A close game turned into a rout once the A’s bullpen got involved.
The Athletics got on the board right away in the 1st inning, after Lawrence Butler doubled and Brent Rooker singled against Pablo Lopez. In the bottom of the 3rd, Tyler Soderstrom tripled over Byron Buxton’s head, then Shea Langeliers hit a sac fly to make it a 2-0 game.
The Twins got their first run in the 4th inning thanks to Willi Castro’s solo home run off of the lefty Jacob Lopez. Twins batters had a tough time with Lopez, who struck out 9 in a little over 4 innings, but broke through in the 6th. Trevor Larnach tied the game with a solo blast, then Willi hit his 2nd homer of the game to give the Twins the lead. A single and 2 walks later, Buxton hit a 2-run single to put them up 5-2.
However, some bad news followed, as Pablo Lopez had to exit the game with right shoulder tightness after his warmup pitches going into the bottom of the 6th. Instead, Cole Sands entered and gave up a run but got Denzel Clarke to strikeout looking with the bases loaded to end the threat.
In the top of the 7th, the Twins loaded the bases with 1 out. Brooks Lee was then hit by a pitch to make the score 6-3. Royce Lewis, in the midst of an 0-32 streak at the plate, lined a double to left center to score 2 and break the game open. A wild pitch would later make it 9-3, Twins.
In the top of the 8th, Carlos Correa picked up an RBI groundout to make it 10-3, our final score. That’s back to back games putting up 10 runs. Justin Topa and Jorge Alcala got the remaining 9 outs in the game.
Now, please be ok, Pablo Lopez.
Studs:
Byron Buxton: 2-5, 2 RBI
Trevor Larnach: 3-5, HR, RBI
Willi Castro: 2-4, 2 HR, BB
Ty France: 2-4
Royce Lewis: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Duds:
NO DUDS TWINS WIN!