The go-go Twins ran wild on the bases and smacked home runs left and right on Wednesday, but they did not get enough quality pitching so the Twins were edged 9-8 by the Toronto Blue Jays to lose the game and the series.
But on Friday, in Game 1 of their three-game series versus the San Diego Padres, the Twins’ Zebby Matthews made a quality start, the bullpen allowed just a run the rest of the way and the go-go Twins made the most of a dozen hits and four stolen bases to beat the Padres 7-4.
It’s an impressive win. The Padres are 15 games over .500 and two games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
The Twins banged out 12 hits, including two doubles and a Royce Lewis home run. The bottom of the order also answered the call as Austin Martin and Lewis had two hits apiece, Kody Clemens scored three runs and Trevor Larnach had a 3-for-4 day with two RBI at the very bottom of the order. It’s good to see Larnach get a few hits.
The Twins go for the series win on Saturday. Taj Bradley gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 61-73.
–Zebby’s line: Three runs allowed (two earned) on seven hits across six innings with no walks and three whiffs on 96 pitches. Reliever Justin Topa allowed one more run but bullpen mates Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk turned in clean sheets. Kody picked up his first save of the season and Matthews evened his record at 4-4. He still needs to chip away at his 5.06 ERA.
–The Twins turned three double plays.
–In Wednesday’s 9-8 loss to the Blue Jays, the Twins hit four home runs and stole five bases.
–Ex-Twin Luis Arraez had a hit, sacrifice fly and drove in a run for the Padres.
–The Blue Jays have a good team, but the Milwaukee Brewers are a machine. They took care of the Jays and Shane Bieber by a final score of 7-2 on Friday. Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta improved to 16-5 with a 2.58 ERA after he one-hit the Jays over six innings with a walk and eight whiffs. The Brewers are 84-52 and have a 6.5 game lead over a good Chicago Cubs team in the NL Central.
–The Amazins gave the Fish a hard time on Friday, scoring 12 runs in the first two innings, then reeled in six more runs in the eighth inning for a 19-9 filleting of the Miami Marlins. The Mets scored the 19 runs on 18 hits, including six home runs. Juan Soto connected for No. 33 and Pete Alonso chipped in with No. 31.
–Speaking of the Cubs, they took down the ridiculous Colorado Rockies, 11-7. The Rocks are 38-97.