Twins 5, Dodgers 1: Future Farmers of America

After an emotional letdown last night, the Twins and their shorthanded pitching staff responded in stellar fashion to even the series against the Dodgers.

The win came on the tall back of Bailey Ober, who has continued to impress after starting the season in St. Paul. With the pitching staff exhausted after yesterday’s extra inning affair, Ober delivering a long, quality start was key to the victory. His most impressive work came in his final inning, coming back out in the 6th with 90+ pitches thrown. Ober struck out home run machine Max Muncy and JD Martinez and then got James Outman to fly out to complete the inning.

The B squad of Brock Stewart, Jovani Moran, and Griffin Jax closed out the game to secure the victory for the Twins, but not before some patented Moran wildness made things a little more interesting. He didn’t allow any runs, but throwing only 12 of 25 pitches for strikes isn’t going to cut it.

On the offensive side, the bats continued their recent resurgence. The Twins only managed two runs off of starter Clayton Kershaw, but scattered seven hits to chase Kershaw after 4 innings. The Twins got their first run thanks to a timely two-out hit from Kyle Farmer, driving in Donovan Solano to get things rolling.

The third run came thanks to some classic Buxton speed and effective small ball. Buxton walked, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout, and then Ryan Jeffers perfectly executed a safety squeeze bunt to give the Twins a bit more cushion.

The final two runs came on a 9th inning dong from Kyle Farmer, providing a bit more insurance for the Twins’ shorthanded bullpen.

The Twins were able to break a couple of impressive streaks along the way as well. Their Dodgers Stadium losing streak was almost legal voting age, but was stopped just short of 18 years. It was also Clayton Kershaw’s first loss in Dodgers Stadium in two years.

Now everyone go to bed. Afternoon game tomorrow and someone’s gotta be here to win Comment of the Game.

STUDS

Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 1 R, 6 K

Kyle Farmer: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI

Byron Buxton & Willi Castro: Both 2-4, 2 SB

Donovan Solano: 2-3, 2B, threw out Muncy attempting to steal home

DUDS

No duds, Twins win!!!!!

Comment of the game goes to our resident Alex Kirilloff enthusiast for their heart wrenching poem.