Twins

6/15 GAME NOTES: Berrios Goes Eight in Twins 6-2 Win Over Mariners

Like Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios looks to catch his second win as we head into the dog days of summer.

In a first inning that mirrored yesterdays, only this time in the Minnesota Twins favor, the first out that Seattle Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda recorded was Minnesota’s cleanup hitter. Robbie Grossman popped out to former Twin Danny Valencia, but by then Eduardo Escobar had hit a two-run bomb. Chris Gimenez would hit a three-run homer later in the inning, putting the Twins up 5-0 and Jose Berrios took care of the rest in a 6-2 win to tie the series 2-2.

“To come back, split the series, which isn’t all bad after you lose two of the first three, obviously, and then Jose just going out there and really giving us a solid outing, getting through eight innings, it really helps your bullpen a lot — especially heading into four [games] in three over the next three days,” said manager Paul Molitor, alluding to the doubleheader that the Twins will play against the reigning AL champs, the Cleveland Indians, who also represent their biggest competition in the Central.

“A good win. Offensively, Esco [Eduardo Escobar] continues his little hot run here. I don’t know if anybody’s jumped that many points in June. But it’s been nice to see him contribute, and then [Chris] Gimenez had a big day too with a couple of homers.”

It was an impressive effort from somewhat surprising contributors, but it shouldn’t overshadow Berrios’ effort. In a series where both teams put up football-like numbers, a comeback could have been in order if Berrios hadn’t kept Ben Gamel, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and the rest of the Seattle hitters in check.

“I thought he was good. He had a couple hiccups, a leadoff walk a couple times, where command kind of blocked his progress a little bit. I think three of the five hits were on 3-1 counts, so we just keep getting those reminders about trying to pitch ahead,” said Molitor of Berrios.

“But yeah, he was good. We were trying to figure out how far we could take him, and given the cushion, while it wasn’t huge, it was enough to get him back out there and get him through eight.”

It has been quite the turnaround for the 23 year old pitcher, a first round pick in the 2012 draft.

Buxton was 0-for-4 with a strikeout at the plate today, but dodged an injury when he hit the center field wall hard chasing after a fly ball in the seventh inning.

He says he is feeling better with his play, however, and was as impressed as anybody with Berrios’ performance.

Tomorrow Minnesota enters into a four-game in three-day series with the Indians, who trail the 34-29 Twins with a 32-31 record this year.

“Momentum is always a little bit tough to predict where it’s gonna go,” said Molitor. “It’ll be fun to play the Indians. Obviously as the defending American League champions, it’s still relatively early. But to play them four times in three games, summertime and good weather and hopefully some good baseball.”

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Like Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios looks to catch his second win as we head into the dog days of summer.

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