MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Completed their five-game, six day homestand with a record of 3-2, going 1-1 vs. Detroit, followed by a 2-1 series win over the Pirates…tonight, the Twins will begin a two-game series with the Brewers at American Family Field…following tomorrow afternoon’s game, the Twins will travel back to Minneapolis to begin a seven-game homestand with four against the Rangers (August 24-27) and three against the Guardians (August 28-30)…the Twins have gone 36-26 at home and 29-34 on the road.
The Twins have gone 20-14 since the All-Star break, tied for fourth most wins in the AL and tied for seventh most wins in baseball.
Of the Twins’ 37 remaining games, they have an opponent winning percentage of .479, the fourth-lowest strength of schedule in Major League Baseball.
TWINS RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER: The Twins shut out the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at Target Field by a score of 2-0…Dallas Keuchel (1-1) was the starter and winner in his third start with Minnesota, pitching 6.1 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, no walks and three strikeouts… Keuchel carried a perfect game for all 6.1 innings until allowing a one-out double to Bryan Reynolds in the seventh…Griffin Jax (19) and Caleb Thielbar (10) each earned holds as Jhoan Duran recorded his 23th save (27th opp)…the offense recorded five hits, two from Donovan Solano (single, double)…Edouard Julien went 1-for-2 with a double and drove in both runs.
C4 1K: Carlos Correa is playing in his 1,000th career game tonight, 247 coming with the Twins (2022-present) and 752 coming with the Astros (2015-21)…71 active major leaguers have reached the 1,000 game mark…the closest current Twins to 1,000 career games are Michael A. Taylor with 951 and Max Kepler with 933…992 of Correa’s 999 games have been at shortstop, the fifth-most among actives, trailing Elvis Andrus (1,958), Brandon Crawford (1,602), Xander Bogaerts (1,305) and Francisco Lindor (1,168).
BEERFEST: The Twins and Brewers are playing the third of four games this season…Minnesota hosted Milwaukee for two games from June 13-14 and swept, while outscoring the Brewers 11-7…the Twins are 242-231 all-time against the Brewers (since 1970) and are 69-57 against them in Interleague Play, since Milwaukee’s move to the NL in 1998…Twins are 13-8 in their last 21 against the Brewers.
Max Kepler is hitting .333 (11-for-33) with three doubles, one triple, five RBI, four walks and an .890 OPS in his last 10 games vs. the Brewers.
Christian Vázquez is hitting .381 (8-for-21) with three doubles, two RBI, three walks and a .982 OPS in seven career games vs. the Brew Crew.
Edouard Julien went 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and two walks during the two-game series against the Brewers in June.
NATIONALLY KNOWN: The Twins have gone 19-16 in Interleague Play this season, going 1-2 at Miami, 1-2 vs. Washington, 2-1 vs. San Diego, 2-1 vs. Chicago-NL, 1-2 at Los Angeles-NL, 1-2 vs. San Francisco, 2-0 vs. Milwaukee, 0-3 at Atlanta, 2-1 at St. Louis, 3-0 vs. Arizona, 2-1 at Philadelphia and 2-1 vs. Pittsburgh…the Twins have gone 8-2 in their last 10 in IL Play and 12-6 in their last 18…their 19 wins are their most in IL Play for a single season (16 in 2006).
Max Kepler has six home runs against NL opponents this season…he has 21 career IL home runs, tied with Justin Morneau for fourth most in club history, trailing Torii Hunter (33), Eddie Rosario (23) and Joe Mauer (22).
C4 IGNITING: After going 1-for-4 on Sunday, Carlos Correa has reached base safely in 12-straight games, since August 5…since that date, he is hitting .325 (13-for-40) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, seven walks, a .438 on-base percentage, a .600 slugging percentage and a 1.038 OPS.
From August 1 of last season to the end of the 2022 season, Correa hit .323 (72-for-223) with 10 doubles, nine home runs, 28 RBI, a .402 on-base percentage, a .498 slugging percentage and a .900 OPS in his final 59 games.
LOVE FOR LEFTIES LATELY: The Twins have faced nine left-handed starters since the All-Star break, going 6-3 in those games…they are 15-14 on the season when facing a lefty starter… below is a comparison of offensive numbers vs. lefties before the All-Star break and after:
AVG OBP SLG OPS BB% K%
PRE-ASG: .218 .289 .365 .654 7.8% 25.8%
POST-ASG: .248 .315 .452 .766 8.2% 25.1%
In their last 13 games vs. left-handed pitching, the Twins have an OPS of .833 (.330 OBP/.503 SLG) with 11 home runs.
Carlos Correa is hitting .400 (14-for-35) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, a .475 on-base percentage, a .686 slugging percentage and a 1.161 OPS in his last 19 games vs. left-handed pitching.
STARTERS ON STRIKE: Twins starters have struck out an MLB-best 768 batters and are on pace to strike out 995 hitters this season, which would shatter the club record of 870, done in 1967…in fact, 995 would land them eighth on baseball’s all-time list, behind the 2018 Astros (1,101), 2017 Guardians (1,066), 2018 Guardians (1,066), 2019 Astros (1,063), 2017 Nationals (1,012), 2019 Nationals (1,010) and 2017 Red Sox (1,001). A768 strikeouts rank fourth most in club history…next is the 1964 staff that had 777 (right).
HBD, MOLLIE: Happy 67th birthday to Hall of Famer and former Twins manager Paul Molitor, who was born on this day in St. Paul in 1956…Mollie’s 75.7 bWAR is the second highest by any major leaguer born on August 22, behind fellow Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski (96.5)… Twins went 2-1 on Mollie’s birthday with him as manager.
Christian Vázquez celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday.
MINOR THINGS: Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher John Klein was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week and FCL Twins right-handed pitcher Kyle Bischoff has been named FCL Pitcher of the Week.
Klein, 21, made the start on Saturday at Palm Beach, pitching 6.0 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, one walk and eight strike- outs, earning his first victory of the season…Klein was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in August of 2022 from Iowa Central Community College.
Bischoff, 24, made the start on Saturday against the FCL Red Sox, pitching 4.0 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, no walks and six strikeouts, earning the win…Bischoff was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in May of 2023 out of Michigan State University.
STARTING PITCHER – BAILEY OBER 17
2023: 6-6, 3.40 ERA CAREER: 11-12, 3.64 ERA
Making his 21st start of the season and ninth road start…also his 52nd career start and appearance.
Facing the Brewers for the second time this season…last faced Milwaukee on June 14 at Target Field (W, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R/ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 7 K).
Began the season with Triple-A St. Paul…since being inserted into the rotation, the Twins have gone 12-8 in his 20 starts.
Selected by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the College of Charleston.
LAST START: Did not factor into the decision in his last start on August 15 vs. Detroit, a 5-3 Twins’ victory at Target Field…pitched 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits (1 HR), with a career-high-tying three walks and six strikeouts…allowed both runs on a two-run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the second inning…retired eight of the final 13 batters he faced after the home run…relieved by Dylan Floro in the sixth inning who combined with Emilio Pagán and Caleb Thielbar to pitch 3.0 scoreless innings (1.0 IP each)…Jhoan Duran entered in the ninth inning and yielded a solo home run to Spencer Torkelson…the Twins took the lead in the sixth inning after an RBI single by Royce Lewis and a grand slam by Matt Wallner.
Has yielded eight home runs in his last six starts, tying his career high over a six-game span (also, August 30, 2021-April 10, 2022).
Has pitched five-innings-or fewer in four-consecutive starts, tying the second-longest streak in his career (also, April 22-May 15, 2022)…is 0-2, 6.63 ERA (19.0 IP, 14 ER) with four walks, 23 strikeouts and a .372 opponent batting average in that span.
TWO STARTS AGO: Took his sixth loss of the season on August 9 at Detroit, a 9-5 Twins’ defeat at Comerica Park…pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five runs (4 earned) on a season-high-tying 11 hits (1 HR), with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts…marked his most strikeouts since recording a career-high 10 strikeouts on September 27, 2022 vs. Chicago-AL…snapped his four-game streak with no walks issued after issuing a walk to Riley Greene in the first inning…Greene scored after a single by Kerry Carpenter, Matt Vierling also scored on a throwing error by Max Kepler…yielded consecutive RBI singles in the second inning to Greene and Vierling…pitched scoreless third and fourth innings…permitted his seventh home run in five games to Spencer Torkelson in the fifth inning…relieved by Emilio Pagán who pitched a scoreless sixth inning…Jordan Balazovic entered in the seventh inning; yielded a solo home run to Torkelson and an RBI single to Eric Haase…in the eighth inning, Vierling scored on a wild pitch and Balazovic allowed an RBI single to Carpenter.
Marked his 50th career start…tied for the seventh-most strikeouts in the first 50 games by a Twins’ starter (254)…also owns the ninth-lowest ERA (3.64).
AGAINST MILWAUKEE: Facing the Brewers for the second time in his career…last faced the Brewers on June 14 at Target Field when he earned the 4-2 Twins’ victory after pitching 6.0 innings and allowing two runs on six hits (2 HR) with one walk and seven strikeouts…surrendered both runs on back-to-back solo home runs to Brian Anderson and Luis Urías; marked the second time in his career he allowed back-to-back home runs (also, July 10, 2021 vs. Detroit – Niko Goodrum and Zack Short in the 2nd)… retired the 13 of the final 16 batters he faced.
HIT THE ROAD: Ober is making his ninth road start of 2023 tonight…Twins have won five of his eight road starts this year, with Ober going 4-3, 3.88 ERA (46.1 IP, 20 ER) with six walks, 54 strikeouts and five quality starts…owns the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.00) by a starter on the road this season (min. 8 GS)…is tied with San Francisco’s Anthony DeSclafani for the second-fewest walks issued by a starter on the road this season, trailing on Kansas City’s Zack Greinke and owns the third lowest walks-per-9.0-innings ratio (1.17)…is 2-3, 3.07 ERA (67.1 IP, 23 ER) with 16 walks and 59 strikeouts in 12 home starts this season.
Has seen more success at Target Field than on the road in his career…is 6-4, 3.49 ERA (139.1 IP, 54 ER) with 33 walks and 136 strikeouts in 27 career home starts…in 24 road starts, he is 5-8, 3.82 ERA (122.2 IP, 52 ER) with 19 walks and 124 strikeouts.
Making his first career start in American Family Field, marks the 13th opposing ballpark he has pitched in since his major league debut on May 18, 2021 vs. Chicago-AL…is 3-3, 3.43 ERA (57.2 IP, 22 ER) with 10 walks and 64 strikeouts when pitching in an opposing ballpark for the first time.
LEFT AND RIGHT: Left-handed hitters are batting .243 (54-for-222) with 50 strikeouts and 15 walks against Ober after 20 starts this season…right-handed hitters are hitting .250 (52-for-208) with 63 strikeouts and seven walks…lefties went 2-for-11 with one walk and two strikeouts in his last start on August 15 vs. Detroit while righties went 2-for-6 with two RBI, two walks and four strikeouts; tied for the most walks Ober has issued to righties this season (also, June 8 at Tampa Bay)…in his career, left-handed hitters are batting .261/.319/.401 with 108 strikeouts against Ober…righties are hitting .234/.260/.451 with 148 strikeouts.
Owns the third-lowest opponent slugging percentage against lefties (.342) among qualifying American League pitchers (min. 20 GS), trailing only Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (.280) and teammate Joe Ryan (.338)…also owns the seventh-lowest OPS (.641) against lefties this year.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
BREWERS vs. TWINS
SUMMARY: Are 237-254 all-time, including 57-69 in Interleague Play….. are 0-2 in 2023…..went 3-1 in 2022.
at MIL: Are 124-112 all-time, including 31-29 at American Family Field and 93-83 at County Stadium…..went 5-4 as the Seattle Pilots at Sick’s Stadium in 1969…..went 2-0 last season.
at MIN: Are 108-138 all-time, including 14-21 at Target Field, 58-68 at the Metrodome and 36-49 at Metropolitan Stadium…..are 0-2 this season…..went 1-1 last season.
Climbing the Charts
The Brewers are looking to improve to a season-high 12 games over .500 tonight…..the team has been 11 games over .500 six times: 54-43, 55-44, 56-45, 57-46, 65-54 and 68-57.
Most Wins – LHP (Since 2011)
Pitcher Wins
- Clayton Kershaw …………………………182
- Jon Lester …………………………………..139
- David Price ………………………………….128
- Madison Bumgarner ………………….127
- Chris Sale …………………………………….117
- J.A. Happ ……………………………………..114
- Gio Gonzalez ……………………………….109
- Wade Miley ………………………………105
Taylor Made
Over his last 17 games, Tyrone Taylor is batting .326 (15-for-46) with 3 HR and 12 RBI.
That’ll Leave a Mark
Mark Canha has produced an RBI in 7 of his last 10 games, totaling 8 RBI….. he is batting .281 (9-for-32, 1hr) with a .351 OBP/.531 SLG/.883 OPS during this particular stretch.
1,500
Christian Yelich is 14 hits away from 1,500 for his Major League career….. there are currently 22 active players with 1,500+ hits.
Hit No. Date/Opponent
1 …………………….7/23/13 at COL (single)
500 …………………8/6/16 at COL (single)
1,000 …………..6/30/19 vs. PIT (double)
Santana’s Greatest Hits
Carlos Santana needs 4 HR for 300 in his Major League career…..his 296 career HR are 10th in MLB history by switch-hitters.
Player HR
- Chili Davis …………………………………..350
- Reggie Smith ………………………………314
- Ruben Sierra ……………………………..306
- Carlos Santana ……………………..296
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 1 of a 5-game, 6-day homestand against Minnesota (2g) and San Diego (3g)…..the Brewers are coming off a 6-3 road trip to Chicago-AL (3-0),
Los Angeles-NL (0-3) and Texas (3-0)…..following this homestand, the team travels to Wrigley Field for 3 games against the Cubs.
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP J.C. Mejía (right shoulder), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), OF Blake Perkins (left oblique), 1B Darin Ruf (right knee), RHP Julio Teheran (right hip), LHP Justin Wilson (left lat) and OF Jesse Winker (back) are on the injured list…..Ashby, Mitchell, Ruf and Wilson are on the 60-day IL.
IN THE STANDINGS (145 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 92, SECOND: 51, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in first place, leading the Cubs by 2.5 games and Reds by 4.0 games.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 21-17-2 in series play.
Game 1: 20-20, Game 2: 22-18, Game 3: 22-17, Game 4: 4-2
Sweep Wins (7): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14), vs. PIT (3g, 6/16-6/18), at CIN (3g, 7/14-7/16), at CWS (3g, 8/11-8/13),
at TEX (3g, 8/18-8/20)
Sweep Losses (5): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4), vs. OAK (3g, 6/9-6/11), at MIN (2g, 6/13-6/14), at ATL (3g, 7/28-7/30), at LAD (3g, 8/15-8/17)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 33-27 at home, going 10-7-2 in series play…..went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 35-30 on the road, going 11-10-0 in series play…..went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play.
LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made 27 replay challenges this season, going 11-16…..their last challenge (lost) came on 8/6 vs. Pittsburgh as an out call at third base (William Contreras) stood.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: #20 – LHP WADE MILEY (16gs, 6-3, 3.05)
MILEY AT A GLANCE: Wade Miley, 36, is making his 17th start of the season and first against the Twins…..Miley last started last Wednesday at Los Angeles-NL and took a 7-1 loss (5ip, 7h, 4r, 3er, 2bb, 2k, 1hr, 82 pitches)…..the team is 9-7 in his starts…..he has 7 quality starts…..opponents are batting .234 (71-for-304, 10hr)…..Miley was on the 15-day injured list from 5/17-6/16 with a left lat strain and from 7/17-8/1, retroactive to 7/14, with left elbow discomfort…..he signed as a free agent with Milwaukee on January 9….. he is signed through the 2023 season with a mutual option for 2024.
WELCOME BACK!: Miley returned to Milwaukee, where he pitched in 2018 for the National League Central champions and went 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 16 starts…..he went on to make 4 starts during the postseason, posting a 1.23 ERA (14.2ip, 2er), as the team went on to advance to the seventh game of the NLCS against Los Angeles.
LAST SEASON: Miley went 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 9 games/8 starts with Chicago-NL last season…..he missed most of the season while spending time on the injured list on three occasions: 4/7-5/9 (left elbow inflammation), 5/29-6/9 (left shoulder strain) and 6/11-9/5 (left shoulder strain).
CAREER: Is 105-97 with a 4.07 ERA in 308 games/301 starts (1700.2ip, 770er)…..is in his 13th Major League season with Arizona (2011-14), Boston (2015), Seattle (2016), Baltimore (2016-17), Milwaukee (2018, ‘23), Houston (2019), Cincinnati (2020-21) and Chicago-NL (2022)…..was an All-Star with the Diamondbacks in 2012…..threw a no-hitter with the Reds on 5/7/21 at Cleveland…..Miley was selected by Arizona in the supplemental first round (43rd overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 8-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 20 starts (97.2ip, 40er)…..is 4-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 8 starts this season (44ip, 15er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 50-52 with a 3.96 ERA in 163 games/161 starts (902ip, 397er)…..is 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA in 8 starts this season (38.2ip, 13er).
CAREER vs. TWINS: Is 1-0 with a 4.18 ERA in 5 games/4 starts (23.2ip, 22h, 11r, 11er, 9bb, 24k, 6hr).
