The Phillies turned Saturday night at Target Field into a rout, burying the Twins 9-1 behind a seven-run fifth inning that blew the game wide open and left Connor Prielipp with a brutal line.
Prielipp worked 5.0 innings and allowed 8 hits, 8 earned runs, 4 walks and 6 strikeouts on 94 pitches, 58 of them strikes. He held Philadelphia to one run through four innings, but the fifth unraveled fast and hard.
The Twins actually opened the night with some promise. Prielipp set the Phillies down in order in the first, and Austin Martin answered with a loud double off the left-field wall in the bottom half. But Jesus Luzardo shut that down quickly, striking out Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis in succession.
Philadelphia began pressing in the second. Luiz Arraez singled, Alec Bohm doubled, and Edmundo Sosa walked to load the bases with no outs.
Prielipp escaped with only a sacrifice fly allowed, keeping Minnesota within reach early. The Twins then got another double in the bottom of the second, this one from Luke Keaschall, but Brooks Lee and Ryan Kreidler both struck out to strand him.
The game stayed tight through four innings, helped in part by a pair of aggressive baserunning outs. Bryce Harper was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the third, then Alec Bohm was cut down trying to take third on a grounder in the fourth. Minnesota had its own chance in the fourth when Keaschall tried to score on a slow roller from Lee, but replay showed him out in a bang-bang play.
Then the fifth inning broke the Twins.
A leadoff single looked harmless at first, and Prielipp retired the next two hitters. But then came three straight walks, with Arraez drawing the one that forced in a run to make it 2-0.
Two singles followed to push the lead to 5-0, and Bryson Stott capped the outburst by launching a slider to the right-field foul pole for a three-run homer and an 8-0 Phillies lead. Seven runs scored in the inning, and the Twins were effectively finished.
Minnesota did little after that to make the night interesting. Kaelen Culpepper doubled in the fifth and was stranded.
Jeffers doubled in the sixth, and Royce Lewis later reached the top of the left-field wall with a ball that bounced back into play for the Twins’ fifth double of the night. Lewis was left at second, and that was the club’s last real scoring chance.
The Twins finished 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, with seven of those outs coming by strikeout. Their only hit in those spots came during a night when the missed chances piled up and the Phillies kept separating.
The bullpen, once again, was a bright spot. Minnesota’s relievers threw well in relief, but the damage had already been done by the time they got involved.
The game also raised questions about how Derek Shelton handled the pitching, especially with Prielipp walking three straight batters in the fifth while the game was still close. The late use of Minter and Hoffman in a blowout could also affect Sunday’s availability.
Now the Twins turn to the finale of the series on Sunday afternoon. Dean Kremer, listed at 2-4 with a 5.25 ERA but 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 0.58 WHIP in his two Twins outings, will start for Minnesota.
The Phillies will counter with Andrew Painter, who is 2-8 with a 6.27 ERA. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.
CDT.
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