Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers foul tipped a Josh Hader fastball into the glove of Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez to cap a 6-2 Twins loss at Target Field and the crowd went … wild?
Such was the presence of Brewers fans throughout the three-game series between the Twins and Brewers, with the NL Central-leading Brewers staving off a sweep with their win Sunday.
Those fans finally had something to cheer about against the Twins, as Luis Urias and Rowdy Tellez homered off Griffin Jax, who allowed six runs in his eighth start of the season.
Before the game, manager Rocco Baldelli re-emphasized that the Twins "didn't throw the ball the way we needed to this year."
As such, the last few weeks can be an open audition for anyone in the Twins system to claim a spot, especially since Kenta Maeda is set to have surgery on Wednesday, and if he must undergo Tommy John surgery, he could be out all of 2022.
"Fastball command was great, where I want it to be," Jax said. "It's something I have to keep establishing to get results up here. But the slider, I had issues with from the start and when I don't have my best pitch, results like today happen."
Over five starts from July 19 to Aug. 16, Jax had allowed eight earned runs in 26 ⅓ innings. His last two starts haven't been as productive. He allowed six runs Sunday with a Kolten Wong two-run double capping Milwaukee's scoring for the day in the fourth. This start came after a nine-run outing against Boston on Tuesday.
"His stuff has been ticking up in a good way but along with that has been a little bit of command issues. It looked like some of those sliders were popping out and not competitive pitches," Baldelli said. "He's a guy that actually does have pretty good feel for what he's doing and his walk rates are above where they should be. It gives us something to spend some time on and think about."