Box Score
SP: Pierson Ohl 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (72 pitches, 45 strikes (63%))
Home Runs: Brooks Lee 2 (9, 10)
Bottom 3 WPA: Ohl (-.246), Willi Castro (-.136), Royce Lewis (-.074)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
After a late-night walk-off winner against the Boston Red Sox, the Twins turned to a rookie to keep the momentum rolling. With Chris Paddack now a Tiger, a spot in the rotation was open, and young Pierson Ohl completed his meteoric rise from Single-A all the way to Target Field with his first MLB start. The young righty matched up against the wily veteran Lucas Giolito (6-2, 3.94 ERA), who was marking his 196th career MLB game. Who would get the upper hand in the battle of these two right-handers: The rookie or the veteran?
First Start, Great Start
Ohl started out with equal parts brilliance and stress. He registered strikeouts of his first two batters, before surrendering a double to Jarren Duran. With his first runner in scoring position, Ohl then collected a huge strikeout of Trevor Story to retire the side. After the Twins couldn’t cash in on a two-on, none-out scenario yet again, Ohl returned to face Wilyer Abreu to start the second inning. Abreu sent one deep to center field in an attempt to put the Sox up 1-0, but Harrison Bader said no.
Twins Miss Opporunities, While Boston Cashes In
The news of Byron Buxton going on the IL before tonight’s game was frustrating. The news that Carlos Correa had to exit the game after feeling light-headed following his first-inning single added angst to injury. As the rookie continued to deal, his revolving defense (and offense) continued to flail. Ty France and Christian Vázquez stranded Matt Wallner at second base in the second inning.
After yet another scoring opportunity got thwarted by the Red Sox, Boston speedster Ceddanne Rafaela crushed a triple off of the left field wall to start off the action in the top of the third. As Ohl now journeyed through the second turn through the lineup, the Boston batters were able to lay off the breaking balls and crush strikes in the zone. Roman Anthony quickly delivered a single to officially notch the first earned run against Ohl. Alex Bregman‘s double scored Anthony, and it was 2-0 Red Sox; Ohl was in trouble. The rookie thought he had fixed the glitch when he struck out Duran for the second out, but a center-cut changeup on the eighth pitch of the at-bat to Story ended up in the bullpen to make it a 4-0 Boston advantage.
Ohl’s night ended after three innings, and Michael Tonkin took over to start the fourth. He celebrated his return to Target Field by plunking the first batter he faced in Abraham Toro, Tonkin settled down and took care of business in the fourth, but in the top of the fifth, Duran took Tonkin deep to increase the lead to 5-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Twins once again got a runner in scoring position with only one out, only to see Trevor Larnach strike out. Luckily for the Twins, last night’s hero, Brooks Lee, was now in the game, and he was more than willing to deliver the first run of the day for the home team with a two-out, two-strike single to plate Bader. Vázquez and Lee advanced to third and second base, respectively, giving Willi Castro a chance to make this a ballgame again. Castro almost found the hole on the left side, but Bregman lunged and threw on a dime to keep the game at 5-1.
No Relief in Sight
Kody Funderburk came on to face the bottom of the Boston lineup in the bottom of the sixth inning. It hasn’t been going well for Funderburk since his call-up (10.57 ERA over his last seven outings), and tonight was no different. A lead-off single to Carlos Narvaez was followed by a ground-rule double to Toro. The good news is that Funderburk’s ERA actually went down, while the bad news is that he did surrender a run back to the Red Sox on a sac fly to make it a five-run deficit at 6-1 again. Giolito, meanwhile, escaped another clogged bases situation in the bottom of the sixth to leave the game having scattered only four hits and allowing only one run, keeping the Twins to just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Brooks Lee Continues to Be Him
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the new proud poppa Ryan Jeffers pinch-hit for Larnach with a lefty reliver on the mound. Jeffers laced a single into center field easily enough to make you wish he had started the game, and this put Lee in position to bat from the right side of the box. A Wilson fastball came in, and it went out even faster—104.7 mph and 415 feet to be precise—to close the deficit to 6-3.
Cole Sands held serve in the eighth, and Louis Varland got the ninth inning. A Royce Lewis error, however, gave the Red Sox an extra out, and Story and Abreu hit back-to-back doubles to plate two unearned runs to make it 8-3 Boston.
This extension in the lead put Aroldis Chapman back on the bullpen bench and gave the Red Sox enough breathing room to bring Jorge Alcala in instead. Those unearned runs immediately began to sting, because even though Lee started the night on the bench, he was going to end the night in the Twins record books by hitting a home run from both sides of the plate and knocking in all five runs on the night.
After a Lewis single, the Red Sox ended the fun and brought in Chapman. The Twins countered with Mickey Gasper instead of Kody Clemens. Three pitches later, no contest. Strike out, ball game. 8-5 Boston.
What’s Next?
The Twins look to rebound to take the series against the Red Sox in a Wednesday matinee. The Twins have yet to name their starting pitcher, while it was assumed that Bailey Ober (4-6, 5.28 ERA) would be called up from his rehab stint at St. Paul to take the hill, Zebby Matthews (2-2, 4.97 ERA) will instead get the task. The Red Sox send righty Brayan Bello (6-5, 3.32 ERA) out to play the role of spoiler of all Twins Territory trade deadline hope. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 pm CDT.
Postgame Interviews
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TUE
TOT
Funderburk
0
39
0
0
38
77
Durán
6
0
17
27
0
50
Topa
0
27
0
16
0
43
Jax
25
0
0
13
0
38
Tonkin
0
0
0
0
36
36
Sands
0
0
27
0
8
35
Varland
0
0
11
0
22
33
Coulombe
11
0
20
0
0
31
Stewart
0
0
9
16
0
25