The Minnesota Twins will start today’s game with relief pitcher RHP Matt Wisler as an opener. Wisler has been pretty good this year for the Twins. They claimed him off waivers from the Seattle Mariners in the offseason because they liked his slider. Well, he’s made it work so far this season. In 6 innings, he’s allowed 6 hits & 2 runs/earned runs (both on HRs) while walking 5 & striking out 10 for a 1.80 ERA & a 1.100 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched).
This is what we said about Bubic in last night’s Game Recap…
“Bubic is a 22-year-old rookie who was a 2018 1st Round (Competitive Balance A) pick (40th Overall) from Stanford who hasn’t pitched above High-A ball in the minors but was very good there. He had a 2.30 ERA, 1.01 WHIP & 110 strikeouts in 101.2 innings in 17 starts in the Carolina League for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. This will be his 4th career Major-League start.”
Twins Lineup:
SS Jorge Polanco
C Mitch Garver
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Eddie Rosario
2B Marwin Gonzalez
1B Miguel Sano
RF Max Kepler
CF Byron Buxton
3B Ehire Adrianza
Royals lineup:
CF Whit Merrifield
2B Nicky Lopez
C Salvador Perez
DH Jorge Soler
RF Hunter Dozier
1B Ryan McBroom
3B Maikel Franco
LF Alex Gordon
SS Alberto Mondesi
Matt Wisler did his job. He pitched 2 innings and then handed the ball off to LHP Devin Smeltzer. Wisler Wisle’d while he worked, allowing just a walk while also hitting a batter but striking out 3 to lower his ERA to 1.50 and his WHIP to 1.00.
The Twins got a Jorge Polanco single up the middle to lead off the bottom of the 1st but Mitch Garver hit the ball hard but right to the shortstop to empty the bases on a 6-4-3 double play. Rosario then lined out to end the 1st inning. They went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 2nd.
Devin Smeltzer allowed a 2-out single in the top of the 3rd but got Perez to ground out to end the inning. Jorge Polanco hit his 2nd single of the game with 2 outs but Mitch Garver took a 1-2 fastball low & inside to end the 3rd inning.
Smeltzer then struck out the side on swinging strikeouts in the 4th and…
In the bottom of the 4th, Nelson Cruz hit his 7th HR of the season, a solo shot off the facing of the 2nd deck in left field. It is Target Field and Cruz is trying to hit things out there. 2 walks sandwiched a Miguel Sano swinging strikeout and brought Byron Buxton to the plate and he hit a line-drive RBI-single to score Marwin Gonzalez from 2nd. 2-0 Twins
Smeltzer got a groundout to lead off the top of the 5th but walked Gordon then got a visit from his pitching coach, Wes Johnson, and got Mondesi to pop up to short and then got a visit from manager Rocco Baldelli as they must not have wanted him, a lefty, to face Whit Merrifield so they brought in RHP Tyler Clippard and… some more defense from left fielder Eddie Rosario. Merrifield hit a ball off the left field wall but Rosie played it perfectly so it bounced right to him so he could catch and go right into his throw and he made it look like that hit was a single the whole time. It wasn’t. A ball off the left field wall near the left field line would have almost every player in the league heading for 2nd base. That ended the 5th inning.
The bottom of the 5th brought a Garver walk and a Rosario single but it ended with Marwin striking out looking at a pitch that was NOT a strike:
Clippard stayed in to pitch the 6th and he gave up a 2-out double to Jorge Soler but got Hunter Dozier to ground out to end the inning.
Miguel Sano led off the bottom of the 6th with a double off the right center field wall and that’s very encouraging for Twins fans because he hit that double off a high outside fastball and he went with it, taking it the other way so…are we in for some more Sano soon in Minnesota? Sano scored on a Max Kepler RBI single. 3-0 Twins
Twins RHP Tyler Duffey came in to pitch the 7th and he entered the inning with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.25 WHIP. He’d given up 2 hits total in his 8 innings pitched before tonight. Roy Smalley jokingly asked if that WHIP was good. Then Duffey gives up back-to-back 1-out hits, a double followed by a single to have runners on 1st & 3rd so he struck out Mondesi swinging then got Merrifield to ground out into the shift to end the inning with no damage done. The WHIP went up to 0.44.
The Royals brought in RHP Jake Newberry and, unfortunately for him, that meant he would probably have to face Nelson Cruz. Well, he got Polanco to ground out and Marwin to fly out but he ended up with a full count to Nelson Cruz and what do you think happens when you have to throw a strike to Nelson Cruz? This Happens!
Twins RHP Trevor May pitched a perfect 8th striking out 2, one swinging & one looking, because… Trevor May Strike You Out…and You, Too!
Twins RHP Zack Littell came in to pitch the 9th. He gave up a leadoff HR to Hunter Dozier, got McBroom to fly out to right then allowed a Franco single but got Alex Gordon to line into an inning & game-ending double play!
The Twins will begin a 3-game Border Battle against the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow night at 7:10pm on Fox Sports North.
Here’s the Matchup:
Twins RHP Kenta Maeda (3-0, 2.66 ERA, 0.72 WHIP)
vs
Brewers RHP Corbin Burnes (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)
Thanks for reading our ‘Takes! We’d love to see your ‘Takes. That’s why it’s…
