The Twins didn’t get the comeback they were chasing Sunday, but Kaelen Culpepper gave them the kind of ninth-inning fight that can change the feel of a dugout.
Minnesota had already watched a five-run lead vanish and found itself down two in the bottom of the ninth when All-Star and former Twin Jhoan Duran took the mound. That set the stage for a rookie against one of the most overpowering relievers in the game.
Victor Caratini started the inning by working a six-pitch walk with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Culpepper stepped in with a little recent experience to lean on after facing Duran in Thursday’s Field of Dreams Game, when he lined a single into the outfield. This time, though, the at-bat turned into a grind.
Duran came right at him with velocity, as expected. The first pitch was a 98.1-MPH splinker, and Culpepper fouled it off.
Then came a 90.3-MPH knuckle-curve in the dirt that Culpepper took for ball one. Duran answered with another splinker at 97.7 MPH, and Culpepper swung through it to fall behind 1-2.
That count is brutal against Duran. Opponents are 7-for-49 with 34 strikeouts after getting to 1-2 against him this season. Culpepper didn’t blink.
Duran stayed with the splinker on the next three pitches, firing one at 99.1 MPH, then another at 98, then another at 98.8. Culpepper fouled all three away. That turned the at-bat into survival mode, with the rookie repeatedly spoiling pitches that would overwhelm most hitters.
Duran finally mixed in a sweeper on the seventh pitch, a 90.9-MPH offering that missed outside. Culpepper held off, and the count was even at 2-2.
Then Duran went back to the splinker again, this time at 99.2 MPH, and Culpepper fouled it off for the fourth straight time after falling behind 1-2. By then, he had five foul balls in the at-bat and had forced Duran to keep making pitches.
On the ninth pitch, Duran returned to the same weapon and pumped it in at 99.7 MPH. Culpepper finally got enough of the barrel on it to put the ball in play, breaking his bat in the process. The ground ball got through the infield for a single, putting two runners on base and giving Minnesota a real opening.
It was the kind of at-bat that fits Culpepper’s early run with the Twins. Since his Aug. 7 debut, he has looked comfortable enough to stay in the mix, even if the adjustments that come with a 31.0% strikeout rate are still ahead. On Sunday, he reached base twice more and is now hitting .250/.345/.417.
The single against Duran carried real weight, too. Win probability said the at-bat boosted Minnesota’s chances by 10%, and it set up Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton with runners aboard. Neither could finish the job, though, as both struck out to end the game.
Even so, Culpepper’s battle stood out in a loss that left the clubhouse searching for something to grab onto.
“We're just kind of looking for that spark right now,” Josh Bell said after the game, in a dejected clubhouse in which Bell and others nonetheless insisted that the vibes remain good.
For one inning, at least, Culpepper supplied it.
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