Twins

Twins Can’t Avoid Big Inning in Series Loss to Cleveland

Aug 30, 2018; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Jake Cave (60) reacts after striking out in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Meeting for the last time this season, the Minnesota Twins fell in two of three to the Cleveland Indians.

Minnesota also dropped the season series to Cleveland, 10-9.

In the series opener, Cleveland’s top of the order and starter Carlos Carrasco overwhelmed Minnesota. The first four hitters in the Indians lineup combined to go 11-for-17 with five runs scored and five RBIs.

The bulk of the runs came in the middle innings.

The Indians scored two in the third, one in the fourth and four in the sixth. With his team trailing 8-0 in the ninth, Jake Cave provided the Twins its lone run of the game, a solo home run, to avoid being shut out but still fell 8-1. Carrasco, who pitched into the eighth, struck out 11 batters en route to his 16th win of the season.

In Game 2, Cleveland jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs in the first inning. The Twins answered in the third when Willians Astudillo smacked his first major-league home run.

Two innings later, Eddie Rosario lifted a high fastball to the wall in center field, which scored Joe Mauer and tied the game. In the bottom half of the fifth, Edwin Encarnacion gave Cleveland the lead right back with a run-scoring double. The Twins took the lead for good in the seventh inning. Robbie Grossman hit a hard ground ball through the infield, driving in two runs. Trevor Hildenberger pitched a clean ninth for the save, securing a 4-3 Twins win.

With a chance to win a series, the Twins failed to hold a lead in the sixth inning. Jake Odorizzi, wasn’t overpowering the Indians but was keeping them off the bases through five. In the sixth with Minnesota leading 2-1, he walked two straight batters and was relieved by Alan Busenitz.

The first batter Busenitz faced was Yonder Alonso. After not getting the break on some close calls with his curveball, Alonso lined a fastball to center, scoring one run. Two batters later Jason Kipnis broke the tie with a three-run home run.

The home run was enough as the Indians held on to win, 5-3.

Here’s what we saw from our vantage point

The Fifth Team is the Charm

Oliver Drake owns the major-league record for teams played for in a single season. The Twins are the fifth team he’s played for and the one he’s having the most success with.

Drake appeared in two games this series, tossing two innings of late-inning relief. In those innings, he’s struck out three batters, walked one and allowed two base hits. More importantly, Drake didn’t allow any runs.

This season, Drake has pitched 12 1/3 innings for the Twins. He’s holding batters to a measly .119 batting average and has a 0.84 WHIP.

More Milestones for Joe

Monday, Joe Mauer had two hits, giving him 563 multi-hit games in his career. In doing so, he passed Tony Oliva for third place on the Twins all-time list of multi-hit games.

On Tuesday, Mauer notched yet another Twins milestone. Mauer scored on Rosario’s double, the run was No. 1,000 for his career. He joins Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew as the only Twins players to score 1,000 runs in their career.

Notes

The Twins travel to Texas to take on the Rangers in a three-game weekend series. Here are the probable pitching matchups:

  • Stephen Gonsalves (0-2, 11.37 ERA) vs Drew Hutchison (2-2, 6.52 ERA) – Friday
  • Jose Berrios (11-9, 3.74 ERA) vs Yovani Gallardo (7-3, 6.01 ERA) – Saturday
  • TBD vs. TBD – Sunday

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Aug 30, 2018; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Jake Cave (60) reacts after striking out in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

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