Twins 18, Mariners 4: Juggernaut

It’s hard to recap this game without some level of redundancy.

Tonight, the Twins scored 17 runs in the kind of drubbing that makes opposing fans wish for the mercy rule. It’s the fourth time this season that Minnesota has scored into the double-digits, and it’s the second time this series alone. Once again, it was the dinger-driven kind of beatdown that fans across Twins Territory have, miraculously, become used to witnessing out of one of the best offenses in the MLB.

After a quiet first inning, the Twins began the attack. The first five runs came off of second-inning homers. C.J. Cron drove a solo shot — the 100th long ball of his career — to open the scoring. Later in the inning, Byron Buxton crushed his second career grand slam to break it open.

Unsatisfied with the broken-open-ness of the game, C.J. Cron homered again next inning, and Miguel Sano made it 7-0 Twins with his first round-tripper of the 2019 campaign. At this point, Seattle starter Wade LeBlanc was politely excused from the ballgame, having given up as many runs as he had recorded outs.

In the same inning, Jonathan Schoop corked a three-run shot to extend the lead to ten, rudely welcoming Parker Markel into the rout.

Hits by Jason Castro and Buxton added another pair of runs in the fourth, and Cron and Sano combined for three RBI to make it 15-0 in the fifth.

At this point, the evening began to fall apart for Minnesota’s own Jose Berrios, who labored through a four-run fifth inning for Seattle after getting a bit too cold in the dugout waiting for the midwest hit parade to dry up. He failed to qualify for the win, and left the game having allowed four runs on eight hits.

The Twins scored in their fifth straight inning when Schoop smacked a two-run homer — completing a home run cycle for Minnesota (a solo shot, two-run shot, three-run shot, and grand slam in the same game.)

After a quiet seventh, Eddie Rosario notched his third hit of the night, an RBI single to push the Minnesota lead to 14 in the eighth. In the home half, Austin Adams — no, not that Austin Adams — made his first major-league appearance in three years.

Backup catcher Tom Murphy got mop-up duties in the ninth for Seattle, and proved to be the most effective pitcher of the night, getting Kepler to line out and then inducing swinging strikeouts from both Sano and Castro.

Adams finished out the ballgame, and circa 1:00 AM Central time, the Twins finally locked down the win.

Notes!

For the Twins, it was the third time this season in which they popped the top off of six home runs. They stand alone in that regard, as no other team has multiple 6+ HR games. It’s already the fifth time in which they’ve hit 5+ homers, and their fourth time accruing 17+ hits in a single game.

Amidst all the chaos inherent in a game with 20+ combined runs, utility man and recent call-up Luis Arraez made his major-league debut. He narrowly missed a double down the left-field line in his first at-bat, but wound up doubling into the gap in his second appearance in the eighth inning.

The win tonight marks five straight for the club, a first in 2019. Later today (happy Sunday), they’ll go for a four-game road sweep of the M’s.

STUDS:

SS-2B Luis Arraez (1-for-2, R, 2B, first major-league hit, and a nice diving play)

2B Jonathan Schoop (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI)

1B Marwin Gonzalez (3-for-6, R, 2B)

LF Eddie Rosario (3-for-6, R, RBI)

DH C.J. Cron (3-for-6, 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 10 TB)

CF Byron Buxton (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 5 RBI)

RP Tyler Duffey (1.1 IP, H, 3 K)

RP Austin Adams (2 IP, H, 4 K)

DUDS:

No duds! Twins win!

ROBOT ROLL CALL: