The Moment: The Twins seemed firmly in control for most of the game, but it was touch and go at the very end. The A’s loaded the bases loaded on Brandon Kintzler, which meant the go ahead run was at the plate with only one out. Fortunately, Trevor Plouffe is still looking out for the Twins, and bounced into a game ending double play.
The Hero: Kennys Vargas got off to a good start, with a base hit that brought in two runs in the bottom of the first. Vargas doubled down — well, ok, he homered down, with a shot to centerr field that brought in three more runs. He’ll have to be forgiven. He wasn’t part of the slugfest on Tuesday night, but a 5RBI night is a pretty good consolation.
The Goat: Kendall Graveman was Kennys Vargas’s personal whipping boy. All 5 of those runs that Vargas drove in were the result of Graveman pitches. In this case, Vargas believes that the Goat is actually the GOAT.
The Soundtrack: Alternative is Dead – Suburban Legends – Maybe, but Ska is definitely dead
The Story: As you might be able to establish from the entirety of this post so far, the offensive story from this game was Kennys Vargas. His start to the season might make you believe that ByungHo Park will never make it back to Minneapolis. It’s possible, that that’s true. Vargas in a short season had 10 homers last year and he has 2 in 6 games this year. His .255 career average is hetter than most guys with his build. And he is a switch hitter. Vargas is a major leaguer, and the only reason he wouldn’t be, at this point, is if Park comes up and is even better.
So Vargas was the offensive star, but this might have been the best game for Byron Buxton so far this season. He was mind blowingly awesome in the field, literally flying too balls and keeping this from being a much closer game than it actually was. For that alone, Hector Santiago owes Buck dinner. And then, when he had a base hit, it turned into a stand up triple, as his line drive rolled all the way to the fence.
This is the Twins in their best form. Santiago was boosted by his defense, and even though he gave up a big home run, the Twins were able to plate 7 runs. It didn’t matter. This formula worked tonight, and has been working all season. The Twins are in first place.
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