Twins 3, Phillies 0: Sonny—Always

After an extremely frustrating series-opener followed by a solid Saturday victory, this afternoon’s tilt became the rubber match between the evenly-matched Minnesota Twins & Philadelphia Phillies. In the land of Rocky Balboa, it was the Twins standing alone in the ring when the dust settled.

Given first-ups on the road, the Twins took the opportunity to fly now first when Jordan Luplow homered to nearly straight-away CF to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

Keeping that eye of the tiger, the Twins added another single digit in the third inning—a Jorge Polanco single plating Ed Julien.

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

On the defensive side, Sonny Gray was looking to take you back to his April & May performances—and he did exactly that: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 7 K, 0 ER.

Of course, there truly is no easy way out trying to put away a solid team on the road. As soon as Gray departed, Griffin Jax immediately ran into trouble. After a HBP to Philly’s #9 batter, the Captain gave way to Caleb Thielbar for an epic lefty-vs-lefty matchup with Kyle Schwarber. Though running the count full, Thielbar won the war—striking out their portly leadoff man—and then received a reward from the home plate umpire to escape unscathed.

Ever vigilant, a similar Polanco-knocking-in-Julien sequence layered in some breathing room to set up Jhoan Duran’s entrance.

Though inducing some heartburn by allowing a leadoff single, Duran slammed the door thanks to a nifty unassisted double play from Joey Gallo.

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

At the final bell: Minnesota Twins 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0.

A Guardians victory keeps MN’s Central-leading margin at 4.5 games as the Twins return home for a two-gamer with the Tigers beginning Tuesday night.

Studs

• Gray—who’s breaking stuff was un-hittable this afternoon
• Polanco—who’s two clutch knocks supplemented the usual homer power

Duds

• Nahhh—not when you shut out one of the NL’s hottest teams since the All-Star break in their domain.

Comment of the Game

• I’m always tickled when fans think enough of this community to report live from the action.