Minnesota Twins Recap at Oakland Athletics – April 20th, 2021

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Robb

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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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Boston Red Sox – April 15th, 2021

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Robb

Minnesota Twins Twinsactions start the day once again as they have optioned reliever RHP Cody Stashak to their Alternate Training Site and recalled RHP Shaun Anderson who was acquired when the Minnesota Twins traded OF LaMonte Wade, Jr to the #Giants in February (Wade was put on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) with a left oblique strain yesterday.)

Today & tomorrow, we celebrate the life & career of Jackie Robinson! All players will don the #42 jersey to honor him!

The Lineups are in for today’s 12:10pm tilt & there is no Buxton (sore hamstring) or Donaldson (rest? slowly getting him back to a regular?) in the lineup.

Luis Arraez is leading off & in LF, Willians #LaTortuga Astudillo is at 3B & Jake Cave is in CF. RHP Michael Pineda is on the mound against #RedSox RHP Garrett Richards!!!

Let’s Go, Boys! Time to Win!!!

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Boston Red Sox Lineup:

Minnesota Twins RHP Michael Pineda pitched a helluva game today!!! He threw 7 innings of scoreless 2-hit ball with one walk and six strikeouts and he was in line for the win.

Key Plays

2nd Inning:

Boston Red Sox C Christina Vazquez appeared to have been hit by a pitch but the ball rolled all the way past the pitching mound and MN SS JT Riddle fielded it & threw it to 1st while Vazquez acted like he was in pain from being hit by the pitch. The Twins challenged the call and it was overturned into a 6-3 putout.

Then…in the bottom of the 2nd, with Miguel Sanó at 1st (BB), SS JT Riddle grounded into a force out to 1st. The throw went a little wide left of 2B Christian Arroyo forcing him to stretch to make the catch and as Sanó slid into 2nd, he had the best look at the play so he could see Arroyo’s foot was off the bag so…the Twins challenged this play, too, and… this play was also overturned.

So…stretch to catch turns at force-out into a force off! AND…the Riddler was part of both of those plays! Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That, then, huh? HA!

The safe at 2nd call also allowed the Twins to load the bases and eventually get a 2-run single from Luis Arraez.

6th Inning

Minnesota Twins 1st baseman Miguel Sanó led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a mammoth blast to the 2nd deck in left field today. Maybe fans will get off his back a little, now. It put the Twins up 3-0.

8th Inning

Minnesota Twins RHP Hansel Robles relieved RHP Michael Pineda who pitched 7 shutout innings (7IP 2H 0R/ER 1BB 6K) and he hits the batter on the first pitch then walks the 2nd batter so Twins Pitching Coach Wes Johnson made a Mound Visit to settle down his reliever. A flyout to left & a strikeout swinging followed but Marwin Gonzalez (Pinch Hit for Kiki Hernandez) walked to load the bases to bring up OF Alex Verdugo so Rocco Baldelli made a Pitching Change to LHP Taylor Rogers to get him out.

In a 10-pitch at-bat, Verdugo ended up hitting a ball down the left field line & with 2 outs and the count full, the runners were off with the pitch so it cleared the bases and tied the game at 3!

They intentionally walked Xander Bogaerts to get to Rafael Devers and he struck looking to end the half-inning but the damage was done as a 3-0 lead vanished.

The Twins got a leadoff double from Kyle Garlick in the bottom of the 8th then Miguel Sanó got his 12th walk of the season and Jake Cave bunted them over with a sacrifice bunt. Ryan Jeffers struck out swinging twice.* JT Riddle was pinch-hit for by Mitch Garver and hit a solid liner (100mph EV) right to 3rd to end the inning.
*Twice? Yes! Amazingly, the home-plate ump thought Ryan Jeffers foul tipped that ball but he completely missed it. Boston manager Alex Cora came out to ask him to confer with his crew and they left the call the same so Cora got thrown out then Jeffers struck out on the very next pitch! DOH!

On to the 9th…

Minnesota Twins RHP Alex Colomé came in to pitch the 9th** & he got the 1st batter to fly out to center field but allowed a double off the left field wall that was played very well by Kyle Garlick to make it a close play at 2nd base but the runner was safe. Colomé then struck out the next 2 batters to send it to the bottom of the 9th.

Luis Arraez lead off the bottom of the 9th and he was already 3-4 with 3 singles including a big 2-run single in the bottom of the 2nd that put the Twins up early. He also made a great catch in left field in the 6th. RHP Adam Ottavino came in to pitch the 9th for Boston and Luis had walked in his only previous appearance against him but, of course, that’s pretty normal for Luis, right?

Luis hit his 4th single of the day. That brought up Jorge Polanco and he was hit on the foot by a pitch. Nelson Cruz then struck out for the 1st out. Max Kepler came to the plate with a goal of just putting the ball in play. Ottavino threw him a first-pitch slider that he took because it was way inside. He then threw Max another slider but this one was a hanger and Max put it in play. He probably should’ve crushed it but he got enough of it for it to drop into short center field and Luis Arraez got a great read on it so he was near 3rd, if not at 3rd already, when the ball hit the ground so he was safe at home! BALLGAME! STREAK SNAPPED!

IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!

Rumor has it the Minnesota Twins are starting LHP Lewis Thorpe in tomorrow’s 1st game in Anaheim against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels.

Game Notes

”Losing is a Disease.” – The Natural

*Losing seems to get in the heads of everyone so 1 loss or bad play tends to turn into multiple losses and teams finding ways to lose games. Their mentality turns from we’re going to win to what’s going to happen today then heads go down and it’s that “not again” feeling.

It’s crazy that this happens to professional athletes and teams but it does and they just have to try to forget about it and move on. You can’t do anything about the past except learn from it and the best lesson is to play hard and know that you have the ability to have a great day individually and as a team or else you wouldn’t be here. Stay in the moment! See ball, hit ball!

Minnesotans have this thinking of this only happens to our teams and of course that would happen here. You know, the whole, “That’s so Minnesota” saying as if their teams are cursed or can’t win for some reason.

Stop crying and support your team and all of their players whether you like them or not.

**Fans tweet things like I’m done with that player or I’ve seen enough to know he’s not an everyday player. They apparently forget the game of baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s 162 games AND we’re still in a pandemic so players are adjusting to it. Plus, 99% of all baseball fans don’t know nearly as much about the game as the players and staffs of the Major League Baseball Organizations but, man, they sure think they do.

They second-guess moves and calls made and why is so & so still in the lineup or one of my faves, bench him or send him to the minors to bring up someone with even less experience and give them a chance.

We are just 13 games into the season. That’s 3 games from being a 10th of the way through the season. Before today, not one batter had 50 at-bats yet. Who are you giving only 50 at-bats to & telling them if they don’t produce, we’re giving someone else a chance?

Can you imagine the reaction if their teams did what they wanted to do?

Is there such a thing as a negativity filter? “That guy sucks!” – Put him/her in the filter! BYE!!!

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Boston Red Sox – April 13th, 2021

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins lost their 1st series of the season on Sunday and are now on their first losing streak to the season. Was it just the 9th inning pitching from RHP Alex Colomé or do you need to add the lack of offense after Seattle started their comeback in the 6th inning? They only had 3 baserunners from the 6th inning to the end of the game and none of them were from hits. One was a hit by pitch. The other two were walks.

Well, today is a new day as they begin a 4-game series against the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins have LHP J.A. Happ on the mound against fellow lefty & former Twin in Boston Red Sox LHP Martin Perez.

Happ has a lot of history facing the Boston Red Sox with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays and his record against them is very good with a career record of 13-4, a 2.79 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.157 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) in 26 starts and 154.2 innings, including 2-0 last season with a 0.66 ERA & a 0.659 WHIP.

Here’s how he’s done against the current Red Sox roster:

On the other side, maybe facing a lefty will help the offense today & Martin Perez doesn’t have a lot of history against most of the Twins roster but the ones who have faced him more have hit him well with those players being Nelson Cruz & Andrelton Simmons:

Here’s how both teams will lineup for today’s game:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Boston Red Sox Lineup:

It looked like the Twins could run away with this one as they loaded the bases twice in the bottom of the 1st but they only got 2 runs out of it. That was holding up pretty well and Minnesota Twins LHP J.A. Happ was getting better by the inning until the 5th when he allowed 3 straight 2-out hits and the 1st one was a Hunter Renfroe’s 1st HR of the season. A single followed then Bobby Dalbec hit an RBI-double to tie the game at 2 and RHP Cody Stashak had to come in to relieve Happ and he struck out Enrique Hernandez to end the 5th inning.

Minnesota Twins RHP Randy Dobnak took over in the 6th and set 6 straight Red Sox down. He then allowed back-to-back doubles to Christian Arroyo (4) & Bobby Dalbec (3), his 2nd RBI-double on the day. He allowed a walk to the next batter but got a double play from a great defensive play from Andrelton Simmons.

The Twins had just 3 walks and a single from the 5th inning on but they did get a 1-out walk followed by a bloop single from Willians Astudillo but Simmons flew out and Cave grounded out to end the threat.

Boston Red Sox 4 | Minnesota Twins 2 | Final

W-Hernandez (1-0) L-Dobnak (0-2) S-Barnes (1)

They’ll try to get back in the win column tomorrow with a doubleheader tomorrow with their 2 best pitchers on the mound in RHPs Kenta Maeda & José Berríos. Game 1 begins at 1:10pm with Game 2 to follow and they’re 7-inning games, too.

Game Notes

*It’s sad & frustrating how bad some of the calls were in the Xander Bogaerts at-bat to end the top of the 4th. It was a 9-pitch at-bat and only 1 of those 9 pitches was in the zone. The 3rd pitch made the count 1-2. Pitches 4 & 5 were balls outside & inside, 6, 7 & 8 were fouled off and then he was called out on pitch 9 which is at least 3 inches out of the zone and was probably never in the zone.

Sometimes, the homeplate umpire doesn’t look like he’s set up to see the whole zone or see it from a good angle but in this at-bat, it looks like he’s in a good spot to see the called strike that ended the at-bat so how does he miss it?

That’s not a strike!

Look where J.A. Happ’s front foot landed & where his throwing arm is in that picture. That pitch was never inside the strike zone. 

**Are the Twins trying to get Cody Stashak more confident so they just had him get the one out then bring in Randy Dobnak to finish the game? Why not send him out there to pitch the 6th, too? Everyone had yesterday off. 

***Twins RHP Randy Dobnak gave up back-to-back doubles to leadoff the top of the 8th and change a tied game to a 1-run deficit. He then issued a 1-out walk to the next batter and RHP Jorge Alcala started to warm up in the Twins bullpen. He got a nice double play off a great defensive play from shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

I just don’t know about Dobnak. It seems a lot of the time he’s very hittable. Is he missing his spots? Is he tipping his pitches? Is it his pitch mix? Or is it just early on in the season?

Plays

Top of 1 (LHP J.A. Happ starts (2nd))

  1. CF Kiki Hernandez grounded out to 3rd
  2. LF Alex Verdugo flew out to CF
  3. DH J.D. Martinez flew out to RCF

Bottom of 1 (LHP Martin Perez starts (2nd))

  1. CF Byron Buxton 2B’d down the LF line on the 1st pitch
  2. RF Kyle Garlick HBP’d on Ball 4
  3. C Mitch Garver BB’d to load the bases
  4. 2B Jorge Polanco hit a Sacrifice Fly to CF, Buxton scored, Garlick advanced to 3rd, 1-0
  5. DH Miguel Sano BB’d to load the bases again
  6. 3B Luis Arraez grounded out to 2nd but stayed out of the DP by beating the throw to 1st, Garlick scored, 2-0
  7. 1B Willians Astudillo popped out to short in foul territory

Top of 2 (Happ at 22 pitches)

  1. SS Xander Bogaerts 1B’d on a soft ground ball to 3rd
  2. 3B Rafael Devers BB’d on 5 pitches
  3. Mound Visit – C Christian Vazquez grounds into a 5-3 double play on a soft ground ball to 3rd
    1. 3B Luis Arraez used the catcher’s speed to his advantage by waiting for the ball to come to him while he had his right foot on 3rd base then threw it to 1st for the 2nd out.
  4. RF Hunter Renfroe K’d swinging on a foul tip

Bottom of 2 (Perez at 25 pitches)

  1. SS Andrelton Simmons lined out to RF
  2. RF Jake Cave 1B’d on a soft dribbler that 3B Rafael Devers tried to bare hand but the throw went down the 1st base line, Cave to 2nd; E5
  3. Buxton popped out to 1st
  4. Garlick flew out to CF

Top of 3 (Happ at 44 pitches)

  1. 2B Christian Arroyo flew out to RCF
  2. 1B Bobby Dalbec flew out to RCF
  3. Hernandez flew out to CF 

Bottom of 3 (Perez at 41 pitches)

  1. Garver flew out to CF
  2. Polanco HBP’d on the back of the left elbow! OUCH!
  3. Sano popped out to 1st
  4. Arraez lined out to LF

Top of 4 (Happ at 55 pitches)

  1. Verdugo grounded out to a shifted 2nd in short RF
  2. Martinez grounded out to 3rd on a great defensive play by Arraez ranging to his left
  3. Bogaertz K’d looking on a pitch that was at least 3 inches outside.* The 3rd pitch looked outside, too. 6, 7 & 8 were fouled off.

Bottom of 4 (Perez at 54 pitches)

  1. Astudillo flew out to short
  2. Simmons 1B’d on a line drive to CF
  3. Cave grounded out to 2nd, Simmons out at 2nd
  4. Buxton 1B’d on a ground ball up the middle that 2B Arroyo couldn’t handle. Single? Or Error? – Mound Visit
  5. Garlick K’d swinging

Top of 5 (Happ at 68 pitches)

  1. Devers K’d swinging
  2. Vazquez lined out to RF
  3. Renfroe HR’d (1) to CF just off the top of the wall and Buxton just missed it. It didn’t look like he got a full jump on his attempt. 2-1
  4. Arroyo 1B’d on a hard line drive to CF – Mound Visit
  5. Dalbec 2B’d down the RF line, Arroyo scores – 2-2

    Pitching Change to RHP Cody Stashak  (Happ: 4.2IP 4H 2R/ER 1BB 3K 1HR)
  1. Hernandez K’d swinging

Bottom of 5 (Perez at 69 pitches)

  1. Garver K’d swinging
  2. Polanco grounded out to short
  3. Sano BB’d
  4. Arraez grounded out to 2nd

Top of 6 (RHP Randy Dobnak replaced Stashak(6 pitches**(4 strikes))

  1. Verdugo grounded out to short
  2. Martinez flew out to RF
  3. Bogaerts grounded out to 3rd  

Bottom of 6 (RHP Hirokazu Sawamura replaced Perez-88 pitches)

  1. Astudillo reached on a throwing error (E6)
    1. He went into a slide when he saw the 1st baseman jump to catch the throw knowing he’d have to tag him to get him out
  2. Simmons hit a hard comebacker (105mph EV) but Arroyo snagged it to start a 4-6-3 double play
  3. Cave K’d swinging

Top of 7 (Dobnak at 8 pitches)

  1. Devers grounded out to 1st
  2. Vázquez grounded out to the pitcher
  3. Renfroe grounded out to short

Bottom of 7 (RHP Adam Ottovino replaced Sawamura-18 pitches)

  1. Buxton grounded out to 2nd
  2. Max Kepler (PH for Garlick) BB’d on 8 pitches
  3. Garver popped out to short, Bogaerts made an over his head catch
  4. Kepler stole 2nd (3)
  5. Polanco lined out to 2nd (101mph EV)

Top of 8 (Dobnak at 15 pitches(11 strikes))

  1. Kepler remains in the game in RF, Cave moved from RF to LF
  2. Arroyo 2B’d (4) down the RF line
  3. Dalbec 2B’d (3) down the RF line***, Arroyo scored – 3-2 Red Sox
  4. Hernandez popped out to RF
  5. Verdugo BB’d on 8 pitches
  6. Martinez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play started off a great grab by Andrelton Simmons

Bottom of 8 (LHP Darwinzon Hernandez replaced Ottovino)

  1. Sano grounded out to 3rd
  2. Arraez BB’d on 5 pitches
  3. Astudillo 1B’d on a bloop to LF, Arraez to 2nd
  4. Simmons popped out to LF
  5. Cave grounded out to a shifted short

Top of 9 (RHP Jorge Alcala replaced Dobnak)

  1. Bogaerts grounded out to 3rd
  2. Devers HR’d (5) to RF – 4-2 Red Sox
  3. Vázquez K’d swinging at 98mph HEAT
  4. Renfroe popped out to 1st

Bottom of 9 (RHP Matt Barnes replaced Hernandez)

  1. Buxton K’d swinging
  2. Kepler flew out to LF
  3. Garver flew out to LF

Boston Red Sox 4 | Minnesota Twins 2 | Final

W-Hernandez (1-0) L-Dobnak (0-2) S-Barnes (1)

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Seattle Mariners-April 11th, 2021

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Robb

Did the Minnesota Twins respond to a loss with a win, again?

The Minnesota Twins went back to the righty lineup with all regulars in the lineup. Jake Cave gets the start in left field and Ryan Jeffers is back behind the plate with RHP Matt Shoemaker on the mound! Shoe went 6 in his first start (6IP 3H 1R/ER 0BB 5K 1HR).

This is how the Shoemaker has done against the current Mariners roster:

They faced former Yankee RHP Chris Flexen who had a very good 1st start (5IP 4H 0R/ER 2BB 6K). He has never faced the Minnesota Twins or any current Minnesota Twins players!

AND…Happy Birthday 🎂 to Twins RHP Kenta Maeda!!!

Let’s see if the Twins responded to another loss with another win.

Here’s how both teams lined up today:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Seattle Mariners Lineup:

I went back and watched Minnesota Twins RHP Matt Shoemaker’s 1st start because I missed that game and it was very impressive but that’s pretty obvious from the results of just 3 hits & 1 run allowed with no walks and 5 strikeouts. I wanted to see his pitching repertoire and, of course, how he uses it and I was most impressed with the splitter & the changeup or is that the knuckle curve and how he uses them off of his sinker.

He had it going again in this game as he had only allowed 3 hits & 1 walk through 5 innings on 80 pitches (51 strikes) and his team had built a 6-0 lead on a couple sacrifice flies from Nelson Cruz & Max Kepler, a 2-run double (4) & a 2-run HR (5) from Byron Buxton who just keeps on hitting.

Then Matt Shoemaker came out for the 6th and allowed a solo HR to Kyle Seager, a double off the top of the right center field wall, a single and then a 3-run blast off the bat from Seattle Mariners CF Taylor Trammell that ended his night because he apparently said something to the ump and was ejected for it.

Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in RHP Cody Stashak came in to relieve Shoemaker and struck out 3 but allowed a 1-out single. He then came out to start the 7th inning and hit Ty France with a pitch which prompted Rocco to bring in LHP Caleb Thielbar and he allowed a single to Kyle Seager that advanced France to 3rd and a ground ball from Dylan Moore for a force out scored France to get Seattle within 1 run.

Thielbar added a wild pitch but struck out both Luis Torrens & Taylor Trammell swinging to end the top of the 7th. RHP Hansel Robles allowed nothing in the 8th.

That set up a 9th inning closing opportunity for RHP Alex Colomé against the top of the Mariners lineup of Mitch Haniger, Ty France & Kyle Seager. Haniger & France singled to right field & left field and Seager was perfect on the day at that point with a walk, 2 singles and HR that started his team’s comeback and he was the only player who had seen Colomé before this season. He didn’t have a ton of success at just 2-for-9 with 2 singles, 2 RBI and 2 walks with 1 strikeout. The at-bat was at a 2-2 count and Seager had just fouled off an low & inside cutter and they were trying to double up that cutter low & inside but Alex hung it and it landed just over the right center field wall to put the Mariners up 8-6.

Alex got the next batter to fly out but allowed another single right after it so Rocco went to RHP Jorge Alcala to finish off the 9th. He allowed a single to the 1st batter he faced but then induced a double play to end the 9th.

The Twins have Nelson Cruz, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler coming to the plate in the bottom of the 9th, which sounds good but they couldn’t keep the game alive as both Cruz & Buxton flew out to CF & Max Kepler lined out to left field to end the game and the Minnesota Twins lost their 1st series of the season.

The biggest problem is they had just 3 baserunners and no hits in the last 4 innings. Those baserunners came from 2 walks (Sano & Arraez) and when Buxton was hit by a pitch.

They don’t have much time to worry about it as they start a 4-game series against the Boston Red Sox this afternoon as LHP J.A. Happ makes his 2nd start of the season against fellow lefty & former Twin LHP Martin Perez at 1:10pm on Bally Sports North!

Game Notes

*The missed calls on balls & strikes can really change an at-bat and sometimes, even an entire game.

A ball was called a strike yesterday to end the 8th when Miguel Sano struck out looking & there were 2 runners in scoring position in a game the Twins eventually lost in extra innings. If that pitch is called a ball, the count is then full. Who knows what would’ve happened on the next pitch? A wild pitch had already been thrown and Sano has the ability to put one in the seats as much as he could strikeout. Andrelton Simmons was on deck but it the Twins get a lead there, does Taylor Rogers close it out in the 9th?

During this at-bat today & one pitch later when the count went to 3-1, Minnesota Twins analyst Justin Morneau said:

“It’s the challenge of how one pitch swings an entire at-bat and how the pitcher is gonna approach him and how aggressive the pitcher has to be.”

Justin Morneau

After the at-bat, Twins play-by-play broadcaster, Dick Bremer, asked analyst Justin Morneau if he was in favor of an electronic strike zone and he quickly responded yes, then he made a joke that he’d make a comeback if they went to an electronic strike zone then added he didn’t think it would help him, at this point.

“If they were able to get the technology where every pitch that goes in that box is a strike and every pitch that doesn’t touch that box is a ball…then I don’t see how human error or the beauty of human mistakes benefits anyone…and the hitters know what a strike is and there’s no argument. The pitchers know what the strike zone is. They work off of that and it seems pretty straight-forward to me but a lot of people disagree.”

Justin Morneau

Major League Baseball plans to use Automated Ball-Strike technology (ABS) at eight of nine ballparks in the Low-A Southeast League, which starts play May 4 across Florida as minor league baseball resumes after a one-year break caused by the coronavirus pandemic. – March 21st, 2021 from Fox Sports Midwest.

Plays

Top of 1 (RHP Matt Shoemaker starts for Minnesota (2nd))

  1. RF Mitch Haniger K’d swinging on a slider #ShoemaKer
  2. 2B Ty France was Hit By a Pitch in the right forearm
  3. 3B Kyle Seager BB’d #ShoemaKKer
    1. The 1-1 (3rd) pitch is in the zone but, for some reason, is called a ball*
  1. 1B Jose Marmolejos K’d swinging on a splitter
  2. DH Luis Torrens grounded out to 2nd. Great defensive play by Jorge Polanco who had to come in on a high chopper to end the inning*

Bottom of 1 (RHP Chris Flexen starts for Seattle (2nd))

  1. 3B Luis Arraez 1B’d on a line drive to RF
  2. 2B Jorge Polanco 1B’d on a hard hit (107mph) ground ball to RF, Arraez to 3rd
  3. DH Nelson Cruz flew out to deep CF for a sacrifice fly, Arraez scored – 1-0
  4. CF Byron Buxton 1B’d on a hard hit (108mph) ground ball to LF, Polanco to 2nd
  5. RF Max Kepler popped out to short
  6. Miguel Sano popped out to first to end the 1st

Top of 2 (Shoemaker at 21 pitches)

  1. CF Taylor Trammell K’d looking at a slider #ShoemaKKKer 
  2. C Tom Murphy K’d swinging on a high sinker #ShoemaKKKKer
  3. SS J.P. Crawford flew out to RCF

Bottom of 2 (Flexen at 11 pitches)

  1. LF Jake Cave K’d swinging at a nasty curveball
  2. C Ryan Jeffers grounded out to 1st & the pitch broke his bat
  3. SS Andrelton Simmons grounded out to short

Top of 3 (Shoemaker at 36 pitches)

  1. LF Braden Bishop grounded out to 2nd
  2. Haniger grounded out to 2nd
  3. France 1B’d on a line drive to RF
  4. Seager 1B’d on a ground ball to RF
  5. Marmolejos popped out to the C

Bottom of 3 (Flexen at 27 pitches)

  1. Arraez 1B’d on a ground ball up the middle
  2. Polanco reaches on a fielding error (E1) on a check swing but he hustled out of the box
  3. Cruz gets a bloop 1B to load the bases
  4. Buxton 2B’d to the right field wall, Arraez & Polanco scored, Cruz to 3rd – 3-0
  5. Kepler hit a sacrifice fly to score Cruz from 3rd – 4-0, Buxton to 3rd
  6. Sano K’d swinging 
  7. Cave grounded out to 1st

Top of 4 (Shoemaker at 53 pitches)

  1. Torrens popped out to 2nd
  2. Trammell popped out to 3rd
  3. Murphy K’d swinging at a high 92.3mph sinker #ShoemaKKKKKer

Bottom of 4 (Flexen at 47 pitches)

  1. Jeffers K’d looking
  2. Simmons K’d looking
  3. Arraez BB’d
  4. Polanco flew out to CF

Top of 5 (Shoemaker at 67 pitches)

  1. Crawford 1B’d on a soft liner to LF
  2. Bishop tried to bunt. It goes down as a sac bunt according to MLB’s At-Bat app
  3. Haniger K’d swinging at an inside sinker #ShoemaKKKKKKer
  4. France K’d swinging at a low splitter #ShoemaKKKKKKKer

Bottom of 5 (Flexen at 64 pitches)

  1. Cruz BB’d
  2. Buxton HR’d (5) to the Twins Bullpen (Exit Velocity: 111mph, Distance: 428’, Launch Angle: 36º – 6-0
  3. Kepler 2B’d (4) to RF
  4. Sano grounded out to the pitcher
  5. Cave K’d swinging
  6. Jeffers grounded out to 2nd

Top of 6 (Shoemaker at 77 pitches)

  1. Seager HR’d (1) to right field – 6-1
  2. Marmolejos 2B’d (1) to RF. It hit the top of the wall in RCF so Seattle asked the umps to review it to see if it was a HR but it stayed a 2B
  3. Torrens 1B’d on a ground ball to LF
  4. Trammell HR’d (2) to RF – 6-4, Shoemaker was Ejected by homeplate umpire Manny Gonzalez
  5. RHP Cody Stashak replaced Shoemaker (5IP 7H 4R/ER 1BB 7K on 91 pitches (59 strikes))
  6. Murphy K’d swinging on a fastball #StashaK
  7. Crawford 1B’d on a line drive to LF
  8. Bishop K’d swinging on a slider #StashaKK
  9. Haniger K’d swinging on a slider #StashaKKK

Bottom of 6 (RHP Will Vest replaced Flexen (5IP 8H 6R 5ER 2BB 5K on 84 pitches(53 strikes))

  1. Simmons grounded out to short
  2. Arraez flew out to LF
  3. Polanco lined out to 1st

Top of 7 (Stashak at 17 pitches)

  1. France hit by a pitch in the left arm. He was hit in the right arm in the 1st inning.
  2. LHP Caleb Thielbar replaced Cody Stashak (1IP 1H 1R/ER 0B 3K on 21 pitches (11 strikes))
  3. Seager 1B’d on a ground ball to right field, France to 3rd
  4. Moore (PH for Marmolejos) grounded out to 2nd, force out at 2nd as they couldn’t turn the double play, France scored, 6-5 
  5. Wild pitch, Moore to 2nd
  6. Torrens K’d swinging on a breaking ball (curve/slider)! THAT’s a Nice Pitch!
  7. Trammell K’d swinging at 93mph! 2 Big Ks for #KKaleb, there! 

Bottom of 7 (Vest at 18 pitches)

Ty France moved from 2B to 1B, Dylan Moore stays in the game at 2B

  1. Cruz K’d swinging at an 87mph slider low & away
  2. Buxton is HBP’d, Seattle manager Scott Servais is ejected after coming out to say the pitch was a changeup. You can’t argue that & aren’t supposed to even come out of the dugout for it, apparently
  3. Kepler grounds out to 2nd
  4. Sano BB’d, Kepler to 2nd
  5. Cave grounded out to short

Top of 8 (RHP Hansel Robles replaced Thielbar)

  1. Murphy flew out to the warning track in CF
  2. Crawford popped out to short
  3. Sam Haggerty (PH for Bishop) popped out to short

Bottom of 8 (RHP Drew Steckenrider replaced Vest)

  1. Jeffers K’d looking
  2. Simmons grounded out to 3rd
  3. Arraez BB’d
  4. Polanco grounded out to short

Top of 9 (RHP Alex Colomé replaced Robles)

  1. Haniger 1B’d on a line drive to RF
  2. France 1B’d on a line drive to LF
  3. Seager HR’d (2) to RCF – 6-8
  4. Moore flew out to RF
  5. Torrens 1B’d on a ground ball up the middle
  6. Mound Visit & Pitching Change to RHP Jorge Alcala
  7. Trammell gets an infield hit on a swinging bunt
  8. Murphy grounded into a 5-4-3 double play

Bottom of 9 (RHP Rafael Montero replaced Steckenrider)

Evan White replaced 1B Ty France

  1. Cruz flew out to CF on the 1st pitch
  2. Buxton flew out to CF
  3. Kepler lined out to left field

 Seattle Mariners 8, Minnesota Twins 6 | Final

L-Colomé(0-1) W-Steckenrider(1-1) S-Montero(2)

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Mariners – April 10th, 2021

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins play their 2nd home game as they try to win the 3-game series today with RHP Michael Pineda (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) on the mound against Seattle Mariners LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP).

If you didn’t know, Yusei Kikuchi wears the #18 just like Twins RHP Kenta Maeda does, and in Japan (or is it just the NPB), that is meant to signify the ace pitcher. Yusei is a 29-year-old pitcher who pitched 8 seasons in Japan in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) and was very good, going 73-46 in 108 starts. In 1,010.2IP, he had a 2.77 ERA (Earned Run Average) & a 1.169 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) and allowed 810 hits (73 HRs) with 371 walks & 903 strikeouts. He’s slowly adapting to Major League Baseball as he’s had an ERA over 5 in both 2019 & 2020 and allowed 36 home runs in 2019.

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Seattle Mariners Lineup:

This was a pretty good pitching duel. Twins RHP Michael Pineda allowed a couple of solo home runs but that’s all in 6 innings. He struck out 6 and put his team in a position to win.

Those solo home runs off the bats of Seattle Mariners CF Taylor Trammell* & RF Mitch Haniger came in the 3rd inning. The Twins got a single from Kyle Garlick and that brought up DH Nelson Cruz and right before his at-bat, they showed a highlight of him receiving his 2020 Silver Slugger Award so…in the 1st pitch of the at-bat, Nelson Cruz hit his 4th HR of the season to tie the game at 2!

The next 4 innings had just 3 hits & 2 walks between both teams.

In the top of the 8th, RHP Alex Colomé took over on the mound for Minnesota. He allowed a leadoff single to J.P. Crawford then struck out Mitch Haniger but Crawford stole 2nd on the strikeout pitch to get into scoring position. He then got Ty France to ground out to 3rd which kept Crawford at 2nd. Up came the veteran Kyle Seager and he hit an RBI-single on a line drive to center field to put Seattle up 3-2. Colomé then struck out Jose Marmolejos to end the 8th.

In the bottom of the 8th, Kyle Garlick flew out to center on a great catch by 2B Dylan Moore. Nelson Cruz walked on 4 pitches in what wasn’t an intentional walk but Mariners reliever RHP Rafael Montero wasn’t giving him anything close to something to hit! Byron Buxton was then hit by a pitch (or his jersey was hit by a pitch). Garver ended up grounding out to 3rd in an 8-pitch at-bat that had a 2-0 pitch called a strike that was questionable so it made the count 2-1 instead of 3-0. It did allow Cave to advance to 3rd and Buxton to advance to 2nd.

A Wild Pitch on the 1st pitch to Max Kepler allowed Cave to score and tie the game at 3. Buxton advanced to 3rd.

That brought up Miguel Sano. Max Kepler stole 2nd right after Twins broadcasting analyst said he’d like to see him take 2nd because Seattle probably wouldn’t chance a throw to 2nd because it could give Buxton a chance to score from 3rd. Miguel Sano fouled off the 1st pitch then took 2 inside pitches for balls. He fouled off the 4th pitch & hit it straight back so he timed it well. He took the next pitch, a 95mph sinker that looked outside but the ump called it a strike to end the inning.

What do you think?

Yep! That’s definitely outside! Blue that call!

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to send it to extra innings and everybody’s favorite rule in baseball.

LHP Taylor Rogers pitched the 9th and only needed 8 pitches (7 strikes) to do it so he came back out for the 10th. Seattle Mariners CF Taylor Trammell started the inning at 2nd base. Brendan Bishop laid down a bunt that Rogers got to but couldn’t make the exchange from glove to hand to make a throw so it was a bunt single and Trammell advanced to 3rd on the play. J.P. Crawford grounded out to 3rd. Bishop advanced to 2nd. Mitch Haniger then hit a line drive sacrifice fly deep enough to left field to score Trammell from 3rd to put Seattle up 4-3. Ty France then grounded out to 2nd to end the top of the 10th.

Seattle brought in RHP Keynan Middleton to try to close it out. Jorge Polanco started the inning at 2nd base. Willians #LaTortuga Astudillo pinch hit for Kyle Garlick then popped out to 1st for the 1st out. Jake Cave popped out to short for the 2nd out. Byron Buxton hit a long fly ball down the left field line but it was foul. He then grounded out to short to end the game.

So…the Twins have lost 3 games and every one of them were in extra innings. Sooner or later, you’d think the Twins will have to figure that out, right?

#MNTwins 3, #SeaUsRise 4 | F-10

W-Graveman(1-0) L-Rogers(0-1) S-Middleton(1)

Game Notes

*
The HR was caught by a fan and then thrown back onto the field. It was Seattle Mariners CF Taylor Trammell’s 1st Career HR. I assume the fan didn’t know that because he could’ve gotten something for the ball he caught or got since he didn’t catch it! I’m against throwing a ball back onto the field. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve gone to a bunch of baseball games in my life & I’ve never caught either a foul ball or a home run ball so if I ever do, I’m probably going to keep up.

Hopefully, I’ll remember to bring a baseball with me so I can make the switch and give the baseball I brought to the game to a little kid who, for some reason, deserves it more because they’re a little kid. I don’t understand that but it makes sense to look good instead of looking like a jerk who won’t give a ball to a little kid.

Out-think them!

**
They showed video of Nelson receiving his 2020 MLB Silver Slugger Award (the 3rd one he’s one in the last 4 seasons & 4th overall) and on the 1st pitch of the at-bat, he crushed a ball to the opposite field (EV: 105mph, 364’ at 24º).

So far, Nelson Cruz has looked like the BoomStick Twins fans know & love as he just keeps on slugging!

***
Byron Buxton hit a slow ground ball to the left side. That’s almost as sure of a single in baseball as a frozen rope to the outfield. Apparently, the shortstop still thought he could throw out Buxton, though. He didn’t and because he rushed his throw, it wasn’t accurate and allowed Buxton to go to 2nd. The ball bounced back and the catcher, backing up the play, was really close to getting it right away but it got away from him enough to allow Buxton to slide in safely at 2nd!

At some point, infielders will figure out if it’s hit to the left side, you better know for sure you have a chance to make that play or just eat it and live with it. On the other hand, though, maybe the thinking is they know Buxton can just steal 2nd base so it’s worth the attempted assist.

****
How frustrating is it to get a pitch outside the zone called a strike to end an inning with a runner on 3rd AND that runner is Byron Buxton? Add to that there was already a Wild Pitch that tied the game in that inning so if it’s called a ball correctly, who knows what happens on the next pitch or in the rest of the at-bat.

It’s infuriating!

Plays

Top of 1 (RHP Michael Pineda pitching for MN)

  1. RF Mitch Haniger grounds out to short
  2. DH Ty France K’d looking
  3. 3B Kyle Seager lined out to right center but Buxton gets there to end the top of the 1st

Bottom of 1 (LHP Yusei Kikuchi pitching for SEA)

  1. 2B Jorge Polanco flew out to right
  2. LF Kyle Garlick K’d swinging on a foul tip
  3. DH Nelson Cruz 1B’d on a LD to LF
  4. CF Byron Buxton lined a 1B to LF with an exit velocity of 113mph, Cruz to 2nd
  5. C Mitch Garver flew out to right to end the 1st

Top of 2 (Pineda at 14 pitches)

  1. 1B Jose Marmolejos K’d swinging #BigMiKe
  2. C Luis Torrens grounded out to 3rd
  3. 2B Dylan Moore K’d looking #BigMiKKe

Bottom of 2 (Kikuchi at 17 pitches) 23 pitch inning

  1. RF Max Kepler K’d swinging on a foul tip
  2. 1B Miguel Sano hit a loud flyout to CF
  3. SS Andrelton Simmons walked
  4. 3B Luis Arraez K’d swinging

Top of 3 (Pineda at 26 pitches) 14 pitch inning

  1. CF Taylor Trammell hit his 1st MLB Home Run out to right field and the fan threw it back. 1-0*
  2. LF Sam Haggerty popped out to short
  3. SS J.P. Crawford popped out to 3rd
  4. Haniger HR’d (2) to left field – 2-0 SEA
  5. France flew out to CF

Bottom of 3 (Kikuchi at 40 pitches) 15 pitch inning

  1. Polanco lined out to left
  2. Garlick 1B’d on a LD to left field
  3. Nelson Cruz HR’d** (4) to right field to tie the game at 2!
    1. (Exit Velocity: 105mph, Distance: 364’, Launch Angle: 24º)
  4. Buxton hit a soft ground ball to the left side and SS J.P. Crawford was coming in hard and every Twins fan knew Buxton was going to be safe but Crawford rushed his throw*** thinking he could get him and overthrew the base so Buxton took 2nd.
  5. Garver K’d swinging
  6. Kepler popped up to a shifted SS to end the 3rd inning

Top of 4 (Pineda at 40 pitches) 13 pitch inning

  1. Seager popped up to 3rd and he slammed his bat on the field in disgust. 
  2. Marmolejos popped up to 2nd & he was disgusted, too.
  3. Torrens 1B’d on a groundball to RF
  4. Moore K’d swinging #BigMiKKKe

Bottom of 4 (Kikuchi at 55 pitches) 14 pitch inning

  1. Sano walked
  2. Simmons grounds into a 6-4-3 double play
  3. Arraez grounds out to short to end the 4th

Top of 5 (Pineda at 53 pitches) 9 pitch inning

  1. Trammell K’d looking #BigMiKKKKe
  2. Haggerty 1B’d up the middle against the shift
  3. Crawford popped out to left
  4. Haniger grounded out to 2nd

Bottom of 5 (Kikuchi at 69 pitches) 11 pitch inning

  1. Polanco grounded out back to the pitcher
  2. Garlick K’d swinging
  3. Cruz flew out to right center

Top of 6 (Pineda at 62 pitches) 13 pitch inning

  1. France K’d swinging at a nasty slider #BigMiKKKKKe
  2. Seager grounds out to a shifter SS
  3. Marmolejos popped up to LF

Bottom of 6 (Kikuchi at 80 pitches)

  1. Buxton lined out to right on a frozen rope (106mph off the bat)
  2. Garver K’d looking at a curveball on low & outside but in the zone.
  3. Kepler lined out to right center

Top of 7 (RHP Tyler Duffey replaced Pineda: 6IP 4H 2R/ER 0BB 5K on 75 pitches)

  1. Torrens grounds out to 3rd
  2. Moore flew out to right
  3. Trammell BB’d
  4. Haggerty flew out to left

Bottom of 7 (RHP Casey Sadler replaced Kikuchi – 94 pitches)

  1. Sano popped out to 3rd
  2. Simmons 1B’d on a groundball to left
  3. Arraez lined out to left
  4. Polanco K’d swinging 

Top of 8 (RHP Alex Colomé replaced Duffey-1IP 0H 1BB-17 pitches)

  1. Crawford hit a soft dribbler back to the pitcher for an infield 1B, Colomé got to it but the throw was a split second too late
  2. Haniger K’d swinging, Crawford stole 2nd base (1)
  3. France grounded out to 3rd, Crawford stayed at 2nd
  4. Seager hit an RBI-1B on a LD to CF to score Crawford – 3-2 SEA
  5. Seager stole 2nd (1) – no throw
  6. Marmolejos K’d swinging

Bottom of 8 (RHP Rafael Montero replaced Sadler-1IP 1H 1K-21 Pitches)

  1. Braden Bishop replaced Sam Haggerty in LF, batting 8th
  2. Garlick popped out to 2nd 
  3. Cruz BB’d non-intentionally but it was on 4 pitches so…
  4. Jake Cave pinch runs for Cruz
  5. Buxton is HBP’d (maybe just his jersey), Cave to 2nd
  6. Garver grounds out to 3rd, out at 1st, Cave to 3rd, Buxton to 2nd
  7. Wild Pitch scores Cave from 3rd to tie the game at 3!
  8. Max Kepler is intentionally BB’d
  9. Kepler steals 2nd (2); no throw & Justin Morneau said SEA won’t take a chance throwing to 2nd & give Buxton a chance to score. 
  10. Sano K’d looking at a 95mph fastball that looked outside to me****

Top of 9 (LHP Taylor Rogers replaced Colomé-1IP 2H 1R/ER 0BB 2K-24 pitches (15 strikes))

  1. Cave remains in the game as the DH
  2. Torrens grounded out to 3rd
  3. Moore popped out to 2nd
  4. Trammell popped out to a shifted short

Bottom of 9 (RHP Kendall Graveman replaced Montero-1IP 0H 1R/ER 2BB 1K-22 pitches (10 strikes))

  1. Simmons flew out to center
  2. Arraez grounded out to short
  3. Polanco grounded out to 1st

Top of 10 (Rogers still pitching) 

  1. Trammell starts the inning at 2nd base
  2. Bishop bunt single, Trammell to 3rd – Rogers couldn’t make the exchange from glove to throwing hand and didn’t even make a throw
  3. Crawford grounds out to 3rd, Trammell is held at 3rd, Bishop to 2nd
  4. Haniger is quickly down 0-2, sacrifice fly to left field, 4-3 SEA
  5. France grounds out to 2nd

Bottom of 10 (RHP Keynan Middleton replaced Graveman-1IP-7 pitches (7 strikes))

  1. Polanco starts the inning at 2nd base
  2. Willians Astudillo (La Tortuga) (Pinch Hit for Kyle Garlick) pops out to 1st
  3. Cave pops up to short
  4. Buxton hit a long foul ball down the left field line then grounds out sharply to short to end the game.

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