The Twins took two of three games from the Detroit Tigers but were denied the sweep on Wednesday after Tiger pitching silenced the Twins in a 4-1 victory.
Despite the two wins, it was a lackluster series. The Twins scored 11 runs in three games, or about four runs per game (which is right around the team’s average this season), and that isn’t going to win you a lot of ballgames.
The American League Central is the weakest division in baseball. Four of five teams have losing records, so if the Twins want to make up ground in the division, they need to sweep teams like the Tigers, or Royals, or White Sox, or Indians.
The Twins are off Thursday, then hit the road to play the Seattle Mariners. Fernando Romero gets the ball Friday.
Extra innings…
-Falvey & Co. continue to work behind the scenes to strengthen the Twins. With sluggers Miguel Sano on the disabled list and Logan Morrison hitting right around Mendoza, the Twins acquired former National League home run champion Chris Carter from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday. Carter hit 41 dingers for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016. He has been assigned to Triple-A Rochester, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
-The Twins Almanac reminded Twins fans this week that Monday was the anniversary of a pitchers’ duel between Yale University’s Ron Darling and St. John’s University’s Frank Viola in May 1981. In the stands that day sat celebrated baseball scribe, Roger Angell, who captured the moment in a story titled, “The Web of the Game.”
Yale's Ron Darling and @StJohnU's @FrankViola16 locked horns in one of the greatest pitchers' duels of all time on this date in 1981. pic.twitter.com/SfXVZvciAS
— The Twins Almanac (@TwinsAlmanac) May 21, 2018
Both Darling and Viola would be drafted by major league teams and have successful big league careers. Darling would go on to win 136 games in the bigs, including 17 for the New York Mets in 1988. Viola, better known as “sweet music” to Twins fans, would win 176 games, including 24 for the Twins in 1988.