*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
The first at bat of the game, and things weren't looking good. Luckily, there's more to the game than one at bat. Jordan Luplow homered twice, Carson Kelly drove in a run, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Minnesota Twins with a 7-2 victory on Friday night in Phoenix.
Starting the series off right for the D-Backs was Luplow, who homered twice, driving in 3 runs as the D-Backs won their second straight game, and are 5-5 in their last 10 games, just 4 games under .500. It was also a good night for Buddy Kennedy, who got a hit and scored a run in his MLB debut.
Kennedy said of his first MLB game that "It was crazy. Once I was walking up to the plate and heard my name announced, it was just like a loss of words and I was like, 'All right, let's get through this one and it will be all right.' So I got through that one, got out and right after I sat back down on the bench I was like, 'This is baseball. It's good, it's all good.' And from there on out I had a solid mindset."
Starting the scoring was Byron Buxton, who gave the Twins a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to open the game, his 19th homer of the season. In the bottom of the first, the D-Backs took a 2-1 lead thanks to Luplow, who hit a two run home run to left field. In the top of the 3rd, Jose Miranda hit an RBI single to tie the game 2-2, but Luplow added a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, making it a 3-2 D-Backs lead.
In the 4th inning, two runs scored for the D-Backs on an infield single from Jake Hager, plus a throwing error by the Twins, scoring Kennedy and Alek Thomas to make it a 5-2 lead. Hager then scored on an RBI single to right field off the bat of Kelly. In the 5th, Daulton Varsho came across the plate on another single by Hager, making it a 7-2 game.
D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo said of Luplow's two homer game that "At the most critical time of the game, he executed, and the rest of the guys just followed with small ball, base hits, some good clutch hitting."
Getting the start for the D-Backs was Madison Bumgarner, who turned in a quality start, allowing two runs on 9 hits over 6 innings pitched. After Bumgarner departed from the game, Sean Poppen, Kyle Nelson, and JB Wendelken added shutout innings of work to seal the win.
It was Devin Smeltzer who got the start for the Twins, getting the loss in this one. Smeltzer allowed 7 runs on 9 hits in just 4 1/3 innings. Tyler Thornburg handled the bulk of the relief work after Smeltzer departed, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out one hitter. Tyler Duffey added a shutout inning at the end of the game.
Up next, the Twins and D-Backs continue their series on Saturday night. Lovullo will send Luke Weaver to the mound as he gets the start, while Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Twins.
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