Twins

8/4 GAME NOTES: Colon Overcomes Rocky Start to Toss Complete Game in 8-4 Win over Rangers

Like a young fighter perhaps half his age, Bartolo Colon was on the ropes and in danger just two pitches into Friday night’s game. The Minnesota Twins righty allowed a single to leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo and a double off the fence in right to shortstop Elvis Andrus, and the Rangers were immediately in business. One batter later, Adrian Beltre looped a single into center to bring home both runners, and the Rangers had an early 2-0 lead just 10 pitches into the game.

At this point, who knew it would be a historic night for the 44-year-old righty in just his fourth start in a Twins uniform?

“I think the odds were fairly long to imagine after that start that we’d see him out there in the ninth inning,” manager Paul Molitor said of Colon completing the game after digging such an early hole. “Obviously impressive. He kept telling me he was good. After the seventh he said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve got the last two.’ I wasn’t as sure as he was, but he made it stand up.”

Yet that was the case, as Colon more than settled down the rest of the way as he went the distance for a complete game — the 37th of his career — in an 8-4 win over the Rangers on Friday night at Target Field. Colon got Rougned Odor to ground into a double play to end the first, and his offense immediately went to work, scoring four runs in the opening frame and another in the second to give him a 5-2 lead that stood the rest of the way.

At 44 years, 72 days, Colon was the oldest AL pitcher to throw a complete game since Nolan Ryan on July 4, 1992 (45 years, 155 days). Incidentally, Friday was the 24th anniversary of Ryan pummeling Robin Ventura on the mound after the third baseman charged.

Brian Dozier opened the scoring for the Twins with a home run to right field on a 1-0 fastball from Rangers left-hander Martin Perez. Perez came into the game with an unsightly 5.13 ERA, and had been throttled by the Orioles in his previous start. Perez didn’t get out of the fifth inning at home against the Orioles last time out, as he allowed eight earned runs on nine hits, and Friday was almost a carbon-copy, as the Twins punished him for seven earned runs — including three home runs — on nine hits in just 4.2 innings.

Dozier not only led off the first with a home run, but did the same in the second to give the Twins a 5-2 lead. According to STATS, Inc., Dozier is the first Twins player to ever do that.

The Twins had Perez on the ropes from the outset, as the lefty gave up the leadoff home run to Dozier as well as a three-run home run to left by Robbie Grossman — his first from the right-handed batter’s box all season. Joe Mauer scored on the home run, and both he and Grossman had magnificent plate appearances. Mauer fell behind 0-2 after attempting to bunt the first pitch, but managed to coax a 10-pitch walk from Perez. Grossman also fell behind 0-2, then worked it back to full before drilling a Perez fastball 391 feet into the left field stands to give the Twins a 4-2 lead.

“I think when (Perez) wasn’t getting the call at the knees, and we kept spitting on it or taking good hacks at it and bringing him up a little bit, that’s when he made the mistakes,” Dozier said. Dozier said he was looking for a fastball both times, though he missed it the first time in the second at-bat.

All three home runs allowed by Perez came on fastballs.

The Twins made Perez and pals work all night. In fact, through six innings, Colon had thrown just 74 pitches, while Perez and Tony Barnette had combined to throw nearly twice as many (136).

Perez did manage to settle down briefly, as he retired nine straight batters between a booming double from Miguel Sano in the second inning and Mauer being hit by a pitch in the fifth. Mauer wasn’t the only Twin hit by a pitch on the night, as Sano was forced from the game in the sixth when he took a pitch off the top of his hand. X-rays came back negative, but Zack Granite replaced him as a pinch runner to load the bases, and also popped foul to third end the eighth inning.

Granite was sent back to Triple-A Rochester following the game to make room for Saturday’s starter, Kyle Gibson.

Manager Paul Molitor said he didn’t really get the feeling Colon could complete the game until the Twins pushed across a couple more runs in the fifth. After Sano was hit to load the bases, Eddie Rosario served a single into center to score both Mauer and Grossman, and picked up second when Carlos Gomez’s throw got past catcher Brett Nicholas. That pushed the lead up to 7-3, and with Colon’s pitch economy in such good shape — again, he was at just 74 pitches through six innings — Molitor let it ride as long as the righty’s results merited.

Gomez throttled a Colon changeup 367 feet to left field to cap the scoring in the ninth, but Molitor said that his starter had a one-batter cushion before he was going to go to Taylor Rogers — who was warming in the bullpen to face Choo if the lineup was turned over. That proved unnecessary when Colon got Nicholas to ground to Mauer to end the game to a thunderous applause the 22,272 fans in attendance.

“It feels good,” Colon said of the reception he got from fans late in the game. “It’s good for me and the team. I think that’s the first time I’ve had water thrown on me after a game. That feels really good. And thanks to the fans. That was awesome.”  

“When I went and told him after the eighth (that he’d be going out for the ninth), I was fine putting him back out there,” Molitor said. “I wanted to know how many pitches he felt comfortable with, and he said 105. I think he ended up with 105 on the button. But, he gave up the homer to Gomez, and I was going to give him one more hitter.”

Notes and Quotes

  • Colon’s continued reliance on offspeed and breaking stuff continued. Out of 106 total pitches, Colon threw 12 sliders and 18 changeups. That’s nearly 30 percent offspeed and breaking stuff from a pitcher who is usually around 15-17 percent.
  • Jorge Polanco snapped a 2-for-44 funk with a single up the middle in the eighth inning.
  • Dozier hit his 24th career leadoff home run in the first — a Twins record — and followed it up with his seventh career multi-homer game and second of the season (May 2, Oakland).
  • Molitor on Colon: “He just really settled in. He had a lot of quick outs. He made a lot of quality pitches. Offensively we backed him up. I thought to get off to a good start after falling behind was great. I thought Rosie’s hit off the lefty to plate two with two outs was a nice moment for us because we weren’t too comfortable at that time.”
  • Colon on what he saw from Texas hitters to stay one step ahead all night: “What can I say, they’re a good team with a good lineup. A lot of hitters in that lineup like to swing on the first pitch. After the first inning when Andrus hit the double and Choo got on base, I knew I had to throw a lot of breaking balls, and that’s what I did.”

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