All wins are good wins. Whether you're a contender or one of the league's worst teams, you love to win. Always. By that standard, today was a good day.
Not that avoiding being swept by the White Sox in a four-game set in Minneapolis for the first time ever puts a silver lining on anything. The win gave the Twins a 3-7 record in their 10-game, post-break home stand. This team is "only" ten games under .500, but it definitely feels worse than that right now.
Yohan Pinto and Scott Carroll both deserve kudos for strong performances. Pino was given an early 1-0 lead and did eventually lose it, but he allowed just two runs over six innings while striking out six. Carroll gave up just the one run over six, and allowed just four hits. It was a tight contest through six, and it didn't really stop. For two teams not in the thick of it, it wasn't a bad game to watch.
The Twins took their first lead in the bottom of the third, when Eduardo Escobar doubled and then scored on Danny Santana's triple. Chicago's two runs in the sixth came as Pino was running on fumes a bit, and he was let down when Chris Parmelee couldn't get a big second out on a grounder he took from Adam Eaton. Instead of two outs and a runner on third it was one out and runners on the corners, and Alexei Ramirez and Jose Abreau capitalized to give the Sox a 2-1 advantage.
It didn't take long for Minnesota to get back on top. After Ronal Belisario loaded the bases with no outs, Santana's sac fly tied the game and Sam Fuld came through with a huge two-run single. Adiran Nieto homered in the eighth off of Casey Fien, cutting the Twins lead to one, but Glen Perkins got around a one-out, bases-loaded situation by striking out Alejandro De Aza and getting Gordon Beckham to fly out to end the game.
Game Notes
- Josh Willingham continues to get on base with a single and a walk today, and is actually hitting .257 in his last ten games. He's taken six walks in the same time frame, but he's also struck out 13 times. It's an interesting time for Josh.
- Eduardo Escobar's hot streak continues, and is now batting .344 in his last ten games. It's also worth noting that he's tallied 26 doubles this year. Escobar has definitely been a bright spot for the Twins in 2014.
- Effort is never in doubt when it comes to Danny Santana, but results are a different animal. He was 1-for-3 with two runs driven in and that big triple in the third, but this is all paint-by-numbers-Santana: plus contact skills but a free swinger (12 strikeouts in his last nine games) who won't take walks (one in the same period).
- Sam Fuld was 2-for-3 with a walk today. If he doesn't continue to hit at the top of this lackluster Minnesota lineup, somebody is filling out that lineup card wrong.
Win Expectancy Graph
Source: FanGraphs
Duds
NO DUDS TWINS WIN