There would be no walk-off win for the Minnesota Twins tonight, as the Cleveland Indians held off the to win 6-5 to avoid the sweep.
Joe Mauer lined out to end the game with Danny Santana on second, and Jose Berrios got the loss in his major league debut.
“We stayed with the game. We’ve been talking a lot about the close-call games that we’ve been here, the majority of our games so far, and tonight, no different,” said manager Paul Molitor.
“It was a good game, came right down to the last at-bat, and Joe, as he’s done all year, gave it a really good battle. We couldn’t get the last hit.”
Berrios pitched 4.0 innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs.
“Jose, obviously probably a little amped up. I don’t think we saw him at his best. He competed fairly well. Command wasn’t particularly sharp,” said Molitor.
“[Putting] the leadoff man [on] four of the five innings kinda bit him a little bit.”
Minnesota got on the board early. Danny Santana had a leadoff double, Joe Mauer walked, and Miguel Sano’s leadoff double, Byung Ho Park’s sac fly and Oswaldo Arcia’s single scored three runs in the third inning.
But Cleveland put the game out of reach by scoring two in the third and four in the fifth.
“We just couldn’t contain, and they put a four-spot up,” said Molitor. “We put up three in the first, which was nice to see to give him a little lead to work with. But then we kinda … our offense went a little quiet there until we put up a couple more late.”
Byung Ho Park continues to provide power, going 1-for-3 and hitting his fifth home run, tying Houston’s Tyler White for the AL rookie lead in homers.
“And knowing on a cold, chilly night, the ball wasn’t carrying particularly well,” said Molitor in disbelif. “To hit one off the backdrop like that, that gives you an idea of the man’s strength.”
Eddie Rosario had a mishap in left, which Molitor attributed in part to the wind.
“Rosario’s play, as he does fairly well, he tried to, on a difficult play, to get behind the ball to give him a chance to make a throw,” he said. “You don’t want to criticize that aspect, but catching the ball is a priority. And then hopefully you go from there.
“But it fooled him, and in trying to get in position, he ended up not making the play on the ball.”
Sano had a good day at third base, making throws across his body on the run in a display of both speed and body control.
“His body control plays are as good as anybody. It’s very impressive to watch when that ball gets put in play,” said Molitor. “he makes a play, and he’s got such a strong arm to finish with. He hasn’t had a of chances the last couple games, but he’s been very efficient over there.”
It will be curious to see how much he will play third going forward and how long Berrios remains in the majors. For now, the team has an off day before taking on the Detroit Tigers and trying to get themselves out of a 7-15 hole to begin the season.
