The Twins snapped their six-game losing streak on Sunday with a 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. Bailey Ober had one of his best outings in recent memory and Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens connected for home runs No. 30 and No. 16.
But despite the win, the bullpen again did its very best impersonation of the Fernando Rodney experience, a reliever and former Twin who made a habit out of walking the tightrope before closing out games.
Cole Sands followed Ober and he secured five outs, but reliever Kody Funderburk loaded the bases on two hits with a walk. Justin Topa labored across an inning of work and finally exited with an apparent injury, and Genesis Cabrera loaded the bases again before finally securing that final out for his first save of the season.
The Twins now head to Anaheim to take on the Halos. Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 63-80.
–The injuries piled up in this one. Buxton is day to day with a left knee contusion after he was hit by a pitch and Topa landed awkwardly on the mound and now has left knee soreness, according to MLB.com.
–They join injured catchers Ryan Jeffers, who has a concussion, and Christian Vazquez, who was sidelined by a shoulder infection in early August. This means Twins pitching has new battery mates to get used to. They are Mickey Gasper and Jhonny Pereda.
–Kid Keaschall continues to impress. He had a hit, scored a run and stole two bases, including home.
–Ober’s line: One run allowed on four hits across five-plus innings with a walk and six strikeouts.
–The Cleveland Guardians, despite a negative run differential of almost 50, continue to hang around and remain in contention for that final wild card spot in the American League. They edged the Rays on Sunday 2-1 and are now two games over .500 at 72-70. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Well, it doesn’t matter because they are 2.5 games back of that final playoff spot.