The Hero: Chris Archer is the latest of the Tampa Bay Rays aces. There was Scott Kazmir, then James Shields and David Price, and now they are succeeding with Archer. He worked into the 8th inning, striking out 11 Twins and scattering 5 hits. He was impenetrable.
The Goat: There were two Twins with the greatest negative WPA value, pitcher Ryan Pressly, who allowed the Rays’ second 2 run homer, this one belonging to Kevin Kiermaier, while not providing much positive, but then, Miguel Sano played the whole game and got the Golden Sombrero. I think that is much more goatworthy to me.
The Soundtrack: I Need A Girl – P Diddy – Actually, this song is not true in my case. I am happily married and even am at the in-laws in Iowa for the weekend. That is the opposite of needing a girl. Good luck to you though, Diddy.
The Story: The underlying theme in this game was the difference in the pitching. Chris Archer destroyed Twins hitting, notably Miguel Sano, who he struck out 4 times. Only Kennys Vargas had more than one hit for the Twins, while Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario (!) were the only two to avoid striking out.
Meanwhile, the Twins allowed three home runs, with each dinger coming off a different pitcher. There was a blast from Logan Morrison to put the Rays in front, one from Kevin Kiermaier to extend the lead, and one from Steven Souza, just because. The Rays only had one more hit than the Twins, but almost half of their hits left the ball park, which is not a way to win baseball games.
One advantage the Twins did have, however, was on defense. To their credit, the Rays tried really, really hard.
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