A sweep of the Detroit Tigers, a series win over the Toronto Blue Jays and a second series win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday has the Twins at 11-7 and atop the AL Central, a game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.
What’s next for this Twins team? A season sweep of the New York Yankees?
That might be stretching things a bit, but there’s no doubt that the sad-look Twins of the offseason now have the feel of a new-look team that wants to make a difference. Tuesday’s win provided the perfect example.
Byron Buxton had a four hit game, including two solo shots, scored four runs and drove in two more in the 6-0 win over ex-Twin Sonny Gray and the Red Sox.
Perhaps more impressive is what Portland native and pitcher Mick Abel put on display as he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts on 90 pitches. After a rough start, he is now 1-2 with a 3.98 ERA.
“It was outstanding,” Twins manager Derek Shelton told MLB.com. “I mean, in control the entire game, mixing and matching, fastball usage was tremendous. He used the changeup (against right-handed hitters). Just overall in command of his pitches.”
It was the Abel and Buxton show, but the Twins also got another dinger from Brooks Lee, two RBI from Trevor Larnach and two hits from Luke Keaschall.
The Twins go for the sweep on Wednesday. Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–Attendance for Tuesday night’s game at Target Field was 16,220, which is somewhat disappointing because the Twins are winning and the temperature was 64 degrees, according to the box score.
However, it was a school night. Still, if this team keeps winning and the fans refuse to show up, well, that’s on you Twins Territory, not the Pohlads.
–Gray’s line: Five runs allowed on nine hits, including two home runs, across four innings with a walk and a whiff. A rough homecoming for him. Gray spent two seasons with the Twins, 2022 and 2023.