TLDR: San Diego turned Sunday at Petco Park into a laugher, burying the Twins 8-1 and stretching its dominance in this series to a full sweep of the results, if not officially the set.
+Lineup has covered for pitching injuries all year
−Buehler's ERA sits near 4.60 on the season
−Bullpen thin with Musgrove, Pivetta, Adam still out
Bailey Ober and Walker Buehler headlined the finale, and neither arm looked sharp for long. Ober was coming off an outing against Atlanta where he didn't even finish 5 innings, while Buehler had taken the loss in his last turn against the Mets despite allowing just 2 runs over 6.0 innings. Sunday split the difference in the worst way for Minnesota — San Diego chipped away with a run in the 3rd, then blew the game open with a 4-run 6th and 2 more in the 7th, while the Twins managed exactly 1 run, in the 5th, and nothing else.
Bailey Ober
(7-4)·4.37 ERA
Aug 17 vs Braves
ND
4.1IP
2ER
4K
1BB
94P
08/23 Lineup
Walker Buehler
(8-6)·4.56 ERA
Aug 17 @ Mets
L
6.0IP
2ER
4K
2BB
86P
08/23 Lineup
It's the kind of collapse that makes sense once you look at what Minnesota's throwing out there. Joe Ryan, Pablo López, David Festa, Mick Abel and Mike Paredes are all on the injured list, which means the Twins have been piecing together a rotation out of what's left. San Diego isn't fully healthy either — Casey Mize is day-to-day with a sprained ankle and both Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta are still working back from the 60-day IL — but the lineup has covered for it, riding a stretch that's now hit 3 straight wins.
The final box score tells the rest: San Diego out-hit Minnesota 9-6 and played clean defense, while the Twins committed an error to go with a lineup that never found any rhythm against Buehler or the San Diego bullpen behind him.
Zoom out and this fits a pattern that's been building for weeks. The Padres have won 4 of their last 5 overall, and this series was never really competitive — Minnesota dropped the first two meetings before Sunday's blowout made it 3 in a row.
The injury boards for both clubs explain a lot about how thin the margins have gotten on the mound. Minnesota's list reads like half a pitching staff, and San Diego's isn't clean either, even if its lineup has been strong enough to paper over it.
For a Twins team at 63-68, an 8-1 loss with the rotation this depleted isn't a fluke so much as a preview of what the stretch run could look like if reinforcements don't show up soon. San Diego, meanwhile, just keeps finding ways to win with the pitching staff it has left.
Twins 1, Padres 8: Final Score & Odds Recap — Padres Bury Twins 8-1 As Minnesota's Rotation Runs Out
