Royals 10, Twins 3: Dingers Everywhere

EDIT: I guess he hit two as DH so I was wrong, because apparently that matters. I’m an idiot, what do you expect?

There seem to be a lot of things I’m forced to repeat in these recaps. “Brian Dozier homered” is the nice one. The other is “the bullpen imploded and Twins lost anyway.”

So, there you have the short of it. Another game that was close right up until it wasn’t. Here’s the long version, for those so inclined.

Ervin Santana started his work with two quick outs. Eric Hosmer then drew a walk, and as they often do, it would haunt. Kendrys Morales followed him up with a homerun to right. In the Bottom of the first Dozier led off for Minnesota. Like clockwork he hit his 39th dong of the year, tying the American League single-season record for second basemen. Brian Dozier is absolutely breathtakingly ridiculous.

Oh, and then later Trevor Plouffe hit one of his own. 12 isn’t as impressive a number as 39, but congrats to Trevor anyway. Later in the bottom of the second Eddie Rosario would also go deep, putting the Twins up 3 to 2.

Time traveling to the 7th, Ervin Santana hit Royals Catcher, Salvador Perez forcing him to leave the game with an injury. He was later replaced in the field by old friend Drew Butera, who will star in this recap later. Santana then walked Alex Gordon and Molitor went to the bullpen.

Ryan Pressly came in and got two outs, but allowed one run to score on an Alcides Escobar single. Buddy Boshers replaced Pressly and struck out Jarrod Dyson to end the inning. Santana’s final line was 6 IP, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 6 SOs.

In the 8th, Trevor Plouffe managed to injure himself, leaving the game in the middle of an at-bat. Kenny’s Vargas had to come in with 2 strikes already on him. Plouffe apparently has a “left oblique strain.”

With the game tied, the Twins brought in their best reliever, Brandon Kintzler, to pitch the 9th. 3 batters later the bases were loaded, because of course. Kintzler managed to induce a force-out at home for the first out, but then who else but Drew Butera singled in the go-ahead run. Ryan O’Rourke came in and got his own force-out at home for the 2nd out.

Then Pat Light came in. Always the Pats...

Paulo Orlando singled, Eric Hosmer singled, Kendrys Morales homered (again.) and it was suddenly 10 to 3. Why didn’t Morales do this when he was on our side?

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and the game was over. Kintzler was stuck with the loss, while reliever Kelvin Herrera was awarded the win. The Twins are now 51-88, while the Royals move up to 72-66.

STUDS (STAY POSITIVE!)

Brian Dozier: Record Tyer and Super Hero
Ervin Santana: Solid 7 innings.
Trevor Plouffe: 2 for 3 with a HR before getting injured.

DUDS:
Pat Light: 0.0 Inning Pitched, 3 ER. (He has a 14.34 ERA now.)
Brandon Kintzler: 0.2 IP, 4 ER. (Still a 2.91 ERA!)

ROLL CALL AND QUOTES OF THE GAMETHREAD (WARNING: DONGS AHEAD!)