Byron Buxton hit a grand slam in the Twins’ runaway win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, but it was the bottom of the order that really put on a show.
The six through nine hitters: Brooks Lee, Victor Caratini, Luke Keaschall and Ryan Kreidler were a combined 13-for-21 (.619) with 11 runs scored and nine RBI to power the Twins to a 16-8 win over the Snakes.
The Twins scored their 16 runs on 20 hits. They scored two runs in the first inning, four in the fourth and then poured it on with a 10-run fifth inning, which included Buck’s slam, his 24th dinger of the season.
That was plenty of offense for starter Taj Bradley, although he wasn’t at his best, despite the win. Bradley allowed two runs on three hits across five innings with two walks and four strikeouts. It appears that part of the problem is he needed 91 pitches to get through five innings. Still, he improves to 6-3 with a 4.11 ERA.
The Twins go for the series win on Sunday. Mike Paredes gets the ball, which might mean another bullpen day on the mound.
Extra innings…
–The 16 runs are the most runs scored by the Twins this season.
–The Twins were 11-for-19 (.579) with runners in scoring position and still left 10 men on base. That is a lot of traffic all game.
–Haven’t the Twins seen enough of reliever Justin Lawrence? Bradley gave the Twins five innings, Anthony Banda pitched a clean sixth and then Lawrence got the ball in the seventh and was awful.
His seventh inning sequence went like this: walk, wild pitch, walk, wild pitch, strikeout, walk, double, strikeout and single. By then the Twins’ lead had shrunk to 16-7 from 16-2. Do the Twins need a DFA candidate? I’ve got one in mind.
–What will 16 runs do for you? In addition to the win, the Twins have now scored the second-most runs in the American League at 384, just four runs shy of the Bronx Bombers. However, the Twins have also allowed the second-most runs in the AL at 404.
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