Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews: 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (7)
Top 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (.440), Luke Keaschall (.146), Brooks Lee (.123)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
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Apathy is the worst of all human emotions. Some may believe that title belongs to sadness, but there’s a beauty in its sting; the knowledge that there’s something in this world to provoke such a feeling—the rawness of genuine morose dawning—reminds us that we still care. Caring is important. Indifference is nasty, with its creeping, lingering sense that things don’t matter. It consumes and destroys. Gobbles and spits out. All things matter as long as you place importance upon them. The Twins have given us extraordinarily little to consider important.
Fresh off a convincing sweep at home at the hands of one of the worst teams in the AL, Minnesota’s doldrum-findings appeared complete. They’ve played swampy, dreck-full baseball since their great trade-off just three weeks ago, with just a handful of bright spots working to inspire.
One of those bright spots might be Zebby Matthews. The 25-year-old has flashed immense strikeout ability in his three August starts, whiffing 21 across 14 2/3 frames. Various bugaboos and afflictions—the common menace, cursing young players looking to establish themselves—have limited his effectiveness to “mild,” rather than “dominant,” but potential clearly thrives in him. Perhaps Friday could be a coming-together party for the righty.
Unfortunately, Matthews ran into the same inconsistencies he had seen before. His slider ferried hitters to the dugout, but command eluded him; Chicago pounced for a first-inning run, attacked once more in the fourth, and he was essentially knocked out of the game with a two-run Colson Montgomery homer in the fifth.
Aaron Civale started for the White Sox. His usual bag of tricks—looping curves; fastballs that break left or right but never straight—baffled the Twins for three frames. He looked set to hold Minnesota at bay all night.
Then, a beautiful moment. A shining beacon suddenly streaking through the screen. Just as we all can be heroes, just for one day, we can also experience gorgeous flashbacks to previous elations, reminding us briefly of what once was. With three men on, Royce Lewis stepped up to the plate. Civale threw a cutter. It sat too high. It flattened out. Lewis swung and drilled the pitch out to left. For a second, he remained in his back-swing; with bat aimed directly towards the sky. Though it had been some time, he knew the feeling of hitting a grand slam. He must know. He perhaps just needed to remember what it was like. The ball traveled 386 feet out to left field and bounced off a seat. 2023 no longer seemed so far away.
The bomb aided in a curt outing for Civale, giving way to the White Sox’s tender underbelly: their bullpen. And it proved to be a weakness once again. Trevor Larnach drove in a go-ahead run in the sixth, which begat a Luke Keaschall RBI knock one batter later. Unsatisfied, Minnesota returned for more in the sixth, striking Wikelman González for two; one off an errant throw by infielder Chase Meidroth; the other thanks to an opposite-field slash by Edouard Julien.
The tenor of this piece—undoubtedly already all over the place—nearly took a turn. Génesis Cabrera entered in the eighth. Innocuous enough. He earned his first out after two pitches. Innocuous enough. The next six batters reached base. Huh. The White Sox did it the old-fashioned way: one base at a time, advancing on Cabrera and eventually Justin Topa in a methodical rally that put three runs on the board. Win probability suddenly favored Chicago. Topa netted a pop-out turned savior rally-ender when Miguel Vargas broke for the plate, just for Lewis’ throw home to nab him by two steps.
Providence never dipped further the rest of the way. Byron Buxton added a ninth and final run to the Twins’ total, and Topa sat down the White Sox in the ninth to conclude an eventful game.
Notes:
The grand slam was the sixth of Royce Lewis’ career.
Four players, Byron Buxton, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee, and Lewis, reached base at least three times on Friday.
Buxton earned his 100th (and 101st) hit of the season, the second time he’s reached that milestone in his career (2017).
Post-Game Interview:
What’s Next?
The Twins stay in Chicago for game two of their series against the White Sox. The talented yet enigmatic TBD will start opposite Davis Martin. First pitch arrives at 6:10 PM.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
