The Moment: The Twins had climbed to an early lead thanks to some timely hitting in the early frames. The Orioles were sneaking back into the game by the 9th inning, and had a runner on base while down by one, but Jonathan Schoop tapped it to Brian Dozier, who stepped on second and turned a double play. The game was saved one play later.
The Hero: It’s hard to imagine a much more successful outing for a closer than the one Brandon Kintzler had. The Orioles were threatening to come back after scoring three consecutive runs, but after a lead off single from Trey Mancini, Kintzler induced a double play and struck out JJ Hardy. Hi leverage situations, man.
The Goat: Not only did Jonathan Schoop ground into that backbreaking double play, he also struck out with two outs and the bases full in the 4th. How gut wrenching were those failures? Schoop hit a home run to narrow the game to 1 late in the affair, and he was still the most deflating player of the game. Those were some soul sucking at bats.
The Soundtrack: Take me Home Tonight – Eddie Money – All right, fine. You have proven yourselves worthy on the road, you can come home tonight, Twins.
The Story: SWEEP! ROAD SWEEP! That went pretty well, I would say, that little trip to Baltimore. Every facet of the team had their own time to shine. In Game One, it was the offense that exploded for 14 runs. Yesterday, the Twins got a spectacular start from Ervin Santana. Today, I would say that the bullpen had their turn to shine.
Jose Berrios will get credited with the win, but he was also the deliverer of three home runs to the Orioles, which is less than ideal. You never know when there will be a runner on base when a home run is hit the next time. Berrios was probably more lucky than good this afternoon, but after last year’s cataclysm at every turn, I don’t think he, nor I, will complain.
The offense was tapped out after just a couple of innings. Kennys Vargas collected two runs on a 1st inning single, and Eduardo Escobar fallowed up with an RBI base knock of his own. Max Kepler concluded the scoring when he hit an RBI the next inning. After that the Twins were done scoring runs. It became imperative that the Pen, who took over in the 6th, shut the Orioles down. And they did! 2 2/3 innings, 3Ks 2 hits and a walk, and the game, and the series were over. The Twins are off tomorrow, so talk to your children.
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