Minnesota Twins: Afterthoughts. The thoughts and interesting stats from the previous games against the Baltimore Orioles.
Two brilliant pitching performances led the Minnesota Twins to a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Twins scored 14 runs on 21 hits in the first game of the series. The bats were much quieter in the final two games. The Twins didn’t need another 14 run game as the team got two excellent starts en route to the sweep.
Ervin Santana gave the Twins another Cy Young performance with a complete game shutout; he allowed two hits (both singles) and walked two batters.
The Orioles never had more than one baserunner in any inning.
John Smoltz has a great breakdown of Santana as you’ll see below.
"His release point is flawless." #HOFer John Smoltz breaks down why @Twins righty @ErvinSantana_54 has been so good. #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/tu6Ugv44AG
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 24, 2017
After Santana dominated the Orioles the Twins were in a position to sweep a three-game series for the second time this season.
It was up to Jose Berrios to give the Twins another great start. In his third outing of the year, he faced yet another home run happy lineup as he did
In his third outing of the year, Berrios faced yet another home run happy lineup as he did against the Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies.
Berrios’s fastball, as previously written about, was good again but it wasn’t his best pitch.
It was Berrios’s curveball that got everyone’s attention. Just look at not one, but two curveballs which locked up Mark Trumbo.
Jose Berrios, nasty Strikeout of Trumbo (92mph Sinker sandwiched between 2 slices of filthy Curveballs). pic.twitter.com/bpwCKjbMSl
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 24, 2017
Even though Berrios gave up three home runs, he kept the Twins in a position to win.
Had the Twins lost, it wouldn’t have stopped people from salivating over this curveball to Caleb Joseph
This Jose Berrios pitch: NSFW pic.twitter.com/B6B2wSnwhN
— Stadium (@Stadium) May 25, 2017
Berrios’s curveball was moving on average seven to nine inches horizontally. Clearly, it was difficult for hitters to pick up Berrios’s curveball much less hit it.
Buck Showalter praised the Twins and the team’s pitching in the series.
"“If they continue to pitch, they’re going to be tough. That’s the team I thought they were going to be last year.”"
Twins relievers lending a hand
The Twins bullpen combined for 6 2-3 innings of work this series. Despite Kyle Gibson‘s short outing, the team didn’t use a reliever more than once in the series.
In six-plus innings, the bullpen allowed six hits, one earned run, two walks and struck out eight batters.
Next: Ready or Not, Here We Come... To Stay
Justin Haley was the only Twins reliever to give up a run in the series.