On a frigid night in Minnesota, the Twisn perservered while the Tigers continued to make a mess of things, falling 7-3 in the first of four in the Twin Cities. The Tigers continued to draw tons of walks and then fail to cash in baserunners, while the usual rollercoaster that is Casey Mize followed a great first outing with a steep drop.
Mize faced off against the Twins’ best in right-hander Joe Ryan. Mize had to work through a minor jam in the second after a walk and then a Matt Vierling error on a drive
from Victor Caratini. He struck out Matt Wallner with a splitter that didn’t even have much drop, walked Royce Lewis to load the bases, but punched out James Outman on a splitter down and in, and got Brooks Lee to fly out to end the inning.
Ryan was cruising, and he continued to cruise in the third as Vierling popped out and a drive from Parker Meadows was snagged by Josh Bell. Jake Rogers was behind the dish in this one, and he whiffed on a riding Ryan fourseamer up and away.
Mize wasn’t spotting his fastballs well and his velo was down a little, although that was presumably the weather as Ryan dealt with the same thing. The Twins broke through in the bottom of the third when Buxton roasted a double to left, and Trevor Larnach reached on an infield single. Mize proceeded to walk Luke Keaschall to again load the bases.
The right-hander popped up Bell for the first out, but a drive to center from Caratini allowed Buxton to tag and score. This is where Mize had a good opportunity to escape relatively unscathed. Instead, Wallner flicked an 0-1 splitter into right field for a soft RBI single and it was 2-0 Twins. That brought up Royce Lewis, who smoked an RBI single to left to score Keaschall before Mize struck out Oatman to finally end the rally. 3-0 Twins.
That was the story of Mize’s night. He dug himself into a couple of deep holes and didn’t have the stuff and command to dig his way out repeatedly.
Kevin McGonigle was in the leadoff spot, with Gleyber Torres and Colt Keith following, and I like this arrangement against a right-handed starter. If they want to keep walking McGonigle, he can run, opening up the right side of the infield. The Tigers rookie reached to open the fourth on a Brooks Lee error and promptly stole second base. Torres walked, and a red hot Colt Keith hammered a double to right field. 3-1 Twins.
Riley Greene battled through a nine pitch AB against the tough right-hander, but Ryan jammed him and got a pop-up for the first out. Torkelson patiently took a walk as Ryan stayed away from him, and Zach McKinstry pulled a two-run single to right field to tie the game up. However, Ryan dug in and whiffed Vierling and Meadows to escape any further trouble.
Mize, pitching with new life in this one, popped up Lee and was fortunate that a Buxton drive was collected by Meadows. Larnach singled to right field, and Mize quickly fell behind Keaschall 2-0. A 2-1 fastball was again pretty poorly located middle in and Keaschall mashed it to left for a two-run shot. 5-3 Twins.
The Tigers got another chance to come right back in the fifth when McGonigle laced an automatic double down the line in left with one out. Torres stayed patient and took a walk as Ryan missed up and down. The Tigers were in business, but as has been the story of the early going, they failed to deliver the hits with Ryan in trouble. Keith took him to a full count but took a fastball on the outer edge for strike three, losing a challenge in the process. Greene put together another lengthy at-bat only to ground out to end the inning.
Mize gave up a leadoff single in the bottom half and then froze Wallner for the first out of the inning. Drew Anderson came on and promptly walked Lewis. Walks were plentiful as temparatures dipped below freezing. However, Anderson settled down and punched Outman on a good fastball up and in but still in the zone. Lee reached on a tough play for McGonigle, but that single was followed by a pop-up to end the inning from Buxton to Rogers.
Lefty Anthony Banda took over from Ryan in the sixth. Torkelson hit one hard out to center but not hard enough, and McKinstry grounded out. Vierling came through with a drive into the right center field gap that Wallner booted into a double and a one base error. With Meadows up, A.J. Hinch had the perfect spot for Jahmai Jones against the lefty, and Jones struck out swinging.
Anderson cruised through the sixth, and the Twins turned to Eric Orze on the mound as Kody Clemens took over from Bell at first. Orze gaveup a two-out walk to Torres, but again the Tigers couldn’t do anything with these gifts as Keith flew out the opposite way.
Anderson popped up Caratini to start the seventh, but gave up a double to Wallner. The right-hander and Rogers had a weird moment as the catcher looked like he was expecting something soft and Anderson airmailed a fastball over his head for a wild pitch that got Wallner to third. Some good changeups and curveballs form Anderson dispatched Lewis swinging, and three more sharp curveballs set Outman down swinging as well.
Good to see Anderson put together a strong outing after a shaky return to the majors in his first few outings. FB command still needs some work but he was much better getting ahead so his good changeup and curve could work for him.
The Twins continued to hand out opportunities in the eighth, as Kody Funderburk walked Greene and Tork to open the inning. Unfortunately, with McKinstry batting, Funderburk sailed a breaking ball over his catcher to the backstop. The runners broke to advance, and the ball caromed right back to Caratini. Greene saw this and tried to retreat while Torkelson was already nearly to second, and was eventually pickled and canned with Greene returning to second. My preference in that situation is just to keep going and make the catcher turn and make the throw, but it was just a nasty bit of luck as well. McKinstry walked to keep the opportunity alive, and right-hander Cody Laweryson took over. Vierling’s struggles to handle high fastballs were exploited for a strikeout, and Jones, now in a bad matchup, popped out to once again squander a chance.
TTBDNS forever.
That was all she wrote, as Anderson got the first out in the bototm half but walked Buxton on four straight errant pitches. Brant Hurter upstaged that with eight straight balls to walk Austin Martin and Keaschall, loading the bases. He froze Clemens, but Caratini did the job, not overswinging in the spot and lining a two run single to center 7-3.
Hurter finished the inning, but no one cared, included the Twins faithful who had largely vacated the ice palace of Target Field, feeling secure in a victory.
They were correct in their assumption. Laweryson went 1-2-3 in the ninth to wrap up the Tigers fifth road loss in seven attempts to start the season. Now 4-6, the Kitties will send their ace Tarik Skubal against a talented young right-hander in Taj Bradely at 7:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
