The Twins saw split squad action on Friday, getting a 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves and a 9-9 tie against those always pesky Tampa Bay Rays.
Although Bailey Ober made a solid start against the Braves, it’s the tilt against Tampa that reminds us about the wonderful world of baseball statistics.
The Rays scored nine runs on 17 hits, which, of course, is plenty of hitting to generate that many runs. The Twins, on the other hand, scored nine runs on eight hits. They also had only one extra-base hit and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. So how in the world did they manage to score nine runs?
Sometimes you let the other team do the work for you.
The Twins took advantage of seven base on balls, including several in the first inning. Trevor Larnach was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Jose Miranda earned a bases loaded walk, an RBI groundout gave the Twins another run and Mickey Gasper capped the inning with a sacrifice fly — one of three on the day for the Twins — and just like that they had a 4-0 lead over the Rays.
Starter David Festa, also known as the Slim Reaper, didn’t take the loss, but he still wasn’t very sharp, allowing five runs on six hits across three-plus innings with no walks and two strikeouts.
Ober, though, was on point in his win over the Braves, serving up just one run across four innings with no walks and five strikeouts. He also got plenty of the backing from the lineup, which produced 12 hits.
Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Ty France and Brooks Lee all had two hits apiece. Lee is now hitting .304 this spring, while France is hitting a sizzling .529. He is in regular season form and by that I mean I hope he has recaptured his All-Star form of 2022.
Extra innings…
-Another pitching performance to mention is Deadhead Joe Ryan’s appearance against the New York Yankees on Thursday. He appears to be fully back from injury because he picked up the win, fanning four over two innings on 37 pitches in the 8-4 victory. Losing Ryan late last season is what really caused the Twins to suffer through a September swoon, in my opinion. If he had been healthy to the end, I think the Twins would have made the postseason.
“We’re taking this one start at a time,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told MLB.com after the game. “Joe wouldn’t be pitching in a game today here in Tampa unless he was healthy and throwing the ball really well. So I have full expectation that he’ll be ready to go at the beginning of the season.”
-The Twins walked their way to nine runs against the Rays, while the Boston Red Sox relied on good old-fashioned lumber in their 20-5 thrashing of the Miami Marlins on Friday.
The Red Sox scored 20 runs on 20 hits, smacking seven doubles, six home runs and one triple.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera secured only five outs before he headed to the showers. He served up six runs on four hits, including three home runs, with two walks and two strikeouts.
-Looking forward to reading a new baseball book called “The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver tricked, tormented and reinvented baseball” by author John W. Miller.
The New York Times gave it a rave review.
Of course, part of my interest in wanting to read this book is to learn how Baltimore Orioles manager Weaver viewed the Twins. After all, the two teams met in the post-season in 1969 and 1970. I also think the argument could be made that the O’s and Twins were the two best teams in the American League in the 1960s.