Trying desperately to keep the season alive, the Minnesota Twins rolled into Boston to face the best team in Major League Baseball, the Red Sox. After a close win, the series quickly went south for the Twins as they lost three in a row to lose the four-game series.
In Game 1, Kyle Gibson was spectacular on the mound. After a rocky first inning, Gibson settled down, pitching eight strong innings. Mitch Garver continued his clutch hitting, driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth. Fernando Rodney came in to close the game but had to tightrope out of trouble. With the bases loaded and a 3-0 count to Jackie Bradley Jr., Rodney managed to come back with three straight strikes to strike out Bradley and give the Twins a 2-1 win.
Down by one in the ninth in the second game, Eddie Rosario drove in two runs with a double off the Green Monster to give the Twins a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Rafael Devers led off with a home run off Rodney that barely made it over the right-center wall into the bullpens. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th inning.
Mookie Betts crushed the second pitch he saw from Matt Belisle over the Green Monster to win the game for the Red Sox 4-3.
The Twins jumped out to a 4-1 early in Game 3 but couldn’t subdue to the Red Sox potent lineup as Boston scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth, one in the sixth and, to add insult to injury, four more in the eighth. Every Twins pitcher allowed at least a run as the Red Sox won somewhat easily 10-4.
Nathan Eovaldi was efficient, dominant and throwing his best stuff for the Red Sox in the final game of the series. The Twins never had more than four men come to bat in an inning. On the other side, Jose Berrios struggled to locate his fastball and didn’t have as strong of a break on his curveball. He flirted with danger every inning, Boston got to him for two runs in the second inning and one run in the fourth. The Twins held the Red Sox at bay from there on but could only muster four hits against Eovaldi and the Red Sox bullpen as Boston wrapped up the series with a 3-0 win.
Here’s what we saw from our vantage point
Kyle Gibson’s Brilliant Start
First, the line for Gibson:
- Eight innings, four hits, one earned run, two walks, seven strikeouts.
Gibson, whose name has been involved in trade rumors, increased his stock with an excellent start against arguably the best lineup in baseball.
Gibson’s lone run allowed came early in the game. With runners on the corners and one out, Betts grounded out to short, driving in Blake Swihart. On the play, Bradley, who was the runner at first, attempted to take third. Joe Mauer threw him out after receiving the ball from short. It was an unconventional double play but it was also important as it ended the inning.
Since May 29, Gibson has pitched seven or more innings in seven of 11 starts. In those 11 games, Gibson has a 2.96 ERA and a .222 batting average against. Needless to say, he’s been the Twins best starter as of late and proved that again with another strong outing Thursday.
The Lone Eddie
Eddie Rosario not only drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth off Craig Kimbrel, he made a highlight reel play… At third base.
Mauer pinch-hit for Ehire Adrianza in the eighth. Mauer stayed in the game but moved over to first which started a chain reaction of defensive switches. The Twins traded Eduardo Escobar to Arizona before the game so the only bench player left after Mauer came in was Bobby Wilson. Due to the trade and no remaining infielders on the bench with Mauer staying in the game, Morrison moved from first base to left field which moved Rosario from left to third base.
After his hit in the top half, Rosario made a backhand play in the bottom half of the ninth. He had one other ball hit to him the previous inning and made that play too.
Mejia in Relief
The Twins called upon Adalberto Mejia to pitch the final three innings of Sunday’s series finale. He did just that as he struck out four while allowing just one hit. After the game, acting manager Derek Shelton took notice of Mejia’s relief appearance.
Notes
The Twins will return to Target Field to take on the first-place Cleveland Indians. The Twins Here are the probable pitching matchups:
- Shane Bieber (5-2, 4.80 ERA) vs Ervin Santana (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
- Trevor Bauer (9-6, 2.32 ERA) vs Kyle Gibson (5-7, 3.42 ERA)
- Carlos Carrasco (12-5, 3.89 ERA) vs Lance Lynn (7-8, 5.10 ERA)