Twins 8, Tigers 3: Who needs home runs?

Michael Pineda took the mound for the Twins today, and continued his streak of good starts. He allowed 1 run in the 2nd on back-to-back doubles. Victor Reyes picked up an RBI single in the 5th, but that was all today against Pineda. His final line was: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO.

Pineda was bolstered by 5 runs in the 2nd inning. Miguel Sano walked, Luis Arraez doubled, and Jake Cave hit a 2-run single. Willians Astudillo was hit by a pitch, then Jason Castro singled to score a run. Max Kepler lined out, but Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz both hit 2-out singles to make it 5-0. Astudillo drove in a run in the 5th to push the score to 6-1.

Sam Dyson pitched the 7th, allowing a solo-homer to Jordy Mercer, making it a 6-3 game at the time.

Nelson Cruz and Eddie Rosario each hit 2-out RBI singles in the 8th for some insurance runs, 8-3.

Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless 8th, picking up a strikeout.

Finally, Brusdar Graterol made his debut in the 9th inning. After getting Dawel Lugo called out on strikes, Brandon Dixon and Jordy Mercer hit soft singles. After a trip to the mound by the pitching coach, Jake Rogers grounded into a double play to end the game.

Cleveland lost to Tampa Bay this afternoon by a score of 8-2, so the Twins now enjoy a 5.5 game lead in the division.

After breaking the home run record last night, the Twins scored 8 runs today without a single long ball. Baseball is weird.

Studs:

Pineda, Cruz, Polanco, Arraez, Cave, Romo, Graterol

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

Robot Roll Call: