Cleveland 5, Twins 2: Bomba Squad out-homered

Well I guess my mocking of the Cleveland Indians in the game thread intro came back to bite the Minnesota Twins (sorry) as our favorite team dropped the first game of this series in Cleveland. This game was a bomb contest along with a decent pitching contest this evening.

Justin Shane Bieber started on the mound for Cleveland tonight and he kept the Twins offense at bay for most of the contest. He allowed only five hits and issued a walk while striking out seven batters. Although Bieber was wheelin’ and dealin’, a few batters were able to get to him. Jorge Polanco was able to get on base in the first inning via a single through the infield, but that small threat was ended as he was caught stealing second base to close out the inning. However, in the second inning, Marwin Gonzalez was able to take a 1-1 pitch from Bieber into right field to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez was also able to get double off of him in the top of the fourth, but Miguel Sano’s ground-out ended that minor threat.

Devin Smeltzer got his second major-league start ever tonight, toeing the rubber for the Twins. He had a rocky start to the game, walking Francisco Lindor on five pitches, a fielder’s choice to Oscar Mercado, and a single to Carlos Santana (not the vocalist) to lead off the first inning. However, Smeltzer was able to get out of the inning with no harm done. A 1-2-3 second inning lead to a third inning that saw Francisco Lindor hit a homer to left field, tying the game at 1-1. Two innings later, Lindor struck again and launched a two-run homer to left-center field to give the opposition the lead for good.

The one and only Eddie Rosario was able to climb up the ladder to join Gary Sanchez at the top of the American League home run leaderboard with his 18th blast of the year in the sixth inning. The first pitch he saw from Bieber was promptly smoked to center field, bringing the Twins within one run.

Cleveland was able to get back-to-back homers off of Smeltzer in the seventh inning. Roberto Perez and Jake Bauers were able to strike on three total pitches and put the Twins away for good and knock Smeltzer out of the game.

Ryne Harper, Tyler Duffey (yes, he’s still on the team), Oliver Perez, and Brad Hand were able to trade zeroes with each other to close out this game.

Cleveland 5, Twins 2
W: Bieber (5-2)
L: Smeltzer (0-1)
S: Hand (17)

The series continues tomorrow at 6:10p Central with an expected matchup of Martin Perez versus Carlos Carrasco.

STUDS

• Marwin Gonzalez: 2-4, R, RBI, HR
• Eddie Rosario: 1-4, R, RBI, HR

duds

• Devin Smeltzer: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• Max Kepler: 0-4, 3 K
• Nelson Cruz: 0-4, 3 K

ROLL CALL:

Thanks for chatting with us tonight! Bring your rally caps tomorrow!