LOS ANGELES – As the days count down before the July 31 Trade Deadline, Twins players and coaches know that there is extra urgency attached to every game. On Tuesday, they showed how deep they are willing to dig for a win.
Minnesota used seven pitchers, including closer Jhoan Duran for six outs, and scored runs on a fielder’s choice, a bases-loaded walk, a groundout and a dribbler in front of the mound en route to a hard-earned 10-7 win against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. They drew seven walks, with six of those coming around to score, and kept the pressure on all night against the reigning World Series champions.
It was the second win in five games since the All-Star break for a team whose deadline status sits on a knife-edge as July winds down. They have a chance to finish a western road trip at a break-even 3-3 mark with a win Wednesday.
“It took both sides of the ball,” said starter Simeon Woods Richardson. “Pitching staff, bullpen did a great job of keeping us in the game. We took great at-bats. In the early half of the game we took extended ABs, created a [high] pitch count. That’s the type of quality winning baseball we need. Sometimes it takes everybody to grab an oar and get in the boat together and paddle.”
Known more as a slugger, Carlos Correa reached base four times, including three times to lead off innings, and scored four runs. Christian Vázquez had a pair of big hits, his first RBIs since June 8. Royce Lewis drove in three runs without a hit.
“That’s the type of game you want to have,” said Correa. “Obviously home runs are king in the game, but you have to understand that when you’re leading off, you cannot get too big. You have to play your role, that’s get on base and start a rally.”
Anthony Misiewicz, who hadn’t pitched in a game that was in doubt since being called up from Triple-A earlier this month, was called on to pitch the eighth, but after he was removed due to injury, Duran took it the rest of the way. Misiewicz, according to Baldelli, suffered a pectoral strain. He seems likely to head to the injured list, further underscoring just how much the Twins endured to pull this one out.
This was not a conventional game. But the Twins do not find themselves in a conventional situation. They pulled within three games of .500 with seven to play before the Deadline. That’s close enough to contention that a hot streak could still convince their front office to add players rather than trading away veterans, but far enough down the standings that every loss likely moves them closer to the sellers’ category. Minnesota stands four games out of the third Wild Card spot, tied for seventh with the Angels in the race for the final three playoff positions.
The work started early, with the Twins jumping on All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto for three runs in the second inning. Perhaps just as important, they worked long at-bat after long at-bat against the right-hander, running his pitch count to 101 in five innings and exposing the stretched-to-nearly-breaking Dodgers bullpen.
Five Los Angeles relievers allowed seven runs and issued six walks, taking pressure off a Twins bullpen that was asked to pitch six innings behind Woods Richardson. The game never truly felt out of hand, all the way down to Shohei Ohtani’s homer off Duran in the ninth. But the Twins never let up and never let it get away.
“We had to look to guys early in [the game],” said Baldelli. “We had to look to our position players to dig deep in their at-bats that they were having. You saw a lot of guys stepping up is really what it is. Making plays, having good at-bats, finding ways on base. Walking. Guys stepping in and putting the ball in play.
“There was a lot of good there. That was a game where we were able to grab a lead, we lose the lead, we grab the lead back, we add. We did a lot of things. Our bullpen did a really nice job making it all happen. There was a lot of excitement out there tonight, and the guys responded. And when you can quiet Dodger Stadium and empty it out early, you’re doing something good. It was a good day.”
