MINNESOTA TWINS 6, LOS ANGELES ANGELS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 16, 2016.

Batting stars:  Trevor Plouffe! was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second), a double and two RBIs.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a home run (his first) and two RBIs.  Eduardo Nunez was 2-for-4 with a triple.  ByungHo Park hit a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect inning.  Kevin Jepsen pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Yunel Escobar was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Cory Rasmus retired all eight men he faced, striking out three.

The game:  The Twins took the early lead.  Nunez led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a ground out.  Joe Mauer then singled, and two-out singles by Plouffe! and Arcia produced another run, making it 2-0 Twins.

The lead didn’t last long.  Los Angeles had six consecutive batters reach with one out in the second.  Singles by C. J. Cron, Andrelton Simmons, and Geovany Soto loaded the bases, followed by a two-run double by Cliff Pennington and a two-run single by Escobar.  Rafael Ortega walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.

The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the bottom of the second, but a double play ended the inning.  Plouffe! homered in the third to cut the lead to 4-3.  They tied it in the fifth.  Brian Dozier singled and stole second.  Miguel Sano walked with one out and Plouffe! came through again, hitting an RBI double.  The Twins had men on second and third, but could do no more, and it remained tied at 4-4.

The Angels put men on first and second with two out in the seventh but did not score.  In the eighth, Arcia and Park hit back-to-back home runs to put the Twins up 6-4.  Los Angeles got a one-out walk in the ninth, but did not advance the man past first and the Twins came away with the victory.

WP:  Ryan Pressly (1-0).

LP:  Joe Smith (0-1).

S:  Kevin Jepsen (2).

Notes:  John Ryan Murphy was behind the plate.  He was the semi-regular catcher at the beginning of the year, but quickly lost the job and was sent to AAA, with Kurt Suzuki taking over regular catching duties.  ByungHo Park was at first base, with Joe Mauer at DH.  Those roles were reversed more often than not.  Eduardo Nunez was at short.  He would make the all-star team, but be traded to San Francisco later in the season for Adalberto Mejia.  Eduardo Escobar had the most games at shortstop, with 71.  Oswaldo Arcia was in left.  He would be traded to Tampa Bay in June.  Robbie Grossman made the most games in left, with 75.  Eddie Rosario would play 57 games there.  Rosario started in center.  Byron Buxton had the most games in center at 92, with Danny Santana playing there 40 times.  Miguel Sano was in right field, as the Twins made a misbegotten attempt to make him outfielder.  Max Kepler was the regular right fielder.

As you can see, the Twins roster was in a state of flux in 2016, and it showed up in their record below.

Eduardo Nunez was batting .692.  He would finish at .296, then be traded.  Joe Mauer was batting .359.  He would finish at .261.  

Ryan Pressly had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 3.70

C. J. Cron went 1-for-4 for the Angels.  He would play for the Twins in 2019.  Andrelton Simmons went 1-for-4 for the Angels.  He would play for the Twins in 2021.

It’s a shame that ByungHo Park was never really healthy in his time with the Twins.

Ricky Nolasco started for the Twins and did well except for the second inning.  He did that a lot with the Twins in 2016, where he pitched well “except for” this or that.  But the exceptions made him 4-8, 5.13.  He was traded to the Angels in August.

Kevin Jepsen would lose the closer role to Brandon Kintzler, then be traded to Tampa Bay in early July.

Record:  Los Angeles was 5-6, tied for second with Seattle in the AL West, one game behind Texas.  They would finish 74-88, in fourth place, 21 games behind Texas.

The Twins were 2-9, in fifth (last) place in the AL Central, six games behind Chicago and Kansas City.  They would finish 59-103, in fifth (last) place, 35.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 22-16 (.579).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN LOS ANGELES

Date:  Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

Batting stars:  Byron Buxton was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Gilberto Celestino was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  None.

Opposition stars:  Will Smith was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Justin Turner was 2-for-4 with a double.  Max Muncy was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Trea Turner was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Julio Urias struck out eight in seven innings, giving up one run on five hits.

The game:  With two out in the first, Freddie Freeman walked and scored on Smith’s double.  The Twins tied it in the second when Gio Urshela hit a one-out triple and scored on a Gilberto Celestino single.

That was as good as it would get for the Twins.  In the bottom of the second, Gavin Lux singled with one out in the first, followed by doubles by Joey Gallo and Cody Bellinger.  With two out, Trea Turner hit another double, and it was 4-1 Los Angeles.  Muncy homered in the third to make it 5-1, and in the fourth Mookie Betts singled, went to third on a stolen base–plus-error, and scored on a ground out to make it 6-1.

The Twins finally got the Dodgers out a few times, but they added to their lead again in the seventh.  Freeman and Smith singled, putting runners on the corners.  Muncy doubled home a run and another scored on a ground out, making it 8-1.

The Twins got two back in the eighth when Nick Gordon singled and Buxton hit a two-run homer.  But the Dodgers scored two of their own in the bottom of the eighth on doubles by Trayce Thompson and Trea Turner and a single by Smith, bringing it to the final score of 10-3.  The Twins went down meekly in the ninth, as Caleb Ferguson came in to strike out the side.

WP:  Julio Urias (12-6).

LP:  Joe Ryan (8-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Sandy Leon was behind the plate for the Twins in this game.  Gary Sanchez had the most appearances at catcher in 2022, with Ryan Jeffers also seeing significant time there.  Byron Buxton was at DH.  The Twins did not have a regular DH.  Among those seeing significant time there were Luis Arraez (38 games), Buxton (35), Sanchez (33), and Jose Miranda (31).

The only .300 hitter the Twins had was Luis Arraez, who won the first of his three (and counting) batting titles at .316.  He did not play in this game.

Joey Gallo was 1-for-4 in this game.  He would go on to play for the Twins in 2023.  It amazes me that he was still in the majors this year when he hasn’t batted over .200 since 2019.

We forget quickly, or at least I do, but Gilberto Celestino was actually pretty much the regular center fielder that year, playing 90 games there.  Byron Buxton had 57 games there, Nick Gordon 38, and Mark Contreras 13.

The legendary Sandy Leon came to the Twins in a trade for Ian Hamilton, who has gone on to have two fine years for the Yankees since the trade.

By game scores, this was the second-worst start Joe Ryan had in 2022.  He pitched five innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and a walk and struck out four.

Record:  Los Angeles was 76-33, in first place in the NL West, 16 games ahead of San Diego.  The would finish 111-51, in first place, 22 games ahead of San Diego.

The Twins were 57-52, tied for first place with Cleveland in the AL Central.  They would finish 78-84, in third place, 14 games behind Cleveland.  After this game, the Twins would go 21-32 while Cleveland went 35-18.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 21-16 (.568).

ANAHEIM ANGELS 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 29, 1998.

Batting star:  Marty Cordova was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and two walks and striking out one.  Hector Carrasco pitched a scoreless inning, walking two and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Gary Disarcina was 3-for-4.  Jim Edmonds was 2-for-4 with a home run (his tenth), a walk, and two RBIs.  Chuck Finley struck out ten in 8.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk.

The game:  Each team only got one man as far as second base in the first three innings.  In the fourth, however, Edmonds led off with a home run.  With two out, Garret Anderson and Matt Walbeck hit consecutive doubles to make the score 2-0 Anaheim.

Disarcina and Darin Erstad opened the fifth with singles.  They advanced to second and third on a ground out, leading to an intentional walk to Edmonds.  The strategy worked, as a double play ended the inning.  In the seventh, however, Disarcina again led off with a single, and this time he scored on a two-out double by Edmonds, putting the Angels up 3-0.

The Twins were able to do very little off Finley.  Todd Walker hit a two-out double in the third, but he was the only Twin to get past first base until the eighth.  Cordova led off with a single and Terry Steinbach doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  All the Twins were able to do, however, was score one on a ground out, cutting the lead to 3-1.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Finley (5-2).

LP:  Hawkins (3-5).

S:  Troy Percival (13).

Notes:  Ron Coomer was at first base.  He alternated between first and third that year, spending most of his time at third.  David Ortiz had the most games at first base, with Orlando Merced also seeing significant time there.  Jon Shave was at third in this game.  Matt Lawton, who usually played right, was in center, with Alex Ochoa in right and Otis Nixon out due to injury.  Nixon would return to the lineup the next day after a month on the disabled list.

Todd Walker was batting .371.  He would finish at .316.

Eddie Guardado had an ERA of 2.72.  He would finish at 4.52.  Guardado was not the closer yet, as the Twins still had Rick Aguilera.

Matt Walbeck went 1-for-3 with a walk for Anaheim.  He had played for the Twins from 1994-1996.

You may remember that it was years before the Twins could get an earned run off Troy Percival.  He was an excellent closer, of course, but he was seemingly at his best against Minnesota.  For his career, the Twins batted .119/.234/.169 against him in 160 at-bats.

Jon Shave played in 19 games for the Twins in 1998, fifteen of them at third.  He didn’t do badly, batting .250/.302/.400.  He also played briefly for Texas in 1993 and 1999.

Record:  Anaheim was 26-25, in second place in the AL West, 4.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, three games behind Texas.

The Twins were 23-28, in second place in the AL Central, 7.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, nineteen games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 21-15 (.583).