The Minnesota Twins sent RHP Randy Dobnak to the mound and considering the struggles the Twins have had trying to beat the Kansas City Royals in KC and how well Randy Dobnak has been pitching, maybe he’s the guy to get them over the hump.
The Royals counter with RHP Brady Singer who, as a 24-year-old who had yet to reach AAA ball before this season, might not be pitching in the majors if not for this strange season. He was 1-3 in 5 starts with a 4.56 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.349 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) but his only win came in a nice start against the Twins back on August 9th when he pitched 5 innings and allowed just 5 hits & 2 runs while walking 2 & striking out 4. This is his 3rd consecutive start against the Twins so it will be interesting to see how it goes and how he pitches for the rest of the season, too.
The Twins made a few #Twinsactions before the game, too:
– RHP Jake Odorizzi to 10-day IL (chest contusion)
– RHP Zack Littell to 10-day IL (right elbow inflammation)
– RHP Homer Bailey transferred to 45-day IL (right biceps tendinitis)
– RHP Sean Poppen recalled
– LHP Danny Coulombe selected
Here’s how they lined up:
Twins Lineup:
RF Max Kepler
SS Jorge Polanco
DH Eddie Rosario
3B Marwin Gonzalez
CF Jake Cave
1B Miguel Sano
2B Luis Arraez
LF LaMonte Wade, Jr.
C Alex Avila
Royals lineup:
CF Whit Merrifield
2B Nicky Lopez
RF Hunter Dozier
DH Jorge Soler
1B Ryan McBroom
3B Maikel Franco
LF Alex Gordon
SS Alberto Mondesi
C Cam Gallagher
The Twins led off the game with 3 straight hits, a double from Max Kepler, a single from Jorge Polanco and then Eddie Rosario, being the Designated Hitter for the day to give Nelson Cruz a day off, took the first pitch he saw out to right center field and, just like that, it was 3-0 Twins.
Randy Dobnak allowed a 1-out single in the 1st but erased it quickly by getting Hunter Dozier to ground into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
In the top of the 2nd, LF LaMonte Wade, Jr led off with a soft liner over the 3B for his 1st double of the season but he was left stranded there after Alex Avila was called out on strikes, Kepler flew out and Polanco grounded out. The Royals got a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 2nd but McBroom lined out and Dobnak once again induced a ground ball for another inning-ending double play, this one went 5-4-3. 3-0 Twins
The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd and the Royals got back-to-back singles from Andrew Gordon (line-drive to CF) and Alberto Mondesi (bunt) but a popout, a swinging strikeout and a groundout got the Twins out of the inning with no damage done.
In the 4th, Miguel Sano led off with a blast that went 458 feet and hit the Royals Hall of Fame in left field. It had an exit velocity of 115.8mph and a launch angle of 37º! Sano is looking very good since he hit that double to the opposite field on August 17th. In those 6 games, he’s hitting .409/.480/.818 (Average/On-Base%/Slugging%) going 9-22 with 6 doubles & the 1 HR with 4 RBI with 3 walks and 10 strikeouts. 4-0 Twins
In the bottom of the 4th, KC’s Jorge Soler reached on Catcher’s Interference when Soler’s swing hit Alex Avila’s glove with 1 out in the inning already but Dobnak got another inning-ending double play, this one of the 4-3 variety off the bat of Ryan McBroom.
In the 5th, Rosario singled for the only hit from the Twins but the Royals got on the scoreboard when Andrew Gordon took a low changeup out to center field for his 3rd HR of the season. The Royals scored again after back-to-back singles put 2 on and 2B Nicky Lopez doubled to left field. A line-drive comebacker was stabbed by Randy Dobnak to end the inning. 4-2 Twins
A Luis Arraez 2-out single didn’t turn into anything in the 6th but the Royals got 2 baserunners to lead off the bottom of the inning on another Catcher’s Interference with Jorge Soler at the plate & a McBroom single so Minnesota Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen to bring in RHP Tyler Duffey and he worked his relief magic to get out of the inning with no damage done. He got Maikel Franco to pop out to left field then hit Andrew Gordon with a pitch to load the bases but struck out both Alberto Mondesi & pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn swinging with the latter one coming on a check swing that the 3rd base ump called a strike to the dismay of O’Hearn and we never saw a replay for some reason but it looked close live. 4-2 Twins
The Royals brought in RHP Ian Kennedy to pitch the 7th and Twins C Alex Avila led off with a walk and Max Kepler followed him onto the basepaths by taking a pitch to the right foot. Jorge Polanco then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners after Avila was lifted for pinch-runner Ehire Adrianza. Eddie Rosario was intentionally walked to get to Marwin Gonzalez & he ended up earning a 7-pitch walk to score Adrianza from 3rd. Jake Cave grounded into a force out. Max Kepler out at home for the 2nd out and that brought up the Big Man, Miguel Sano, and he singled up the middle on an 0-2 fastball that he smashed with an exit velocity of 107mph to score both Rosario & Gonzalez. Arraez grounded out to end the half-inning. 7-2 Twins
Rookie C Ryan Jeffers replaced Ehire Adrianza in a defensive substitution & RHP Tyler Clippard took over on the mound for the Twins. CF Whit Merrifield singled to center field but Clippard struck out Lopez, got a groundout from Dozier then struck out Soler to end the inning.
The Twins got a leadoff single from Wade, Jr and a 1-out walk from Kepler but an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play took care of that. Just selected by the Twins after the injuries to Odorizzi & Littell, LHP Danny Coulombe was brought in to pitch the 8th. He struck out McBroom swinging to begin his outing then walked Franco but got a lineout and a fielder’s choice to end the 8th. 7-2 Twins
After the Twins got only a 1-out walk from Marwin in the top of the 9th, Coulombe stayed in to pitch the 9th, too. He allowed a leadoff single to Royals C Meibrys Viloria then got Merrifield to line out and struck out Lopez on a foul tip. Dozier walked so pitching coach Wes Johnson went out to talk to his pitcher and Coulombe got Soler to ground out to end the game.
Nice win from the Twins:
RHP Randy Dobnak: 5IP 8H 2R/ER 1BB 2K 1HR 1 WIN 3 DPs now 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA & a 1.02 WHIP in 2020.
Minnesota Twins Bullpen:
RHP Tyler Duffey: 1IP 0H 0R/ER 0BB 2K 1HBP 1 Hold (8)
RHP Tyler Clippard: 1IP 1H 0R/ER 0BB 2K
LHP Danny Coulombe: 2IP 1H 0R/ER 2BB 2K
HR:
MN: Rosario (7), Sano (5); KC: Gordon (3)
2B:
MN: Kepler (5) Wade (1); KC: Lopez (4)
DH Eddie Rosario: 2-4, 3-R HR(7), 2 R, 1 BB
1B Miguel Sano: 2-5, solo HR(5), 2-R 1B in 7th
3B Marwin Gonzalez: RBI, 2BBs, R
LF LaMonte Wade, Jr.: 2B, 2H
RF Max Kepler: 2B, R, BB, HBP
SS Jorge Polanco: H, R
CF Jake Cave/2B Luis Arraez: H
C Avila: BB
PR Ehire Adrianza: R
On to the rubber game today:
RHP Matt Wisler (0-1, 1.50 ERA) will “open” the game against Royals LHP Kris Bubic (0-3, 5.12) at 1:05pm on Fox Sports North.
Thanks for reading our ‘Takes! We’d love to see your ‘Takes. That’s why it’s…
