For a change of pace, the Twins found some offense on Saturday in their game against the Chicago Cubs. The only problem is that the Cubs did, too, after they scored 14 runs on 20 hits in a 14-9 win over the Twins. The Twins will now try to stave off the sweep on Sunday.
Allow me to digress a moment: Remember when the Cubs were terrible year after year after year? Those days appear to be long gone because they had no trouble carving up Twins pitching for plenty of hits and runs. And they did it without a home run on Saturday. Instead, the Cubs hit three doubles and 17 singles and still drove in 14 runs.
Take note, Minnesota: With runners in scoring position, the Cubs hit .500, or 11-for-22.
Lance Lynn gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings…
-Starter Adalberto Mejia didn’t figure in the decision on Saturday, but he still didn’t pitch very well. He gave up four runs in four innings, with three walks and one strikeout and was lifted after 79 pitches. That’s too bad because Mejia had pitched well at Triple-A Rochester before he was recalled.
-Recent call up Willians Astudillo made a more auspicious debut after he spelled Eddie Rosario in left field. Rosario left the game due to heat exhaustion (as did Bobby Wilson and Max Kepler) and Astudillo filled in nicely with an RBI single. In the minors, Astudillo showed that he doesn’t strike out a lot, or draw walks, but he can hit. Before he was called up, he hit .290 at Triple-A Rochester.
-Joe Mauer apparently likes to play the Cubs. In two games, Mauer has five hits and 8 RBI.