Minnesota makes it six in a row in decisive fashion.
No need to dress it up; as boos rained down on the Big A like a homophonous bourbon storm, the vibes were riding high in the Minnesota Twins dugout. An early outburst turned into a SoCal massacre, and a few ticks from midnight central, the Twins had walked away with a cathartic 16-5 victory.
Racking up nearly 20 hits, the Twins saw each starter earn at least a base knock, with the offense scoring in every inning but the 5th and 8th. There are almost too many batting highlights to count here, with the tone set early by a command-starved Jose Soriano.
That first-inning run turned into a 4-0 lead that chased Soriano by the second inning, having delivered more balls than strikes. And while the Los Angeles Angels would keep their heads in the game early — the score was at points 4-2 and 7-4 — Rocco Baldelli’s batting order steamrolled its way through every offering out of Ron Washington’s southern California bullpen.
I wasn’t kidding with the “too many batting highlights” to count remark. The team’s 17 hits included four doubles, three homers, two hit batsmen, a 7-for-16 performance with runners in scoring position, and just five strikeouts.
Rather than cover each instance of “in play, run(s),” I’ll shout out some of tonight’s super-studs. In box score order, that would have to begin with Edouard Julien, who drew much of the broadcast’s attention as he put together a 3-for-5 night with a double, three runs knocked in, two scored, a walk, and more than a few sturdy plays at his second-base position.
Were it not for an inordinate amount of comments regarding the girth of Ryan Jeffers’ thighs, Trevor Plouffe’s appreciation of the Canadian infielder would have dominated the broadcast. As it were, Ryan’s juiced-up trunks stole just enough of the limelight.
Then we have Carlos Santana, who plated four in a standout performance punctuated by a home run in his third consecutive game. Hitting out of the 7-slot, he cranked his OPS upwards by another 78 points, with a team-leading six total bases, a quartet of ribbies, and this early finishing blow:
Amusingly, Santana’s blast also sparked a conversation about 2024’s home run celebration. As per the telecast, Pablo Lopez has taken it upon himself to craft this season’s gimmick, which is a unique enough made-to-order item to have been hung up by vague delivery-related “delays”. In the meantime, the bench took it upon themselves to, and this is true, throw a packaged salami at Santana when he returned to the dugout.
And we’d be remiss to ignore Kyle Farmer, who may feel content enough to shower without his jersey on after doubling, reaching four times, scoring twice and knocking in a pair, delivering a solemn thumbs-up to the dugout after pushing Minnesota’s lead to 7-2 in the third.
With the exception of pinch-hitter Manuel Margot (slotted in to face Aaron Hicks, who threw the ninth), all Twins reached and scored. Willi Castro and Austin Martin were the only members of the starting lineup who didn’t drive in a run; no Twin struck out twice.
The blowout win masked a five-inning performance from Chris Paddack that featured eight hits allowed and decreased velocity, but the Sherriff nevertheless earned his second win of the campaign.
The high-leverage arms were predictably spared, with Kody Funderburk and Jay Jackson tossing two innings each to take us home. Meanwhile, the Angels burned through four genuine relievers and one former Twins center fielder in order to patch up nine innings on defense.
We’ll see how that keys into Sunday’s series finale.
Pablo Lopez goes tomorrow — we’ll see if they saved any runs for him. Thanks for tuning in for a late-night gamethread with 130+ comments!
STUDS:
2B Edouard Julien (3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, 2B)
C Ryan Jeffers (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, HR)
RF Max Kepler (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, HR)
1B Carlos Santana (2-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR)
3B Kyle Farmer (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2B)
DUDS:
NO DUDS! TWINS WIN! TWINS WIN!
ROBOT ROLL CALL: