The Twins’ Byron Buxton finally rejoined the team on Friday in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds, and he made an immediate impact, hitting a game-tying home run in the fifth inning.
The good times didn’t last long, however.
The Twins took that 1-1 tie into the top of the seventh inning and were clobbered.
Former Twins prospect and Oregon man Spencer Steer tripled, TJ Friedl singled — one of three hits for him in the game — ex-Mariner Ty France doubled and then superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz cranked a grand slam out of Target Field to make it 7-1. When it was all over, the underachieving Reds had walked away with an 8-4 win.
The Tigers blanked the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, so the Twins’ lead for the final wild card spot in the American League has fallen to 2.5 games.
The next two games against the Reds are must-win situations because if the Twins don’t win they then take their struggling act on the road to play the Cleveland Guardians. And winning there, based on how the Twins have played of late (struggling to score, so-so pitching) is not going to be easy.
Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
-The Twins are 78-69.
-The pitching loss went to Bailey Ober, who allowed five runs on six hits over six-plus innings. He falls to 12-7 with a 3.90 ERA. Reliever Jorge Alcala served up the grand slam, but shared in the damage with Ober; Michael Tonkin coughed up the eighth run.
-Steer’s performance, who also doubled in the game, has me thinking about other ex-Twins around the league.
Luis Arraez: How about that guy? As of Sept. 12, he hadn’t struck out in 124 plate appearances. A check of his Friday night game, which had not gone final as of this writing, shows he has not whiffed. In fact, he is 3-for-3 and is now hitting .321 on the season.
Brent Rooker: The former Twin who plays for the Oakland A’s is having some kind of season. Rooker is slashing .298/.370/.580 with 36 home runs and 102 RBI.
Sure would love to have both players back with the Twins.
-A little history: On Sept. 13, 1960, future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to edge the Washington Senators, 6-5.
The Chicago Tribune
“Nelson Fox, a sprightly convalescent only six games removed from an attack of virus, hit his second home run of the season with two out in the 11th inning Tuesday night — and presto! the Chicago White Sox were only two games out of the American league lead.
“The tobacco chawin’ little second baseman, who still is trying to get back up to his normal 160 pounds, had just enough oomph on his drive to propel the ball over the 352 foot sign a few feet inside the foul pole. Tom Morgan of Washington was pitching.”
Slugger Harmon Killebrew had three hits in the loss, including his 30th home run and two more runs batted in to give him 78 on the season.
Sources: MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com