Twins 3, Angels 1: West Coast Winnings Ways

With the win today, the Twins have gone 14-6 in 20 games in the 20 days in May. The team has an overall record of 31-16 (second best in baseball) and now has a 5.5 game lead in the division of Cleveland. Let that sink in, and enjoy it.

Now, onto recap time.

Jake Odorizzi produced a solid start for the Twins, posting five innings of scoreless ball. The Angels pitchers also stymied the Twins bats, as there wasn’t much offensive output in this one early, with the Twins getting on the scraping across a run first in the second inning. Luis Arraez lined a single to start the action with one out, followed by a Jason Castro blooper that was placed perfectly into left field, moving Arraez to third. Ehire Adrianza hit what looked to be double play ball, but he hustled down the line to keep the inning alive and score Arraez.

The Twins would hold that 1-0 lead all the way until the bottom of the seventh inning. After retiring the first four batters that he faced, Ryne Harper gave up a single and was lifted for Twins bullpen ace Taylor Rogers. Rogers wasn’t very sharp right off of the bat, walking Albert Pujols. The lefty got the second out of the inning on a flyout by David Fletcher, but couldn’t close the deal as Tommy La Stella slapped an 0-2 pitch into center field to tie the game. Luckily, Rogers froze Mike Trout on a fastball to end the threat and give the Twins offense a chance to respond.

And respond they did. With Eddie Rosario on first after a single off of Ty Buttery, Miguel Sano delivered his biggest hit of the 2019 season, a 2-0 blast to the opposite field to give the Twins a 3-1 lead. This was especially surprising as Sano hadn’t looked great in his first three at-bats (including a couple of lazy flyouts and strikeout) and Buttrey came into the game with a 0.76 ERA. With the odds against him, Sano changed the outcome of the game with the swing below:

The Rogers settled down for a 1-2-3 eighth inning (working through the 3-5 hitters in LA’s lineup), and Blake Parker worked around a hit in the ninth inning to secure the save and the victory for the Twins.

Notes

Luis Arraez doesn’t want to go back to the minors anytime soon. The infielder went 3-4 today, and his one out was a line drive hit right at an Angel infielder. He is now 5-8 in his short Twins career, impressive with the bat and looking solid in the field.

The Twins went 0-5 with runners in scoring position tonight, and area they’ve struggled in frequently this season. However the depth of the lineup showed itself once again, as Sano came up with the big knock and Arraez led the team in hitting.

It seemed like Jake Odorizzi was poised to go six innings or more, but the Angels used some long at-bats in the fourth and fifth innings to drive “Odo’s” pitch count up to 90 after five. Still it was a little surprising the Baldelli didn’t let Odorizzi try to get at least a couple outs in the sixth, opting instead to go to Ryne Harper.

STUDS

Jake Odorizzi: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K

Miguel Sano: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI

Luis Arraez: 3-4, R

Max Kepler: 2-4, BB

DUDS

NO DUDS, THAT’S A LATE NIGHT/EARLY MORNING TWINS WIN!!!!

ROBOT ROLL CALL: