The offense wastes another masterpiece by Chris Paddack.
It took a few years, but Chris Paddack finally looks like the pitcher the Twins thought they were acquiring in 2022. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t help him out in this one.
With the bullpen spent after back-to-back extra inning games and a short start by Bailey Ober on Saturday, the Twins desperately needed some length out of Paddack. He responded with his best start of season, delivering eight innings of one-run ball while striking out 10 Mariners, with the only run scoring on MVP-candidate Cal Raleigh’s solo homer in the seventh inning. He gave up some hard hit balls, but Paddack only allowed runners to reach second base twice the entire game, a clear recipe for success.
Seattle starter Luis Castillo was matching Paddack pitch for pitch. The veteran shut down the Twins offense for his seven innings, though the Twins had plenty of chances. Castillo didn’t deliver a clean inning until the sixth, but Minnesota could never build a rally. Their best scoring opportunity came in the third when singles from Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner put runners on the corners with two down, but a patented Carlos Correa pulled groundout ended that threat.
Down one thanks to the Raleigh bomb, the Twins were once again able to mount threats against the M’s elite back-end duo of Matt Brash and Andres Munoz. Brooks Lee came on for the struggling Royce Lewis to start the eighth with a single. Larnach followed with a scorched line drive that ended up in Julio Rodriguez’s glove. A Wallner HBP put two men on for Correa again, but Brash got him on a foul-tip after a long at-bat.
Luckily, the Twins have Munoz’s number. Kody Clemens and Ty France both reached with one out and a wild pitch moved them into scoring position. Harrison Bader delivered a sac fly that scored Clemens, finally breaking the seal for the Twins, before Lee struck out looking (on a questionable call) to end the inning. After blowing saves in back-to-back outings, Munoz has now given up four earned runs to the Twins and zero to the rest of the league.
Griffin Jax came on in the ninth for the Twins and had his monthly bad BABIP luck outing. Rodriguez reached on an infield single that Clemens probably should have been able to handle. Jax was able to get Raleigh to strike out, but Rodriguez stole second base and reached third on a bad throw by Ryan Jeffers. Randy Arozarena delivered a soft liner to center to secure Seattle’s second consecutive walk-off victory.
While it’s disappointing to lose the last two, the Mariners are a legitimate playoff team with one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. The Twins showed good fight on all fronts, including an especially gutsy outing by Zebby Matthews and the Twins’ bats on Friday.
STUDS
CHRIS PADDACK: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K
DUDS
Royce Lewis: 0-2, 1 K, lowered his season OPS to .392
Willi Castro/Ryan Jeffers: 0-4, 2 Ks each (plus a throwing error for Jeffers)
The Twins are back in action tomorrow night against the Las Oakramento Athletics (or ATH, as MLB likes to call them). After a strong start, the Homeless A’s have lost six straight and 18 of their last 19 games. Even the historically terrible Colorado Rockies have won two games in that timespan. Great opportunity for the Twins to get back on track!