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The #MNTwins sent LHP Martin Perez to the mound against Kansas City Royals RHP Jorge Lopez today in the final home game of the regular season. Hopefully, there will be a lot of home games in the Postseason at Target Field.

Martin Perez began the game by allowing back-to-back singles then a double steal but he got a groundout to 3rd and a strikeout looking before getting an inning-ending groundout to short to end the inning with the game still scoreless.

The Twins bats dropped 6 runs on the Royals in the bottom of the 1st:

• Luis Arraez grounded out to short for the first out.
• Jorge Polanco singled.
• Nelson Cruz singled to a diving Adalberto Mondesi at short and he re-aggravated his shoulder injury and had to leave the game.
• EDDIE EDDIE EDDIE Rosario doubled (25) to score Polanco. 1-0.
• Mitch Garver grounded out to 2nd for the 2nd out.
• Marwin Gonzalez singled to score Cruz. 2-0.
• Miguel Sano BLASTED his 32nd HR of the season. 5-0.
• Jake Cave walked.
• LaMonte Wade singled.
• Arraez singled in Cave. 6-0.
• Polanco flew out to end the 1st inning.

6-0 Twins!

Unfortunately, Perez continued his inconsistent pitching today as he lasted only 2.1 innings as he allowed 5 runs between the 2nd & 3rd innings before Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen and brought in RHP Zack Littell to get them out of the 3rd and then pitch the 4th inning, too. He gave up 1 run on 2 hits and no walks while striking out 2.

The Twins never gave up the lead, though. Miguel Sano hit his 2nd HR of the day and 33rd of the season in the bottom of the 3rd to put the Twins up 7-5.

The Royals then got an RBI-double (19) from Nicky Lopez to get back within 1 run but…

That didn’t last long as Nelson Cruz hit his 40th HR of the season and the 400th HR of his Career to put the Twins back up by 2 runs at 8-6.

Mitch Garver had to leave the game due to right hip tightness but Rocco said after the game that he should be fine although, they would make sure he was okay and we’ll likely get an update by tomorrow.

Tyler Duffey pitched the 5th and he struck out the side with all of them being swinging strikeouts on his mid-90s fastball! Man, has he been fun to watch in the 2nd half as he is pitching with confidence in his much-improved stuff.

Trevor May got the 6th and he walked one and allowed a hit but also struck out 1 (He May) before getting a groundout to end the inning.

Another Rosario RBI-double (26) and another RBI-single from Marwin Gonzalez added 2 runs to the Twins lead at 10-6.

RHP Cody Stashak got the 7th and he got 2 swinging strikeouts & allowed a double before getting a flyout to end the inning.

The bottom of the 7th brought 2 more RBIs on another Rosario double (27) and a Marwin walk with the bases loaded to make it 12-6.

RHP Fernando Romero got the 9th. He began the inning with a swinging strikeout then walked 2, got another swinging strikeout then walked another to load the bases. Rocco went to Sergio Romo and he walked 2 runs in before getting a swinging strikeout of Andrew Gordon to end the game and give Zack Littell his 6th win of the season. Tyler Duffey (15) & Trevor May (16) both earned holds for their work.

It may have not been pretty but a win is a win and a win means the Magic Number is down to 3! The Indians are playing the Phillies right now on ESPN. Another Cleveland loss would lower the number to 2!

The Twins have a day off tomorrow before starting their final road trip of the season which will also finish the regular season with 3 games at Detroit and 3 games at Kansas City. RHP Jake Odorizzi is scheduled to start Tuesday night’s game against Detroit RHP Spencer Turnbull at 5:40pm on Fox Sports North.

Will they clinch in Detroit?

The #MNTwins had to go with another bullpen game tonight but, that bullpen has been pretty good in these games. Those 2 bullpen game wins in Cleveland were HUGE.

Can they do it again?

RHP Randy Dobnak got the start and he’s been pretty good in whatever role the Minnesota Twins have asked him to pitch in. You could probably expect Rocco Baldelli & the Twins to ask him to pitch as long as possible after they had to use the bullpen for 7.1 innings last night.

Dobnak started the game with a perfect inning that included 2 swinging strikeouts of Kansas City Royals SS Adalberto Mondesi & slugger Jorge Soler. He began the 2nd inning with a 2-0 lead after Mitch Garver led off the game with a walk then Jorge Polanco doubled (39) and Nelson Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to score Garver and advances Polanco to 3rd. Rosie popped out to 3rd for the 2nd out but Miguel Sano picked him up by hitting his 2nd triple of the season off the left-center field wall. Dobnak’s 2nd inning wasn’t perfect with a hit batter and batter with a hit but he got out of the jam with a groundball & a flyout to center.

Dobnak started the 3rd inning by hitting another batter as he lost control on a pitch that hit right-handed hitter Nick Dini high on the left arm. He then struck out Whit Merrifield and got Mondesi to ground into a force out at 2nd base. Mondesi then stole 2nd. Soler walked then the Royals executed a double steal, Mondesit to 3rd & Soler to 2nd but Dobnak got Hunter Dozier to pop up to 2nd to end the inning, escaping another jam.

Nelson Cruz hit a 2-out double (24) in the bottom of the 3rd but was left stranded then Randy Dobnak allowed a 1-out single but got Erick Mejia to ground into a 3-6-3 double play, 1B C.J. Cron to SS Polanco & back to 1st base to keep the Twins up 2-0.

Dobnak walked the leadoff hitter in the 4th but got a lineout and then struck out both Merrifield & Mondesi looking to end the inning. #DobnaKKKKK!

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning and Jorge Soler led off the 5th with a single then Dobnak got Dozier to ground out to the catcher. Soler advanced to 2nd on the play. Rocco decided to make a Pitching Change to RHP Cody Stashak and he allowed an RBI-double to Andrew Gordon that cut the lead in half at 2-1 but followed that hit with 2 strikeouts to end the inning with the lead still intact.

Polanco walked to lead off the bottom of the 6th but Cruz flew out and Rosario grounded into a force out with Polanco out at 2nd & Rosie safe at 1st. Sano walked and, after a Pitching Change, Marwin Gonzalez hit a 2-run double (19) to put the Twins up 4-1.

LHP Devin Smeltzer pitched the 7th and into the 8th but Mondesi reached on a throwing error from Miguel Sano and he walked Soler so RHP Brusdar Graterol was summoned from the bullpen. He allowed 3 hits that scored 2 runs but he got Lopez to ground out to end the inning with the Twins still ahead 4-3.

With Taylor Rogers pitching last night, Rocco went to RHP Trevor May for the 9th inning. Trevor gave up 2 HRs on Tuesday night and he allowed a hit and a walk last night so, maybe (or Maybe?) he was a little amped up to come in for the save. He needed just 13 pitches to strike out the side to earn his 2nd save of the season & the 5th save of his career and each strikeout ended with his upper 90s fastball. Say what you want about Trevor May but I think he’s got the makings to be a real effective late-inning reliever and…well…

He May Strike You Out, too!!!

The bigger story is the Win went to RHP Randy Dobnak for his 1st Career Win. What a story this kid has been this season. If you haven’t heard about it, yet, we’ll post about it tomorrow.

HEY! The Magic Number is down to FIVE, now!!!

The Twins will try to lower that number again tomorrow night and go for the series win with RHP Jose Berrios (13-8, 3.58 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) on the mound against RHP Glenn Sparkman (4-11, 6.02 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) at 6:10pm on Fox Sports North.

The #MNTwins, after winning Game 1 on Monday night by a score of 5-3 in comeback fashion, sent LHP Martin Perez to the mound against White Sox LHP Ross Detwiler looking to win the series.

Perez seems to have the stuff to be a decent pitcher but he’s been inconsistent since his last start in May. He had one good start in June, 2 good starts in July & 3 straight good starts in August. He started September with a good start but has been hit hard in the 11 of his last 17 starts so you never seem to know what you’re going to get. He was successful early largely because of a new cut fastball he was using but the league adjusted to it and he hasn’t been able to adjust back, yet, or, at least, on a consistent basis.

It’s hard to believe the Twins would bring him back for next season at this point and he got hit hard again tonight, allowing 10 hits in 4.2 innings but he did leave with a lead in the top of the 5th since he allowed only 3 runs.

The Twins offense activated in the bottom of the 3rd when CF Ryan LaMarre led off the inning with his 1st HR of the season. Then Garver walked. Nelson Cruz was intentionally walked and Eddie Rosario doubled (22) to score Mitch Garver and advance Cruz to 3rd. That brought up Miguel Sano and he absolutely crushed a ball to the upper deck in left field to put the Twins up 5-0. The ball traveled 482 feet for the 2nd longest HR is Target Field history.

It was also Miguel Sano’s 30th HR of the Season AND it made him the 5th Twins player to hit 30 or more HRs on the season and it also made the Twins the first team in MLB History to have 5 players hit 30 or more HRs in one season! Just another Bomba Record for the 2019 Minnesota Twins. #SanoBigDeal

The White Sox started to mount a comeback in the top of the 4th when Eloy Jimenez doubled (16) to lead off the inning. James McCann singled him in with 1 out to get them on the board.

Then, in the top of the 5th, the White Sox got a couple of singles to lead off the inning. A Wild Pitch allowed both runners to advance a base and a Tim Anderson sacrifice fly scored their 2nd run & Jose Abreu singled to bring in another run so 5-0 had changed to 5-3 pretty quickly. Rocci went out to get Martin and replaced him with Trevor May to get out of the 5th.

May came back out to pitch the 6th and after getting the first out on a flyout to left field, he gave up back-to-back home runs and the game was tied at 5. WOW!

Someone tweeted saying it was embarrassing that the Twins allowed the White Sox to come back after leading 5-0 but, and I’ve said this before, just because the White Sox have lost a lot of games and are 28 games out of 1st in the American League Central, doesn’t mean they don’t have talent and won’t compete. 

Division games are tough because those teams always want to beat you. They don’t care about the records for the whole season. They want to beat the Twins and try to spoil your season and, since they’ve played the Twins a lot, they know how to do that. None of these games are easy and There Are No Easy Wins!

The Twins offense, after Sano’s blast, had only 4 baserunners (2B, 1B & 2 walks) among the next 13 batters through the 6th inning.

RHP Tyler Duffey pitched the 7th and struck out the side with two swinging strikeouts and one looking to end the inning. Duffey has turned into a strikeout machine & a great relief pitcher with the help of the Twins and pitching coach Wes Johnson. He now has 73 strikeouts & only 14 walks in 52.2 innings on the season with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He hasn’t given up a run since July 23rd, a 22-game & 19.1-inning scoreless streak. In those games, he’s 3-0 with 1 blown save & 9 holds and he’s allowed just 10 hits to 74 batters for a .169/.216/.179 triple-slash (Average/On-Base %/Slugging %) with 5 walks and 33 strikeouts!

Sorry, but that’s Awesome!

In the top of the 8th, RHP Sergio Romo battled through right leg pain to also strike out the side but he also allowed a single.

Nothing in the 9th forced extra innings and RHP Zack Littell was summoned to pitch the 10th. He allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners up a base so Rocco had him intentionally walk Zack Collins to load the bases with 1 out to get to Adam Engel but he was pinch-hit for by Ryan Goins who ended up popping up to 3B Miguel Sano in foul territory for the 2nd out. He then got Leury Garcia to fly out to left field to end the inning.

The Twins went popout, strikeout & strikeout in the bottom of the 10th so Zack Littell came back out to pitch the 11th.

Tim Anderson led off the 11th with his 17th HR of the season. 6-5 Sox. Littell struck out Abreu, allowed a single to Jimenez then struck out Moncada and got McCann to ground out to end the inning but the Twins had some work to do to keep the game going and/or win it.

White Sox closer RHP Alex Colome entered the game looking for 18th save. Jonathan Schoop led off the inning with a single and was pinch-run for with OF LaMonte Wade. C.J. Cron then pinch-hit for Ian Miller and grounded out to 3rd but Wade advanced to 2nd on the play. An alert & speedy Wade advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch and then scored on a Mitch Garver sacrifice fly to tie the game back up at 6! Polanco struck out to end the inning but the Twins now had new life.

Wade stayed in the game as the center field and Ronald Torreyes came in to play 2B, replacing C.J. Cron, and RHP Ryne Harper came in to pitch the 12th. He got a groundout for the 1st out but then walked Zack Collins and allowed a 2-run HR to Ryan Cordell (7) to put the Sox up 8-6 so the Twins were put in another tough spot with 1 inning to score 2 runs to keep the game alive in the bottom of the 12th.

Nelson Cruz began the inning with a groundball single to left and Eddie Eddie Eddie Rosario doubled (23) off the right-center field wall to advance Cruz to 3rd. Sano struck out to bring up Marwin Gonzalez, who was 3-for-9 since returning to the lineup on Monday night so he & his bat had missed their time away. Well, he added another hit with a 2-run single to right field that tied the game again! WOW! This Game!

Luis Arraez then singled to advance Marwin to 2nd and bring up LaMonte Wade, who just entered the game in the bottom of the 11th and was now up with the game on the line and, in his last 2 games, he had hit his 1st Career HR & his 1st Career Double so…why not add a WalkOff hit, huh?

He worked the count to 2-1 and got a pitch in the zone and he laced it to center field and I thought for sure it was the game-winning hit but he hit it so hard, 3B coach Tony Diaz had to hold Marwin at 3rd so instead of the game-winning hit we had the bases loaded and Ronald Torreyes at the plate for his 5th plate appearance of the season. WOW! You can’t make it up!

Torreyes had the count at 1-1 and the pitch came inside. He was in his motion to swing but held up as he saw the pitch coming inside and the pitch hit him in his right (back) arm for a Walk-Off Hit By Pitch!

How ‘Bout That? The Number to Clinch the Division Title and a Berth to the Postseason is now 7! 7 Wins or Cleveland Losses and it’s Playoffs, Baby!!!

The Twins will go for the Sweep tonight with RHP Jake Odorizzi (14-6, 3.60 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) on the mound against RHP Ivan Nova (10-12, 4.86 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) at 6:40pm on Fox Sports North.

The #MNTwins come home after winning yet another series on the road, this one of the HUGE variety as they took 2 of 3 from the Cleveland Indians to get closer to the American League Central Division Title.

They continued their pursuit of one Title tonight against another Central Division opponent in the Chicago White Sox and they had their ace in RHP Jose Berrios on the mound and he’s looking more like the ace we believe he is in his last couple starts. How’d he do tonight pitching against White Sox RHP Reynaldo Lopez? Let’s find out!

Well, Jose didn’t inspire a lot of belief in the 1st 2 innings as he allowed a run in each to put his team down 2-0.

White Sox CF Leury Garcia singled to lead off the game and 3B Yoan Moncada followed with his 30th double of the season advancing Garcia to 3rd. DH Jose Abreu hit a sacrifice fly to right-center. Twins CF LaMonte Wade caught it and quickly threw home but the throw was cut off by IF Marwin Gonzalez, in his return to action, so he could throw to 3rd to get Moncada trying to advance to 3rd. We call that bad base running because he was out by a couple of feet. Oops! 1-0 White Sox.

In the top of the 2nd, C James McCann led off the inning with his 17th HR of the season to left-center field and it was 2-0 White Sox. Was Jose Berrios regressing? It kind of looked like it but after that HR, he set down18 of the next 23 batters before being replaced by RHP Tyler Duffey with 1 out in the 8th inning. Here’s what it looked like:

1st: 1B (Garcia), 2B (Moncada), SF-Out at 3rd, K
2nd: Groundout, K, BB (Sanchez), Groundout
3rd: Groundout, Groundout, K Looking
4th: Groundout, K, BB (Skole), Groundout
5th: Lineout, K, Flyout
6th: 1B (Moncada), Flyout, Pick Off at 1st, K
7th: Groundout, K, Error (E5), K
8th: 1B-Groundout for a final line of…
7.1 Innings 5 Hits 2 Runs 2 Earned Runs 2 Walks 8 Strikeouts (7 Swinging, 1 Looking) 1 HR (McCann)

So, did the Twins offense back up their ace?

In the bottom of the 2nd, Miguel Sano & Marwin Gonzalez singled then Luis Arraez singled to load the bases for Jorge Polanco, who hit a sacrifice fly of his own and Nelson Cruz followed that with a groundball RBI-single to tie the game at 2!

It took until the bottom of the 5th for the Twins to score again as Jorge Polanco led off the inning with his 37th double of the season then advanced to 3rd on a bad defensive play after a flyout to left field where the ball got past 3B Yoan Moncada. Eddie Rosario struck out for the 2nd out then Mitch Garver sent some Garv Sauce off the right-center field wall to score Polanco from 3rd. 3-2 Twins.

In the next inning, Sano walked to lead off the inning then Marwin hit into a force out. Sano out at 2nd. Marwin safe at 1st. That brought CF LaMonte Wade to the plate and the kid is starting to figure out this Major League Baseball thing at the plate. He hit his 1st Home Run on Sunday and tonight, he hit his 1st Career 2-bagger over the head of LF Eloy Jimenez. Marwin advanced to 3rd. The White Sox made a Pitching Change to LHP Jace Fry and Luis Arraez greeted him with a crazy ground ball that spun so much it curved past Moncada for a 2-RBI single. 5-2 Twins.

The Minnesota Bullpen did the rest. Duffey needed just 4 pitches to get 2 outs to finish off the 8th. Sergio Romo allowed a solo HR to Jimenez (28) before striking out McCann looking then LHP Taylor “Mister” Rogers came in and got pinch-hitter Wellington Castillo to groundout to 3rd then he struck out Danny Mendick swinging on one of his nasty sliders. Maybe Mr. Rogers should try to get a sponsorship from White Castle with Nasty Sliders like that, huh?

The victory, Berrios’ 13th of the season, makes the Twins number to clinch just 8, now! That’s 8 Twins victories or Indians losses to Win the Division and get to the Postseason!

They’ll continue & try to win the 3-game series against the White Sox with LHP Martin Perez (10-7, 4.89 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) on the mound against Chicago LHP Ross Detwiler (2-5, 6.79 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) at 6:40pm on Fox Sports North.