The Minnesota Twins bullpen was fine in Game 1, shouldered the entire loss in Game 2 and did just enough to limit the Philadelphia Phillies to four runs in the Twins’ 5-4 win on Wednesday, a win punctuated by a Max Kepler walk-off infield hit.
They can’t all be dramatic home runs, right?
Wednesday was a bullpen day and it wasn’t perfect.
Steven Okert got one out, David Festa, the “Slim Reaper,” went four-plus innings with seven strikeouts and one run allowed, but he also tossed 73 pitches in the process. Caleb Thielbar allowed two runs, Brock Stewart, who returned from the injured list, served up one more and Cole Sands again worked a scoreless frame. Finally, closer Jhoan Duran redeemed himself with a scoreless inning as well.
Redemption was in order because the Game 2 loss landed smack dab on Duran. The Twins and Phillies were scoreless through eight innings and then Duran entered the game in the top of the ninth and it all went awry. He served up two walks, two doubles, a sacrifice fly and the Phillies won 3-0.
After Wednesday’s effort, Duran is back to a winning record at 6-5 with a 3.51 ERA.
Three Twins were responsible for the five runs: Matt Wallner, who homered, Max Kepler, who tripled and singled, and Carlos Santana, who hit two doubles.
The Twins are off Thursday, then hit the road to play the Detroit Tigers on Friday and through the weekend. Pablo Lopez gets the ball.
Extra innings…
-Before Twins manager Rocco Baldelli handed the ball to Duran on Tuesday, the team got eight scoreless innings from starter Simeon Woods Richardson, Jorge Alcala and Griffin Jax. Of those eight innings, SWR gave the Twins six scoreless frames and also picked off a runner at first base. I think it was his best overall start to date, which he accomplished on 88 pitches.
-More history: On July 25, 1964, the Twins tied a major league record by using nine pitchers in a 13-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox, 6-5.
The Chicago Tribune:
“Mike Hershberger, hitless in his last 16 times at the plate, was shaking his head in disgust when he stepped up to the plate with the bases full, one out, and the White Sox behind by a run in the 13th inning yesterday in Comiskey park.
“But angry Michael delivered his most satisfying hit of the season an instant later. It was a line single to left field, and two runners dashed home to give the White Sox a 6 to 5 victory over the distraught Minnesota Twins.
“This was the merciful ending to a 4 hour and 28 minute struggle, which utilized 43 players and drew something from the talents of every pitcher on the Minnesota staff except Camilo Pascual.”
Sources: MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com