*Photo from the Pine Journal*
After hitting the walk off sac fly on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jorge Polanco was looking for an encore. He got it. Max Kepler homered, Polanco hit the walk off double, and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-4 in 10 innings on Monday night.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said "We didn’t play the cleanest game today, but we kept giving ourselves opportunities, and again, when you get guys in scoring position in tight ballgames, you need someone to get a big hit, and today it was Polo going out there. Another big moment for him, and we needed it. We needed someone to come up big and make it decisive, and he did."
Kepler got everything going in the first inning, with a solo home run to right field. In the second inning, Bradley Zimmer gave the Indians a 2-1 lead with a two run home run, this one going to center field. In the 3rd, Polanco scored on a Josh Donaldson RBI single to tie things at 2-2. In the 4th, Jake Cave scored on a fielders choice from Kepler, and the Twins took a 3-2 lead.
In the 5th, Jose Ramirez re-tied the game with an RBI single, and Austin Hedges hit an RBI double in the top of the 6th, giving Cleveland a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the 6th, it got tied again, thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Ryan Jeffers. It remained 4-4 until the 10th, when Polanco doubled, scoring Kepler and sending the Twins home happy.
With the victory, the Twins have now won 3 straight games, and 5 of their last 6, dating back to last week's series against the Chicago White Sox. It's a welcome change for the Twins, who have been stuck in the mud all season, being forced to sell pieces at the deadline in a year where they hoped to contend.
Donaldson said "I think we’re clicking on all phases of the game right now. Today was kind of, from the defensive aspect of it, not probably our best performance. But besides that, hitting and pitching, our pitching continues to kind of bail us out there."
Caleb Thielbar got the win for the Twins, throwing a scoreless 10th inning to improve to 5-0 this season. Griffin Jax got the start, allowing all 4 runs on 7 hits and two walks, fanning 3 hitters in 6 innings pitched, getting the no decision. John Gant, Juan Minaya, and Alex Colome also pitched in relief for Minnesota.
Nick Wittgren got the loss for Cleveland, dropping to 2-6 on the season. Starter Cal Quantrill had an uncharacteristic shaky start, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and one walk, striking out 4 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Blake Parker, James Karinchak, and Justin Garza also pitched.
Quantrill said "This is the worst I’ve felt in a couple months now. But it’s part of the game. You’re not gonna have your A-game every day so, I thought we battled pretty good, worked with what we had. But definitely not one to write home about."
The Indians and Twins continue their series tonight, with Bailey Ober getting the start for Minnesota, and Eli Morgan starting for Cleveland.
Comments
Post a Comment