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2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 137: Twins 6, Royals 2

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The Twins scored first in the 1st with a homerun by Aaron Hicks, his 10th of the season. KC came back to tie it at one in the home-half of the 1st, and didn't score another run until the 7th. Between those two runs, the Twins added five more, with Eduardo Escobar notching 3 hits, 3 RBI's, a 2B and a walk. Since taking over as the primary SS at the end of July, Escobar is slashing .313/.375/.565 with 19 extra base hits, 18 RBI and a 1.548 WPA. Nice.

Also kinda fun - with his homerun yesterday, Hicks is the 5th Twins player with double-digit homeruns this year, and Rosario (9), Escobar (9) and Mauer (8) are all within striking distance.

Also showing up to play was pitcher Tommy Milone who went 7 innings, allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 4. After a rather average August (1-1, averaging only 5.1 innings per start and 2.6 ER's per start) Tommy has now put together back-to-back 7 inning starts in September, earning his 7th & 8th wins of the season and dropping his ERA to a career best 3.54.

Minnesota is 6-4 over their past 10 games, 1.5 behind Texas for the 2nd Wild Card spot (and 2 games ahead of the Angels).

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 67 recap. Twins 7 Cubs 2.

Have the Twins turned a corner? After struggling the pick up wins in the last two weeks, the Twins have now rattled off 3 wins in a row as they beat the Cubs 7-2.

The Cubs defense gave the Twins some runs by playing clownball, but the Twins were hitting Cubs pitching hard all night long so in the end it didnt matter. Of the 26 hits the Twins have during this 3 game win streak, 13 of them have been for extra bases. Trevor Plouffe led the way with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. The only blemish was Plouffe being nabbed on the base paths twice. Joe Mauer looked like Joe Mauer with a hit and two walks (although one was a non intentional IBB). This were good for the offense and it was nice to see more than 2 or 3 runs scored in a inning/game

Phil Hughes was great tonight, only allowing 2 hits in 8 innings. Of course one of those hits was an Anthony Rizzo home runs because 1) Rizzo is good and 2) Phil Hughes is giving up a lot of home runs this season.  JR Graham pitch the ninth and gave up a Rizzo HR. Why cant the Twins have a young slugger on the team? Home runs are cool!

The Twins are now 37-30 and we in the homestretch to July. Its going to be hard to lose 90 games this year.

 

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 36 recap: Twins 3, Rays 2.

It looked like it was going to be one of those games where a Twins starting pitcher goes strong but the offense cant score enough runs.  But, thats not what happened as the Twins rallied in the 7th to win 3-2 at Target Field Friday night.

The Rays took the lead in the 2nd on a David DeJesus solo home run. The Twins answered back  in the 3rd with a Brian Dozier birthday blast. In the 5th is where things got frustrating. 2 outs and a runner on second and Kevin Keirmaier hits a soft pop up to left field. Eduardo Escobar looks like he had a play on it, then pulled up and let the ball fall in and Joey Butler easily scores. Im pretty sure Delmon Young makes that play.

I like Double E, but is it worth having a guy whose career batting slash line of .254/.297/.365/.662 and playing wobbly, but average defense out there when the potential future mainstay Eddie Rosario is up and sitting on the bench (although he made a pinch hitting appearance tonight)? I suppose if the team is winning more games than losing you dont want to rock the boat too much and keep the same guys out there.

Anyway, the Twins took the lead in the 7th on a Aaron hick single, Danny Santana triple, and Brian Dozier sac fly. Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless 8th and Glen Perkins saved it in the 9th.

 

NOTES

- Glen Perkins now has 100 career saves. Joe Nathan, Rick Aguilera, Eddie Guardado,  Ron Davis, and Jeff Reardon are also in the 100+ Save as a Twin Club.

-The Twins have hit at least 1 triple in 3 of the last 4 games (5 total in that span)

-Phil Hughes was credited with a win, his 19th as a Twin. Other Twins players with 19 wins include Keith Atherton, Matt Guerrier, Ron Davis, Roy Smith, and Scott Diamond.

-Did Brian Dozier score a run? Yes. He is now at 26 for the season. A little bit behind last years pace where he had 34 runs scored after 26 team games.
2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 30 Recap: Twins alot Cleveland not enough.

Mike Pelfrey was solid, Torii Hunter had his best day of the year at the plate, and the Twins continue to win more than they lose in a 9-3 romp over Cleveland.

I suppose this is a good night to have a discussion about Hunter. Most people, including me, did not like the signing. He is old, not a great defensive player, and threw players under the bus. He started off the season terribly, but has come on strong lately (batting avg up to .280 hitting more doubles and HRs). I am wondering if anyone has changed their opinion on Hunter? Or even softened their stance  to a grudging acceptance? I kind of fall into that camp. But then ii will take to Twitter and I just want him to go away.

Anyway, Hunter went 4-4 with 3 extra base hits (2 doubles and a HR) to lead the Twins offense.  He would have had 3 doubles but was thrown out by a good distance trying to stretch a single into a double.

Pelfrey had a wobbly start and Cleveland struck for 2 runs in the 3rd inning. but settled down and ended up going 7  innings. I'll take that from Pelf every start. Although the zero strikeouts are a bit worrying.

NOTES

-The Twins scored in 6 of the 9 innings.

- JR Graham finally got the Twins off the no strikeout schneid. The 1 team strikeout matches a season low, done two other times .

- The Twins had 6 doubles that is a season high.

- Every Twins batter had either a run scored, or an RBI

- Hunter now has 473 career doubles, tied for 74th all time with Carlos Delgado, Jimmy Rollins, Dwight Evans, and Ted Simmons.

- The Twins are 8-2 in the last 10 games. While Cleveland drops to a .367 win percentage, last place in the AL.