SAN FRANCISCO — They’re not quite out of fuel, but the Minnesota Twins are very short-handed as they approach the All-Star break. Even so, they put together a complete victory Saturday afternoon.
Despite missing four of their best hitters and playing catcher Christian Vázquez at third base, the Twins topped the San Francisco Giants 4-2 in front of 32,582 at Oracle Park. Carlos Santana has now homered at all 30 active ballparks after blasting a go-ahead, round-tripper, and the Twins bullpen produced 4 2/3 scoreless innings to even the series at a game apiece.
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The Twins, who were without Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda — who’s headed to the injured list — Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis, are now 54-41 and look to salvage another series victory Sunday. To improve their chances, the Twins will purchase the contract of infielder Diego A. Castillo and place Miranda on the 10-day IL with lower-back stiffness, manager Rocco Baldelli said.
“Not very often are you playing a catcher at third base for nine innings,” Baldelli said. “But we pitched well, we produced enough runs. … We’ve had plenty of opportunities to push another run or two or three across and we haven’t done it, so the games have been tight, tough to separate, things like that. But I mean, I couldn’t be more pleased with coming out of here with a win on a day when we didn’t have very many moves to make.”
The last 10 days haven’t been kind to the Twins’ health.
Correa is the fourth Twins infielder, along with utilityman Austin Martin, to suffer an injury since July 3. Originally batting second in Saturday’s lineup, Correa was scratched an hour before first pitch with a right heel contusion. The Twins expect Correa, who last Sunday was named an All-Star for the third time, to sit out the last game before the All-Star break and have an MRI taken soon. His status for Tuesday’s exhibition game is to be determined.
“I don’t see (Correa) playing in the game (Sunday),” Baldelli said. “It’s safe to say that. I’m not hiding anything from the other team. We’re probably not going to see him in the game. If he comes in and he feels fantastic, you never know. We’ll see.”
Crushed by Carlos! pic.twitter.com/z9d2nsj7Yd
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 14, 2024
Correa is far from the only banged-up player.
The Twins placed infielder Kyle Farmer on the 10-day IL with a right-shoulder strain Friday afternoon, one he’s played with for some time, Baldelli said.
The Twins replaced Farmer with catcher Jair Camargo in part because Ryan Jeffers has played with a bruised foot since hurting it on July 4. During the middle of Saturday’s game, Jeffers’ right hand swelled up after a foul ball hit it, though initial postgame X-rays revealed no broken bones.
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Shortly after Farmer’s injury, Miranda was scratched from Friday’s starting lineup when his lower back locked up. Miranda made little progress Saturday and the Twins determined he’d be best suited to go on the IL. Baldelli said the injury would be backdated to Thursday and, because the Twins don’t start the post-All-Star Game portion of their schedule until Saturday, Miranda would only miss the team’s first game against Milwaukee on July 20 as long as he recovers.
Buxton missed Saturday’s game with a sore elbow after running into the wall Friday, though he showed improvement during the game, Baldelli said.
All of those injuries occurred after the Twins lost Lewis and Martin during their last homestand.
Martin suffered an oblique strain last Saturday and went on the IL on Sunday. He began his IL stint four days after Lewis, who went on the IL on July 3 after dealing with a right adductor strain for the better part of a week.
And all of that led to Vázquez making the first start of his career at third base.
“A little bit scary,” Santana said of seeing Vázquez across the diamond. “He’s tough. We locked in. I’m excited for him. He tried all he can. I remember during the game when (Jorge) Soler hit the double, I said, ‘Hey, did you see the ball?’ He said, ‘No.’”
Difficulty seeing the ball was commonplace Saturday.
The umpiring crew needed to go to replay monitors three times to determine whether a potential home run was fair or foul. The Twins came out on the positive side of two reviews, including Santana’s sixth-inning solo shot to give his team a 3-2 lead.
Santana launched a high fly ball down the left-field line off former Twins reliever Taylor Rogers with one out, and the ball was signaled fair.
When crew chief Adrian Johnson affirmed the fair call after replay, Santana became only the third active player to homer in all 30 current ballparks. Santana knew he needed only to homer in San Francisco to achieve the feat and was excited afterward. The veteran slugger has homered in 32 of the 33 parks he ever played in. Atlanta’s Turner Field is the only one where Santana didn’t go yard despite producing an .807 OPS in six games there.
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Afterward, Santana was proud of his achievement and of the Twins for winning despite all the absences.
“Very important,” Santana said. “Miranda is one of the best hitters on the team. Correa, too, he’s a little bit sore. It’s a great win. We did a good job, especially because we didn’t have the best hitters in the lineup. It’s a great win. Great for my teammates.”
Highlighted by one of Jhoan Duran’s top outings of the season, the bullpen was superb.
Cole Sands took over for starter Simeon Woods Richardson, who struck out seven and allowed two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. Sands pitched 1 2/3 flawless innings to earn the victory. Jorge Alcalá followed with a scoreless frame while Griffin Jax worked around a long, two-out triple in the eighth inning to keep the Twins ahead by a run.
The Twins added an insurance run in the ninth, but Duran didn’t really need it. Thirteen of his 16 pitches were in excess of 101 mph. The 103.9 mph fastball he threw to LaMonte Wade was Duran’s fastest pitch of the season and one of three on the day that topped 103 mph.
“To see that, I feel more good,” Duran said of the increased velocity.
104 mph from Jhoan Duran pic.twitter.com/tnZhWuBgg1
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 14, 2024
The Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead against pitcher Hayden Birdsong in the fourth inning. Birdsong hit Jeffers with a pitch and the catcher tagged up on Brooks Lee’s deep fly ball. Matt Wallner then doubled in Jeffers to give the Twins the lead and Wallner advanced to third on an error. Wallner scored on a passed ball.
Woods Richardson had good stuff and once again pitched well. But Soler jump-started a rally to tie the score when he ripped a double past Vázquez that might have been catchable for Lee, Lewis, Miranda or anyone else experienced at the hot corner.
Baldelli said he opted to put Vázquez at third base instead of second, where he’s more experienced, because he believed there’d be fewer defensive chances. The decision appeared prescient as Lee, who made his first big-league start at second, was inundated with difficult plays and turned in a dazzling performance.
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Lee went up the middle with a dive to take a hit away from Thairo Estrada in the second inning, started a 4-6-3 double play with a nice flip to end the fifth and turned in another gem in the sixth.
All of it was necessary for the Twins to earn the victory.
“(Lee) had a pretty mesmerizing game,” Baldelli said. “We had to push guys into unusual spots, spots they’re not familiar with. Spots they work at, but I wouldn’t say Vazsky at third is something that you’re going to see very often. … All that said, walking out of here with a win feels fantastic.”
(Photo: Ed Szczepanski / USA Today)
Dan Hayes is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Minnesota Twins. Dan joined The Athletic after 5 1/2 years at NBC Sports Chicago and eight years at The North County Times, where he covered the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, four World Series, the NBA Finals, NHL Stanley Cup Final, NASCAR, UFC, Little League World Series, PGA and the NFL. Follow Dan on Twitter @DanHayesMLB
