MINNESOTA 7, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE
Date: Friday, May 17.
Batting stars: Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), scoring twice and driving in two. Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with two runs.
Pitching stars: Martin Perez struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks. Matt Magill struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk. Mike Morin pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Edwin Encarnacion was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Dee Gordon was 2-for-4. Mitch Haniger was 0-for-1 with three walks. Austin Adams struck out four in two perfect innings.
The game: The Mariners threatened in the first inning, as Haniger walked and Encarnacion doubled to put men on second and third with one out, but Perez struck out Domingo Santana and Ryon Healy to end the threat. The Twins got on the board in the third when Adrianza homered. Seattle again threatened in the bottom of the third, as a Gordon single and a walk to Encarnacion put men on first and second with two out, but Santana hit into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
The Twins took control in the middle innings. In the fourth, singles by Gonzalez, C. J. Cron, and Willians Astudillo loaded the bases with none out. Kepler singled home one run and a one-out sacrifice fly by Adrianza made the score 3-0. In the fifth, singles by Jorge Polanco and Gonzalez and a walk to Cron loaded the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly-plus-error scored one and put men on second and third, and Kepler hit a two-run single to give the Twins a 6-0 advantage.
The Mariners scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth. With two out, Gordon singled, Haniger walked, and Encarnacion delivered an RBI single. That was as good as it got for them, though. The Twins added a run in the ninth when Adrianza singled and Jonathan Schoop doubled.
WP: Perez (6-1). LP: Marco Gonzales (5-3). S: None.
Notes: With Mitch Garver out, Jorge Polanco got the call as leadoff man. Gonzalez was in left field with Eddie Rosario on the bench. Adrianza was at third base with Miguel Sano at DH. Astudillo was the catcher.
Polanco was 1-for-4 and is batting .331. Perez has an ERA of 2.89. Magill has an ERA of 2.00. Morin has an ERA of 1.50.
As a starter, Perez is 4-1, 2.13, 1.00 WHIP with 34 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Over his last four games, Adrianza is 6-for-11 with two home runs, a double, three walks, and five RBIs.
The Twins again did not use Austin Adams in a blowout game. Magill and Morin had just pitched Wednesday, so it's not like they needed the work. I don't think they're saving Adams to fill three or four innings if the starter is pulled early, because that's not who Adams is. He's been a reliever since 2013, and looking at his stats it looks like he's basically been a one-inning guy, maybe two at most. If they're not going to use him to close out a blowout game, why bring him here at all?
Luis Arraez also did not play. It's possible that they wanted to give him a day to get acclimated, since he just got here, and that he'll play tonight. That would make some sense. But it will make no sense if they've brought him here to sit the bench. Granted, Arraez just turned twenty-two and he's only played three games above AA, so there could be some question whether he's ready for the majors. But I'm not the one who decided to bring him up. He either needs to play in the big leagues or play in AAA. He does not need to sit for two weeks. That does neither him nor the Twins any good. Major league roster spots are too valuable to waste one or two on players you don't intend to use.
Record: The Twins are 29-15, first in the American League Central, 5.5 games ahead of Cleveland.
Projected record: We're still on track for 147-15!