Twins 7, Oakland 0: Dob-smacked(simulated)

Today’s lineups:

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

OAK: Semien SS, Laureano CF, Olson 1B, Chapman 3B, Canha LF, Davis DH, Piscotty RF, Kemp 2B, Murphy C, Bassitt P

The Twins scored seven runs today. Normally that would be impressive, but today it doesn’t really matter.

Randy Dobnak was uber-successful today. (See what I did there?) He carried a no-hitter into the fourth, and never allowed more than one base runner at the same time. He pitched eight full innings, and only allowed three hits, and obviously, no runs.

An E-4 in the first, a walk in the second, a single (erased by a double play) and a double in the fourth, and a double in the seventh were all that stood behind Dobnak and perfection today. It was a damn good pitching performance.

Zack Littell relieved Dobnak in the ninth, and allowed one more hit, but that was all she wrote for the struggling As.

If you did care about the offense, the Twins scored three in the fourth, on a bases-loaded Max Kepler walk, and the Jorge Polanco double that immediately followed. They put up two more in the sixth, on a Miguel Sano two-run bomba, and added one more run in each of the seventh and eighth innings. The runs scored on doubles by Kepler and Josh Donaldson, respectively.

Notes

• HOLY CRAP A GAME UNDER THREE HOURS... 2:59, but still
• Minnesota in early April can be cold, and the gametime temp was 38.
• We have a contest to win a copy of OOTP, if you want your own sim Twins squad.

STUDS:

Randy Dobnak: 8IP, 3 hits, 0 runs
Max Kepler: 1-3, BB, 2 RBI
Jorge Polanco: 1-3, BB, 2 RBI
Miguel Sano: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

DUDS:

No Duds, TWINS WIN!!!

Tomorrow: The final game against Oakland. First Pitch is 1:10 Central (look for the recap around five pm.)

SIM TWINS: 6-3, ¹⁄₂ game behind Chicago.