The Twins lost to the Cincinnati Reds 7-3 on Monday. It won’t derail the Twins’ chances of winning the AL Central because the Cleveland Guardians lost Monday as well, but the game did act as one big reminder about what might have been.
That’s because rookie Spencer Steer, who once was a member of the Twins organization, figured so prominently in the win.
Oregon man Steer, who plays left field for the Reds, had three hits in four trips to the plate, including a double. He also scored a run and drove in one as well, giving him 82 RBI for the season. He leads all major league rookies in that category, according to Twins radio play-by-play guy Cory Provus, who shared that bit of information during the broadcast.
Steer and two other prospects were sent to the Reds in 2022 in exchange for starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, who in parts of two seasons made a grand total of nine appearances for the Twins and then exited stage left for Tommy John surgery. He is expected to return to action in 2024, but he’s also a free agent, so there’s a chance he leaves the Twins anyway.
Back to the game: Starter Joe Ryan took the loss and fell to 10-10 on the season because he struggled with this command, tossing 84 pitches, 54 of them landing for strikes. Dallas Keuchel, who apparently does not like to pitch in relief, followed him and wasn’t much better, allowing three runs over three innings.
Kenta Maeda gets the ball Tuesday.
Extra innings …
-Rookie Royce Lewis hit his 15th home run of the season.
-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli’s wife has given birth to twin boys Enzo and Nino, according to radio guy Provus. Congratulations to the Baldelli family and nice work on producing twins for the Twins.
-The Twins are 79-72 and still lead the Guards by seven games with 11 games to play. Their magic number is five.