Update: After nearly four hours of play, the Twins finally beat the Indians in walk-off fashion after an error in the bottom of the 11th inning scored the winning run. The Twins tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh and then watched as it was delayed by rain for two hours in the top of the 11th, according to MLB.com. Once play resumed, the Twins scored the walk-off run to win 5-4. Starter Tyler Duffey gave them six-plus innings, but surrendered four runs, all earned. Six relievers combined to shutout the Indians the rest of the way. Longview, Washington native Trevor May got the win, his first.
Despite the Indians deep rotation, the Twins and Tribe have had a close and competitive rivalry this season. So far they have met eight times and five of those games, including Saturday’s, have been decided by one run.
Other than the nearly four-hour game time, the only other thing that stands out is that Miguel Sano committed two more errors to give him 10 on the season. The Twins now have committed 65 errors this season, the most in the American League.
Sano: 5 errors in past 7 games at 3rd. If he were to field at that pace while starting 140 games, it would be 100, which is too many.
— Patrick Reusse (@1500ESPN_Reusse) July 16, 2016
Went to watch Triple-A baseball on Saturday — Tacoma Rainiers vs. Colorado Springs Sky Sox — and discovered that old friend Josmil Pinto is playing for the Sox. He’s currently hitting .350 for the Milwaukee Brewers affiliate. Pinto spent two seasons with the Twins in 2013-2014.
Former Twins outfielder Torii Hunter was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame before Saturday’s game. Hunter spent 12 of his 19 seasons in baseball with the Twins. Hunter was a five-time All-Star and nine-time gold gloves winner. Some career numbers: .277 batting average, 2,452 hits, 353 home runs and 1,391 RBIs.
Kyle Gibson gets the ball on Sunday.
We are underway after 2:05 delay.
Gomes fouls it back
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 17, 2016
Original post: The Twins on Friday lost 5-2 to the Cleveland Indians, a team just as imposing as the Texas Rangers. But the Twins had their way with the Rangers before the break, beating them in blowout fashion, including a 15-5 victory last Sunday. So Rangers’ pitching might be susceptible to some improved team hitting from the Twins. Now, let’s see how those bats fare against the No. 1 ranked pitching staff in the American League.
Twins' second-half opener is a dud: Carrasco holds Minnesota to four hits in Indians' 5-2 victory.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) July 16, 2016
After Friday’s loss to Carlos Carrasco, who improved to 6-3, the Twins will face Trevor Bauer (7-3, 3.30 ERA) on Saturday, followed by Josh Tomlin (9-2, 3.51 ERA) on Sunday. Fortunately, they don’t have to face Danny Salazar (10-3, 2.75 ERA), or former Cy Young award winner, Corey Kluber (9-8, 3.61 ERA).
How’s that for a five-man rotation? And all have contributed to an AL-best team ERA of 3.63, while also helping the Tribe rattle off a 14-game winning streak before the break. The Twins’ team ERA remains dead last in the AL at 4.97. The Twins have shown recent improvement at the plate, but the pitching… well…
Extra innings:
-Once again starter Ervin Santana wasn’t terrible, but once again he didn’t pitch well enough to get the win and fell to 3-8 on the season. And once again he didn’t get a whole lot of help behind him after Miguel Sano committed another error at third base by throwing wide of first base. This record has been played before.
-Second baseman Brian Dozier hit his team-leading 15th home run on Friday, but it was one of only four hits the team could muster against the Tribe’s Carrasco.
-Old friend Jeff Manship made a scoreless relief appearance for the Indians, striking out two. Manship was drafted by the Twins in 2006 and later spent four seasons with the team.
Tyler Duffey goes for his fourth straight win on Saturday.