Box Score
Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers, (1) Brooks Lee (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Simeon Woods Richardson (-0.37), Anthony Banda (-0.18), Josh Bell (-0.11)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Ah, the yearly foray into Canada. Everyone’s favorite trip. When the team travels to a strange and foreign land less than two hours away from Buffalo by car to play a squad also full of Americans and players of Latin descent. Apparently, their Heinz ketchup is made with Canadian tomatoes. That’s cool.

Simeon Woods Richardson earned the start. His mound opponent, Patrick Corbin, was set to make his Blue Jays debut. The veteran—armed with a slew of off-speed tricks—labored lethargically in an unrelenting first. He surrendered singles to Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall before offering Ryan Jeffers a cookie: a cement-mixing cutter aimed directly down the middle of the plate. The catcher didn’t miss. His blast left the bat at 107.7 MPH and landed 419 feet away. 

Woods Richardson—in contrast—was effective. Not quite dominant, the righty nonetheless found outs as they came, limiting the Blue Jays to just a double and a walk in his first three innings of work.

Brooks Lee homered to start the fourth. Minnesota’s win probability was nearly 90%. Martin slugged a double. Keaschall nearly blasted a home run out to dead center. Times were good. The team was in a rhythm tighter than Jeff Porcaro on Toto’s “Rosanna.”

 

 

That groove dissipated immediately. Toronto slugged back-to-back doubles to start their half of the fourth, Davis Schneider struck yet another two-bagger (with help from a Matt Wallner misplay), and Andrés Giménez singled to bring the game within one. No matter. The backup catcher was hitting; certainly, he wouldn’t hit a go-ahead two-run homer, his first as a big-leaguer.

 

 

Anthony Banda did little to stop the bleeding: Daulton Varsho cracked a solo shot off the reliever in the fifth, and even more doubles in the sixth pushed the Blue Jays’ run total to eight. 

Taylor Rogers came in; Toronto scored again. Justin Topa came in; Toronto scored again. All the while, Minnesota’s once potent offense fell silent, as they only put a man in scoring position one time following their fourth and final run. Martin struck out looking to cap a loss that once appeared set to be a promising victory. 

Notes:

Ryan Jeffers hit his 69th career home run, the fourth-most by a primary catcher in Twins history. He’s seven behind Earl Battey.

Taylor Rogers appeared in his 320th appearance as a Twin, the 11th-most in team history for a reliever. He’s seven away from tying Al Worthington. 

Austin Martin’s season OBP sits at .474.

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Blue Jays return for a Saturday matinee, as Joe Ryan is scheduled to start opposite Eric Lauer. First pitch is at 2:07 PM. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet