Minnesota Twins Get Swept In A Marathon Finale

Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Drew Butera hit a homerun in the ballgame. I’m pretty sure when the ballgame started Butera was still a member of the Twins. At least it feels that way after a five hour and 11 minute ballgame. Seriously.

The longest game in Twins history was the second game of Thursday’s split doubleheader. The game went into extra innings, but it was way too long before even getting there. The worst part is that there wasn’t a whole lot of exciting baseball in the five hours.

The tie was broke in the 12th when Scott Van Slyke hit a solo homer to left. Moments later Butera hit a solo jack of his own. The Twins got a run of their own across in the 12th, but the rally fell short resulting in a final score of 4-3.

Between the two games the Twins used every pitcher in their bullpen. Jared Burton pitched in both games. Yeah, that much baseball.

The Twins pitching staff walked 12 Dodgers during the ballgame, but miraculously none of them came around to score, proving that walks sometimes only haunt the time of game.

Also, important to note: Aaron Hicks was taken out of the ballgame after crashing into the outfield wall in an attempt to make a catch. Hicks was taken out for precautionary reasons after having concussion-like symptoms. He was not taken out immediately, but in his next at-bat when Kubel pinch hit for him.

Kris Johnson was the starter for the Twins and was the first left-handed starter on the year for the club. While it was Johnson’s Twins debut, it was Dodgers’ pitcher Red Patterson’s MLB debut.

Johnson didn’t look horrible in his Twins debut despite only going 4.1 innings. He did give up four hits and six walks, but struck out five while not allowing a run.

In the end it wasn’t the best day to be a member of the Twins parade. The Twins came into May at .500 and before the month was even 24 hours old the team was already two games below the even mark.

Yasiel Puig had six hits on the day between the two games, that equals the amount of hits that Pedro Florimon has all season. The Twins left 10 on base in the nightcap.

The Dodgers left 16. There’s your story, your sad, sad story. Pinto and Mauer snagged the only two RBI on the game for the Twins.

Twins start a three-game set with Baltimore on Friday who also played a doubleheader well into the night. Fun baseball this weekend at Target Field.

Also, Dee Gordon: