Twins 13, Blue Jays 7: A tale of two innings

With the Twins lead in the Wild Card standings dwindling, the team turned to Kyle Gibson. Gibby, as I mentioned in the game thread, had been great in his last 5 starts (1.38 ERA). Today was not great.

Kyle started the game with a strikeout, but then threw one down the middle to Josh Donaldson who hit it very far for a solo dinger. With 2 outs, Gibson walked the bases loaded, and then walked a run in. Then Raffy Lopez hit a 2-run single to make it 4-0 in the first.

In the 2nd, Donaldson hit another solo dong to extend the lead to 5-0. I think that’s HR’s in three straight at bats for him.

The Twins lineup rallied in the 2nd, though. Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton belted back-to-back solo jacks to make it 5-2. Later, they loaded the bases for Brian Dozier. He singled to left, scoring Eduardo Escobar. That knocked out Jays starter Joe Biagini, bringing in lefty Tim Mayza to face Joe Mauer.

Mauer rolled one to 2nd, but it was misplayed, allowing 2 runs to score. Jorge Polanco grounded to 2nd and stayed out of the double play to give the Twins a 6-5 lead. Eddie Rosario followed that with a single (his second hit of the inning), and Mayza was out (Luis Santos, in). Byron Buxton hit an RBI double, making it 7-5. Finally, Max Kepler lined out to end the 7 run inning.

With a 2 run lead, Gibson went to work. He tossed a scoreless 3rd, struck out the side in the 4th, and had a 1-2-3 5th inning.

The Twins added on in the 5th. Escobar singled, and then stole 2nd. The throw to 2nd went into center, so Eduardo hurdled the SS to go to third. Jason Castro singled to left to score Escobar (8-5). Robbie Grossman and Brian Dozier followed with singles to load the bases for Joe Mauer. Mauer blasted one to right for A GRAND SLAM to make it 12-5. Two batters later, Rosario followed that up with a solo shot right field (26), his second of the day.

Kyle Gibson finished up his day with a 1-2-3 6th. You can’t call this a good start but do give him some credit for the good innings he pitched.

Aaron Slegers started the 7th and gave up a couple runs to make it 13-7. Buddy Boshers had to clean up that inning, and did so. Ryan Pressly pitched the final 2 outs of the 8th. Pressly tossed a 1-2-3 9th, sealing the victory!

Studs:

The entire lineup, basically.

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

Robot roll call: