The Minnesota Twins are Back after some COVID problems so…Let’s Play Two!
Guilty on all counts! Let’s hope & help make this a start to systemic change in the world, the country, the state and ourselves!
WE HAVE TWINS BASEBALL TODAY!!!
The Minnesota Twins resumed their 2021 season today but they had to make some “Twinsactions” to get their roster in order as OFs Max Kepler, Kyle Garlick & LHP Caleb Thielbar had to be added to the COVID-Injured List:
OF Brent Rooker was reinstated from the 10-Day IL (cervical (neck) strain), UTIL Travis Blankenhorn was recalled from the Taxi Squad & the Twins selected the contract of RHP Luke Farrell.
Also, LHP Lewis Thorpe was recalled from the Taxi Squad as the 27th-man for today’s doubleheader.
The Twins send RHP Matt Shoemaker to the mound for his 3rd start of the season. He’s looked very good in his 1st 2 starts (4.09 ERA, 1.00 WHIP).
Shoe has been hit hard by a few A’s (Moreland, Piscotty & Chapman) so pay attention to how he pitches to them today.
He’ll face Oakland LHP Sean Manaea (4.32 ERA, 1.26 WHIP), who will make his 4th start today. He wasn’t very good in his 1st start but has gotten better in every start since, winning his last time out vs Detroit by going 6 innings & allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits (1 HR), no walks and striking out 7.
Manaea hasn’t faced the Twins very much as the only current Twins that have more than 4 At-Bats are DH Nelson Cruz & 3B Josh Donaldson but they’ve hit him hard, especially #TheBoomStick (7-for-19 with 3 HRs & 8 RBIs with 7 walks and just 1 strikeout.)
The Twins outfield will be Luis Arraez in LF, Byron Buxton in CF (He’s Back!!!) & Brent Rooker in RF. That means Willians Astudillo will make the start at 2nd base today!
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Oakland Athletics Lineup:
Game 1 Notes
Nothing much. Do everything better—pitching, fielding & hitting—and that will help compete for wins!
Key Plays
Bottom of 2
Mitch Moreland continued his mastery of Minnesota Twins RHP Matt Shoemaker as he hit his 1st HR of the season to put Oakland up 2-0
Bottom of 4
More Moreland as he hit his 2nd HR of the game and the season to lead off the bottom of the 4th inning. Shoemaker got a ground out then gave up a single & a stolen base to Elvis Andrus then walked the next batter (Mark Canha) before he was replaced by RHP Jorge Alcala. On his first pitch, Elvis Andrus stole 3rd base then Mark Canha stole 2nd base. Alcala struck out Ramon Laureano looking then walked Jed Lowrie to load the bases.
Jorge Alcala went down 2-0 then was 3-1 but came back to make the count full and Matt Olson fouled the first payoff pitch off before getting an inside fastball that maybe wasn’t meant to be as far inside as it was and Olson was ready for it but he watched the ball because it was obviously very close to going foul but it ended up hitting the foul pole and put Oakland up 7-0.
Add the Complete Game Shutout from Oakland Athletics LHP Sean Manaea because yeah, that’s a pretty key part to winning, huh?
The Twins had 6 hits but just 1 extra-base hit with Mitch Garver’s 3rd double of the season with 1 out in the 3rd.
They’ll send RHP José Berríos to the mound in Game 2. He’s a pitcher who has the stuff to stop losing streaks and start winning streaks and his team needs him.
Hey, Hey, José!!!
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Oakland Athletics Lineup:
Game 2 Notes
They got a good start from José Berríos but their offense failed them with just 2 hits off a pitcher who’d given up 19 hits, 12 runs, 3 HRs & 7 walks in his previous 3 starts & 13 innings. His 2nd start wasn’t terrible (5.1IP 5H 2R/ER 4BB & 6K vs the Los Angeles Dodgers) & he was the #12 Top Prospect the past 2 seasons & #60 in 2018* so it’s not like he’s a scrub by any means. It seems Oakland has been great at finding & developing pitching forever.
*He was part of the Sean Doolittle trade with the Washington Nationals in 2017—Oakland Athletics traded RHP Ryan Madson and LHP Sean Doolittle to Washington Nationals for RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Jesus Luzardo and 3B Sheldon Neuse. That’s a pretty nice haul for Oakland. You might say…MoneyBall.
The Minnesota Twins have run into a couple of buzzsaws with teams who are on a tear. The Red Sox had won 6 games in a row after going 0-3 to begin the season. Oakland had won 8 straight after starting their season 0-6 so…this goes to show there is a way out of this. The Twins just need to find it and get back in that good winning groove.
Right now, they’re in a funk and someone (or more than one) is going to have to get them out of it. It was really close today in the 2nd game as Willians Astudillo hit a deep fly ball to left field that fell about 2-3 feet short of turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead but it didn’t and it was caught to end the game.
Key Plays
Well, there weren’t many as it was a 1-0 game so the leadoff double from Oakland Athletics 1B Matt Olson (who hit a Grand Slam in the 1st game) in the bottom of the 4th was arguably the biggest play of the game. Of course, you could also say the RBI-single 2 batters later from OF Seth Brown is bigger since it brought in the only run of the game.
There were a few big plays from the Minnesota Twins, too:
- In the 4th inning, Luis Arraez made a great diving catch then got up quickly to double up the runner at 2nd to get the Twins out of that inning.
- The next inning, the lights in left field went out for a 30-minute or so delay.
- The pitching kept them in the game for a chance to win it in the 7th.
- Berríos had his best inning in the 5th after the delay, going 1-2-3 on 9 pitches.
- Hansel Robles pitched a perfect 6th to keep the game at 1-0
Most people will say we’re reaching for positives but that’s something you almost have to do when you’re losing, look for the positives or anything to get you in the right state of mind to break out of a slump. When you’re losing, you’re looking for the bad things that make it seem like, “Here we go again.” rather than when you’re winning, you just play loose and relaxed because things are going well.
The Bottom Paragraph
Tomorrow is a new day and a new game and a chance to win again and start a winning streak and…RHP Kenta Maeda is on the ma-ound-a to get them back in the Win column!
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