Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins expected Connor Prielipp to be sharp again in his second career outing. They just didn't anticipate him to carry a no-hitter into the 5th inning of Minnesota's 11-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Prielipp entered his second career outing with only 160 ⅓ innings thrown since 2020. They’re still cautiously using him in his outings. Still, with how efficient he was through the first four innings, Twins manager Derek Shelton wanted to see what he could do to get out of the jam.
“I did not want to have to go get him,” Shelton said after the game. “With the fact it was 7-0. That was one of the things I was the most proud of, was the fact he was able to finish it and do a good job and get the two punchouts.”
Pitching coach Pete Maki met with Prielipp on the mound to help him get out of the jam.
"Yeah, when Pete came out, he was telling me to slow down, and I did,” said Prielipp. “I was able to buckle down and get through the 5th."
Prielipp went five full innings, struck out five, walked three, allowed just one hit and two runs on 84 pitches to snap Minnesota’s five-game losing streak.
He was cautious in his first outing using his curveball, throwing it only five times. He only threw it eight times Monday night. Still, he chose to use them when Mariners hitters were looking for a slider, which helped him rack up two of his five strikeouts on the night.
“[The] curveball is just an absolute weapon,” said Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. “I’m not sure it makes the slider better. The slider is always a really good pitch. But I think having the curveball is just another weapon to add to what his arsenal is.”
"It's just a little bit slower than my slider and throws off their timing a bit for me,” Prielipp said on the pitch he added this off-season.
Prielipp was in command on the mound and got ample support from Minnesota’s offense. Two Twins left-handed hitters who haven’t seen as much playing time, Trevor Larnach and Kody Clemens, helped get the team going on the offensive side.
Larnach went 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and an RBI. Meanwhile, Clemens led the offense with five RBI off a 3-run home run in the third and a 2-run single in the eighth. Clemens only had 65 plate appearances on the season entering Monday night’s game, and the inconsistent playing time had left him with a .175/.266/.316 slash line.
Now that the Twins are set to be facing plenty of right-handed starters for the upcoming homestand, Clemens’ bat is getting hot right as he’ll have more opportunities to start.
“I’ve been the once-a-week player before, and it’s hard,” Clemens said. “It’s the hardest job in the league. The more consistent playing time, I think, for anybody on the team, they’re going to perform better. It feels good to get consistent at-bats. I’m really close to where I want to be.”
Monday night’s game was the eighth time this year the Twins have scored seven or more runs in a game. Coming off a road trip where Minnesota's lineup hit a collective .171 with runners in scoring position, the offense had to show it was just a fluke in a bad week of games and that they can still capitalize with runners in scoring position.
They went 5-for-12 in the 11-4 victory over Luis Castillo and the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Minnesota’s lineup knew they were capable of more, and they showed it to the Target Field crowd.
“Today was a good day, and we seemed to capitalize on a bunch of opportunities,” said Shelton. “We had a little bit of luck. I mean, we had a ball hit a base, so sometimes you need those things. But really proud of it.”
Clemens feels that delivering with runners in scoring position is mostly about getting reps.
“I got the question of we haven’t been great with runners in scoring position and all that kind of stuff, but honestly, it’s just about getting the opportunities,” Clemens said. “If we continue to get opportunities, we’re going to be in a great spot, and tonight we obviously had some hits with runners in scoring position, so it was great.”
The Twins are 13-16 after beating the Mariners and have a much clearer forecast for Tuesday night’s game. Joe Ryan will face off against Logan Gilbert and the M’s. First pitch is at 6:40 pm.
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