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Jorge Polanco, who seems to be heating up at the plate, got the scoring started for the Twins with a solo shot to right, his third homer of the season. Trevor Larnach followed with a walk, and then Willians Astudillo and Andrelton Simmons hit singles to load the bases. Ben Rortvedt got an RBI by being hit by a pitch, then Luis Arraez drove in a run with a sac-fly to make it 3-0, Twins.
The White Sox proceeded to score 9 unanswered runs to win the game 9-3. I feel like I’ve seen this exact game 20 times. The Twins get an early lead but slowly (or quickly) the opponent goes ahead and the offense can’t find a way to score.
It’s not like they didn’t have more opportunities to score in this game. They stranded 2 runners in the 3rd, 5th and 6th innings, and in the 7th they left the bases loaded.
On the pitching side of things, Kenta Maeda did not have his best stuff. The Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 2nd, scoring 3 runs on a Yasmani Grandal homer. That inning was ended by an excellent throw to the plate from Luis Arraez in left field. After that, Maeda seemed to settle in, retiring the next 9 batters and exiting after the 5th inning. His final line was: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.
As a Twins fan, handing a tied game to our bullpen is like asking your dog to keep an eye on the house while you’re gone; something is bound to go wrong. Enter, Jorge Alcala who immediately gave up a walk and then a 2-run homer to Jose Abreu. 5-3, White Sox.
Caleb Thielbar was asked to pitch the 7th. He surrendered 2 more runs on a Tim Anderson single and an Adam Eaton double. There were some defensive foibles mixed in there, basically Jorge Polanco kicked the ball at one point.
In the 8th, Derek Law “relieved” Thielbar by allowing his two inherited runners to score, making it a 9-3 ballgame, which was the final score.
Studs:
Luis Arraez: 1-4, OF assist
Nelson Cruz: 2-5
Jorge Polanco: 2-4, HR
Duds:
Alcala, Thielbar, Law
Team: 2-10 with RISP, 10 LOBsters.
Robot Roll Call!
Thanks for joining us for a very ugly game.