As Al Pacino said in “Any Given Sunday,” it’s a game of inches.
Of course, Tony D’Amato was talking about football, but it was true Friday night at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins defeated the skidding Detroit Tigers by a 6-3 score.
In the fourth inning, Max Kepler and Byron Buxton missed back-to-back diving catches by mere inches. It didn’t end up mattering much, as starter Kyle Gibson and reliever Ryan Pressly got out of the inning unscathed, but fans have grown accustomed to seeing Twins outfielders make those improbable plays.
Reverse the tape two innings to the bottom of the second, and the Twins missed going back-to-back-to-back by perhaps less than inches. Shortstop Ehire Adrianza hit a ringing double off the top of the left field fence against Tigers starter Matt Boyd, but had to settle for a double which moved Chris Gimenez — who had walked — to third base.
Brian Dozier followed that with a no-doubt homer to left, and Eduardo Escobar — who was playing with a heavy heart following the passing of his grandfather — kept the conga line going with one of his own, his 21st of the season.
“I’m definitely sad,” an emotional Escobar said through the team translator following the game. “Yesterday I was sad and even today I woke up sad. It’s tough to have to come here to work knowing that my family is suffering. But I talked to my mom this morning, and she told me not to worry about it, and that they had everything under control.”
Escobar said he got Sunday off to deal with the matter personally.
The Twins led 5-3 after just two innings, and then both offenses went basically dormant — save for a single run from Minnesota in the sixth on an RBI single from, who else, Escobar.
We’re not here to cast stones about what might or might not be going on with the composition of baseballs this year, but Escobar has 21 home runs after Friday night’s moon shot. Over his previous three seasons combined he had just 24.
That surprises even Escobar, to be honest.
“I have to tell you, I’m very surprised,” Escobar said. “I never thought at this point in the year I would have 21 home runs. But I think that’s a testament to all the work I’ve put in, not only on the field but in the gym.”
Nevertheless, it’s been not only a nice bounce-back season for Escobar, but a great second half as he’s filled in for Miguel Sano at third base. Overall for the evening, Escobar came a triple shy of the cycle, as his first inning double scored Dozier, who’d led off the inning with a drive into the right field corner that was primed to be a triple until he fell down between second and third before scurrying back to the bag, just barely under the tag.
Speaking of Sano, he made his triumphant return from the disabled list to pinch-hit for Robbie Grossman in the seventh inning, and grounded back to the pitcher. As he was announced as the pinch-hitter, the fans roared loudly with approval.
“They love me,” Sano said playfully after the game. “I was very excited, knowing that the fans cheer like that for me. I got one out of the way. Hopefully I can slide in at DH at some point over the next few games.”
Assuming Sano comes through everything feeling fine on Saturday morning, there’s a good chance he’ll start at DH in the second game of the series. “I felt very good in the box,” Sano said. “I swung at a changeup. I saw the pitches well, so tomorrow I hope to be in the lineup and play the whole game.”
Gibson started for the Twins, but he was not long for the game.
Actually, that’s only half true.
Gibson did not complete four innings, but the game was played at a glacial pace early, so in terms of time and pitches it was still a fairly normal outing. It really didn’t feel as much that either pitcher pitched all that poorly — frankly, neither was great either — but the game just had a very sluggish pace. The Tigers jumped on Gibson with three runs in the first before the tall righty could even record an out.
Ian Kinsler poked a single to center on a 1-2 sinker and came around to score when Alex Pressly drilled an 0-2 changeup to right for a triple. Nicholas Castellanos, who is in the midst of a monster second half of the season, bashed a home run to left, and just 14 pitches into the game, Gibson and the Twins were in a quick 3-0 hole.
But after that, it was smooth sailing for Gibson and six relievers, who combined for 14 strikeouts, two walks and outside of the rough patch to start the game, zero earned runs on six hits over the (final?) 27 outs. That sextet included Jose Berrios, who picked up 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and was awarded the win — his 14th of the season.
Matt Belisle pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his ninth save of the season, and lowered his ERA to 4.03 in the process.
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Notes and Quotes
- The win was the Twins’ 4,500th since moving from Washington D.C. to Minnesota.
- The Twins have beaten the Tigers six straight times and are 10-7 against them this season.
- All four second-inning runs for the Twins came with two outs.
- Castellanos’ home run gave him 101 RBIs for the season. He’s the 10th player in Tigers history to reach that mark.
- Escobar on his emotions around the bases after the home run: “It makes me proud being able to honor him that way. He means so much to me, and is probably the reason why I’m here today. He did so much for me and my family growing up. Being able to do that for him was fun and obviously now everything I do on the field will be for him. I believe he’s watching and I’m going to make him as proud as I can.”
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