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Louie Varland put together his best start of the season tonight, if only he could get some run support. The Padres weren’t able to get to him until the 4th inning. Juan Soto hit a 1-out double and was later driven in by a Matt Carpenter single giving the Padres a 1-0 lead.
The Twins lineup was having their own issues with San Diego starter Michael Wacha tonight, but also broke through in the 4th. After two walks, Jose Miranda turned on an inside fastball for an RBI double into the left field corner.
Varland tossed scoreless 5th and 6th innings, ending his night on a high note. His final line was: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.
The 7th inning, unfortunately, was calamitous for the Twins. Griffin Jax entered the game, then Ha-Seoung Kim reached on an error by the first baseman Alex Kirilloff. After a walk to Trent Grisham, Kim stole 3rd base. then Austin Nola bunted a run in. Fernando Tatis hit a grounder to short, and Correa got the out at 2nd. With 2 outs now, Tatis stole 2nd and went to 3rd on a throwing error by the catcher Christian Vazquez. After a 5-pitch walk to Jakle Cronenworth, Vazquez tried to throw Tatis out at 3rd, but he hit him with the ball and Tatis walked home, giving the Padres a 3-1 lead.
Joey Gallo and Nick Gordon singled in the bottom of the 7th, but back to back strikeouts by Kepler and Correa ended that threat, to a smattering of boos from the fans.
In the 9th inning, Jorge Alcala came in and gave up a 2-out 3-run homer to Manny Machado, making it a 6-1 game. The Twins put a couple baserunners on in the bottom half but nothing came of it, ending the game at 6-1.
The Twins fall to 19-17, and have lost 5 of their last 7. We can only hope the offense figures itself out soon.
Studs:
Louie Varland: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Duds:
Carlos Correa: 0-5, 6 LOB
Max Kepler: 0-4
Jorge Alcala: 1.0 IP, 3 H, BB, 3 ER, HR
Christian Vazquez: 2 errors in the 7th inning
Comment of the game: Brandon Brooks
“This may be a hot take, but I think it’s going to come down to a heated game of Dominion”
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