HOT TIP? Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman chased early in wild-card opener as Twins seemed on to him
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The Minnesota Twins certainly appear to be deep inside the head of Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman.
In fact, perhaps there’s even more to it than that as the American League Central champs continue to outfox the Toronto ace.
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Gausman was chased early by the Twins in Tuesday’s opener of a best-of-three wild-card series game at Target Field in Minneapolis, leading to suggestions that the Jays ace was tipping his pitches in what ended up being a 3-1 Toronto loss.
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The Jays certainly weren’t willing to buy into that theory afterward, but Minnesota batters certainly have a solid plan of attack when facing the Toronto ace.
The Twins, who manipulated three walks from the right-hander in the first eight batters he faced and hit a couple of home runs to jump out to a 3-0 lead after three innings, were ready.
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Gausman suggested to reporters in Minneapolis that the book is out on him, that is he relies on two pitches which can simplify an opposing hitter’s approach.
Gausman, so good for the Jays this season in leading the AL in strikeouts, has struggled with the Twins over the past two seasons. In 2023, for example, he walked 12 in his three starts.
Working on the ESPN broadcast in the U.S., analyst and former big-league star Alex Rodriguez suggested that Gausman was tipping his pitches, a theory that was dismissed by the Jays.
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More likely, the Twins did what they always do when facing Gausman — and that’s exhibit a remarkably patient approach. When that often lethal splitter wasn’t carrying deep enough in the zone, it became a challenge as the right-hander’s pitch count climbed. Gausman threw 27 pitches in the first inning and had run his pitch count up to 60 after three innings.
Gausman appeared to get things in order in the fourth, striking out the side, but was replaced by reliever Erik Swanson.
Was it Gausman’s best outing of the season? Far from it, as he acknowledged afterwards. He’ll take the loss, of course, because that’s the way the boxscore works. But this game was more about a Jays offence that couldn’t muster more than one run.
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