As predicted, Twins starter Jose Berrios had no trouble with the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. He struck out 11 over seven innings on a very efficient 81 pitches. He allowed only two hits before stepping aside for the bullpen, which quickly got into trouble.
Rookie reliever and Harvard man (Porcellian perhaps?) Sean Poppen served up a grand slam in the ninth, but lefty Taylor Rogers got the final two outs of the game and the Twins held on to beat Miami 7-4.
The Twins go for the sweep on Thursday. Michael Pineda gets the ball.
Extra innings…
-In addition to the win, the big news Wednesday was that Falvey & Co., Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine, pulled off one more deal before the trade deadline to get San Francisco Giants reliever Sam Dyson in exchange for three mid-tier prospects.
According to MLB Trade Rumors:
Dyson, 31, has posted a 2.47 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 0.53 HR/9, and 55% groundball rate in 51 innings for the Giants this year. Last year, Dyson ranked ninth among MLB relievers with a 61.3% groundball rate. Dyson’s MLB career took off after a Marlins waiver claim back in 2013, and he posted a fine 38 save campaign for the 2016 Rangers.
In the end, the Twins set out to improve the bullpen and they did, getting Dyson and Sergio Romo, without having to give up too much. Although the Twins were rumored to be interested in starters Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard, Madison Bumgarner and Giants closer, Will Smith, the rumored asking price also sounded way too high. I’m glad we didn’t part with Byron Buxton or Eddie Rosario.
-While Berrios was busy doing his job on Wednesday, Max Kepler, Mitch Garver and Rosario were busy doing theirs by hitting home runs. Kepler hit his team-leading 29th, Rosario his 23rd and Garver hit No. 20.
-Berrios has made 16 quality starts this season.
-The Twins have released reliever Cody Allen, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Indians.
-Cleveland also won Wednesday so the Twins and Tribe are still separated by three games.