The Twins stayed as hot as the scorching weather today as they completed the sweep over the Texas Rangers. Martin Perez made his second straight good start and a huge triple from Jorge Polanco led the Twins to the 6-3 win. The division lead remains at 2.5 games and the Twins will host Chicago next.
Perez: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 65% strikes (65 of 100 pitches)
Bullpen: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: None
Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (2-for-4), Adrianza (2-for-5)
Top 3 WPA: Polanco .426, Castro .162, Gonzalez .130
Bottom 3 WPA: Cron -172, Rosario -.134, Cave -.131
Lance Lynn does Lance Lynn things as Twins take early lead
This game started with the narrative of Lance Lynn pitching against the Twins and Twins fans everywhere wanted to score 30 runs on this guy but he just reminded us of his tenure in Minnesota. The first two innings took him fifty seven pitches to get through and the laboring was caused by rough fielding all around from Texas.
The Twins scored on him immediately on a Kepler walk, Sano single and then an RBI double from Marwin Gonzalez on a ball that had an expected batting average of .120 off the bat. A poorly played ball in left led to an early two-run lead for the Twins.
Marwin continued his insane tear against Texas with this RBI double
Martin Perez has his second straight solid start
For the second straight start, Martin Perez was able to prove he can stay in that fifth spot in the rotation for now. He didn’t have his best control throughout the game, walking four guys and striking out just two while leaving seven on base, but he ultimately got the job done.
He left his long-time home ballpark in line for the win and was noticeably ecstatic while leaving the mound for his last two innings. This will almost certainly be the last game he pitches in this stadium so it was good to see him pitching well.
Texas comes back but Polanco gets the bit hit
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Shin Soo Choo led off the inning with a solo home run to tie the game at three and it wasn’t looking great for the Twins. In case you missed it, or you weren’t sure if it was a home run, this Indians announcer has you covered.
The Twins bounced back in a huge way the next innings. After a single, double and walk to load the bases, Jorge Polanco came up huge with a bases-clearing triple to give the Twins a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. I decided to continue the new score keeping method on Twitter.
Oh, here is the clutch triple.
Romo and Rogers close out the sweep
The Twins high-leverage relievers once again got the job done. Sergio Romo came in for the eighth, allowed a base runner, but ultimately walked off the mound with the lead and pumped up as always. Taylor Rogers came in for the ninth inning, gave up a couple of hits but ultimately got the save.
The Twins completed the sweep over Texas and held on to their 2.5 game lead in the division. They will welcome the White Sox to Target Field for the next series.