The Twins salvaged the finale of their three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays, getting key contributions from their No. 6 through No. 9 hitters in the lineup for a 6-3 win on Sunday.
The Twins had 12 hits and Willi Castro, Ty France, Brooks Lee and Christian Vazquez had eight of them, including back-to-back jacks from Lee and Vazquez in the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead — a lead they would never surrender — en route to the win.
Starter Joe Ryan did enough to improve to 7-2 with a 2.96 ERA, but he has pitched better than he did on Sunday and I’m pretty sure he knows it because, listening to the game, it sounds like he was frustrated with the home plate umpire. He threw his hands up in frustration at one point and it sounds like Vazquez did the same to Ryan to get him to calm down.
Ryan’s final line: Three runs allowed (two earned) on four hits across five innings with three walks and six whiffs on 92 pitches. The bullpen, returning to its pre-Saturday form, pitched four scoreless frames, including closer Jhoan Duran, who picked up save No. 10 of the season.
The Twins are off Monday, then welcome Texas to town on Tuesday. They will face old friend Tyler Mahle who I hope gets booed and chased out of the game in the first inning.
Extra innings…
–The crummy news around Twins Territory is that the Twins have another injured starting pitcher in Zebby Matthews, who has landed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain. Simeon Woods Richardson has reportedly been called up to replace him. The rotation now looks like this: Festa, Ober, Paddack, Ryan and SWR. How much work can the bullpen take?
–Sunday’s win should’ve been a blowout victory because the Twins left 13 men on base.
–Something I forgot to mention: My son and I, along with some friends, attended the Twins/Mariners game on May 31. Prior to taking our seats, which incidentally were near a delicious fish-and-chips vendor on the terrace level at T-Mobile Park, we stood in the centerfield seats and watched the Twins take batting practice.
As we did, we noticed that Pablo Lopez was out shagging flies and throwing the ball back into the infield. In light of his injury, which was announced days later and has sidelined him for 8-12 weeks, should he have been doing that?
–The Twins are 35-30.