5 things that stood out in the Twins' Game 3 loss to Astros
Houston's 9-1 clobbering of the Twins in Game 3 has put Minnesota in a must-win situation in Game 4 on Wednesday. Win that and the decisive Game 5 will be Friday in Houston. Lose and it's time to clean out lockers and enter the offseason. All that aside, here's what stood out in Game 3.
1. Big bats fail in big spots
Minnesota had runners at second and third with one out in the first inning and Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa failed. Both struck out swinging when all they had to do was basically put the ball in play to get at least one run across the board and steal back some of the momentum after the Astros drilled the Twins for four runs in the top of the first inning.
- 1st inning, runners at 2nd & 3rd with 1 out: Royce Lewis & Carlos Correa strike out
- 3rd inning, runners at 1st & 2nd with 0 outs: Polanco strikeout, Kepler fly out, Lewis line out
- 5th inning, bases loaded with 1 out: Kepler & Lewis strike out
2. Shadows were tough on Twins hitters
Minnesota batters had 12 swings and misses the first time through the order against Cristian Javier and the Fox broadcast crew, featuring ex-MLB stars A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright, were adamant that the shadows between the pitcher's mound and home plate were causing significant problems for batters.
Cristian Javier’s stuff is even nastier from the ump cam.
— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2023
He has 5 Ks through the first 2 innings! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/Oh9Mu1wJd9
Javier finished the day with 18 swings and misses, so it was very clear how big of a role the shadows played in the first two innings.
3. Disastrous day game for Sonny Gray
Gray pitching a day game has been a huge plus for the Twins this season. Prior to his blowup start in Game 3, Gray had made 13 starts in day games and posted a 1.80 ERA in those starts. Opposing batters were hitting just .185 with a .510 OPS against him in day games.
One of those day starts was April 7 against the Astros when the temp was just 51 degrees in Minneapolis. Gray struck out 13 in that game and limited the Astros to one run on four hits.
4. Strike call hurts Royce Lewis in a big spot
Minnesota was abysmal with runners in scoring position but Royce Lewis found himself in a hole when he came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning. The home plate umpire called a slider that was high and outside (pitch 1 in the graphic below) a strike. The next pitch was closer to the plate and called a ball.
What should've been a 2-0 count with the bases loaded was a 1-1 count and Lewis swung and missed at the next two pitches for the inning-ending strikeout.
When batting with a 2-0 count this season Lewis was 4 of 6 with two homers, a double and six RBI. When batting with a 1-1 count Lewis was just 3 of 17.
5. Jeremy Pena's game-changing play
Down 6-1 in the sixth inning, the Twins had just scored a run and had runners at first and second with one out with Ryan Jeffers at the plate. Jeffers hit a hard ground ball up the middle and Jeremy Pena saved the day by making a diving stop to start a 6-4-3, inning-ending double play.
If Pena doesn't make the play, the Twins score another run and still have two runners on with the top of the order due up.
Jeremy Peña ends the 6th inning by starting a nifty double play. 😤 #Postseason pic.twitter.com/SHTauww4oB
— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2023
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.