Twins

8/31 GAME NOTES: Walk-Off Win in Ninth Gives Twins a Three-Game Sweep Over White Sox

Thursday’s win was a strange one for the Minnesota Twins. They came from behind to tie the game in the fifth inning, only to have closer Matt Belisle give up the go-ahead home run in the ninth. They bunted — oh, they bunted — to no avail in both the eighth and ninth innings.

And yet despite all that — they won. They won their 20th game of the month of August, wrapping up a sweep against a torpedoing White Sox club for the Twins’ first 20-win month since May 2015.

And that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg as far as the weirdness that won the game.

Newly-minted White Sox closer Juan Minaya came on in the ninth to try protect a 4-3 lead after Alen Hanson homered to the right field flower pots in the top half of the inning. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza, but got the first out when Zack Granite’s bunt was popped up to catcher Rob Brantly. Brian Dozier followed with a walk, and Eddie Rosario golfed a game-tying single into right, plating Adrianza and moving Dozier — the winning run — to third. Then Joe Mauer walked to load the bases.

Jorge Polanco — perhaps the most unlikely cleanup hitter in the league — attempted to ambush the first pitch he saw from Minaya, but managed to hit just a dying quail of a liner that would still have won the game if not for the pitcher’s keen reflexes.

That set up a do-or-die situation between Minaya and Twins right fielder Max Kepler, and fans didn’t have to wait long for resolution, as the righty’s first-pitch slider to Kepler clipped him on top of the foot, sending the Twins dugout out to mob him and 21,288 fans playing weekday hooky home happy with a 5-4 walk-off — or rather, limp-off — win.

“No, there’s not,” Kepler said to Fox Sports North sideline reporter Audra Martin when asked if there was a better way to cap a series. “I’m not going to focus on all the aspects (for a 20-win month); I’m just trying to keep it simple.”

The last time the Twins had a walk-off win with a batter getting hit by a pitch, Kepler was just three years old. It came on May 1, 1996 against the Royals. Kansas City closer Jeff Montgomery was on for a second inning as the game went into the 10th at the Metrodome, but Rich Becker and Chuck Knoblauch each walked with one out, and Chip Hale followed swing an infield single.

So who was the (un)lucky beneficiary of the game-ending hit-by-pitch? None other than current Twins manager, Paul Molitor.

The win was the Twins’ 70th of the season, and brought them to within a half-game of the New York Yankees for the top Wild Card spot with Thursday night’s action pending.  

“We haven’t had many,” Molitor said of the walk-off win, just the Twins’ third of the season. The win also snapped a stretch of six straight walk-off games that the Twins had been on the losing side of, dating back to beating the Kansas City Royals — who invade Target Field for a three-game set on Friday — on May 19. “That last inning had a lot of twists and turns to it. But we battled. We hung in there.”

Bartolo Colon started for the Twins, and true to form had a strange, yet effective performance. He posted a minimalist quality start — six innings, three earned runs — and struck out eight batters with no walks, but also allowed 10 hits and routinely had to dance out of danger as the White Sox hit missiles all day long.

“Colon gave up a lot of hits but minimized the damage,” Molitor said. “We pecked away at (Chicago starter Miguel) Gonzalez. We got a couple big two-out hits along the way. One thing that hurt us was that we didn’t execute moving runners along. But we hung in there.”

Chicago had the six hardest-hit balls in the game, according to MLB.com’s Baseball Savant. Still, it was quite the change of pace for Colon, who hadn’t struck out a batter against the Blue Jays in his most recent start.

Colon gave way to Alan Busenitz in the seventh inning, and the righty tossed two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and just one hit allowed. He lowered his season ERA to a miniscule 1.54 in the process. Busenitz finished August with just two earned runs in 13.2 innings (1.32 ERA). Both earned runs he allowed came on Aug. 1, as he’s on an active streak of nine straight scoreless outings spanning 12.2 innings.

The Twins were balanced up and down the order offensively on Thursday, as Kennys Vargas was the only starter who didn’t reach base at least once, while Eddie Rosario was the only player with more than one hit.

Rosario had a double and a single, and is up to .293/.332/.502 for the season.  

“This is awesome. The guys are playing pretty good right now,” said Adrianza. “We just have to keep going and see what happens.”

Notes and Quotes

  • The Twins announced during the game that Byron Buxton does not have a fractured hamate bone, and that he was even available to come off the bench for defensive or pinch-running reasons if needed in Thursday’s game.
  • According to Baseball Savant, the White Sox had the six hardest-hit balls in Thursday’s game, ranging from exit velocities of 102.6 up to 107.2 mph.
  • The Twins capped the season series with the White Sox with a win to go 12-7 on the season against them.
  • Twins pitchers struck out 38 batters — a team record for a three-game series.
  • Mauer extended his hitting streak with a first-inning hit for the third straight game. The streak is up to nine games — one off his season-high.
  • Per the game notes, the Twins are 18-7 over their last 25 games and 34-35 at Target Field this season.
  • The Twins haven’t had 70 wins heading into September since 2010 (76-56).
  • The Twins finished with five players who drove in 20 runs in a month for the first time in franchise history (Buxton, Polanco, Dozier, Rosario and Kepler).
  • Molitor on the waiver trade deadline: “I don’t expect anything forthcoming throughout the rest of the day. We’re going to supplement our roster a little bit here in the short term, and see what else we can possibly do moving forward. But I would be surprised if anything happened in that regard.”

Listen to Brandon on Midwest Swing
subscribe on itunescold omaha podcast network

Twins
Can Pablo Lopez Cement His Twins Legacy In 2024?
By CJ Baumgartner - Mar 27, 2024
Twins
Minnesota’s Biggest Concern Will Be Stress-Tested Immediately
By Tom Schreier - Mar 26, 2024
Twins

The Twins Have Gotten What They Paid For In the Starting Rotation

For better or worse, the Minnesota Twins are getting what they paid for in the starting rotation. Their minimal financial investment after shedding nearly $30 million from […]

Continue Reading