Just when all hope was lost and the Minnesota Twins looked dead after the Kansas City Royals swept them in Kansas City, the Twins crossed the Canadian border and swept the Toronto Blue Jays.
Although it may be too little, too late as the Twins still appear sellers at the trade deadline, that didn’t stop the team from putting together a great three-game series against the Blue Jays.
In Game 1, Adalberto Mejia made his second MLB start of the season, holding Toronto to one run through 5 1/3 innings while scattering eight hits. Logan Morrison and Max Kepler each added a home run, their 12th and 13th respectively, as the Twins rolled to an 8-3 win.
Twins All-Star Jose Berrios was on the mound Tuesday, pitching for the first time since tossing an inning for the American League in the All-Star Game. He gave the Twins yet another solid start, picking up his win No. 10 in a 5-0 victory.
Wednesday’s action needed extra innings after the Blue Jays scored three runs in the eighth to tie the game. With two outs in the top of the 11th inning, the Twins plated six runs via a hit-by-pitch, two doubles and two singles. The offensive onslaught in the 11th propelled the Twins to a 12-6 extra-inning win and series sweep.
Here’s what we saw from our vantage point
Berrios was brilliant, again
Berrios was masterful on Tuesday, simply put. He avoided any sort of trouble, and Toronto bats for that matter, all game. Toronto barely threatened to score and when they did, Berrios thwarted their chances.
The Blue Jays were 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position. The only hit was a Kendrys Morales single in the second inning, but the runner — Yangervis Solarte at second — was held at third. He was the only man to reach third base against Berrios.
In total, Berrios struck out nine batters while only allowing five baserunners through seven innings. A good line and good for the Twins too as Minnesota was unable to break the scoreless tie until the sixth inning.
Mitch Garver feasted on Blue Jays pitching
Coming into Toronto, Garver carried with him a 1-for-18 slump and a season batting average of .246. Garver caught two of three games and went a ridiculous 7-for-10 at the plate — raising his batting average to .270.
He also drove in five runs in the series, all coming in Wednesday’s game. Garver singled home Jorge Polanco in the second, hit a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth, singled in Polanco again in the eighth and plated two more in the 11th with a ground-rule double.
Notes
- Ervin Santana made his 2018 debut Wednesday. He pitched well but the main concern was his velocity. He did touch 91 mph, but no more than a handful of times did he top 90 mph after the third inning. In order for Santana to rejoin the Twins, the team removed Taylor Motter from the 40-man roster. Motter could be claimed on waivers, or likely join Triple-A Rochester.
- The Twins travel to Boston for a four-game series. Here are the probable pitching matchups:
- Kyle Gibson (4-7, 3.57 ERA) vs Brian Johnson (1-3, 3.81) Thursday
- Lance Lynn (7-8, 5.23 ERA) vs Chris Sale (11-4, 2.13 ERA) Friday
- Jake Odorizzi (4-6, 4.37 ERA) vs Chris Porcello (12-4 3.93 ERA) Saturday
- TBD vs Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.26 ERA) Sunday
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