Rookie Luis Arraez broke the ice Tuesday night against the Angels. The Twins were being no-hit through four innings, but Arraez hit a leadoff single in the fifth. The Twins broke through for three runs in the sixth then four more in the seventh. Arraez also hit his first major league home run and made an excellent defensive play to end this game.
Pineda: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 63.0% strikes (51 of 81 pitches)
Home Runs: Gonzalez (5), Arraez (1)
Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (2-for-4, 2B, BB), Polanco (2-for-4, BB), Gonzalez (2-for-5, 2B, HR), Rosario (2-for-5), Arraez (2-for-4, HR)
WPA of +0.1: Gonzalez .305, Polanco .285
WPA of -0.1: Schoop -.100
(chart via FanGraphs)
The matchup for tonight’s game was Michael Pineda against Trevor Cahill as the Twins looked for their second straight win and to continue their hot road trip.
Pineda Settles
Michael Pineda had a rough start to the game, giving up a solo shot to Mike Trout in the first and a two out rally in the second as the Angels got off to a 3-0 lead. After a shaky start that included three hits, one walk and a wild pitch, he was able to send down 13 out of 14 batters to close out his night.
It was very impressive to see Pineda be able to pitch six innings tonight after his first two innings. He recovered well and finished with 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 Ks and was able to pick up a win thanks to some late game hitting. He improved to 4-3 but his ERA is still pretty high, sitting at 5.43. He’s been looking better of late and keep in mind, he’s coming off Tommy John surgery.
Offense Comes Alive Late
After being no-hit for the first four innings of the game, Arraez continued his hit-streak to start his career. He hit his first major league home run in the eighth inning and is now 7-for-12 in the major leagues.
Through five innings, the Twins had only three baserunners, two walks and one hit, but none of them had made it past first base.Then, the Twins exploded in the second half of the game to win their second straight and improve to 5-1 on this road trip.
In the sixth inning they had three straight extra base hits on three straight pitches. It started with a double from Kepler that was very close to being a home run which ended Cahill’s night, exactly what the Twins needed. Polanco followed with a double of his own down the first base line to score the first run for the Twins. Marwin Gonzalez was able to tie the game on a home run to right field to extend his hit streak to 11 games and tying the game at 3-3.
The hitting continued into the seventh to put the Twins up for the first time tonight. A hit-by-pitch and a pair of singles, including another RBI for Polanco on a two-out single. Gonzalez extended the lead with a ground rule double for his third RBI of the night. Eddie Rosario kept it going with a weird play between the shift which scored two more runs in the seventh.
Bullpen’s Work
Matt Magill came in for the seventh and made quick work, striking out his first two batters, and after allowing a single, got La Stella to ground out to end the inning.
Trevor May got the call for the eighth and after giving up a lead off walk, he got a fielder’s choice and a strikeout before handing the ball to Baldelli. Rogers came in, after pitching for the first time in six days last night, and retired his only batter on the first pitch to end the eighth.
Mike Morin was given the ninth inning and gave up a couple of singles. There was no need to worry with the defense he had behind him. Buxton made one catch crashing into the wall, and another sprinting in for the first two outs, and Arraez made a diving stop at third to finish off the game
The Twins won 8-3 and secured a series win in Anaheim. They improve to 32-16 with a 6.5 game lead in the American League Central.
Postgame With Arraez
Bullpen Usage
Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:
Next Game
Wed at LAA, 8:07 pm CT (Perez-Harvey)
Last Game
MIN 3, LAA 1: Pitching Great, Sano Homers Late
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