Ty France hits the bomba in the 9th, and the Royals all decide to retire from baseball forever.
Pablo López puts a lot of Royals on the bases, but he and the bullpen keep things tied until they aren’t. Thanks to Ty France. Inning-by-inning notes:
1: López doesn’t start smoothly; a HBP, a barely-caught flyout, a barely-missed flyin. Cavan Biggio doubles in the first point. A strikeout to keep things from imploding, but Pablo’s been hittable so far. Cavan (son of Craig) is named after a county in Ireland and he went to Notre Dame. Hey I grew up hearing Clancy Brothers songs. But I like the Pogues better. Royals 1-0
2: More picking on Pablo; Freddy “Got” Fermin with a leadoff double. Nobody’s able to knock him in. Jonathan India is not named after the country.
Carlos Correa, just off the concussion-related IL, makes a homer runner into the bullpen. Vinny Pasquantino makes a good defensive play. Pasquantino v. United States is a Supreme Court case about liquor taxes. Lorde, who sang “Royals,” does not hold her liquor as well as somewhat-Minnesotan Lizzo. 1-1
3: Pablo gives up another single and another HBP; the Royals don’t make him pay. Biggio strikes out and is condemned by the new Pope. Per radio, pitcher Noah Cameron has yet to allow a hit on his curveball. That’s the kind of thing that might sound interesting to say but it’s not very illuminating to hear.
Ryan Jeffers has a two-out double that bounces into the stands and probably does not scatter a lot of people.
4: Harrison Bader, who has a Gold Glove, calls off Correa on a midrange fly and then can’t catch it. Reminds me of an old Joe Torre line: “in 1965 I won a Gold Glove. In 1966 I fieded with one.” (Torre made 11 errors in 1966.) This isn’t an error, and nobody scores from it.
5: Gladden says “if I’m Jeffers, I want Bobby Witt to run… test my arm. “ Witt runs. Jeffers’s arm fails the test. FAILS, I say! He doesn’t score, but Pablo is at 91 pitches now. That’s not what you want.
The Twins get some baBIPpy luck with two outs and don’t score; the Royals have left a lotta guys in scoring position. If I were a betting man I’d bet on KC right now but this is why I’m not a betting man; I’d lose.
6: Pablo comes out after getting two guys; Brock “Samson” Stewart finishes things off. 102 pitches for López, a season-high.
Atteberry saying his daughter does stand-up. Good for her! That’s tough work. I betcha she has some funny stories about growing up with a sportscaster dad. An error gets the crowd excited and a GIDP gets them unexcited.
7: I don’t quite believe in Louis Varland and he walks the leadoff guy. Correa turns another Innovative Office Solutions double-play because he likes manilla envelopes and printer paper. The Twins are not hitting much. falcontimmy says “Brooks Lee looks especially befuddled by Cameron.”
8: Capt. Griffin Jax, USAF. Maikel Garcia has a slow-roller single that’s probably slowed by all the drizzle left over from that Cleveland series. Jax picks him off. HA HA. The Twins can’t hit the bullpen either. Not ha ha.
Enough with Star Wars night at ballparks. Disney doesn’t need any more money. Gimme Doctor Who nights instead. I wanna see baseball fans in Dalek costumes.
9: Cole “Alberta Tar” Sands in for yer Twinners. Gameday showed the sky as dark when it was light out and now light when it’s dark out. Maybe they’re from Australia? Liam Hendriks says “g’day.”
Correa reaches on that same much-drizzled infield, and then VIVE LA FRANCE! Ty France (full name Tyler Lawrence “of Arabia” France) makes the guys in the bullpen very happy. Home run, Twins win!
Incidentally, the French national anthem’s chorus translates to “Grab your weapons, citizens! Form your battalions! Let us march! Let us march! May impure blood water our fields!” I remember finding that a little unnerving in 8th-grade French class.
COTG goes to sandwiches for “Bader is the Nuñez of the Twins defense, losing his hat every play he makes,” and SooFoo for “I arrived precisely when I meant to” (right before the Twins won). A wizard is never late!
Tomorrow’s game is at 1:10, starting Zebulon Matthews and Michael Wacha Wacha Wacha. Thanks to everyone who joined the gamethread!