The Twins tied their longest winning streak of the season at four games on Sunday after they swept the Texas Rangers on the road, including Sunday’s 4-2 win. The Twins now face the Cincinnati Reds for two games and then welcome the Cleveland Indians to Target Field for four more.
The one glaring problem for the Twins on Sunday is that they could score only four runs, despite 14 hits. A little more clutch hitting and the Twins would have blown out the Rangers. Instead, they were a dismal 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.
Still, they rapped out 14 hits, including a Byron Buxton home run, his 10th. Oregon State man Trevor Larnach, Jorge Polanco and Andrelton Simmons had nine of the Twins’ 14 hits.
Starter Kenta Maeda picked up the win, but he continues to be vulnerable to the home run. He allowed two more on Sunday, giving him a total of 13 over about 58 innings pitched.
J.A. Happ, who got knocked around by the Seattle Mariners in his last start, gets the ball on Monday.
Extra innings…
-The Reds are a lot like the Twins: They can hit, but they can’t pitch. However, they will face Tyler Mahle on Monday, who is 7-2 with a 3.39 ERA and 90 strikeouts, according to MLB.com.
-Something I forgot to mention: After their win on Friday, the Twins improved to 3-8 in extra innings.