The Twins got back on track Monday night with an 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, getting two big home runs from Willi Castro and Royce Lewis and a better performance out of Pablo Lopez, who improved to 11-8 with an ERA still on the high side at 4.67.
No matter. It was a win and the Twins can move on from their disappointing four-game split with the Cleveland Guardians. They swept a doubleheader from the Guards on Friday, but lost Saturday and Sunday, so they remain 3.5 games back of the division leaders.
Castro hit a three run blast, Lewis followed with a two-run dinger and Lopez allowed just three runs (two earned) across six innings to produce another quality start. Relievers Griffin Jax, Trevor Richards and newcomer Scott Blewett limited the Royals to two hits the rest of the way.
With Chris Paddack and Joe Ryan sidelined by injuries, top pitching prospect Daniel Zebulon Matthews, better known as “Zebby,” a name straight out of a Sinclair Lewis novel, will get the ball Tuesday.
More about Zebby Matthews from MLB Trade Rumors:
“Matthews, the Twins’ eighth-round pick in 2022, posted sub-2.00 ERAs in both High-A and Double-A before his recent promotion to Triple-A. He’s had two solid starts and two rough starts at the top minor league level. Collectively, the 24-year-old has logged a 2.60 ERA with an impressive 30.5% strikeout rate and a staggering 1.8% walk rate across those three minor league levels. He’s fanned a hefty 114 opponents and issued just seven walks in 97 innings this season.”
Extra innings…
-The Twins are 66-52.
-Byron Buxton left the game early with right hip discomfort. Let’s hope he is day to day and not injured.
-The red-hot Royals player known as Bobby Witt Jr. hit the second pitch of the game for a home run, his 23rd.
-The Guardians took an 8-3 lead over the Chicago Cubs on Monday, only to see the lovable losers come roaring back to tie the game, then lose 9-8.
-I’m so glad the Twins took full advantage of the woeful White Sox by beating them in 12 of 13 meetings this season and were never blown out by them. The New York Yankees can’t say that, however, because they were clobbered by the Pale Hose 12-2 on Monday.
The New York Post on the loss, under a headline that reads, “Yankees pummeled by historically bad White Sox in embarrassing loss.”
“Nobody would call the Yankees an unstoppable force, but they certainly ran into an immovable object on Monday night.
“The result? Helping the White Sox in their quest to avoid infamy.
“A blowout may have been expected in a game pitting the team that came into the night tied for the best record in baseball against the team that had the majors’ worst record (by 16 games) and was trying to avoid company with the 120-loss, 1962 Mets.
“But it was the White Sox doing the drubbing, handing the Yankees an embarrassing 12-2 loss in front of 22,815 at Guaranteed Rate Field.”
White Sox pitching issued 11 base on balls and yet allowed only two runs. The Yanks, meanwhile, went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 16 men on base.