When the Twins traded their close friend, Taylor Rogers, the day before Opening Day, it opened up questions about who would step in to help lead the unit.
Turns out, the answer is all about that.
The Twins’ bullpen had a collective 3.21 earned run average coming Sunday, which had not allowed for earned runs in each of the previous two games. And that’s a good thing for them, as the Twins had to rely heavily on the unit in Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics at Target Field, leaving starter Chris Paddack with a right elbow swelling in the third inning. was given.
It’s a troubling development for the paddock and the twins, who have recently been bitten by the injury bug. Paddack, who previously had Tommy John surgery in 2016, was laid off at the end of last season as he dealt with a minor ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow.
The paddock went into base on Sunday with a pair of runners and while both inherited runners were scoring, the twins’ bullpen put the Athletics down after that. In three matches against Oakland, the unit gave up no earned runs.
On Sunday, it meant a scoreless performance from Cody Stasch, who followed Paddack into the game, Caleb Thielbar, who dismissed all three batsmen in his working innings, Joe Smith, Tyler Duffy and Emilio Pagan, who made an eventful save. Closed the ninth inning. The day before, Danny Coulombe, Griffin Jacques and Joan Duran combined for five unscored innings. The day before that, Smith, Duffy and Pagan were defending the lead.
“It’s like a little mini-contest. It’s never talked about. We all know the success we’re all getting from the bullpen,” Jackson said on Saturday. “Not that we’re single- Trying to unite the other, but when you see your friends and your teammates doing well, you want to match that and you want to do better internally.”
Sunday’s group of relievers defended a one-run lead that the twins secured during the third innings of a three-run stand. After scoring a run in the second on the Gio Ursella sacrifice fly, Jose Miranda scored a run with an RBI double and Jorge Polanco with a two-run single to top the twins for good in the third.
The win marked the Twins’ third straight one-run victory and their ninth consecutive victory at target field.
