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Minnesota Twins post game report: Kyle Gibson dominates

By Tyler Kruse

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 03: Kyle Gibson #44 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning of the game on June 3, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 03: Kyle Gibson #44 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning of the game on June 3, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Twins kicked off a 3-game weekend series against the Kansas City Royals this Friday evening, winning the contest 2-0.

The Minnesota Twins continued their 9-game home stand today taking on division rival Kansas City. Kyle Gibson would get the start for the Twins as he faced off against Royals starter Brad Keller. Though they haven’t been as sharp as usual the past few outings, both were dominant throughout the contest today with only 6 hits combined between the two teams.

Mitch Garver played the part of hero with his 2-run blast to the deepest part of the field off reliever Jake Diekman. The Twins wouldn’t look back as Taylor Rogers was called in to the game in the top of the 9th to shut the door on the Royals. He did just that and picked up his 7th save of the season for the Minnesota Twins.

Twin Takeaway – The good

Kyle Gibson was a man on a mission today and thoroughly dominated the Kansas City Royals offense from start to finish. He went 8 innings with no walks and 6 strikeouts, he also managed to give up only 2 hits. Absolutely incredible numbers on the day for “Gibby”, and very encouraging to see given his last start against the Detroit Tigers.

With the bullpen struggling as of late, Gibson gave them a much-needed break (except for Rogers) which hopefully pays off this weekend. Kyle picked up his 7th win on the season.

Twin Takeaway – The not-so-good

Overall the Minnesota Twins line-up would struggle at the plate today with inconsistent at-bats and poor execution throughout. A couple missed bunts in crucial situations by Jorge Polanco and Jonathan Schoop proved costly (at the time) for the Twins. Schoop also grounded into 2 inning-ending double plays on the day, squashing a couple of the bigger threats the Twins did manage to have.

Polanco had a very odd at-bat in the bottom of the 6th given his prowess at the plate this year. With no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, Polanco had been given the bunt sign to kick off the at-bat. Going up 2-0 in the count prompted Polanco to look for something he could hit on the screws. After taking a couple more pitches the count would be 3-1 before Jorge missed a bunt attempt and followed that up with a very weird check-swing for strike 3. This just goes to show that not even the best hitters in baseball are safe from the occasional bad appearance at the plate.

Injury Note

Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch from Brad Keller on the wrist in the bottom of the 6th inning. He would stay in the game but was replaced by Marwin Gonzalez in his next at-bat in the bottom of the 8th inning. I believe it was a precautionary measure from the coaching staff as Buxton has been on a roll this season, no need to risk further injury. We’ll keep you posted on his status down the road.

Next. Should the Twins trade for Trevor Bauer?. dark

The Minnesota Twins will continue their home stand tomorrow when Jake Odorizzi takes the bump against Kansas City Royals starter Glenn Sparkman. Sparkman is 1-2 with an ERA of 3.58 while Odorizzi is 9-2 with a 1.92 ERA. Look for Odorizzi to continue his All-Star caliber season as well as his string of dominant outings. Make sure to do your part to get your favorite Minnesota Twins to Cleveland by voting for this years 2019 MLB All-Star Game.

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