A day after lamenting the state of the Twins rotation, particularly young hurlers Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa, the Slim Reaper went out and proved me wrong, making a quality start against the team that bombed the Twins on Tuesday, 16-4.
But on Wednesday, Festa scattered three hits against the Texas Rangers, allowing just two runs across six innings with two walks and four strikeouts to help the Twins bounce back with a 6-2 win.
Festa gets a shoutout here, but the real star of the show was center fielder Byron Buxton, who made another diving catch in the outfield and then he stepped up to the plate and doubled, plus he hit a three-run dinger that measured 479 feet.
“We saw some things from our center fielder that you probably won’t forget,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told MLB.com. “Pat on the back to everyone who was at the ballpark tonight to be able to watch what he did out there. One of the more mesmerizing performances that you’ll ever see on a field.”
Buxton’s final line: three hits in three trips to the plate with a run scored, three RBI and a walk.
The Twins go for the series win on Thursday. Bailey Ober gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–Twins reliever Jorge Alcala was rocked by the Rangers on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the Twins said goodbye to the mercurial reliever by trading him to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a minor league infielder. The Twins also have picked up lefty reliever Joey Wentz off waivers.
No question about it, Alcala had struggled.
Across 22 appearances with Minnesota this year, he’s pitched to an 8.88 ERA with a 5.42 FIP and an elevated 13.2% walk rate, MLB Trade Rumors reports. Those numbers are certainly concerning, but Alcala’s 24.6% strikeout rate has remained quite good even in this down season and he entered the year with a career 3.64 ERA and 4.33 FIP.
Wentz was previously with the Pirates and Tigers. He had better days in Motown, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
He tossed 55 1/3 innings out of Detroit’s bullpen last year. The 5.37 ERA wasn’t great, nor was his 10.6% walk rate, but his 23.6% strikeout rate and 42% ground ball rate were pretty close to average.
-Ex-Twin Jose Berrios, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, continues to get the job done. In his last start, June 9, Berrios pitched six-plus scoreless innings against the Cardinals in a 5-4 extra-innings win.