DETROIT >> The Twins’ lineup is missing three of its starters. The Twins’ bullpen is missing some of its top arms. The Twins’ rotation depth has been tested by injury, too.
It’s an unenviable situation to be in at any point but especially this early in the season. With star shortstop Carlos Correa the latest to land on the injured list, the Twins are well aware of the fact that it’s going to take contributions from up and down the roster to fill his absence.
That’s exactly what they got on Saturday, using a pair of full team efforts to take both games off a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. The Twins won the first game 11-5 in 12 innings behind a career day from Joe Ryan and an impressive showing from Ryan Jeffers. Minnesota followed it up by taking the second game 4-1 behind six solid innings from their 27th man, Simeon Woods Richardson, and a couple home runs.
Jeffers, who reached base three times in the second game of the doubleheader, spent most of the first on the bench. But when he did get his opportunity, he did his best to will the Twins to victory.
His pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning tied the first game. His RBI single in the 11th then gave the Twins the lead, and after they lost that lead, his battle through a 12-pitch at-bat ended up with a ground ball towards third that got past Zach McKinstry and resulted in three runs scoring.
“Sick,” Ryan said. “He works so hard and he loves those big moments and delivers often. … It was just great to see him have more success.”
His eighth-inning home run meant that Ryan, whose stuff was near its best, was not tagged with a tough-luck loss as it appeared he would be. The Twins’ starter struck out a career-high 12 batters, fanning all nine of the Tigers in the starting lineup during his start.
He was constantly ahead of the Tigers, pounding the strike zone and collecting 20 swing-and-misses in his effort.
“Just wanted to attack the zone and yeah, be competitive and got good results,” Ryan said.
But he left trailing after giving up a two-run home run in the first inning to Kerry Carpenter — both runs were unearned after third baseman Jose Miranda made a throwing error earlier in the inning — and another run in the sixth, his final inning of work. The bullpen took over from there, giving up two runs (though none earned) in the final six innings of work.
Woods Richardson, making just his third career major league outing, helped give the bullpen a bit of a rest in the second game, throwing six strong innings. He gave up just a run and retired the last 14 batters he faced.
He got just enough support, using a Byron Buxton sacrifice fly and home runs from Edouard Julien and Willi Castro to help send the Twins to their second win of the day.
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