The Twins had several opportunities and really should have won, but instead, they had to work some overtime, burn the bullpen and in the end lost 10-7 to the Kansas City Royals in 11 innings. The game was back and forth throughout. Both teams had several opportunities to take over the game, but both teams squandered opportunities.
Glen Perkins started for the Twins and gave up five runs on ten hits in six innings. Luis Ayala came in and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in 1.1 innings. Jose Mijares came in and got the final two outs. But an Alexi Casilla error caused another tying run to score. Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth. Matt Guerrier threw a scoreless tenth. Then in the 11th inning, Craig Breslow came in and walked three out of the four batters he faced. He left with the bases loaded, and R. A. Dickey was the only bullpen arm still available. The knuckleballer came in and didn’t throw any knuckleballs in a walk to John Buck that gave the Royals the lead. A fielder’s choice and a single later, the Royals had the 10-7 lead that Joakim Soria held onto in the bottom of the inning.
In his second game, Joe Mauer had four more hits. Delmon Young, in the lineup because Jason Kubel was scratched because he was sick, went 3-4 with two RBI. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 with his second home run. Joe Crede, back from a day with his wife who gave birth to their third child, went 2-5.
On Sunday afternoon, the Twins will send Scott Baker to the mound against the Royals’ Gil Meche.
Topics: Delmon Young, Glen Perkins, Jason Kubel, Joakim Soria, Joe Crede, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, Michael Cuddyer
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[...] my BaseballDigest.com Game Recap [...]
Seth — What an ugly game last night! You are dead right about the Twins weaknesses — Dickey, Breslow, Ayala, Casilla, Gomez, among others. Why did the Twins think their bullpen was OK going into this season? That’s a mystery to many of us. Could it be that Casilla and Gomez are suffering from a second season slump because the book on them is well established and pitchers have figured them out? Send them both to Rochester for seasoning and start Harris everyday in the infield and Delmon and Kubel can platoon in left.