The Twins’ four-game losing streak is history after Pablo Lopez took the mound on Friday in Game 1 of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The offense didn’t give him a whole lot to work with — two runs scored on four hits — but Lopez made it stand, pitching seven-plus scoreless innings to help blank the Jays 2-0.
Lopez, looking every bit the ace we know he can be, scattered six hits over those seven and two-thirds of an inning with no runs, no walks and three strikeouts to improve to 13-8 with a 4.05 ERA.
“I think Pablo’s got as much experience in these situations as anyone we have,” Baldelli told MLB.com. “I think he likes being in these spots, he likes big opportunities to help the team [and] he thrives off of it.”
Lopez exited the game with two outs and two men on, but reliever Griffin Jax and closer Jhoan Duran took care of business from there. Jax got the final out in the inning on three pitches and Duran closed out the ninth for his 19th save.
Zebby Matthews gets the ball Saturday against old friend Jose Berrios.
Berrios has had a good season. He comes into the contest at 13-9 with a 3.72 ERA. He also is 5-2 over his last seven starts with a 2.98 ERA and has pitched 164 innings this season, which, if he was still part of the Twins rotation, would lead it by quite a margin. Berrios gives you innings and has been incredibly durable over his nine-year career.
Extra innings…
-So after Friday’s games, the AL Central looks like this: The Twins moved a game closer to the Kansas City Royals because the Royals lost; however, the Twins remain 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians who won yet again, despite getting no quality starting pitching. It’s better to be lucky than good, I guess.
-A little history: On Aug. 28, 1989, ex-Twin Frank Viola, now pitching for the New York Mets, bested Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0.
Sweet Music pitched a complete game three-hitter with no walks and five strikeouts on 85 pitches, or about nine pitches per inning.
The New York Daily News
“There was history before your eyes: incumbent Cy Young winners had never faced each other in a regular-season game. Frank Viola, Orel Hershiser, many, many zeroes.
“The scoreboard said the Mets squeaked by with a 1-0 win over the Dodgers last night, snapping their four-game losing streak and keeping themselves 3½ games behind the Cubs.
“But the pennant race was mundane stuff, at least if you like good pitching it was. Hershiser threw his sinker, Viola played with his changeup, only one walk between the two. You pitied anyone who held a bat.”
Sources: MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com