The Twins had every reason to like this matchup on paper. They were coming off a series split in Cleveland, the Athletics arrived at Target Field on a 10-game losing streak out of the All-Star Break, and Jacob Lopez had been stuck in a rough stretch of his own. Instead, Minnesota walked away with a 2-0 loss that never really found a clean turning point.
Zebby Matthews gave the Twins a chance to win. He worked 6.0 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 earned runs, and struck out 1 while throwing 92 pitches, 52 for strikes. It wasn’t spotless - he issued 3 walks - but he settled in early and kept the game in front of him until the fifth.
The problem was that Lopez was just wild enough to keep Minnesota from cashing in. Austin Martin drew two walks in the first three innings, and the Twins kept putting runners in scoring position through the opening frames without ever landing the big hit. Through four innings, both teams were stuck in a strange kind of stalemate: enough traffic to suggest something was coming, not enough contact to make it matter.
The fifth inning broke that deadlock. Matthews lost the zone with a leadoff walk to Donovan Walton, then Tommy White sent a deep fly to right that Luke Keaschall nearly tracked down at the wall before the ball hit the limestone overhang and bounced back into play.
Byron Buxton backed up the play and kept the runners at second and third, but the pressure kept building. Another walk loaded the bases, and Lawrence Butler brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly.
Minnesota had a chance to answer right away. Martin doubled in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Twins yet another runner in scoring position with one out. But Buxton and Ryan Jeffers both flied out, and the inning vanished without a run.
The Athletics added on in the sixth. Henry Bolte and Tyler Soderstrom each poked seeing-eye singles through the infield, and that was enough to make it 2-0.
The Twins finally reached the Athletics’ bullpen in the sixth, but that didn’t change the story. Geoff Hartlieb walked Josh Bell and Royce Lewis to open the inning, then struck out the hobbled Victor Caratini on three pitches.
A wild pitch moved the runners up, Keaschall drew a walk to load the bases, and Jose Saurez came in to stop the damage. Brooks Lee then rolled into a 5-3 double play on an 0-1 changeup, and Minnesota’s best opening of the night disappeared in a hurry.
From there, the offense kept running into dead ends. The Twins went down in order in the seventh, then Bell erased their second hit of the game in the eighth with another double-play grounder. In the ninth, Caratini struck out again, Keaschall took one for the team to put the tying run on deck, and Lee ended the game by grounding into a 1-4-3 double play.
Martin was one of the few bright spots, turning in a strong night in the field and at the plate. But the middle of the lineup never backed him up, going 1-for-10 behind him.
The Twins went 0-for-8 when batting with runners in scoring position, while the Athletics found a way to score from second base. That was the difference.
Minnesota gets another shot at the A’s on Saturday night on Kirby Puckett jersey giveaway day. First pitch is set for 7:10pm CDT, and the Twins still haven’t announced their starter for what is being treated as another must-win game.
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Its a reminder of how quickly a players story can change once he leaves the Twin Cities. Keplers path has already included a mixed run in Minnesota and a suspension that kept him out for a stretch, but his current form has added another layer to an already unusual career arc. The only catch for Arizona is that his impact has come with one significant limitation still hanging over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]