The Twins’ Dylan Bundy, who previously pitched for the St. Louis Browns,* returned to the AL East on Friday and barely survived the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. Bundy’s line to start the game looked like this: double, double, single, home run and a walk before finally getting an out in the inning, courtesy of Oregon State man Trevor Larnach who threw out a runner at home.
Bundy wound up lasting six innings and struck out seven batters, but he gave up six runs on seven hits and finally exited after 94 pitches. He didn’t pitch well, the offense took the night off (one run on three hits) and the Twins’ seven-game winning streak ended with a 6-1 loss.
Chris Archer gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
-Carlos Correa had two of the Twins’ three hits.
-The Twins lost 6-1, but on April 29, 2006 they were blown out 18-1 by the Detroit Tigers. Twins starter Carlos Silva got blasted, allowing nine runs, all earned, in just two-plus innings.
“Believe me, everybody out there’s doing a lot of soul-searching, trying to figure out what we can do to turn this thing around,” said manager Ron Gardenhire about the loss and slow start to the season to the Star Tribune. “I would worry if we didn’t have characters. We’ve got good characters on this team and they’re not going to quit.”
Although the Twins got off to a slow start in 2006, they ultimately won the AL Central with a record of 96-66, one game better than the Tigers.
*The St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954. The Orioles find themselves in a much too familiar place: bottom of the division with a 6-14 record and already eight games out of first place. Looks like it’s going to be another long season for the Browns.
Source: Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com