Twins 5, Royals 3: Closer than it should have been

Jose Berrios pitched a great game, considering he clearly didn’t have his best stuff. The Royals had a minor threat in the first when Whit Merrifield (who is not a character you forgot from some awful Edith Wharton novel they made you read in high school) hit a leadoff double, and made it to third on a single. With runners on the corners, Alex Gordon hit a grounder to C.J. Cron for a 3-2 double play at the plate. Jorge Soler softly lined out to pretty much end whatever hopes of a “fun” day the Kansas City fans had.

Miguel Sano crushed a solo home run, his second dong in two days, in the second to give Berrios a one-nothing lead, which was enough to get him through most of the game. Jake Cave and All-Star C.J. Cron both added solo dingers in the top of the eighth inning to bring the Twins to a 3-0 lead. It was nice to see a couple of the Twins colder batters hit the bomba today.

A few walks would be the only other base runners that Berrios would until the seventh. In the eighth inning, things got ugly, although we can’t really blame Berrios. A single, a wild pitch, and walk would put two men on, but also signal that something was probably not right with our pitcher. He ended up leaving the game with a blister, and Taylor Rogers came in. The Twins “high leverage” guy, and usually most reliable reliever was neither of those things today, giving up a double, HBP, and single to allow both inherited runners to score. He was also charged with a run of his own, bringing the score to a tie at three.

Trevor May pitched a scoreless ninth, to earn the win, but the Twins needed one extra frame to put up the runs. Luis Arreaz singled, Jake Cave took a HBP for the team, and then Jorge Polanco hit a sac fly to put two men in scoring position. C.J. Cron drove in his second RBI of the game with a tie-breaking single. Eddie Rosario added an insurance run, which was ultimately unnecessary, doubling in Cave. Blake Parker earned the save for the Twins, limiting the Royals to just a single baserunner (he hit the first batter he faced, Alex Gordon.)

Just like that, your Minnesota Twins have 50 wins in 76 games. They are on pace for 106 glorious victories.

Studs:

Jose Berrios: 7IP, 2ER, 5H, 3K

C.J. Cron: 3-5, HR, 2RBI

Miguel Sano: 1-4, HR

Jake Cave: 2-3, HR, HBP, 2 runs scored

Duds:

No duds, Twins win x 50

COTG

Anoka Area Commenter Bot: Would have been easier if Mauer Sano had hit more home runs

Roll Call