Twins 2, Marlins 1: Pitching does the trick (yes, the bullpen, too)

After taking three out of four from the Chicago White Sox this past weekend, the Minnesota Twins drew a road trip to south Florida to face the Miami Marlins. I get so anxious writing “Miami Marlins” because I think it’s wrong. Maybe my mind is like, “John, it’s Florida Marlins,” while my hands are like, “John, it’s Miami Marlins,” and there’s just an inner conflict. I also have typed “Mariners” instead and had to backspace and type “Marlins”, so I’m just going to refer to the opponent as “The Fish” if that’s okay. If it’s not okay, please send a telegram to your local elected Twinkie Town representative with your concerns.

Tonight was a good baseball game. It wasn’t a “classic” pitcher’s duel, but it was a pitcher’s duel between a veteran in Jake Odorizzi and a noob in Zac Gallen. The first three innings were pretty quiet minus the top of the third. The Fish’s Gallen had notched three strikeouts in those three innings so far, facing the minimum plus one, and that “plus one” part was Byron Buxton golfing his tenth bomba of the season to left field. Meanwhile, Odorizzi had one strikeout through the same three innings. Curtis Granderson hit a double to the outfield, where Eddie Rosario committed an E7 to allow Granderson to get to third base. However, Odo was able to get Harold Ramirez to fly out and end the small threat.

The two teams would trade a one-spot in the fourth inning. Minnesota would add on a second run after Miguel Sano laced a double to center field and brought in Jorge Polanco from first. On the flip side of the frame, The Fish would put together back-to-back hits to get on the board. Starlin Castro reached on a single, and Granderson would line a double to right field, scoring Castro, and advance to third. Ramirez struck out and the threat was gone. 2-1, Twins.

After that, it was pretty much a bullpen duel of zeroes. Gallen would go seven innings, followed by Jose Quijada and Trevor Richards each going an inning for The Fish. Tyler Duffey would come in with two outs in the sixth inning to relieve Odorizzi, notching two strikeouts in four outs. New Twins-not-The-Fish reliever Sergio Romo would notch a K in one inning in his old home park, and Taylor Rogers would do the same to shut the door on the Fish.

Twins 2, The Fish 1
W: Odorizzi (12-5)
L: Gallen (1-3)
S: Rogers (16)

NOTES

• 11 Twins batters have now hit ten or more homers each this season: Max Kepler (28), Nelson Cruz (26), Eddie Rosario (22), Mitch Garver (19), C.J. Cron (18), Miguel Sano (18), Jonathan Schoop (16), Jorge Polanco (16), Marwin Gonzalez (12), Jason Castro (10), and now Byron Buxton (10).
• The Cleveland Indians lost tonight to the Houston Astros 2-0, giving Minnesota a three-game league in the division.
• Oh, and the Cleveland Indians were part of a three-team trade tonight. Trevor Bauer is going to the Cincinnati Reds and Yasiel Puig is going to Cleveland as part of the deal.
• Tyler Duffey appeared on deck. He had the bat of Luis Arraez and the helmet of Willians Astudillo. “I was just going for contact.”

STUDS

• Jake Odorizzi: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, smacked the ball pretty good a couple times
• Miguel Sano: 1-2, 2 BB (!), RBI, K
• Byron Buxton: 1-3, R, RBI, HR
• The bullpen - they did it! They really did it!: 3.1 IP, 4 K

duds

• Mitch Garver: 0-4, 2 K
• Luis Arraez: 0-4, 2 K

COMMENT OF THE GAME THREAD

mikecardii with a nice Kepler-Bauer joke. Too bad they won’t face each other again this season. :(

TWINKIE TOWN CLASS OF 2019

Thanks for joining in on the game thread tonight! Have a #blessed night!