The Twins had a ho-hum day at Target Field on Saturday, finally losing 4-2 to the Cleveland Guardians. The Twins have won the first two games of the series, so they are still in line for the series win over the Guards on Sunday.
But let’s face it fans, the Twins took a backseat after ex-Twin and current Marlin Luis Arraez went off, getting five hits in five trips to the plate, including three doubles, to blast the awful Oakland A’s 12-1. Arraez is now hitting .390 on the season. The Twins on the other hand scored a run in the first inning, a run in the fifth inning, but otherwise struggled to score runs, despite collecting eight hits.
Twins Territory knows by now that the season-long comparison of Arraez and Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez (the man traded for Arraez) is going to continue to roll on and, I have a feeling, is going to increasingly become harder and harder to stomach. Arraez is the defending AL batting champion and it appears he is well on his way to winning the award in the National League. Insert him into the Twins lineup on Saturday and the Twins win 7-4.
Joe Ryan gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings …
-Starter Sonny Gray absorbed the loss on Saturday, despite making a quality start. He allowed three runs over six-plus innings, including his first home run of the season.
-Reliever Jorge Lopez had another rough outing, serving up a home run with two walks in an inning of work. Cleveland’s ace closer Emmanuel Clase did his job, however, pitching an inning with two strikeouts to notch his 18th save of the season.
-Ex-Twins watch: Jose Berrios, now with the Blue Jays, also made a quality start in the Jays’ 2-1 win over the Mets on Saturday. Berrios didn’t figure in the decision, but he still went six innings and allowed only a run with three walks and six strikeouts. He trimmed his season ERA to 3.66.
-On June 3, 2017, the Twins’ Ervin Santana served up the 600th home run of Albert Pujols’ career in a 7-2 loss to the Angels in Anaheim. The Twins lost 103 games in 2016, but bounced back the following season with an 85-77 record and a wild card berth in the postseason. The Twins played mostly .500 ball in 2017, but they went 20-10 in August, which included a six-game winning streak, to clinch that playoff spot. One good month is sometimes all it takes.