Twins 3, White Sox 5: Makina-cal Breakdown

Well, hopefully that wasn’t the last time we see Jose Berrios pitch in a Twins uniform.

After six (mostly) dazzling innings, La Makina broke down. Through six innings, Berrios had only given up 2 hits, both of which were solo home runs, and struck out 8 with only 1 walk. Through six innings, Berrios was sitting hitters down with a cruel efficiency. Through six innings, it looked like the Twins would win this game.

And then came the 7th. Berrios started out fine, getting ahead 2-0 on leadoff hitter Brian Goodwin. But following Goodwin’s seeing-eyes single, he spiked a curveball and then hit Andrew Vaughn. Next, Berrios fell behind 3-0 on some pesky rookie, who took a strike before hitting a walk-off bomb. Ballgame. And for the 5th or 6th time in three weeks, I was forced to wonder aloud, “Who the **** is Gavin Sheets??”

On a more positive note, Mitch Garver seems to have not missed a beat. In his return from the injured list, the powerful catcher sent two taters into orbit, providing the bulk of the offense for the Twins. Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon had the only other two hits, and Josh Donaldson hit a sac fly that scored Arraez for the other run.

STUDS:

Mitch Garver: 2-3, 2 HR

DUDS:

All hitters who haven’t been hit in the groin this season

ROLL CALL:

STUDS: imakesandwichesforaliving, carrying the game thread