The Twins are 20-8 since a 4-8 start to the season in April, and victory No. 24 was a series-winning 9-2 blowout over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
The Twins took an early lead, then piled on late, taking advantage of six walks issued by Royals’ pitching. The top of the order was on fire. Luis Arraez had two hits, scored three runs, drove in two more and walked twice. He’s hitting .324.
Carlos Correa also chipped in with two hits, including a double that drove in two runs. Gary Sanchez hit his team-leading 13th double.
And starter Joe Ryan improved to 5-2 with a 2.28 earned run average after he allowed only one run over five-plus innings with six strikeouts.
The Twins go for the sweep on Sunday. Bailey Ober, who has been activated from the injured list, gets the ball.
Extra innings…
-Baseball essayist Roger Angell, whose writings about baseball appeared in The New Yorker and in published collections, died on May 20 of congestive heart failure, the New York Times reported. He was 101.
Forty-one years ago on May 21, 1981, Angell witnessed what would become known as “The Web of the Game,” his story about a baseball game between St. John’s University and Yale University that would go down as one of the most famous college pitchers’ duels of all time. Ex-Twin Frank Viola took the mound for St. John’s, while future Met Ron Darling toed the rubber for Yale. Twelve innings later, Viola and St. John’s emerged victorious, 1-0.
-Ex-Twin Josh Donaldson finds himself in hot water after he apparently referred to Chicago White Sox player Tim Anderson, who is Black, as “Jackie Robinson.” The two players had to be separated during the Yankees’ 7-5 win over the South Siders on Saturday. White Sox Manager Tony La Russa deemed the comment “racist,” according to ESPN.
More from the ESPN story:
“He just made a disrespectful comment,” Anderson said. “Basically he was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. ‘What’s up, Jackie?’ I don’t play like that. I don’t really play at all. I wasn’t really going to bother nobody today, but he made the comment and you know it was disrespectful and I don’t think it was called for. It was unnecessary.”
Donaldson, who said he told his side of the story to his Yankees teammates, told reporters that he would be open to meeting with Anderson to discuss the incident.
“My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter,” Donaldson said. “Obviously, he deemed it disrespectful. And look, if he did, I apologize. That’s not what I was trying to do by any manner and that’s what happened.”
Major League Baseball is looking into the matter and speaking to all of the relevant parties involved, according to ESPN.