The Twins jumped out to an early lead against Mike Burrows in the 1st inning. Two walks and a single set up Victor Caratini with the bases loaded, who earned a painful RBI after he was hit by the pitch, scoring Trevor Larnach. Ryan Kreidler tacked on a 2-run single, giving Joe Ryan and company a 3 run lead and good vibes all around.
Ryan maneuvered around some base runners in the first 3 innings, but ran into serious trouble in the 4th. Three straight singles put the Astros on the board, then back
to back 2-out walks loaded the bases for Yordan Alvarez. The result was somewhat predictable, a game warping grand slam putting the Astros up 6-3. That homer, his 26th, puts Alvarez into a tie with Hunter Goodman for the American League lead. It is also his 7th career grand slam, the most of any Astros player.
That 6th run 4th inning was all the Astros needed, and all they got today in terms of runs. Ryan exited after that, with the Twins bullpen doing a good job of keeping them in the game at least. In the 5th, Josh Bell doubled a run in, scoring Kody Clemens. Unfortunately, that’s all the Twins lineup could manage, getting no base runners in the final 4 innings of the game.
Rubber match tomorrow, same time and location, it’ll be Taj Bradley vs. Tatsuya Imai.
Studs:
Kody Clemens: 2-4, 2 R
Ryan Kreidler: 1-4, 2 RBI
Josh Bell: 1-4, 2B, RBI
Eric Orze: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER/R, 3 K
Duds:
Joe Ryan: 4 IP, 6 H, 6 ER/R, 3 BB, 5 K, Grand Salami.
