Twins 5, Oakland 2: Maeda Maekes his Maerk (simulated)

Today’s lineups:

MIN: Garver C, Polanco SS, Kepler RF, Cruz DH, Rosario, LF, Donaldson 3B, Sano 1B, Arraez 2B, Buxton CF, Maeda P

OAK: Semien SS, Laureano CF, Olson 1B, Chapman 3B, Canha LF, Davs DH, Piscotty RF, Pinder 2B, Murphy C, Manaea P

A slow start to the scoring in this one ended up with some fireworks, and the Twins are back to .500 on the season. Both pitchers started by trading quick innings, as Manaea faced one more than the minimum in the first while Maeda put the side down in order, and each pitcher only saw three batters in the second.

In the third inning, the Twins broke through with a hit by Luis Arraez, who put a 1-1 pitch into the grass past the shortstop for a single. Arraez would steal second during Garver’s at bat, but present no real threat to the As, as Buxton and Garver struck out, and Polanco popped out to second base. Maeda kept his no-htter going through the Oakland half of the inning.

The fourth inning was the the big one for the Twins, and momentum never left them after it. A leadoff single by Max Kepler and a double by Nelson Cruz put two men in scoring position with no outs, and both runners would gain a base on a balk during the next at bat. Josh Donaldson scored Cruz with a sac fly to left, and both Miguel Sano and Luis Arraez would get on base before the inning ended with Byron Buxton’s second K of the night. Maeda would also give up a run in the fourth, in this case on a solo home run by Marcus Semien to left-center. A walk to the next batter also marred the inning, before Maeda got outs on the next three plate appearances. The score would remain 2-1 until the top of the seventh.

In the seventh inning, Luis Arraez lead off with a double, and went second-to-home on a Buxton single to right field. Mitch Garver struck out, but Jorge Polanco followed him with his second home run of the year, to break the game open and make the score 5-1. Left hander T.J. McFarland (nice name) came in and put out the fire. Maeda, surprisingly back out for the seventh, gave up another solo shot to Mark Canha, but otherwise survived the inning.

For some odd reason, Ehire Adrianza was brought in as a defensive replacement for Josh Donaldson in the eighth, and Tyler Duffey pitch a clean inning, but nothing else noteworthy happened. The bottom of the ninth inning saw Adrianza move to short, and Marwin Gonzalez take Jorge Polanco’s hypothetical spot in the order. I have no idea why this happened either, this simulation stuff is odd. Anyway, Taylor Rogers locked it down for his first save of the year, but not without a bit of FRE-style action. With two outs, Rogers let Chapman and Canha hit consecutive singles, and both move into scoring position on a pased ball to Khris Davis. Davis ended up going down swinging to end the inning, and the game.

Notes:

• I figured out how to adjust the line ups, so I tried to get it pretty close to what I think the real thing might look like.
• Time of game, three hours and three minutes. It was 55 degrees and rainy in the Bay Area, and only a smidge over 28,000 people showed up for the Friday night tilt.
• Jorge Polanco is still on pace for 162 homers.
• I somehow still have my rotation out of order, so Maeda went ahead of Odorizzi. Oh well. I’m still new to OOTP.
• Mitch Garver was the king of true outcomes, with three strikouts and two walks on the night. No Bombas though.
• Not relevant to this simulation yet, but sucks for Sox fans, Lucas Giolito was already lost for the season due to injury. Also not relevant, but fun: Arizona has a rally cat, to go with our rally squirrel.

STUDS:

Kenta Maeda: 7.0IP 2 ER
Tyler Duffey and Taylor Rogers: 1IP 0ER (each)
Luis Arraez: 3-4, 1RS
Jorge Polanco: 1-4, HR, 2RBI

DUDS:

No Duds Twins win!!!

Tomorrow: At Oakland, 3:07 CST gametime (look for the recap around six thirty.)