Minnesota Twins: Berrios, Polanco represent Twins at MLB All-Star Game
By Chris Schad
The Minnesota Twins sent their starting shortstop and ace to Cleveland and both performed well for the American League in the MLB All-Star Game.
The Minnesota Twins have been one of the best teams in the American League and on Tuesday night, they got the chance to show the world what they’ve been up to in the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland. Although many believed that the Twins should have had more representatives in the game, Minnesota sent shortstop Jorge Polanco and starting pitcher Jose Berrios and both represented the organization well in the AL’s 4-3 victory.
Polanco would start for the American League at shortstop and would get his first at-bat against Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw. With Houston’s Michael Brantley giving the AL the lead on an RBI double, Polanco had a chance to double the lead but would strike out swinging to the Dodgers ace.
The Twins’ shortstop would get a second opportunity in the bottom of the fifth inning against another Dodgers pitcher in Walker Buehler, but he would single to Max Muncy to redeem his night and drive in New York’s Gary Sanchez to give the AL a 2-0 lead before being replaced by Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor in the top of the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, Berrios would enter the game in the third inning and the evening got off to a rough start for the Twins’ ace as Arizona’s Ketel Marte lined a rocket off the wall in the right-center gap for a double.
Berrios would buckle down in his second career All-Star appearance from there as he struck out Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. and Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich before getting Chicago’s Javy Baez to fly out to Brantley to wrap up the scoreless inning.
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The appearances wrapped up a successful first half for the Twins as they stand at 56-33 with a 5 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central. The All-Star Twins won’t have to go far to begin the second half as they’ll open up a crucial three-game series with the Indians beginning Friday night.