Twins 9, Tigers 1: Sonny with a Chance

After a really disappointing end to the first half of the season against Chicago, the Twins really needed a strong series against the Detroit Tigers, another AL Central foe. The starting pitching was a big help for the Twins for the second day in a row, as Sonny Gray only allowed one run on two hits over six innings of work. The only trouble Gray ran into all afternoon occurred in the bottom of the 4th, when the Tigers finally got some traffic on the bases after three shutdown innings and drove in one run on an Eric Haase RBI single, which also happened to be the first Detroit hit. Other than that, he was absolutely stellar, exiting after the 6th inning with 7 strikeouts and a quality start. On the offensive side of things, the Twins’ bats got going early again today. 3 runs came in the first inning, none of them on hits. A fielders choice made it 1-0, then an error at first made it 2-0, and then a bases loaded hit by pitch gave the Twins a 3-0 lead. Other than the aforementioned RBI single from Haase that made it 3-1 in the 4th, not much happened offensively until the top of the 7th, when the Twins began to break it open. A pair of RBI doubles from Gio Urshela and Jorge Polanco as well as an RBI single from Luis Arraez made it a 6-1 Twins lead. One inning later, the Twins would add two more runs on another RBI double from Gary Sanchez, which scored Jose Miranda and Gio Urshela to extend the Minnesota lead to 8-1. The Twins would add on one more run in the 9th, thanks to a Jose Miranda RBI single off Kody Clemens (who is the son of Roger Clemens, but is not a pitcher like his dad was). The Twins finish off a sweep of the Tigers and improve to 52-44 on the year. There will be an off day tomorrow before another two game interleague rivalry series with the Brewers begins in Milwaukee. The Twins’ offense and pitching putting in a couple strong performances in a row is a good sign for the second half, and hopefully they can keep it going throughout this road trip.

STUDS

Sonny Gray: 6IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 7K.
Twins bullpen (Jax, Cotton, Smith): 3 innings, 1 hit allowed.
Jose Miranda: 3-4, 2RBI.

Gio Urshela: 2-5, RBI double in 7th.
Jorge Polanco: 2-5, RBI double in 7th.

Luis Arraez: 1-4, RBI single in 7th, walk.

DUDS
NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!!

Enjoy your Sunday evening, friends.