National League Fun And The Minnesota Twins Won
Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
National League play is so much fun. There’s actually strategy when it comes to pulling and pushing your starting pitcher which is beyond fascinating to a guy who’s seen thousands of baseball games, but 85% or so of them being by American League rules.
Kevin Correia who knows a thing or two about the National League and Petco Park showed just that for most of his outing on Tuesday. Correia pitched a perfect first four innings, but then that pesky fifth inning got in the way. Correia gave up a 2-0 by giving up three runs to the Padres in the fifth via two RBI singles and a sac fly.
Correia lasted another inning before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh. That pinch hitter was Josmil Pinto who hit a sac fly to give the Twins the lead after Trevor Plouffe scored on a wild pitch in the previous inning. Pinto’s sacrifice was enough to give the Twins and Correia the 5-3 win. The victory is Correia’s second on the season; he struck out six in the ballgame.
The weird/awesome moment of the game is what appears in the boxscore as an inside-the-park home run for Kurt Suzuki. Padres left fielder Seth Smith was close to catching the ball, but missed it by that much and the ball landed right on the other side of the wall. The ball bounced back into play, but Smith was the only one in the park that knew the ball went out. Smith didn’t go after the ball in the outfield, while Suzuki boogied around the bases leading to the inside-the-parker.
Padres starter Ian Kennedy went 6.2 innings, but gave up four runs giving him the loss. He also sat down six batters on strikes.
The first two runs for the Twins came in the second and third innings. Chris Parmelee started off the scoring with a solo home run to center and Trevor Plouffe hit an RBI single the following inning.
Brian Duensing, Jared Burton, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins all pitched for the Twins in the ballgame. Perkins picked up his 13th save giving him the American League lead.
Plouffe hit another double on Tuesday. He is tied for the major league lead with 18 doubles this season.
Suzuki, Parmelee, Plouffe and Pinto all notched an RBI.
Twins and Padres play the finale of their two-game set tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 Central.