May 29, 2019

Twins earn a series split and a whole lot more

The Twins split their two-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, beating the Crew Tuesday night, 5-3.

The offense finally woke up late in the game and some familiar names sealed the win: Eddie Rosario hit his 17th home run and both Max Kepler and C.J. Cron hit RBI doubles. The Twins took a 5-0 lead in the seventh, then held on for the win.

Despite splitting the series, the Twins may have discovered a pitcher for the future. After Michael Pineda’s no-decision start on Monday, he landed on the injured list with knee tendinitis. In his place, the Twins called up Devin Smeltzer, a pitching prospect acquired when the club sent former second baseman, Brian Dozier, to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to MLB.com:

The left-hander, a fifth-round selection in the 2016 MLB Draft, had a 1.15 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 10 walks in nine starts with Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Rochester this season.

Smeltzer impressed in a no-decision start. He allowed only three hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. He exited in a scoreless game, then watched the Twins bullpen have another rough outing. The Twins took an early lead in Monday’s game only to see it go away after reliever, Taylor Rogers, who has been lights out for the club this year, gave up three hits, including a home run, and was hung with the blown save and loss.

On Tuesday, it was almost more of the same. Relievers Blake Parker and Rogers served up home runs, but Rogers did enough to get two outs, then Ryne Harper got the final out for his first save of the season.

Up next, the Twins fly to Tampa for a four-game series with the Rays that begins Thursday. Martin Perez gets the ball.

Extra innings…

-The Twins maintained their 10-game lead over the second-place Cleveland Indians after both teams won Tuesday. The Tribe turned an apparent Boston Red Sox win into a nightmare for Bean Town. The Sox were leading 5-2 going into the top of the ninth inning when Cleveland scored five runs in the ninth to win, 7-5.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.