July 29, 2020

Donaldson delivers as Twins top Cardinals

One of the biggest free agents of the offseason was Josh Donaldson, the power-hitting third baseman who spent last season with the Atlanta Braves, but previously was known as the ultimate Twins killer during his days with the Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays.

Now, Donaldson is hitting home runs for the Twins.

The Twins scored five runs early, Donaldson added a sixth run with a solo blast in the fourth inning, and the club held on to top the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, on Tuesday.

Starter Homer Bailey picked up the win, striking out four over five innings. Not only did he get run support from Donaldson, he also was backed by a two-run home run from Jorge Polanco and an extra-base hit from Miguel Sano. Max Kepler and Luis Arraez contributed a couple of hits, and Byron Buxton, who returned to the lineup on Tuesday, scored a run and knocked in a run.

Sorry to be scoreboard-watching, but the Indians swiped two from the White Sox on Tuesday and now lead the Twins in the American League Central by half a game. With such a short season, I already feel compelled to keep track of where the Twins are in the standings.

This is exciting: Pitcher Rich Hill, another free agent signing for the Twins, gets the ball Wednesday.

Extra innings…

-Center fielder extraordinaire, Buxton, made a rare gaffe in Tuesday’s game after it looked as though he had robbed a home run from a Cardinals batter. Instead, the ball bounced off the heel of his glove and went over the fence for a home run.

-Reliever Sergio Romo notched the save for the Twins. It was great to see Romo, who is now sporting a James Harden-like beard, slapping his glove and pointing skyward after he locked down the save.

-The Twins and Cardinals honored the memory of George Floyd with a moment of silence. That moment came at 8:46 p.m. local time, which is the same amount of time it took for a white Minneapolis police officer to kill Floyd after he knelt down on his neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds.

-The Twins also are remembering Ryan Costello, an infielder in the Twins organization who died last year. The initials “RC” have been attached to team uniforms.

Sources: MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com.

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.