The Twins cracked open a can of Whoop Ass last week and drank deeply from it to outscore the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays, 28-9.
They got a 15-3 win over the Bucs and kept pouring it on a day later to rip the Rays, 13-6. In Thursday’s win against the Pirates, two Twins were responsible for nearly half the runs.
Eddie Julien drove in three runs with three hits and Jose Miranda topped him with four runs batted in on three hits. On the mound, Bailey Ober cruised, blanking the Bucs for five innings on 61 pitches to improve to 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA this spring.
A day later it was the Matt Wallner show.
Although a slugger, Wallner appears to have found a home in the leadoff position because he drove in five runs, connecting for two home runs and a double.
“He has real thunder in his bat,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told MLB.com. “When he hits it and he barrels balls up, they do different things than what happens when most people hit the barrel on the ball. … When he barrels the ball up, they just go further and harder than anybody else.”
And pitcher Chris Paddack, back on the mound after a close call with a line drive, seemed no worse for wear as he struck out six across four innings, allowing just two runs on 50 pitches.
Extra innings…
-It’s not all good news for the Twins, however. In split squad action on Friday, the Twins were bombed by the Baltimore Orioles, 10-0.
David Festa struggled again, allowing six runs on seven hits across just three-plus innings. His spring ERA is now 11.91.
But the Twins came right back on Saturday and four-hit the Atlanta Braves to win 4-0. Simeon Woods Richardson was especially good, 1-hitting the Braves across four innings with no walks and two whiffs. In contrast to Festa’s surging ERA, SWR lowered his to 0.82.
-How about that Luis Arraez? The ex-Twin had a 3-for-3 day, including a home run, in a 9-8 San Diego Padres win over the Texas Rangers on Friday. Arraez is hitting .433 this spring. Of course he is.
-And fellow ex-Twin Max Kepler hit a three-run dinger and drove in four runs for the Phillies in a 16-9 win over the Braves on Thursday.