Twins 5, Indians 0: Mejia, bullpen grind out shutout

If you had the misfortune of paying attention to last weekend’s baseball events, you know that Cleveland flipped the script on the AL Central, flattening a revolving door of starting pitchers and turning a two-game deficit into a two-game division lead in a road sweep of the Minnesota Twins.

So, of course, with the venue moved to Cleveland this weekend, the Twins countered with an unconventional 5-0, four-pitcher shutout. Minnesota now trails the Cleve by 1.5 games.

The Twins got on top of confirmed #MAGA dickslap and drone enthusiast Trevor Bauer in the second, putting four runs on the board. The unexpected big knock came from the slumping Jorge Polanco, who lined a 2-run dong into right field seats. Brian Dozier contributed an RBI double and Eddie Rosario knocked in a run as well. That would turn out to be more than enough, though it did not seem like that in real time.

Twins starter Adelberto Mejia didn’t just flirt with disaster, he full-on made out with it and invited it back to his room. But still, he got through the first four innings and left nine men on base, then pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning. 104 pitches and no runs allowed and conservatively 145 walks. Miracles happen everyday, folks.

After that, it took a ragtag crew of Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and friend-of-the-blog Trevor Hildenberger to lock down the victory. Which they did! The Twins bullpen! Against a good team! Even the new guy!

STUDS: Polanco. Bullpen. I’m wavering on Mejia, because those first four innings took for-friggin’-ever. Let’s give it to him, but we will come back and take this away if he does something stupid. Also, LaTroy Hawkins is great in the booth and should have Bert’s job tomorrow.

DUDS: Cleveland lineup. Guys, you loaded the bases twice in the first four innings against a guy who was clearly having control problems and did less than nothing. I’m glad the Cubs beat you.

ROBOT ROLL CALL

Enjoy your weekend everybody.