The Minnesota Twins offense would erupt in the series opener to secure the victory against the Texas Rangers by a score of 15-6.
The Minnesota Twins play host to the Texas Rangers for a 3-game series before kicking off the All-Star break on Monday. Facing his former team, Martin Perez would start on the hill for the Twins as he would go head-to-head with Adrian Sampson. Receiving a 6-run cushion in the bottom of the 2nd, Perez would cruise through the ballgame until the top of the 7th when he would allow 4 earned runs.
Ryne Harper and Tyler Duffey came on in relief and each allowed an earned run of their own. Fortunately for the Twins, the game was well out of reach by then and they only added insurance runs as the game continued. Kohl Stewart would pitch a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to finish the game.
Twin Takeaway – The good
The Twins offense hasn’t had an outburst like this in quite some time. They’ve scored a solid amount of runs here and there but nothing quite like the 20-hit and 15-run showing they had this evening. Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Schoop lead the way for the Minnesota Twins offense as they would each notch 3 hits. Each Twins player that recorded a plate appearance this evening also secured at least one hit.
Luis Arraez continued his tremendous hitting at the plate with another 2-5 showing as he would also launch a no-doubter to right field in the 2nd inning. He is currently hitting .413 on the season and has shown no signs of slowing down. Jonathan Schoop, Mitch Garver, and Jorge Polanco each cranked a long-ball of their own.
Twin Takeaway – The bad
Martin Perez had a 7th inning I’m sure he would like to soon forget. After giving up a lead-off walk and back-to-back singles, Rougned Odor poked a double to right field that knocked Perez out of the game. Up until that point, Perez had pitched a superb game. As seems to be the problem with a few of the Twins starters, one inning can spell disaster for the entire outing.
It was great to see the Minnesota Twins offense firing on all cylinders to kick off this series before the break. The series continues tomorrow afternoon with the 2nd of 3 as Michael Pineda will face off against Jesse Chavez.