Minnesota Twins Game Grades: Arcia’s heroics lead to victory
Minnesota Twins, Arcia walkoff with 4-3 victory over Indians
Following yet another rough road trip that saw the Minnesota Twins go 1-4, the team returned to Target Field to not only celebrate Prince but also face the Cleveland Indians and hopefully dance their way to their sixth win.
And dance they did.
Oswaldo Arcia took a 1-2 fastball from Zach McAllister and drilled it into the right field stands to give the Twins a much-needed 4-3 victory.
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Holiday Wish List for the rest of the Offseason
- Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
- Minnesota Twins: You Spin Me Right Round, Right Round
- Minnesota Twins: What happens next at Shortstop?
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
For Arcia, this was his third game-winning hit in just six Twins victories as he has come out of the gates swinging and has arguably been the early season MVP.
On the mound, the Twins turned to Tommy Milone (0-1) and got a solid first couple of innings followed by a rough 2 2/3 remaining innings, forcing the Twins to go to the bullpen early.
Exactly the opposite of what any team would want following a 16 inning marathon.
Milone allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and two walks with one run coming off a Marlon Byrd single in the second and the second one coming off a Jason Kipnis single in the fifth.
Taking a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, the Indians sent Danny Salazar (2-1) out for his fifth inning of work. Salazar had been struggling mightily with his control.
Salazar allowed just three hits but walked four (one intentional) and only mustered three strikeouts to a team that struck out a combined 47 times over three games in DC.
The Twins rallied for three runs in the fifth forcing Salazar to exit early. After two quick outs, Danny Santana and Eduardo Nunez reached and came around to score on a double to left by Brian Dozier.
After intentionally walking Joe Mauer, Miguel Sano singled to right, driving in Dozier and giving the Twins a 3-2 lead.
For Sano, this was his second straight game where he came through in the clutch for the Twins to drive in the go-ahead run.
A Yan Gomes homer in the eighth off Ryan Pressly would tie things up at 3-all, yet another blown lead by the bullpen, which is starting to become a bit of a problem after an early stretch of success by the relief core.
Team Totals: 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts. Arcia’s blast and clutch hitting is starting to become something of a normal occurrence as he now has three game winners this season. Arcia’s evolution into a patient, clutch hitter has been one of the few bright spots for the Twins through the first few weeks, especially with some of the other players struggling. Now with Buxton down in the minors, Arcia can expect to be an everyday player for the foreseeable future. Dozier and Sano also had RBI’s for the Twins as they are starting to heat up and collect hits, definitely a positive sign. Overall, the Twins didn’t get a lot of hits but the ones they did proved to be big ones. But the more appealing numbers have to be the team’s walk totals (4) and strikeouts (5). They frustrated Salazar early and sent him packing in just the fifth inning.. . Oswaldo Arcia. OFFENSE . A
C. Team totals: 4 2/3 innings, 7 hits allowed, 2 walks, 2 earned runs, 5 strikeouts. Milone was decent but not great. He started off very strong, striking out a pair of Cleveland hitters in the first inning before allowing a run in the second and a run in the fifth before giving way to <a href=. . Tommy Milone. STARTERS
RELIEVERS . B-. Team totals: 5 hits allowed, 1 walk, 1 run, 5 strikeouts. May looked solid for the Twins and that’s big as his past few appearances have been rough for him. He went 1 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two. <a href=. . Trevor May
. Oswaldo Arcia. DEFENSE . B. The defense has been a bit shaky for the Twins as there was yet another error. Arcia had a nice assist in the second inning as he threw out Marlon Byrd at second who was attempting to stretch a single into a double. Overall, the Twins did have another error but hopefully as the weather warms up, they’ll begin to be a little more comfortable defensively.
MVT: Oswaldo Arcia
Next: Murphy, van Mil released
The Twins (6-14) will host the Indians (9-8) in the second game of the series on Tuesday at Target Field. Red-hot righty Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 2.66) will faceoff with Cody Anderson (0-1, 7.53). Nolasco has easily – and most shockingly – successful starter for the Twins as he has proved that he is in fact healthy and hopefully ready to be the pitcher the Twins signed him to be.