Minnesota Twins Recap at Cleveland – 8-24-2020

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins sent RHP Kenta Maeda to the Ma-ound-a once again tonight. He’s coming off 8 innings of no-hit, scoreless ball against the Brewers in his last start so it should be interesting to see how he does tonight since he did throw 115 pitches last time out. Will he be on a lower limit because of that?

Cleveland sent RHP Aaron Civale to the mound with his 3-2 record, a 2.91 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 0.97 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched)

In some good news on the injury front from Twins beat reporter, Do Hyoung Park:
“Rocco said that Tyler Clippard showed up today in “about as good of shape, and I think spirits as well, as we could have ever asked.” Clippard told staff he thinks he could pitch “in the very near future.”No IL move yet. Rocco said they’ll evaluate today/tmrw then make a call.”

Here’s how they lined up:
Twins Lineup:
RF Max Kepler
SS Jorge Polanco
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Eddie Rosario
1B Miguel Sano
CF Jake Cave
3B Marwin Gonzalez
2B Luis Arraez
C Alex Avila

Cleveland lineup:
2B Cesar Hernandez
3B Jose Ramirez
SS Francisco Lindor
1B Carlos Santana
DH Franmil Reyes
RF Tyler Naquin
LF Mike Freeman
C Roberto Perez
CF Greg Allen

If you’re playing Cleveland, it seems almost any game can turn into a pitching duel and this one ended 3-2 so it was mostly about pitching. All but 1 run was scored on a home run, too.

Max Kepler hit the first pitch of the game to left field for a single and Jorge Polanco hit the first pitch he saw, too, but his ball landed in the glove of center fielder Greg Allen for the 1st out. Nelson Cruz struck out swinging for the 2nd out then Eddie Rosario hit a blooper to short left field and LF Mike Freeman called for it then dropped it so Max Kepler advanced to 3rd but Rosario was only at first after the play. He ended up stealing 2nd base but Miguel Sano struck out swinging to end the half-inning.

Cleveland 2B Cesar Hernandez led off the bottom of the 1st with his 2nd HR of the season and the Indians led 1-0. Maeda got a couple of groundouts & a strikeout while allowing another hit (1B to Santana) to get out of the 1st. 1-0 Cleveland

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 2nd. Cleveland got a leadoff single then a strikeout, a caught stealing and a popout ended the 2nd inning. The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd, too. Cleveland got a Hernandez 1-out double and a Francisco Lindor 2-out walk wrapped around a groundout and 2 strikeouts from Maeda.

In the top of the 4th, Nelson Cruz lead off the inning with his 11th HR of the season, a solo shot to right-center field as he continues to amaze. Rosario walked afterward but Sano grounded into a fielder’s choice. Jake Cave lined out and Marwin Gonzalez struck out swinging. Cleveland got a 2-out single & a batter reaching on an error by Polanco after Maeda struck out the 1st 2 batters but Maeda got Greg Allen to ground out to end the 4th. 1-1 Tie

Home Run Number 11 for Nelson Cruz! Amazing!

Luis Arraez led off the top of the 5th with a single and Jorge Polanco hit a 2-out double(4) that took a perfect relay play to cut down Arraez at home plate to end the top of the 5th. Kenta Maeda then had his 1st 1-2-3 inning in the 5th to finish his night: 5IP 5H 1R/ER 1BB 7K. That’s a pretty impressive start. He threw just 83 pitches which gets him back on that 100-pitch per game pace you almost always expect for starting pitchers.

In the top of the 6th, Rosario hit a 1-out double (4) then Miguel Sano stayed hot by hitting his 6th HR of the season to put the Twins up 3-1. 

Sanome Run! It’s Sanoing in Cleveland!

That’s an extra-base hit in 8 consecutive games for Miguel Sano. That ties him for 3rd for the longest XBH streak in Minnesota Twins history. Stat courtesy of Matthew Taylor on Twitter:

LHP Caleb Thielbar came in to pitch the 6th for the Twins and he allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Santana then struck out both Franmil Reyes & Tyler Naquin swinging. He allowed another single to pinch-hitter Jordan Luplow but struck out Roberto Perez swinging to end the 6th inning. 3-1 Twins

The Twins had one hit in the last 3 innings, a 1-out Max Kepler single in the 7th which was erased by a double play. Cleveland hit 3 singles of Twins RHP Trevor May in the bottom of the 7th to get within one run but May got Franmil Reyes to strike out swinging on a nasty slider on a full count with runners on 1st & 3rd. 3-2 Twins

RHP Sergio Romo came in to pitch the 8th for the Twins and he allowed a leadoff double to Tyler Naquin but got a groundout to short that forced Naquin to stay at 2nd base then got a flyout to left field that also kept Naquin at 2nd base and ended the inning with a strikeout on a low inside slider that Greg Allen swung over and after the strikeout, Romo looked at the Cleveland bench and chirps back at them after they apparently chirped him when he went to backup 3rd after the double or on the flyout to left field. 3-2 Twins

As Minnesota Twins fans saw last season when they acquired Sergio, he is a player who shows his emotions and enthusiasm for the game. I don’t remember that being an issue last season. Is that because he can now hear all the trash-talking because there are no fans in the ballparks or because this season’s limited schedule has teams playing fewer opponents in a shorter amount of time that’s causing him to talk back to them. The same thing happened in the last week or two against the Kansas City Royals.

RHP Taylor Rogers came in to pitch the 9th for the Minnesota Twins and some fans wonder why Rocco keeps going to him. The easy answer is that he trusts him. He’s his closer and he still believes he’s their best pitcher in closing situations. Just because a pitcher struggles doesn’t mean he’s not doing well. There have been a lot of weakly hit singles against Taylor Rogers so far this season. It’s also a lot different being the Man who closes out a game than being a setup man who pitches in the 7th or 8th. It’s a mental toughness that keeps a pitcher going. That’s why when a pitcher blows a save, the thing they want the most is to get right back out there in that same situation.

So…Rogers threw 4 straight fastballs to Cesar Hernandez before he threw that nasty inside slider to get him to strikeout swinging. He then got Jose Ramirez to pop out to 2nd for the 2nd out. Francisco Lindor singled on one of those just-make-contact, end-of-the-bat hits we talked about above but Taylor got Carlos Santana to flyout to right field to end the game for Rogers 7th save of the season.

Rocco on his bullpen usage as he’s needed to use RHPs Jorge Alcala & Sean Poppen & LHP Caleb Thielbar in some big spots in the last handful of games.

#MNTwins 3, #OurTribe2 | F
W-Maeda(4-0) L-Civale(3-3) S-Rogers(7)
H-Thielbar(1) May(6) Romo(8)

Maeda: 5IP 5H 1R/ER 1BB 7K 1HR 1 WIN

#MNBP: 4IP 7H 1R/ER 0BB 7K 1 Save 3 Holds
Thielbar:1IP 2H 3K
May:1IP 3H 1R/ER 2K
Romo/Rogers:1IP 1H 1K

HR:
MN:Cruz(11) Sano(6); CLE:Hernandez(2)

2B:
MN:Rosario(4) Polanco(4); CLE:Hernandez(11) Naquin(3)

Sano: 2-R HR in top of 6
Cruz: HR in top of 4
Rosie: 2B(4), R, BB
Polanco: 2B(4)
Kepler: 2 H
Cave/Arraez: H

Same Teams, Same Time tomorrow:
LHP Rich Hill (1-1, 4.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)

vs

RHP Shane Bieber (5-0, 1.11 ERA, 0.76 WHIP)

Game Time: 6:10pm on Fox Sports North

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Minnesota Twins Recap at Royals – 8-23-2020

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins used RHP Matt Wisler (0-1, 1.50 ERA) as an “opener” with the Twins trying to win the rubber game of the series and even the season series at 7 apiece in this final game between the two teams in the 2020 regular season.

Kansas City Roayls LHP Kris Bubic (0-3, 5.12 ERA) will make his 6th start of the season & also his 3rd consecutive start against the Twins.

Here’s how they lined up:
Twins Lineup:
SS Jorge Polanco
RF Max Kepler
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Miguel Sano
LF Eddie Rosario
3B Marwin Gonzalez
2B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Jake Cave
C Alex Avila

Royals lineup:
RF Whit Merrifield
2B Nicky Lopez
1B Hunter Dozier
DH Jorge Soler
3B Maikel Franco
LF Alex Gordon
SS Alberto Mondesi
CF Bubba Starling
C Meibrys Viloria

The Twins jumped out in front in the 1st inning again today. Max Kepler was walked with 1 out and Miguel Sano knocked him in with a 2-out double to left center field, his 9th double of the season and his 7th in his last 7 games. Eddie Rosario then hit and RBI-single to score Sano before Marwin lined out to left field to end the top of the 1st. 1-0 Twins

RHP Matt Wisler allowed a leadoff single to Whit Merrifield before getting Lopez to pop out to 2nd for the 1st out. Merrifield then stole 2nd base and Wisler walked Hunter Dozier but got Jorge Soler to fly out to center field and Maikel Franco to strike out looking to end the 1st.

The Twins got back-to-back 1-out singles from Jake Cave & Ryan Jeffers but Polanco lined out & Kepler grounded out to end the threat in the top of the 2nd. The Royals were then set down 1-2-3 on a popout, a flyout and swinging strike to end Wisler’s outing. Wisle while you work, Matt.

4 consecutive Twins hits that culminated with 2 runs on a Marwin Gonzalez double down the left field line double the Twins lead to 4-0. LHP Devin Smeltzer then took the ball for the Twins for the 3rd inning and he hit the 1st batter he faced then got Merrifield to line out and Lopez to pop out but gave up back-to-back RBI-doubles to Dozier & Soler before getting Franco to strike out looking to end the 3rd inning. 4-2 Twins

A 4th-inning leadoff double from Polanco & a 1-out intentional walk to Nelson Cruz ends with Miguel Sano grounding into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Smeltzer pitched the 4th and Alberto Mondesi reached on an 1-out error when a popup behind 1st was “caught” by Ildemaro Vargas but he bumped into Sano and the ball fell to the ground turning it from a catch to an error. 

Here’s the catch rule if you didn’t know it:

Thoughts on this Rule? I don’t like it.

I can understand this rule before replay but to me, if you watch the play, you clearly see Vargas caught the ball. He turns his glove over with the ball in it then bumps into Sano and the ball falls out. Should Major League Baseball amend this rule especially since they have replay now?

Smeltzer got Bubba Starling to ground out for the 2nd out then gave up a single to Viloria so Wes Johnson made a Mound Visit and that helped Devin Smeltzer got Merrifield to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

The Twins got back-to-back singles to leadoff the 5th but Vargas grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Cave struck out swinging to leave them on base. RHP Trevor May took over for the Twins on the mound for the 5th. He struck out Lopez swinging, allowed a Dozier single to left field then got a popout, walked Franco but got Gordon to ground out to short to end the 5th.

Twins RHP Sean Poppen came into the game to begin the 6th and he went 1-2-3 on 10 pitches so he was asked to keep pitching in the 7th after the Twins left 2 more baserunners on in the top of the 7th. Poppen got Merrifield to line out to right field then struck out Lopez looking but gave up a line-drive single to right field to Dozier so Rocco went to RHP Sergio Romo to get the Twins out of the 7th. He began by walking Soler then gave up an RBI-single to Franco that deflected off the top of Marwin Gonzalez’ glove. Franco stole 2nd base and Andrew Gordon walked to bring up Alberto Mondesi and he struck out swinging on 3 straight low sliders to end the 7th inning. 4-3 Twins

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 8th and Twins RHP Tyler Clippard was brought in to pitch the 8th. He had to face 2 pinch-hitters, Brett Phillips, who struck out looking, and Ryan McBroom, who struck out swinging. He then got Whit Merrifield to line out on a comebacker that deflected off Clippard’s right elbow over towards 1st where 1B Miguel Sano picked it up and tagged Merrifield to end the 8th. Clippard walked off in considerable pain.

Royals RHP Trevor Rosenthal entered the game to pitch the 9th and he struck out Kepler looking to lead off the top of the 9th. That brought up DH Nelson Cruz and he hit a 1-2 99.7mph fastball on the outer middle of the zone deep to center field for his 10th HR of the season and it gave the Twins their 2-run lead back.

Cruz Missile Launched to Center Field! BOOM!

Sano then hit his 2nd double of the game (10th of the season) and Marwin earned a 2-out walk but they were both left on base. 5-3 Twins

LHP Taylor Rogers was brought in to close out the game and Ehire Adrianza came in to replace Sano and to play 3B so Marwin moved from 3B to 1B. Rogers got Lopez to strike out swinging for the 1st out but then gave up a double to Hunter Dozier, his 2nd of the game and the season, to bring the tying run to the plate. Soler grounded out to 3rd for the 2nd out then Maikel Franco hit an RBI-single to cut their 2-run deficit in half. Another Mound Visit from Wes Johnson may have helped Rogers get Andrew Gordon to fly out to left field to end the game.

Stats below:
#MNTwins 5, #AlwaysRoyal 4 | F
W-Clippard(1-0) L-Bubic(0-4) S-Rogers(6)
H-May(5) Poppen(1) Romo(7)

HR:
MN:Cruz(10)
2B:
MN:Sano 2(9,10) Marwin(2) Polanco(3) KC:Dozier 2(1,2) Soler(6)

Wisler: 2IP 1H 0R/ER 1BB 2K
Smeltzer: 2IP 3H 2R/ER 0BB 1K

#MNBP 4IP 5H 1R/ER 3BB 7K
May:1IP 1H 0R/ER 1BB 1K
Poppen:1.2IP 1H 1R/ER 0BB 2K
Romo:0.1IP 1H 0R/ER 2BB 1K
Clippard:1IP 0H 0R/ER 0BB 2K-comebacker off right elbow: injury TBD 
Rogers:1IP 2H 1R/ER 0BB 1K
Cruz:2-3-HR(10) 2BB 2R RBI
Sano:3-4-2 2B(9,10) BB 2R RBI
Rosie:3-5-RBI
Marwin:2H 2B(2) 2RBI BB
Polanco:2B(3)
Kepler:BB, R
Cave/Jeffers:H

The #MNTwins will now fly to CLE for a 3-game series that starts tomorrow:
8/24:
RHP Maeda(3-0,2.27 ERA,0.63 WHIP)

vs

RHP Civale(3-2,2.91 ERA,0.97 WHIP)

at 6:10pm on Fox Sports North & MLB Network!

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Minnesota Twins Recap at Royals – 8-22-2020

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Robb

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.

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Minnesota Twins Recap at Royals – 8-21-2020

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Robb
RHP Jake Odorizzi made his 3rd start of the season & his 3rd straight start against the Kansas City Royals

The Minnesota Twins sent RHP Jake Odorizzi to the mound for his 3rd start of the season and his 3rd start against the Kansas City Royals, too. That’s pretty crazy, huh? Jake has pitched better in every game as he gets more comfortable and ramps up from starting the season on the Injured List (IL) with a right intercostal strain.

The Royals sent LHP Danny Duffy to the mound and this is his 3rd straight start against Minnesota, too. It is his 6th start of the season, though.

Here’s how they lineup:
Twins Lineup:
3B Marwin Gonzalez
CF Jake Cave
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Miguel Sano
LF Eddie Rosario
2B Ildemaro Vargas
SS Ehire Adrianza
RF Max Kepler
C Ryan Jeffers

Royals lineup:
CF Whit Merrifield
2B Nicky Lopez
RF Hunter Dozier
DH Jorge Soler
1B Ryan O’Hearn
3B Maikel Franco
LF Alex Gordon
SS Alberto Mondesi
C Cam Gallagher

Both pitchers began the game allowing a hit to the first batter. The difference being the Twins got a single from Marwin then Jake Cave struck out and Nelson Cruz hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. The Royals got a double from Whit Merrifield then Nicky Lopez hit a groundball single past a diving Ildemaro Vargas. Odo got Hunter Dozier to pop up but it was almost directly behind 1st base so Miguel Sano had trouble finding it and Vargas looked like he was there but either didn’t call for it and/or didn’t want to run into the Big Man so the ball fell and Merrifield scored from 3rd. The next batter, Jorge Soler, homered to left field for his 6th HR of the season to make it 4-0 with no outs. Jake got the next 3 batters out to get out of the first but the Twins now had some work to do against Duffy. 4-0 Royals

In the top of the 2nd, Miguel Sano walked to lead it off. Rosario grounded into a force out, beating the throw to 1st and he eventually scored after he advanced to 3rd on an Ildemaro Vargas single to right field then scored on Adrianza’s RBI-groundout to 3rd. 4-1 Royals

Odorizzi started to pitch pretty well after that terrible 1st inning. He allowed a 1-out single that was another fly ball that should’ve been caught but got out of it with a popout and a groundout. The Twins got back-to-back 2-out singles from Jake Cave & Nelson Cruz in the 3rd but Sano struck out to end the inning.

The Royals were set down 1-2-3 via a groundout, a swinging strikeout and a flyout. The Twins got a 2-out walk but nothing else in the 4th. The Royals got a leadoff single from Maikel Franco then Alex Gordon hit a comebacker that hit Jake Odorizzi in the back of his right leg. He tried to stay in the game but ended up leaving the game and RHP Jorge Alcala was brought in to try to get out of trouble. Mondesi bunted past Alcala to load the bases. He got Gallagher to pop up to 2nd for the 1st out but then walked Merrifield to walk in a run but he struck out Lopez & Dozier to limit the damage to just the 1 run.  5-1 Royals

The Twins went down 1-2-3 with another Jeffers strikeout, a Marwin lineout and a Cave flyout. Alcala then cruised through the 5th. He struck out the first 2 batters on 3 pitches each, 1 looking and 1 swinging, then got Franco to pop out to 2nd for a 7-pitch inning.

Top of the 6th…
Sano earned a 1-out walk and Rosario hit a gapper to right center field but it was caught by a diving Hunter Dozier. Vargas then singled off the pitcher’s right leg but Adrianza flew out to left field to end the half-inning.

Alcala struck out Gordon swinging, struck out Mondesi swinging then got a good defensive recovery play by Marwin who had the ball bounce away from him but he quickly got to it, barehanded it and threw out the catcher Gallagher to end the 6th inning. He needed just 12 pitches in that inning.

Top of the 7th…
Kepler lined out to left center. Jeffers struck out swinging for his 3rd strikeout of the game.

We may have seen the worst called pitch of the season in the Jeffers at-bat, though:

We may have seen the worst called pitch of the season in this Ryan Jeffers at-bat, though!
Look at that 4th pitch, the green dot & green means ball! Most of that ball is in the middle of the strike zone! It was a 100mph fastball from Royals RHP Josh Staumont so maybe the ump didn’t see it?

Marwin walked but Cave struck out swinging for the 3rd out to end the top of the 7th.

RHP Zack Littell replaced Jorge Alcala who did his job very well tonight. He pitched 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit & 1 walk while striking out 6. Unfortunately, the 1 walk scored a run. It was an inherited runner so it doesn’t affect his ERA but he’s likely still not happy about it. Littell allowed a Merrifield single then got Lopez to ground into a force out at 2nd but gave up a 2-run HR to first-pitch hitting Hunter Dozier (3) to make it 7-1. Littell then hits Jorge Soler with a pitch and he kind of looked at his right arm after the pitch and he ended up having to leave the game due to an injury.

LHP Caleb Thielbar was brought in to replace Littell and Caleb has been a fun pitcher to watch this season for the Twins. He struck out 1 in ⅔ of an inning. 7-1 Royals

The Twins got a Nelson Cruz walk and another double from Miguel Sano, his 8th of the season and 6th in his last 5 games but Rosario struck out on a weird almost self-defense type swing for the 1st out. Vargas lined out to 1st for the 2nd out. A wild pitch scored Cruz from 3rd and allowed Sano to advance to 3rd but Adrianza struck out swinging on the 9th pitch of his at-bat. 7-2 Royals

RPH Trevor May took care of the 8th on 8 pitches going lineout, popout and groundout and that brought in Royals RHP Scott Barlow to try to close out the game.

Kepler grounded out to 2nd. LaMonte Wade, Jr pinch-hit for Ryan Jeffers and he struck out looking for the 2nd out and Marwin lined out to short to end the game.

#MNTwins 2, #AlwaysRoyal 7 | F
L-Odorizzi (0-1) W-Duffy (2-2)

The Royals are now 4-0 at Kaufman stadium against the Twins and the Twins need to win the next 2 to split the season series.

Randy Dobnak vs Brady Singer tomorrow at 6:05pm

&

TBD vs Kris Bubic on Sunday at 1:05pm

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Brewers – 8-20-2020

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins will send RPH Jose Berrios back to the mound and everyone is hoping to see the Berrios we all know & love, the pitcher with a 3 straight seasons with an ERA under 4.00 and getting lower every season of his career while his innings have also gone up in each of those seasons.

Obviously, he’s had his struggles this season but, and we’ve said this before, we know he’s going to put in the work so maybe tonight is the night he gets back on track.

The Brewers will send RHP Brandon Woodruff to the mound. He’s 1-1 with a 3.16 ERA.

The big story of the day was the Twins making a few Twinsactions:

  • CF Byron Buxton placed on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) with left shoulder inflammation.
  • C Mitch Garver placed on the 10-Day IL with a low-grade intercostal strain
  • RHP Lewis Thorpe was optioned to the Twins Alternate Training Site
  • OF LaMonte Wade, Jr recalled from the Twins Alternate Training Site
  • RHP Zack Littell recalled from the Twins Alternate Training Site.
  • C Ryan Jeffers contract selected & he’ll make his 1st MLB Start tonight for his MLB Debut and get to call the game with Jose Berrios on the mound.

Here’s how both teams line up:
Twins Lineup:
RF Max Kepler
SS Jorge Polanco
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Eddie Rosario
1B Miguel Sano
CF Jake Cave
3B Ehire Adrianza
2B Ildemaro Vargas
C Ryan Jeffers

Brewers lineup:
CF Avisail Garcia
DH Christian Yelich
2B Keston Hiura
1B Justin Smoak
RF Ryan Braun
3B Eric Sogard
C Manny Pina
LF Brock Holt
SS Orlando Arcia

It looked like a different Jose Berrios from the get-go tonight. He needed just 13 1st-inning pitches to get Avisail Garcia to groundout to short then strike out both Christian Yelich & Keston Hiura swinging.

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 1st as well, popout from Kepler, groundout from Polanco and a groundout from Cruz, too.

Berrios did the same thing in the 2nd inning. He got a groundout and 2 strikeouts but this time they were of the caught looking variety but it was also on 13 pitches. The Twins also went down 1-2-3 again, though. Rosario & Sano both struck out swinging and Jake Cave grounded out to 3rd.

Berrios began the 3rd by getting Manny Pina looking and the Milwaukee bench reacted like it was a bad call but…

Pitch #6 is on the line. “Hey, you’re on the line, there.”

Berrios then got Brock Holt to ground out to 1st and struck out Arcia swinging to finish the first time through the Brewers lineup with no hits and 6 strikeouts.

New Twins infield Ildemaro Vargas hit a 1-out triple in the bottom of the 3rd and up came C Ryan Jeffers for his 1st MLB At-Bat in a clutch moment and the infield was in trying to keep the game scoreless in the early goings. But…on a 2-2 pitch, he hit a 96mph heater through the hole on the left side to score Vargas from 3rd for his 1st Major-League Hit and his 1st Major-League RBI to put the Twins up 1-0.

1 At-Bat, 1 Hit for C Ryan Jeffers in his MLB Debut. Why not add your 1st Career RBI, too?

Berrios continued his string of great pitching in the 4th and, even though he walked a batter, he still struck out 2, Yelich swinging and Smoak looking. His offense got a 1-out single from Rosario followed by another Miguel Sano double (his 5th in the last 4 games). Sano’s double went to the left center field wall and Brock Holt picked it up and threw it to the cutoff man for a perfect relay that got Eddie Rosario at home by the slimmest of margins. So slim, the Twins challenged the call but it was upheld as an out. Jake Cave then singled but Adrianza popped out to 3rd to end the 4th inning with nothing to show on the scoreboard but, hey….that’s baseball. It took a perfect play to get Rosie at home. Tip your hat to the opponent on that play.

Berrios came out for the 5th with 59 pitches thrown and still hadn’t given up a hit. He got Ryan Braun to line out to right for the 1st out and bring up 3B Eric Sogard, who, if you remember, broke up Kenta Maeda’s no-hitter on Tuesday. Well, he did it again. This time, it was on a grounder up the middle against the shift. Berrios the struck out Pina for the 2nd time and got Holt to fly out to left field to end the 5th.

In the bottom of the 5th, Ryan Jeffers came to the play again but this time there wasn’t anyone on base and 1 out as Vargas lined out to center field for the 1st out. Jeffers worked the count to his favor at 3-1 and got almost the identical 96mph fastball and he lined it past a diving Arcia for his 2nd hit of his career in his 2nd at-bat of his career. This is easy! See Fastball! Hit Fastball! Kepler & Polanco also singled to load the bases but Nelson grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Berrios went out for the 6th and set ‘em down 1-2-3 again but none by strikeout as he got a popout, a groundout & a lineout. In the bottom of the inning, Rosie led off with a single to center and Sano walked. Milwaukee then made a pitching change to RHP Freddy Peralta who looked great the last time he pitched against the Twins on Monday, August 10th. He pitched 4 relief innings allowing just 1 hit & 1 walk while striking out 8. Tonight would be different, though. Jake Cave singled on a ball up the middle to load the bases. Ehire Adrianza struck out swinging for the 1st out. Vargas then hit a sacrifice fly to left field and Rosie scored. 2 outs and Jeffers popped up to 1st for the 1st out of his Major League career. A .667 average isn’t bad, though. Don’t be sad! 2-out-of-3 ain’t bad! – Meatloaf

Rocco went to his bullpen to bring in RHP Tyler Duffey. He got Hiura to line out but Justin Smoak took him out of the park for his 3 HR of the season and the first run scored against Duffey this season. In 9 innings pitched, he had allowed just 4 hits and no walks and had struck out 12 for a .044 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched). He then got Braun & Sogard to ground out to keep the Twins up by 1, at least.

In 2019, one of the things that made the Twins a great team was their resiliency and how they would respond to losing and getting scored on. We haven’t seen as much of that so far this season but in the bottom of the 7th, Max Kepler led off with a single to center field. Jorge Polanco then struck out to bring up Nelson Cruz who speaks softly and carries a big stick and he used that big BoomStick to hit his 9th HR of the season over the right center field wall to double the Twins runs from 2 to 4. Rosie then grounded out & Sano struck out. 4-1 Twins 

RHP Sergio Romo came in to pitch the 8th for the Twins. He got pinch-hitter, Omar Narvaez, & Brock Holt to ground out for the 1st two outs then allowed a single to Arcia but got Garcia to fly out to end the top of the 8th.

Brewers RHP Angel Perdomo came in to pitch the 8th. He struck out Cave but walked Adrianza. Vargas reached on an error by 3B Eric Sogard and Ryan Jeffers was hit by a payoff pitch to load the bases. Kepler then walked to score Adrianza and Jorge Polanco hit a double over 1st base to make it 7-1. Cruz was walked but Rosario & Sano struck out to end the 8th. 7-1 Twins

RHP Zack Littell was brought in to finish it off with a 6-run lead. Taylor Rogers was warming up in the bottom of the 8th as it was a save situation so Rocco was ready to go back to his lefty closer. Littell allowed back-to-back singles but then got a 4-6-3 double play to empty the bases and got Ryan Braun to line out to right to end the game!

That’s a nice win by these Minnesota Twins and it’s huge to see Jose Berrios look like Jose Berrios again. We’ll see if he can keep it going in his next start next week but the Twins had to get on a plane to head to Kansas City for a 3-game series to begin a 10-game road trip where they’ll see Cleveland again for 3 games and the Detroit Tigers for the first time this season.

RHP Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 5.14 ERA) will take the mound for his 3rd start of the season and it’s also his 3rd start of the season against the Kansas City Royals. How weird is that after only 26 games?

The Royals counter with LHP Danny Duffy (1-2, 4.44 ERA) on the mound & this is his 3rd start against Minnesota as well.

This 3-game series will be it for the 2020 regular season for these two teams.

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