The Moment: You know it’s a tight game when a late inning double play is the moment that sways the game. Mike Zunino, Wednesday’s hero, lined out to pitcher Taylor Rogers, who threw it to second to retire Robinson Cano and end the threat.
The Hero: As the game continued to putter along, the pressure ratcheted up. Thus, every at bat was more important than the last, and the most important at bats were in the bottom of the 9th, which Brandon Kintzler moved through with a reaffirming alacrity.
The Goat: In a complete 180, Mike Zunino went from the hero to the Goat in one game. That 8th inning double play was a doozy.
The Soundtrack: SB Nation Radio is talking about what might be the worst NBA Championship series of all time. So, so, boring.
The Story: Kyle Gibson has been a whole different guy in his few starts back with the Twins. Or at least, his luck seems to have turned around. The peripherals didn’t look very good for Gibson, but when do they ever? He struck out 4 and walked 3, but at least he made it through 6 innings. There is serious value in that.
The offense wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good either. It was…. evenly distributed. The Twins had 7 hits, and they came from 7 different hitters. Jason Castro hit a solo home run to start the scoring, and Joe Mauer had the at bat that resulted in the game winning run, but Robinson Cano gets more credit for it than Mauer.
The Twins are in San Francisco tonight, ready to face the Giants in a National League road game. They are keeping a short bench, for some reason. That may change when Jorge Polanco returns to the team. This weekend will be a fun test for Twins management, both on field and “general”.
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