Guardians 2, Twins 0: Hope is a dangerous thing

Coming into this week, the Minnesota Twins had an opportunity to bury the squads thought to be AL Central competitors in 2023. Only salvaging a single victory in Chicago (whose Pale Hose were in danger of falling behind the Royals in the Central cellar) squandered that series, but a Friday night victory in Cleveland was a harbinger of hope. Unfortunately, hope is a dangerous thing. The Guardians now have their first series victory in about a month.

I’m going to bury the lead here: Joe Ryan was excellent again today—six innings pitched and two earned runs (and even those were largely seeing-eye singles in the opening frame). Ryan continues to pair with Sonny & Pablo as the Terrific Trio of this pitching staff.

Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images

Alas, not a single positive can be found elsewhere from this contest.

For six innings, the Twins could not muster so much as a single base knock off Guardians hurler Cal Quantrill. When Alex Kirilloff finally broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, it proved to be exactly that—a single hit. Minnesota would produce nothing further off James Karinchak & Emmanuel Clase.

That isn’t to say a few chances didn’t present themselves. In the top of the 2nd, a hit batter and two walks loaded the bases with nobody out. But before one could exclaim “it’s a trap!”, Jose Miranda had popped out and Nick Gordon had hit into an inning-ending double play.

In the 7th & 8th innings, the Twins put runners on second and third base, respectively, but could not capitalize further. In the top of the ninth, Joey Gallo came up as the tying run—and weakly grounded to first base on the first pitch.

It was, truly, perhaps the most lethargic offensive output of the relatively young season thus far (seeing as how the opponent was not Alcantara, Cole, or really anything close to them).

Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images

Your final: Guardians 2, Twins 0.

Studs:

• The Joe Ryan Experience (TM)
• The guy who rolled out of his seat to catch a foul fly (as shown on the Bally Sports North broadcast).
• Progressive Field’s Fruit Loops-covered hot dog that neither Dick Bremer nor LaTroy Hawkins would touch with a ten foot pole but Audra Martin polished off in a few bites.

Duds:

• Every Twins player to touch a bat other than Alex Kirilloff.
• Jose Miranda in particular, who could be catching the midnight train to St. Paul instead of the team charter back to Minneapolis.

Comment of the Game:

Put the kids to bed before clicking on this one, folks, as Name-Game colorfully describes the Twins’ ability to be on the cusp of scoring with the bases loaded but then, uh, failing to attain the desired result.