The Minnesota Twins sent RHP Jake Odorizzi to the mound for his 3rd start of the season and his 3rd start against the Kansas City Royals, too. That’s pretty crazy, huh? Jake has pitched better in every game as he gets more comfortable and ramps up from starting the season on the Injured List (IL) with a right intercostal strain.
The Royals sent LHP Danny Duffy to the mound and this is his 3rd straight start against Minnesota, too. It is his 6th start of the season, though.
Here’s how they lineup:
Twins Lineup:
3B Marwin Gonzalez
CF Jake Cave
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Miguel Sano
LF Eddie Rosario
2B Ildemaro Vargas
SS Ehire Adrianza
RF Max Kepler
C Ryan Jeffers
Royals lineup:
CF Whit Merrifield
2B Nicky Lopez
RF Hunter Dozier
DH Jorge Soler
1B Ryan O’Hearn
3B Maikel Franco
LF Alex Gordon
SS Alberto Mondesi
C Cam Gallagher
Both pitchers began the game allowing a hit to the first batter. The difference being the Twins got a single from Marwin then Jake Cave struck out and Nelson Cruz hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. The Royals got a double from Whit Merrifield then Nicky Lopez hit a groundball single past a diving Ildemaro Vargas. Odo got Hunter Dozier to pop up but it was almost directly behind 1st base so Miguel Sano had trouble finding it and Vargas looked like he was there but either didn’t call for it and/or didn’t want to run into the Big Man so the ball fell and Merrifield scored from 3rd. The next batter, Jorge Soler, homered to left field for his 6th HR of the season to make it 4-0 with no outs. Jake got the next 3 batters out to get out of the first but the Twins now had some work to do against Duffy. 4-0 Royals
In the top of the 2nd, Miguel Sano walked to lead it off. Rosario grounded into a force out, beating the throw to 1st and he eventually scored after he advanced to 3rd on an Ildemaro Vargas single to right field then scored on Adrianza’s RBI-groundout to 3rd. 4-1 Royals
Odorizzi started to pitch pretty well after that terrible 1st inning. He allowed a 1-out single that was another fly ball that should’ve been caught but got out of it with a popout and a groundout. The Twins got back-to-back 2-out singles from Jake Cave & Nelson Cruz in the 3rd but Sano struck out to end the inning.
The Royals were set down 1-2-3 via a groundout, a swinging strikeout and a flyout. The Twins got a 2-out walk but nothing else in the 4th. The Royals got a leadoff single from Maikel Franco then Alex Gordon hit a comebacker that hit Jake Odorizzi in the back of his right leg. He tried to stay in the game but ended up leaving the game and RHP Jorge Alcala was brought in to try to get out of trouble. Mondesi bunted past Alcala to load the bases. He got Gallagher to pop up to 2nd for the 1st out but then walked Merrifield to walk in a run but he struck out Lopez & Dozier to limit the damage to just the 1 run. 5-1 Royals
The Twins went down 1-2-3 with another Jeffers strikeout, a Marwin lineout and a Cave flyout. Alcala then cruised through the 5th. He struck out the first 2 batters on 3 pitches each, 1 looking and 1 swinging, then got Franco to pop out to 2nd for a 7-pitch inning.
Top of the 6th…
Sano earned a 1-out walk and Rosario hit a gapper to right center field but it was caught by a diving Hunter Dozier. Vargas then singled off the pitcher’s right leg but Adrianza flew out to left field to end the half-inning.
Alcala struck out Gordon swinging, struck out Mondesi swinging then got a good defensive recovery play by Marwin who had the ball bounce away from him but he quickly got to it, barehanded it and threw out the catcher Gallagher to end the 6th inning. He needed just 12 pitches in that inning.
Top of the 7th…
Kepler lined out to left center. Jeffers struck out swinging for his 3rd strikeout of the game.
We may have seen the worst called pitch of the season in the Jeffers at-bat, though:
Look at that 4th pitch, the green dot & green means ball! Most of that ball is in the middle of the strike zone! It was a 100mph fastball from Royals RHP Josh Staumont so maybe the ump didn’t see it?
Marwin walked but Cave struck out swinging for the 3rd out to end the top of the 7th.
RHP Zack Littell replaced Jorge Alcala who did his job very well tonight. He pitched 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit & 1 walk while striking out 6. Unfortunately, the 1 walk scored a run. It was an inherited runner so it doesn’t affect his ERA but he’s likely still not happy about it. Littell allowed a Merrifield single then got Lopez to ground into a force out at 2nd but gave up a 2-run HR to first-pitch hitting Hunter Dozier (3) to make it 7-1. Littell then hits Jorge Soler with a pitch and he kind of looked at his right arm after the pitch and he ended up having to leave the game due to an injury.
LHP Caleb Thielbar was brought in to replace Littell and Caleb has been a fun pitcher to watch this season for the Twins. He struck out 1 in ⅔ of an inning. 7-1 Royals
The Twins got a Nelson Cruz walk and another double from Miguel Sano, his 8th of the season and 6th in his last 5 games but Rosario struck out on a weird almost self-defense type swing for the 1st out. Vargas lined out to 1st for the 2nd out. A wild pitch scored Cruz from 3rd and allowed Sano to advance to 3rd but Adrianza struck out swinging on the 9th pitch of his at-bat. 7-2 Royals
RPH Trevor May took care of the 8th on 8 pitches going lineout, popout and groundout and that brought in Royals RHP Scott Barlow to try to close out the game.
Kepler grounded out to 2nd. LaMonte Wade, Jr pinch-hit for Ryan Jeffers and he struck out looking for the 2nd out and Marwin lined out to short to end the game.
#MNTwins 2, #AlwaysRoyal 7 | F
L-Odorizzi (0-1) W-Duffy (2-2)
The Royals are now 4-0 at Kaufman stadium against the Twins and the Twins need to win the next 2 to split the season series.
Randy Dobnak vs Brady Singer tomorrow at 6:05pm
&
TBD vs Kris Bubic on Sunday at 1:05pm
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