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Jose Miranda leads a loaded lineup as Twins bats stay hot in victory

Posted on by Vaseline

PHOENIX — For the second night in a row, the eighth hitter in the Minnesota Twins lineup produced a three-spot.

But while the Twins were unsuccessful the night before, Jose Miranda’s knockout helped pave the way for an easy victory on Wednesday night. Miranda’s bases-clearing double in the second inning gave the Twins an early lead and they kept going, rolling past the host Arizona Diamondbacks 8-3 in front of 16,396 at Chase Field.

Miranda went 3-for-4 with a walk, Trevor Larnach doubled twice and drove in one, Willi Castro doubled and homered, and Carlos Correa reached base four times and finished with three singles and an RBI in support from Simeon Woods Richardson, who singled the win with 5 1/3 solid innings pitched.

The Twins, who finished with 14 hits, improved to 44-36.

“It’s a deep lineup, no matter how we configure it, it doesn’t matter who has the day off,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We will always have some good players who are not in the starting line-up at the moment, which is great. It is not a problem. It really is something great that you hope for.”

The Twins offense was simply outstanding in June.

With four games left in the month, the Twins are averaging 5.43 runs per game, fourth in the majors for June and a full run per game better than what they averaged in their first 57 games between March and May. Overall, the team is slashing .284/.350/.482, with their .832 OPS ranking third among all 30 teams.

There is little doubt that the return of Royce Lewis is the catalyst behind the team’s attacking surge. But Lewis isn’t the only one hitting.

Ten hitters in the Twins lineup have an OPS of .780 or better in June and nine are .800 or better.

As of Wednesday, the league’s OPS in June was .722.

Miranda has been a focal point despite the loss of daily playing time to Lewis, who returned on June 4. Despite playing less often, Miranda is having his best month, hitting .329/.395/.589 with three home runs and 16 RBIs, which is second. only for Correa’s 18.

“(Miranda has) been a great hitter from the minor leagues to the major leagues,” Castro said. “Obviously last year wasn’t his best year because of his injuries and everything, but he’s always been that guy. He’s always been that guy, a really good player, a really good third baseman. We just have to keep it going.”

A night after hard hits seemed to find every glove in a one-run loss, the Twins were out early on Wednesday.

Early in the second inning, Correa and Carlos Santana, who were 3-for-5, singled and Arizona pitcher Ryne Nelson hit Byron Buxton to load the bases. Miranda then ripped a 2-1 cut fastball to deep left and drove in all three.

Buxton’s sacrifice fly in the third inning extended the lead to four, while RBI doubles by Larnach and Correa made it 6-0 in the fourth.

Castro hit a home run in the fifth inning, giving the Twins a seven-run lead.

“It feels great to see everyone having good at-bats and hitting the ball hard,” Miranda said. “It’s great to be part of this team, and when we go, we go. … When you see one through nine and even the guys on the bench, I feel like we have a really, really good team.

Woods Richardson made another good effort despite not having his command early. Baldelli appreciated how the rookie got out of trouble in the first inning with the help of catcher Christian Vázquez, who threw out Joc Pederson in the bottom half of a double-steal attempt.

Woods Richardson also did well to limit the damage in the fourth inning after a hit batter and one-out RBI triple got Arizona on the board. The righthander got Jake McCarthy to hit a soft liner to second base and struck out Eugenio Suárez, leaving Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was left at third base.

Twins top pitcher David Festa will make his major league debut Thursday afternoon at Chase Field, Baldelli said.

Festa is a 13th-round draft pick in 2021 and is rated as the No. 100 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com. Nicknamed the “Slim Reap,” Festa is 3-2 with 87 strikeouts and a 3.77 ERA in 59 2/3 innings at Triple-A St. Paul this season.

Festa takes the place in the starting rotation of Chris Paddack, who went on the injured list on Tuesday with right shoulder fatigue.

“When I saw him, I was guaranteed 10 punchouts,” Twins outfielder Austin Martin said. “I haven’t really been able to be with him much, but from the outings I’ve seen, he’s got the stuff. Every time he goes out he competes, he takes everything very seriously. He is very meticulous in his work. He has a good pitcher’s mentality when he is on the mound. You can kind of feel his presence. He’s also a good guy to play behind because he has good pace, good tempo and he attacks the zone.”

Injury updates

Brock Stewart is still not clear, but he is on the mend. On the IL with right shoulder tendonitis regressed until May 2, Stewart threw a bullpen session on Wednesday, his second of the week.

Athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said Stewart will have another bullpen session on Saturday and the team will re-evaluate him when it returns home on Tuesday. Paparesta said the next step for Stewart, who has a 0.68 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings, could be an additional bullpen or a simulated game.

“He’s going all out and he’s bouncing back well,” Paparesta said. “I think those are good signals.”

Fellow reliever Justin Topa will also have a bullpen session next week. On the IL since opening day with patellar tendinitis in his left knee, this will be Topa’s first time on the mound since receiving a stem cell injection in mid-May. Paparesta said the plan would be to see how Topa responds to the session, with the intention of reevaluating the judge around the time the team returns from the All-Star break.

(Photo of Jose Miranda’s three-run double against the Diamondbacks: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)