The Twins have yet to lose three games in a row this season after they rallied to tie then beat the Oakland A’s in extra innings Wednesday night.
Almost immediately the Twins found themselves down three runs, but they responded with runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and then won it in the 12th, 4-3.
Starter Kyle Gibson struggled early but still gave the Twins six innings. Five relievers pitched scoreless baseball the rest of the way. Blake Parker got the win and Taylor Rogers the save, his 11th.
Jose Berrios gets the ball Thursday. However, it’s no rest for the weary. Wednesday’s game ended just before 11 p.m. on the West Coast and now the two teams are set to meet about 1 p.m. Thursday. It’s just barely a 12-hour turnaround before they are back at work.
Extra innings…
-Speaking of weary ballplayers, I thought this was an interesting observation from Strib Twins beat writer LaVelle Neal on Wednesday.
Personal observation: Today was a rare day in which I sensed a lack of energy in the clubhouse. I think the guys who came off the IL are still a little banged up. I think other guys are banged up, and they all could use the All-Star break.
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) July 4, 2019
I’m not surprised the Twins are tired because their season was front-loaded with days off in April, but there haven’t been many days off since then. Most of the team will get four days off next week, then they’re back at it July 12 at Cleveland, a key series to kick off second-half play. July, August and September look just as busy.
-In case you hadn’t noticed, Twins rookie, Luis Arraez, has quietly become the team’s best hitter. He went 3-for-5 on Wednesday and has 28 hits in 65 at bats this season. He’s hitting .431.
-Twins defense was a mixed-bag on Wednesday. The Twins turned three double plays, but also committed two errors.
-The A’s were 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday.