Twins 6, Tigers 3: The Twins Win in 10, Piranha Style! (2024)

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (89 pitches, 55 for strikes, 62%)
Home Runs:Donovan Solano (3)
Top 3 WPA:Royce Lewis(.505),Willi Castro(.348), Donovan Solano (.239)

Win Probability Chart(Via Fangraphs):

The Twins won't see another team with a losing record for a week, so today's match-up against the Tigers provided a much-needed opportunity to get back above the .500 mark. The impending monsoon headed towards the Detroit metro area caused the game to be moved up 90 minutes, adding to the sense of flux that started when Byron Buxton's back acted up and Jose DeLeon's arm fell apart Saturday night. That flux continued throughout the game, creating a roller coaster of mid-day emotions ranging from unexpected highs to all-too-familiar lows. Ultimately the roller coaster stopped at a Twins victory, and that's all that matters.

The Third Inning's the Charm for Runs
After failing to advance a couple of singles in the first two innings, the Twins finally made some noise in the top of the third inning. Christian Vazquez delivered a doink single to right to start the inning. He then tagged and advanced to second on a deep fly, surprising pretty much everyone on and off the field. Vasquez felt the spirit a movin', and he advanced to third on another fly ball with an impressive slide and a whole lot of luck.

The reward for his base running efforts? He got to trot home because Donovan Solano crushed a two-run homerun to left to put the Twins up 2-0.

Unfortunately for Ober and the Twins, the Tigers check raised in the bottom half of the third inning. went They went single, double, double, single and just like that the lead was gone. Ober struck out Javier Baez to end the threat, but not before the Tigers were operating with a 3-2 advantage. This would be the only damage that the Tigers offense could cause today, and Ober navigated six innings for yet another quality start.

The Twins Offense is Still Offensive
The Twins looked to even the game back up in the top of the fifth, when Edouard Julien got a double and Solano followed that up with a single to put runners at the corners with only one out. Carlos Correa stepped up to the plate looking to be the hero, but he ended up grounding out into his second double-play of the day.

The Twins continue to strike out at an alarming rate, against pitchers who aren't necessarily known for racking them up. Outside of Vazquez, no Twins runners were able to steal or advance beyond their station. Singles led to threats, and threats led to disappointments.

The Tigers Defense is Also Offensive
In the top of the eighth inning, the Twins tried desperately to fail to deliver yet again with runners in scoring position. Royce Lewis walked with two outs, which led Rocco Baldelli to pull the ol' rope-a-dope by pinch hitting Max Kepler for Kyle Farmer and then pulling him immediately after a lefty was brought in to face Kepler. Ryan Jeffers then came out to be the new "Kepler/Farmer" and immediately laced a single to left to keep the inning going.

Runners at first and second, two out, and Willi Castro strode to the plate with a chance to be the hero against his former team. Instead, he ground out lazily to third base.

Luckily, Nick Maton also felt like being lazy, and he threw the ball towards the stands instead of the first baseman, and Lewis came all the way around to score the tying run. This led to even more drama, as Byron Buxton came off the bench with the chance to have a Kirk Gibson moment. Instead, he hit a ground ball to Baez, and Baez chose to throw it to the first baseman instead of the stands and the Twins had to settle for a tie at 3-3.

To the Ninth We Go
Tigers closer Alex Lange came in to face the bottom of the Twins lineup, and Vasquez and Michael A. Taylor quickly found their way back to the dugout. With two outs, Julien and Solano both walked, setting the stage for Correa yet again. With the double-play taken out of play (with two outs already recorded), could Correa deliver in the clutch? Correa absolutely crushed the ball to left-center, but Vierling was there to record the out to end yet another Twins threat.

The Twins countered with Griffin Jax and his magical sweeper show in the bottom of the ninth. Jax swept away Maton and Andy Ibanez quickly on a strike out and ground out, and he skipped off the mound thinking he swept away Matt Vierling only to get called back when the pitch was called a ball. Vierling eventually walked, but Jake Rogers weakly grounded out to send the game into extra innings.

Bonus Baseball
With the first nine innings being quite uneventful, it was only fitting that the Twins and Tigers tried to give the fans some extra chances for excitement. Correa started as the ghost runner in the tenth, as the Twins faced RHP Brendan White and his nearly two K's per inning. Lewis aimed a ground ball in the hole at short, and the ball glanced off of Maton's glove into right field. Correa glided into third base only to notice that in a horrendous decision, Tommy Watkins was wheeling him home. Correa went from first to fourth gear, and was about to be tagged out when Rogers dropped the throw and the Twins took the lead at 4-3.

With blood in the water, the piranhas were back in action. Jeffers laid down a bunt, advancing Lewis to third base. Castro stepped up and missed on a safety squeeze play, only to lace a single to right to stretch the score to 5-3. The exciting base running continued as Castro swiped second on a close play. After an Alex Kirilloff fly out, the now first-baseman Vazquez came through with one last single to plate Castro and extend the lead to 6-3.

Jhoan Duran took that three run lead and proved that gas can actually keep potential fires away. The Tigers' ghost runner didn't even score, and the Twins escaped Detroit with a winning record.

What’s Next
Sonny Gray(4-1, 2.56 ERA) continues to search for that elusive fifth win Monday night in Atlanta, and he will face off against elite Braves RHP Spencer Strider (8-2, 3.93 ERA). The Twins "on the road" week marches on, and Gray is going to need to cover some innings with the Twins bullpen getting taxed in the last two days.First pitch is scheduled for 6:20pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart