NEW YORK – Twins manager Derek Shelton has repeated it extensively: It’s going to take 26 players, and then some, if his team is going to achieve its goals this season. That includes the entirety of the Minnesota bullpen.
On Tuesday night, the relief corps played its part, in a big way, in a big win.
Following a pair of weekend losses where the Minnesota bullpen let late leads get away, the group needed a rebound. They got it. There was no such seepage this time in a hard-earned 5-3 win against the Mets at Citi Field. While the offense clawed back from an early deficit against a dominant Nolan McLean, a string of relievers turned in four brilliant innings to secure the victory.
“We’ve talked about using our full roster, and we’re really doing that,” Shelton said. “From where this was after the first four innings when [McLean] was at, what, eight, nine punchouts, to be able to come back and win that game was really impressive.”
Starter Simeon Woods Richardson allowed three runs in five innings, and the Twins didn’t have a baserunner when he threw his last pitch. From there, the game turned drastically. Over the final four innings, it was the Mets who didn’t manage a single runner.
A Byron Buxton homer cut the lead to one run and changed the whole feel before Anthony Banda took the mound. Banda, who had been scuffling mightily entering the game, was up to the task. After allowing nine runs over his previous three outings, the veteran lefty was nails. It stood out more because when he started warming up, it looked like something of a mop-up outing, but by the time he entered, the leverage had spiked.
He struck out a pair of pinch-hitters surrounding a groundout by catcher Francisco Alvarez, pitching a perfect frame against three right-handed hitters. Justin Topa came on after that and tossed a perfect inning himself, handing the ball to Cole Sands. After Sands breezed through the eighth on 11 pitches, his offense rallied against Devin Williams.
Eric Orze warmed, but despite the lengthy layoff on a cold night, Shelton brought Sands back out for a second inning. Sands took about two pitches to shake off the rust, then finished the job.
“When you’re in the moment, it’s not too hard to stay locked in, and you know what’s at risk right there,” Sands said. “It’s the end of the game, so you still get the adrenaline and all that, so you’re just trying to stay loose. Obviously, the temperature was a little bit cold, so just throwing plyos down in the tunnel and just trying to stay loose, and yeah, also at the same time, stay locked in.”
For much of the season’s first few weeks, the Twins' bullpen ranked poorly in many statistical categories but had taken few painful losses. The team’s offense had provided big enough leads that when the relief corps gave up a run or two, it wasn’t costly.
Then the weekend came against the Reds, and superb starts by Taj Bradley and Bailey Ober went by the wayside thanks to late-inning rallies against the relief corps. On Tuesday, they redeemed themselves and showed what they’re capable of.
“That’s a starting pitcher’s dream,” Woods Richardson said. “It’s a starting pitcher’s dream for your team to come back and sneak a win. It’s a starting pitcher’s dream for your bullpen to do what they’re doing. I think all around, it was a great team win. We were so hyped, so happy after it, post-game, so, I mean, just bring the energy for tomorrow.”