What a difference 24 hours makes. The Minnesota Twins went from leading 5-0 and feeling pretty good about their chances of at least splitting, if not outright winning the four game series with the Houston Astros to getting downright obliterated in a split doubleheader on Thursday.
Oh, what a little (or a lot) of rain can do.
The Twins led 5-0 when the weather came on Wednesday night, and shortly after 10:30 p.m. the game was called. Records were wiped as the game had to be restarted on Thursday, since none of the following criteria for a suspended game applied:
All of that progress unraveled quickly as the Twins Game 1 starter Jose Berrios lasted just two-plus innings, allowing six runs (five earned) in yet another rocky start. One might have known the day was doomed from the get-go, as George Springer singled to lead off the game and scored on a Jose Altuve double. Altuve tried to take third, on a poorly-executed relay throw, and catcher Juan Centeno threw the ball into left — way, way over even Robbie Grossman backing up the play — allowing him to not only take third but trot home with a 2-0 lead just 13 pitches into the day.
Things got so bad that a position player even had to pitch, as Eduardo Escobar got into the action by throwing a scoreless ninth as the Twins fell 15-7 in the first half of the doubleheader.
Game two was hardly any better, as the Astros raced out to an 8-0 lead after five innings and cruised to a 10-2 win to take the series by a 3-1 margin. Tommy Milone got the spot start, and lasted 66 pitches through three innings before departing with a line of five earned runs on five hits.
Milone complained of shoulder soreness following the outing, and will have an MRI on Friday. That left a pretty blank slate for manager Paul Molitor to work with, not only because the team also placed left-hander Buddy Boshers on the disabled list between games, but because the skipper vowed not to use any pitcher in both contests. As a result, the cupboard was mostly bare, but that was OK as Andrew Albers — first the 26th man, then the 25th with the Boshers move — answered the call with 108 pitches in six respectable innings of mop-up relief.
Since it was a rough day — the Twins were outscored by an aggregate of 25-9 — here’s an attempt to skew as positive as possible, as we break down what we saw today:
Jose Altuve Remains Ridiculous
He was limited to just one hit in the nightcap (1-for-4), but ultimately reached base six times on the day. He ended the series with an almost comical season batting line of .365/.431/.572. Remember that ridiculous Joe Mauer season back in 2009? Well he hit .365/.444/.587 that year. Altuve isn’t that far off.
Eddie Can Bring it From the Mound!
Escobar’s clean inning was a whole lot of fun to watch — for those of us who got to, since the game was not televised locally — but it was more than just a novelty. Escobar faced four batters and allowed just one hit, but threw 16 pitches for 10 strikes and even got a swinging strike.
Overall, here’s what his game chart looked like:
There’s a lot of jargon on the page that most fans will want to skip through, but here’s the gist of it: Escobar threw seven four-seam fastballs, six cutters and three curves. Both the cutter (91.3 mph) and four-seamer (92.1) broke 90 mph as far as peak velocities, and the four-seamer actually sat at 91 mph on average for the seven instances.
That’s some gas for a middle infielder.
Albers Soaks it Up
Albers threw 108 pitches in relief — tied for the most in Twins history with little-known Oscar Munoz back on Aug. 21, 1995. At least that’s according to Twins PR. BaseballReference.com has Munoz with “only” 107 pitches that day. Munoz was working in relief of Scott Klingenbeck on that day, and here’s a look at what the lineup for the Twins looked like for that game:
Polanco Keeps Rolling
Jorge Polanco had four hits on the day, and his career-high hitting streak is now up to 13 games dating back to May. Polanco’s season batting line is up to .333/.378/.507, and he continued to show his defensive versatility by playing third base and shortstop. Polanco was the only Twins player with multiple hits in both games on the day.
Shaggy Rides Again
J.T. Chargois’ second appearance went much more smoothly in the big leagues than the first, as he tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, with a strikeout, a hit and a walk. Fourteen of Chargois’ 25 pitches went for strikes as he got eight outs on fewer pitches than he needed to get just two outs in his first outing (30). His career ERA stands at a cool 13.50, but more seriously, Brooks Baseball had Chargois averaging 98.8 mph with his two-seamer (peaking at 99.5), averaging 98.7 (peaking at 99.2) with his four-seamer and at 89.4 with a high of 90.4 on his slider. That’s some real cheddar. On the other hand — no swinging strikes, either. Baby steps.
Briefly
- Five Twins had multi-hit games in the first game, as Max Kepler, Kennys Vargas, Centeno, Polanco and Escobar had two hits apiece.
- Both of Vargas’ hits were home runs in game one, as he had the eighth multi-home run game of the year for the Twins. Sano did so in Tampa Bay on Aug. 7 on the most recent road trip.
- Escobar was the first Twins position player to pitch this year. Nine different players have combined for 12 appearances among position players pitching in club history. Recent players include Shane Robinson, Drew Butera, Jamey Carroll and Michael Cuddyer. Twins radio broadcaster Dan Gladden even chipped in once in 1988 and again the next year.
- This was the first series loss for the Twins since falling 0-2 to the Atlanta Braves in late July.
