The Minnesota Twins were probably looking to end this stretch against American League Central opponents on a high note by taking the rubber match against the Detroit Tigers. However, the Tigers came out swinging early and often against Zebby Matthews, and… well… if you were planning to write home about this game, I wouldn’t.
Detroit started the scoring off right away in the first. Four pitches from Matthews to three batters and the score was 1-0 thanks to a Kevin McGonigle (no relation to Professor
McGonagall from Harry Potter) almost-homer-but-ended-up-a-double, a Gleyber Torres fly-out to scoot McGonigle to third, and a sacrifice fly from Riley Green to bring him in. After sending the Tigers down in order the next two innings, the Kittens heated up again in the fourth: a Colt Keith (what an 1880s name) single brought in Dillon Dingler (surely he wasn’t teased about his name as a kid) and a Spencer Torkleson homer took the score to 4-0.
Thanks to the bullpen game last night, the Twins continued to ride Zebby for a couple more innings, whose velocity was down by a couple MPHs today. Torres hit a homer of his own to right field in the fifth while Keith hit his first bomb of the year – a two-run shot – in the sixth to knock the score up to 7-0.
The Twins offense notched a handful of hits here and there, but couldn’t piece anything together against Detroit starter Keider Montero, who made it into the seventh inning and was pulled in favor of Tyler Holton. Minnesota’s best chance to plate a run came here with runners on second and third with a couple outs and… well… they didn’t score, but Austin Martin struck out instead.
Cody Laweryson allowed a Greene homer in relief in the eighth while position-player-pitching Alex Jackson took the mound in the ninth to get knocked around and the final score was 11-0.
W: Keider Montero (3-4)
L: Zebby Matthews (2-4)
The Twins return home to take on the St Louis Cardinals (they’re good: 37-28) for a weekend interleague set, beginning with a 710p Central start tomorrow night. Joe Ryan gets the call for Minnesota while Kyle Leahy will go for the Louis of Saints. I like their alternate uniforms.
STUDS
- I guess Royce Lewis? 2-3, K
- Alex Jackson: Twinkie Town “Stud” Participation Ribbon for pitching
duds
- Zebby Matthews: 6 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, BB, 4 K, 3 HR
- the remainder of Twins that participated in today’s game, namely: Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton, Orlando Arcia, Kody Clemens, Josh Bell, Brooks Lee, Victor Caratini, Tristan Gray, Ryan Kreidler, Austin Martin, Cody Laweryson
COTG
falcontimmy was the only other TTer in the game thread today and kept the Twims honest, which I always appreciate.
Thank you for your time!
