Minnesota Twins Game Grades: Duffey tosses gem in win
Minnesota Twins Win Back-to-Back, Wait, What?
The Minnesota Twins rode a strong starting pitching outing by Tyler Duffey, and clutch hitting by Eddie Rosario to defeat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 Sunday afternoon.
While a story recap like that wouldn’t have seemed out of place in for mid-May while we were watching the Twins play Grapefruit League ball in Florida, it was definitely a rarity this season, just the 10th win, and the first by Duffey.
Another rarity was that fact that the Twins never trailed the entire game, though I’m sure there were several nervous Twins fans after Trevor May surrendered Jason Kipnis‘ home run in the bottom of the eighth to trim the lead to 3-1.
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But May made quick work of the next three batters, and Rosario’s 2-run double in the 9th inning provided insurance runs for Kevin Jepsen. He had a shaky, eventful, bottom of the 9th. But ended the game by getting Carlos Santana to fly out with two runners on to give the Twins a series win for the first time since…the last time they faced Cleveland, April 25-27.
The 6-7-8 batters led the way today (6-12, 3R, 5 RBI) after the bottom of the order did yesterday. Juan Centeno had a big RBI double with two outs two score Rosario and put up a crooked number early in the second inning against Trevor Bauer (3-1, 3.89 ERA).
That early lead let Duffey relax and throw strikes. He continually threw strike 1, even though he had trouble making quick work most innings. But working from ahead in the count let him throw his breaking pitches more, earning a nice line for the afternoon (6 IP, 6 H, 6 K, 1 B, 0 R).
All this led to the first back-to-back wins in three weeks, some smiles on Twins’ faces, and the team next facing a team in a worse funk than themselves right now in Detroit – losers of 11 out of their last 12 games before today’s finale against the Orioles.
Eddie Rosario. OFFENSE . B. 8 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts, 1 home run and 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Rosario, Centeno, and <a href=.
Tyler Duffey. STARTERS . A. Team totals: 6 hits allowed, 1 walk, 0 home runs, and 6 strikeouts. Duffey made the adjustments the coaching staff wanted after sending him to AAA. He has been using his breaking pitch earlier in the count and more often. Lowered ERA to 1.85..
B. Team totals: 3 hits allowed, 0 walks, 1 home runs and 3 strikeouts. May gave up a home run to make it interesting. He’s now given up 4 runs total in back-to-back outings. . . Kevin Jepsen. RELIEVERS
A-. Twins made 0 errors, and no double plays, no defensive gaffes, and only allowed a wild pitch. A nice, game where everybody goes unnoticed in a solid win by the starting pitcher. . . Juan Centeno. DEFENSE
MVT: Tyler Duffey
The Twins will wrap up their road trip at Detroit tomorrow night at Comerica Park. Jose Berrios will take on Jordan Zimmerman. First pitch is at 6:10 CDT. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.