches well.  But it was still a really stupid thing for the Twins to do.

My guess would be that the number of people who expected the Twins to score fourteen runs in a game that Jacob de Grom started was approximately zero.

Record:  The Twins are 6-3, in second place in the American League Central, a half game behind Cleveland.

Projected record:  We're still on track for 159-3!