Twins 12, Blue Jays 6: Six-run 11th leads to sweep of Toronto

Making his first start of the year, Ervin Santana wasn’t extremely effective, though he kept the Twins in the game. His velocity and control were not as good as what we normally would expect, and he got hit hard at times, but Ervin was able to limit the damage to 3 runs over five innings pitched. Overall he struck out five, and walked one, while issuing seven hits. He threw 97 pitches, of with 60 were for strikes.

Things started kinda shaky for Santana, a single, a walk, and near home run by Kendrys Morales lead to a run. It could have been worse, but a base running mistake by Morales on the play helped get the Twins out of the inning.

The Twins rallied back with a 3-run 2nd, including an RBI double from Joe Mauer.

The Blue Jays got three doubles off Ervin Santana for the day. In retrospect it seemed like they hit more than that, but after threatening a few times they had tied the game up 3-3 in the 5th.

Mitch Garver put the Twins back on top quickly with a big homer to left making it 4-3. Garver had a nice day at the plate knocking in 5 runs, and he did a good job of handling Santana’s breaking balls in the dirt and when his command wasn’t very sharp.

The bottom of the order for the Jays was able to load the bases and score 3 runs off Trevor Hildenberger in the 8th and tie the game 6-6.

Toronto had a chance to take the game in the bottom of the 9th. With one out, the winning run on third, and a runner on first for the Jays, Paul Molitor brought Eddie Rosario in from LF for a five-man infield. Luckily the Twins were able to get a double play from a line-out and doubling Morales off at first for his 2nd tootblan of the day

Former Twin Jaime Garcia did an excellent job keeping the Jays in the game, retiring all the Twins batters he faced in the 9th and 10th.

Meanwhile, Matt Belisle did a nice job for the Twins in the 9th and 10th as well, finding a groove and keeping Toronto off the bases.

Finally in the 11th, MN native Jake Petricka was brought in to pitch for the Jays. A Brian Dozier double, two walks, and a hit batter brought in the go-ahead run. Garver kept the runs coming with another double scoring two more. Robbie Grossman, professional pinch hitter, followed that up with another two-run double of his own. Mauer added another run with his third hit of the day, and the Twins quickly had a comfortable 12-6 lead.

Fernando Rodney finished it out, and the Twins sweep the Blue Jays and improve to 47-53 on the year with a four-game series against the Red Sox in Boston next.

Studs:

• Mitch Garver (4-6, double, HR, 5 RBI)
• Joe Mauer (3-7, 2 doubles, 3 RBI)
• Eddie Rosario (3-6)
• Jorge Polonco (2-5, 3 runs scored)

Duds:

• No Duds Twins Win!! (Trevor Hildenberger was bad)

Robot Roll Call Eh:

Comment of the Game:

Asthix: What’s the best thing about living in Switzerland?

I don’t know but their flag is a big plus.

Play of the Game:

This gem by Max Kepler