The Twins used a big inning to nab their first win of the season last week, and they did it again Saturday with a six-run fourth inning to top the Houston Astros, 6-1.
They now go for their second series win on Sunday. Chris Paddack gets the ball.
The Astros’ Jose Altuve homered in the first inning to give the Houston club a 1-0 lead, but the Twins soon came roaring back, capping the fourth inning with a three-run blast from Jose Miranda. Former Baltimore Orioles Manager Earl Weaver would love this team because all they seem to do is clear the bases with three-run shots. Harrison Bader has two already.
On the mound, Bailey Ober, who pitched under less than perfect conditions in his last start and paid for it, didn’t come away with a decision, but he still limited the Astros to one run across four innings with five strikeouts. The bullpen — the bullpen that continues to be talked about — then pitched five innings of shutout baseball. Reliever Cole Sands picked up the win. The Astros struck out 13 times as a team because the Twins’ bullpen stepped up with eight whiffs of their own.
Meanwhile, the Twins lost their home opener on Thursday, 5-2, a loss that would appear to land entirely on starting pitcher Joe Ryan’s shoulders.
Ryan struck out six with no walks, but he also served up two dingers and balked two runners into scoring position, who then came home to score after a seeing-eye single worked its way through the infield. He is now 0-1 on the season with a 4.50 ERA.
Extra innings…
-Although Ober didn’t get the win, he still cut his ERA by more than half, from 27.00 to 12.15 after Saturday’s start.
-Attendance for the home opener was 36,783, which is disappointing because I don’t believe that is a sellout at Target Field. However, it was 42 degrees at first pitch.
-And now for something completely different: We spent spring break in Maui and while there we met two Minnesotans behind the counter at the Kihei location of Auntie Snorkel, a snorkel and beach gear rental business on South Kihei Road.
So if you’re from Minnesota or a Twins fan, stop in and say hello to Dave and Sarah. Dave said he’s from the Twin Cities area, while Sarah is from Burnsville. We rented snorkel gear for the week and it was super reasonable. Check ’em out.
I say super reasonable because Maui is expensive, in particular the Kihei/ Wailea area. After paying top dollar for food and golf, I was pleasantly surprised by the rates at Auntie Snorkel.