Top Play (WPA): Oddly enough, the top play of the game according to WPA occurred in the bottom of the 8^th inning when Eddie Rosario came off the bench to hit a two-run home run, which tied the game at 5. The play was worth .391 by WPA. All three Twins runs that inning were scored off Tyler Thornburg, who nonetheless managed to be credited with the win for his 1.1 IP and three runs allowed performance. Thornburg had previously only allowed three baserunners and no runs in his five appearances this season.

Worst Play (WPA): The worst play of the game was Miguel Sano’s double play with the bases loaded in the 1^st inning. WPA recorded the play at -.099 as Sano had a chance to give the Twins a lead after the Brewers started the game with two runs. Eduardo Nunez scored on the grounder, but the two outs saved the Brewers.

Wily Peralta was the starter for yesterday’s game, and based on the first eight batters it looked like another disaster start. Peralta loaded the bases in the first two innings. He was saved by Sano’s double play in the first, which he followed up by striking out Oswaldo Arcia. In the second, he allowed the first three batters to reach base (two singles and a walk). He wiggled out of the second jam with a fielder’s choice, a grounder to short (which scored a run), and then another grounder to Joe Mauer, but not before he walked Brian Dozier to load the bases again. Peralta was over 40 pitches in those two innings and it looked like the Twins were going to break the game open.

Then, something magical happened: Peralta settled down, and including that Mauer grounder, recorded 10 outs in a row. Crain Counsell pulled Peralta from the game after allowing the first two batters in the 6^th inning to reach base, but based on those first eight batters, managing to only allow 2 runs in 6+ innings was a minor miracle. Questions still remain regarding Peralta’s viability as a productive member of the rotation, but at least for one day he kept the Brewers in a position to win the game.

Trends to Watch: Scooter Gennett has been getting a lot of attention from this site as we all try and make sense of whether any what he’s shown this season is sustainable. Just yesterday his walk rate and swing rate were reviewed. I wrote one of these recaps last week and Scooter was mentioned in this very space. Well, one other aspect to look at is his pitches per plate appearance. Gennett doesn’t need to become a league leader in this category, but this can be another sign that he’s exhibiting patience and waiting for pitches to hit. He currently is seeing 4.20 pitches per plate appearance, up from 3.50 in 2015, and yesterday he worked 21 pitches in his 5 at bats, maintaining his average. Gennett has given Brewers fans another stat to keep an eye on.

As Thornburg gave up his first runs of the season, Jeremy Jeffress continued his scoreless streak to start the season and got his fifth save. Interestingly, he got the save without a strikeout. While his K/9 is down from 2015 (8.9 compared to 7.9 this year), it’s too early to read anything into 6 appearances. This may be something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Up Next: I guess the baseball equivalent of a home and home series picks up in Milwaukee tomorrow night as the Brewers and Twins begin a two game series at Miller Park. Jimmy Nelson gets the start for Milwaukee and Tommy Milone will pitch for Minnesota. Milone has given up two home runs amongst twelve hits and 6 earned runs (8 total) in his first two starts this year against the Royals and Angels. Nelson posted quality starts in his three starts of the year and will look to continue his streak.

That, however, wasn’t the biggest play of the game. That happened in the fourth inning when the Brewers were down 4-3 and Anderson was still pitching. The inning started off with the game tied, but Anderson once again gave up a leadoff home run to Byung-ho Park. After Eduardo Escobar struck out looking, Kurt Suzuki came up to the plate and singled off a ground ball, bringing up heralded former number one overall prospect Byron Buxton. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Anderson threw Buxton a changeup which caught too much of the plate. Buxton lined it to left field for a triple, extending the lead to five to three, putting a man on third with one out.

WORST PLAY (WPA): Byung-ho Park was acquired in the offseason from Korea by the Minnesota Twins. Counting this game, he’s been a relatively productive player, striking a ton but also hitting for a lot of power. The good was put on display today, as he hit another mammoth home run, but we also saw the bad.

In the second inning, the game was tied 1-1. The inning got off to a rocky start for Anderson, as he gave up a long home run to Sano. Then, Oswaldo Arcia lined a single to put a man on first with nobody out. The aforementioned Park then came to the plate and grounded into a double play, killing the rally.

TREND TO WATCH: In the first game of the season, Scooter Gennett hit a monster home run against Madison Bumgarner. It was particularly not worthy because Gennett’s home run was clocked at 108.5 MPH. In 2015, Gennett didn’t hit a ball that hard all year. Especially considering that Gennett hasn’t hit lefties well throughout his career.

The idea wasn’t necessarily that Gennett is going to become a superstar but rather that Gennett may have made adjustments in his game. He, therefore, might be an improved hitter as compared to last year and other years, which may have brought up his good spring training.

Gennett had another good game going two for three with a pair of doubles. We’re also now twelve games into the season and he’s still performing quite well. What’s even more interesting is that he does seem like a different hitter.

For most his career Gennett’s been an impatient hitter. His walk rates have typically been abysmal, and his strikeout rates were always around average. So far, this season, Gennett’s got a walk rate of 19.1 percent. His previous career high was 4.6 percent in 2014. This would be a huge improvement in his game if he can keep this up. Gennett is swinging a lot less compared to last year. He is swinging less at pitches inside the strike zone but his biggest improvement thus far has been with swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. For his career, Gennett has swung at pitches outside the strike zone at a 41.3 percent clip. This year he’s only swinging at 25.2 percent of pitches inside the strike zone.

Many people didn’t think of Gennett as a key part of this rebuild, but if he can keep up this new approach and keep having success with it, he might just be one of the cornerstones.

KEY MOMENT:
You probably knew where I was going with this. The Brewers lost 7-4 but the game ended early due to a rain delay. It’s unlikely that the Brew Crew would have come back, but the rain ensured that they wouldn’t, giving the Twins a four-game winning streak after losing their first nine games of the season.

COMING UP NEXT:
The Brewers will be in action tomorrow for an afternoon game. Wily Peralta will be on the mound and looking to turn his fortunes around. Ervin Santana will be on the mound for the Twins who has gotten off to a decent start with a 3.00 ERA.