Twins

8/20 GAME NOTES: Twins Score Nine in First Inning, Deliver Colon His First Win vs. Diamondbacks

By the time the bottom of the first inning had concluded, Brian Dozier had walked twice, Eddie Rosario hit a grand slam in his second at-bat and the Minnesota Twins were 9-0.

All Bartolo Colon had to do to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, the only club in the majors he does not have a win against in his career, was hold on to the lead. He did, and the Twins swept the Diamondbacks with a 12-5 win on Sunday.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a nine-spot like that,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor. “Kind of a different lineup today. The guys have fun when they get a chance to do things in different roles.”

Eddie Rosario (2-for-5) and Byron Buxton (1-for-5) occupied the two- and three-holes. Eduardo Escobar (2-for-5) was the designated hitter and hit cleanup. Mitch Garver (1-for-4) made his first major league start as the No. 5 hitter and recorded his first major league hit.

“We had a lot of good at-bats early,” said Molitor.

“Dozier with the walk, and we bang one up the middle. I thought [Max] Kepler’s at-bat was one of the better at-bats we’ve had all year, given the fact that he’s struggled against lefties, fought off a lot of tough pitches and was able to get that ball out to the gap, and then the exclamation point with the grand slam.”

Things got a bit shaky in the fourth inning when J.D. Martinez and Brandon Drury homered, and Adam Rosales doubled to score another run, but that’s the biggest push Arizona made all game.

By then Buxton had scored an insurance run off of an Arizona error, and the Twins lead never was in question at any point of the game.

“You’ve gotta help your pitcher, even if a guy’s been around for 25 years — however many years,” said Molitor of Colon, who began his career in 1997 — a year before the Diamondbacks entered the league.

“He pitched like he had a lead a little bit, wasn’t afraid to challenge guys, gave up some long balls. But he still got through six innings.”

Ryan Pressly pitched two innings without giving up a hit, and Glen Perkins worked the ninth. The recovering former closer gave up two hits and a run, but otherwise excited the game unscathed.

It was a thorough drubbing, so much so that backup catcher Chris Gimenez, who came into the game hitting .187, went 3-for-3 and was a triple short of the cycle.

The good news was tampered a bit when the Twins learned that Miguel Sano has a stress reaction on his shin that will send him to the 10-day disabled list. A corresponding move will be made tomorrow.

The injury is a result of Sano hitting foul balls off of his left shin repeatedly, and the pain flares up both in the field and when running the bases.

“They’re concerned enough to feel like they need to get him off his feet here for a little bit,” Molitor said, referring to the Twins medical staff.

The Twins head to Chicago, where they will face the worst team in the AL Central five times in four days. It’s an opportunity to make up ground in both the Central, where they are five games behind Cleveland, and in the AL Wild Card race, where they are currently tied for one of the two available spots.

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