The Moment: Is it just me or does it seem like there is some random guy on every team that the Twins play that just owns Minnesota? Like, to the point that it doesn’t really line up with that person’s career otherwise? For the Red Sox, it seems like Sandy Leon is that guy. It might be my imagination, but today, he hit two home runs, and the first one was a two run blast in the 6th inning that signaled to everyone in the Twin Cities, Minnesota and these United States that the game was going to get a little sideways on the Twins, as Boston took a 6-4 lead.
The Hero: The Twins actually would come back and make it a tight game in the 8th inning. The tying run was on third base, and there was only 1 out. Craig Kimbrel stepped in and struck out Joe Mauer (technically) and then he struck out Max Kepler. Craig Kimbrel faced two batters, and he positively swung the game more than anyone else in a 17-6 game.
The Goat: It was bound to happen. Ervin Santana finally had a dud. It’s not that big a deal, honestly. The Twins won’t be facing the Red Sox at Target Field again this year (except for in the playoffs!) and the team isn’t exactly falling out of contention. He gave up 4 home runs and walked three guys and was just not good. We can just hope it was a correction and move on with our lives. That’s what I will do.
The Soundtrack: Sober – Tool – I’m only sober because the game ended 6 hours ago.
The Story: Have you been reading along so far? This game was CLOSE every stretch of the way. Minnesota United won across town earlier in the day, and I just had this impression that the positive vibes would carry over to Target Field. There were two different comebacks, the first when the Twins scored 4 in the 5th off of Chris Sale, boosted by a Jorge Polanco 2 RBI double. Then again, the Twins scored a handful in the 8th as well, threatening to tie it up.
The Red Sox did not take kindly to this aggression, and in the top of the 9th, they beat the snot out of the Twins pitching staff. Boston scored 10 runs, sending 16 men to the plate. The Twins used three pitchers against the Sox in the 9th, and probably injured Justin Haley again in the process.It’s probably nice that they have tomorrow off.
So the Twins have made three big moves of late, swapping Danny Santana for Ehire Adrianza, switching out Kyle Gibson for Nick Tepesch and bringing back Justin Haley as they cut Michael Tonkin loose. This seems like a lot of change, but really, the Twins were nibbling at the edges. These changes weren’t causal, is what I’m saying. Shake it off. Get back on the horse on Tuesday.
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