Louie Varland's “barking” helps the Twins to a decisive victory and keeps their playoff hopes alive

MINNEAPOLIS – When they needed it most Wednesday night, the Minnesota Twins were able to keep up with the bite and bark of Louie Varland.

Trailing by three runs after their starting pitcher was taken out of the game in the second inning and the teams chasing them all winning, the Twins found themselves in an uncomfortable position and their season continued to drag.

And then Varland barked in the dugout.

He let out his trademark junkyard dog bark after leaving two runners on the field by striking out three batters in a row in the second inning. Varland's performance marked the start of a dominant streak of eight scoreless innings from Minnesota's bullpen that allowed the Twins to rally for a much-needed 8-3 victory over the Miami Marlins in front of 18,162 fans at Target Field.

Varland and five relievers combined for 14 strikeouts, and Byron Buxton celebrated his 100th game of the season with a 2-for-4 hit and a home run, the team's first home run in eight days.

Louie Varland stepped forward and put an end to it!
3 Ks in a row to secure it!
Have the #MNTwins out of trouble like a BOSS!! pic.twitter.com/hSjuxWLmpH

— Talkin' Twins (@TalkinTwins) 26 September 2024

With this win, the Twins not only remained two games behind the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals, both of whom won on Wednesday, in the wild-card race with four games to go, but also showed that they still have some grit.

“Louie came in and shut them down the way he did and was just Louie, man,” Buxton said. “He was barking in the dugout, that gets you going.”

For the past six weeks, the Twins have needed everything they have to get back on track as they're falling apart piece by piece. Hours before first pitch, another piece of the wall collapsed when Minnesota outfielder Matt Wallner was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique muscle.

Wallner, one of the team's best left-handers, said he felt his side grip seize up on a pinch-hit at-bat in the sixth inning of Tuesday's loss. Wallner knew immediately something was wrong, and an MRI performed Wednesday showed the strain. Austin Martin was recalled as part of a series of changes that included the substitution of reliever Justin Topa.

Jorge Alcala was also recalled and the Twins brought in left-hander Cole Irvin to make room for Topa, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his Twins debut.

“It’s not ideal,” Wallner said.

There wasn't much ideal about this stretch, which saw the Twins slip from a 92.4 percent chance of making the playoffs on August 17 to an underdog position. But finally, a team that has won just 12 of its last 35 games was on the right track, albeit against the Marlins, who lost their 100th game.

First, Varland came out of the bullpen after young starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson struggled again. Pitching with a fastball 2 1/2 miles per hour slower than his season average, Woods Richardson began his evening with a single, a walk and a three-run homer from Jake Burger. Miami's next two batters also reached scoring position and were in position before Woods Richardson escaped the jam, leaving the pair with two strikeouts and a flyout.

But the Marlins struck right back, starting the second inning with two singles that ended Woods Richardson's appearance and made way for Varland's heroics after 2 1/3 innings pitched.

And then the Twins started catching up again.

Trevor Larnach hit a two-run single to center with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game 3-2. One inning later, Buxton hit a 450-foot home run to tie the game, reaching triple digits in a season for only the second time in his career and the first time since 2017.

The home run was the team's first since September 17, when Willi Castro hit a two-run shot near the end of the win in Cleveland.

“He's still a phenomenal player who's capable of anything, he can play center field and hit in the middle of the batting order,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He's very explosive. He can do a lot to help you win.”

Not only did Buxton hit a single on his next at-bat, but he also made a key defensive play in the first inning on Jonah Bride's double. Since returning to the lineup on Sept. 13, Buxton has hit 12 of 39 with seven runs, two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.

Buxton said his wife told him early Wednesday that this was his 100th game of the season, a feat he had feared he might not reach since he had been sidelined for 28 games due to inflammation in his right hip.

“I set a goal at the beginning of the season to get to triple digits this year, just something small,” Buxton said. “It's exciting.”

The Twins continued to provide excitement.

With the score tied 3-3 in the second half of the seventh inning after Varland, Alcala, Cole Sands and Griffin Jax combined for six scoreless innings, the Twins finally broke through.

Brooks Lee opened the inning with a double to deep right field, and pinch runner Manuel Margot scored when reliever Declan Cronin's lob after Christian Vázquez's two-strike sac bunt flew over Bride's head at first base for the winning run. Cronin's error was the Marlins' fourth of the game.

Carlos Correa — who led the Twins out of a bases-loading opportunity when he hit a double from second base in the bottom of the fifth inning — followed with an RBI double to the opposite field to make the game 5-3. Larnach, who finished 2-for-3, was intentionally forced to walk and Royce Lewis worked a walk to load the bases before Carlos Santana doubled for two outs and the bases.

“There was a certain tenacity there,” Baldelli said. “The guys stuck with it. It's not easy when you're behind and you're behind early. It's challenging. We almost pretend it's not like that, but it is. It is. But the ability to focus our attention back on what we needed to do was very good. When we got those shots … we were able to score some runs.”

Just like the previous six weeks, things didn't look particularly promising for the Twins at the beginning.

Seattle won its series finale in Houston in the afternoon, temporarily drawing level with the Twins, two games behind the Royals and Tigers. Then Detroit won comfortably 7-1 over the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 to extend its lead to 2 1/2 games.

That and Woods Richardson's short start made things look bleak for the Twins, who have the tiebreaker against each of the three teams closest to them in wild-card play. Then Varland's barking got them back on track — at least for a day.

“You know (Varland) is ready because he wants to get back out there,” Buxton said. “Right before you go out there, he barks and says, 'He's ready.' That kind of gets you going.”

(Photo: Jesse Johnson / Imagn Images)