Twins

Solid Slegers Stakes Twins to Win over Baltimore

Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins came into Thursday night’s game against the woeful Baltimore Orioles needing stability in the worst way.

They found it in an unlikely place, as 25-year-old rookie call-up Aaron Slegers tossed six solid innings, scattering three hits and just one earned run on the way to his first MLB win. And while we may deride the “win” in this space on a regular basis, there’s still something that just feels special about the first one in a player’s big-league career.

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The Twins opened a 3-0 lead on an error, an Eddie Rosario single and a Logan Morrison homer, then saw it dwindle to 3-2 on a pair of homers by Jonathan Schoop. The Twins pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, and the trio of Addison Reed, Trevor Hildenberger and Fernando Rodney collectively held down the lead to send the Twins to their 36th win of the season.

The Twins snapped a six-game losing skid with the win.

Here’s what we saw from our vantage point:

Slegers was just what the doctor ordered

After sending back Gabriel Moya to make room on the roster, the Twins needed some length in the worst way to provide a breather for a beleaguered bullpen after coming off a one-win road trip. Slegers gave them just that, tossing six innings of one-run ball, giving up a homer to Schoop but very little else on the way to his first MLB win.

Slegers fanned just two batters and walked only one, but got nine swinging strikes on his 72 pitches — a more than respectable total. Nine of the 16 batted balls he allowed were on the ground, which is good for a guy at his height who works 90-92 mph but not much higher.

Four of his swinging strikes came on the sinker (13.8 percent whiff rate), with two each on the four-seamer (11.8 percent) and slider (9.5 percent) and one on his rarely-used changeup (20 percent).

It’s not the kind of game that’ll turn a lot of heads — especially against a woeful team like the Orioles — but you can bet Paul Molitor, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are more than happy with how Slegers handled himself in this one.

Max Kepler’s bat is heating up a bit

Kepler was 2-for-4 with a double, and while his season line is still at just .223/.307/.387, it looks like he’s again turning a corner after an extended dry spell. In June, Kepler hit just .163/.242/.221. He already has two multi-hit games in July, and it’s worth watching as he’s hitting lower in the order to take some pressure off him producing.

In that sense, it’s been kind of a strange season. He had a .921 OPS in April, .707 in May and then the ghastly June before heating up a bit in July. It’s still early and he’s not tearing the cover off the ball, but as I wrote a few weeks ago, the pieces are in place for him to heat up as a hitter as the summer wears on.

It’s early, but Jorge Polanco hasn’t skipped a beat

Polanco stroked his second double of the season as he went 1-for-3 with a walk, and his current slash line of .286/.375/.429 looks like maybe a perfect-world comparison for who the Twins might like him to be.

Maybe the on-base percentage is a little high and the slugging percentage a little low, but if he’s able to give the Twins an .800 OPS and capable defense someplace in the infield, they’ll definitely take that. The Twins have a lot of pieces to sort out here in the next few months between Polanco, Nick Gordon, Miguel Sano and the impending free agencies of Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier.

Jul 5, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco (11) hits a double during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

Logan Morrison had a nice game

True enough, he’s still hitting just .194/.293/.364 on the season, but he added a pair of hits — a single and a homer — and scored a pair of runs on a night where offense was at a premium.

Perhaps the biggest thing was that LoMo went oppo — OpPo? — for his 10th homer of the year. Here’s how his homers have gone by direction this season:

  • Right (pull) side – five
  • Middle – three
  • Left (oppo) side – two

Morrison isn’t much of an opposite-field hitter — just .116/.116/.302 this year — and that’s clear based on how he’s shifted in the infield, but mixing in a few batted balls like this will certainly help him shake up the defense a bit.

Just five of Morrison’s 48 hits this year have come to left field — one single, two doubles, two homers — so it’s worth wondering if he’ll add this to his bag of tricks.

Is Jake Cave closing in on the fourth outfielder job?

Cave had a huge game, going 3-for-3 with a walk to push his season line to .265/.308/.531. That’s some vintage Jay Bruce business there, and while it’s only in 50-some plate appearances, it’s clear the team wants to get a longer look at home.

This was his second three-hit game in his brief MLB career, by the way.

By fourth outfielder, this means when all the dust is settled and Byron Buxton makes his way back to the big leagues. An outfield of Rosario-Buxton-Kepler with Cave in the mix is deep, versatile and defensively capable.

That would probably spell the end of Robbie Grossman, however. We’ll see how it all pans out.

Jul 5, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Jake Cave (60) runs back to second base on his double during the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

Notes

  • The Twins improved to 21-20 at home; the Orioles fell to 12-33 on the road.
  • Schoop (2-for-4, two homers) was the only Orioles player with multiple hits.
  • Rosario is hitting .325 at Target Field this season, per the game notes.
  • Baltimore’s Chris Davis recorded his 1,305th career strikeout — tying him with Cal Ripken Jr. for the most in club history.
  • Manny Machado turns 26 on Friday.
  • Fernando Rodney’s save was the 318th of his career, tying him for 20th on the all-time list with former Twins great Rick Aguilera.

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