Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB (97 pitches, 62 strikes)
Home Runs: Ryan Fitzgerald (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Matthews -.203, Trevor Larnach -.103, Luke Keaschall -.068
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):
After righteously thrashing the Angels 12-3 Monday night, the Minnesota Twins entered Tuesday hoping to secure their first road series win since early August in Detroit. Instead, they were handed a lopsided beating—one that looked far too familiar for a team stumbling toward the finish line.
Zebby Matthews took the ball for Minnesota, coming off consecutive quality starts against the Padres and White Sox. Any momentum from those outings vanished quickly. The Angels strung together three singles, a walk, and a double steal in the opening frame, plating three runs before Matthews could escape the first inning. To his credit, Matthews settled in over the next three frames, but things unraveled when he faced the order for a third time. Rocco Baldelli gave him the hook after 4 2/3 innings of work. His final line: seven hits, five earned runs, two walks, pushing his ERA back over 5.00 on the season. He did, at least, manage five strikeouts.
If Matthews’s outing was rough, the bullpen somehow made it worse. Pierson Ohl took over in the sixth and promptly surrendered four runs while only getting the same number of outs, punctuated by a three-run homer off the bat of Chris Taylor that blew the game open at 9-0. Thomas Hatch then served up a three-run bomb to Yoán Moncada, a familiar face from his White Sox days, to push the lead to 12-0. By the time utility man Ryan Fitzgerald was summoned to pitch the eighth, the game had long slipped into “damage-control” territory. The final tally: Angels 17 hits, 15 singles and two homers, a stat line rarely seen but indicative of the relentless approach Los Angeles took against Minnesota pitching.
The Twins lineup wasn’t any better. Limited to six hits on the night, Minnesota couldn’t push a run across until the ninth inning, when Fitzgerald launched a two-run homer to spare the club from a shutout. It was as meaningless a home run as you’ll find, except that it was just the second home run by a Twins pitcher (technically, that was Fitzgerald’s position for that at-bat) since the DH was instituted in 1973. Can you name the other?
Byron Buxton returned to the lineup, two days after having been hit in the knee by a pitch and missing a game and a half. Other than that, and beyond the limited good feelings Fitzgerald has created as a good story finding a modicum of success, there was little consolation to be found Tuesday night. The team finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, continuing a season-long trend of empty at-bats in key spots.
With the hideous loss, Minnesota falls to 64-81, officially ensuring they will not finish above .500 this season. (I know, I know. You were on the edge of your seat.) They now sit tied with Pittsburgh for the second-worst record among lottery-eligible teams.
How ’bout them Vikings, though??
What’s Next
The Twins will try their hand again at securing a series victory Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, with Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.92 ERA) toeing the rubber across José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) for the Angels. First pitch is at 3:07 pm CT.
Postgame Interviews
Bullpen Usage Chart
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TUE
TOT
Hatch
0
66
0
0
24
90
Topa
13
0
28
0
0
41
Funderburk
15
0
22
0
0
37
Sands
0
0
14
0
0
14
Adams
0
0
0
38
0
38
Ohl
0
0
0
0
43
43
Cabrera
0
0
8
23
0
31
Tonkin
0
12
0
20
0
32