Marwin Gonzalez saved the day with a 3-run homer in the top of the 8th to give the Minnesota Twins the lead and victory in the first game of a pair in Milwaukee.
Martin Perez would get the start for the Minnesota Twins tonight as he would face off against Brewers starter Chase Anderson. Though Perez has struggled in the second half of the season, he wouldn’t let that bother him this evening. Perez tossed 6 solid innings of 1 run ball as he struck out 3 and walked 4. Yet again the walks were high, though fortunately for the Twins, it didn’t come back to haunt him.
The offense broke out for a quick 3-1 lead that would last until the 7th inning thanks in part to a 2-run homer by Mitch Garver. While Ehire Adrianza‘s double in the 7th would extend the lead to 3, Ryne Harper imploded in the bottom half of the inning. With a 5-4 deficit going into the 8th inning, Marwin Gonzalez launched a 3-run homer to left to take the 7-5 lead.
Twin Takeaway – The Good
There are a couple of big time performances that deserve some highlighting here. The first is pretty obvious and that’s the big blast from Gonzalez. A massive off-season addition, Marwin has been a much-needed veteran presence for a relatively young playoff-contending team.
A guy that’s been here before and has a World Series under his belt is always a safe bet to lead a young core. Marwin Gonzalez clearly didn’t care how impressive Josh Hader has been the past couple of seasons clobbering the first pitch Hader threw over the fence.
The other big highlight and positive from this game has to be the way Sam Dyson came back from the injured list. While he struggled in his first couple of outings with the club, Dyson was lights out in his third appearance this evening in Milwaukee during the 8th inning.
Dyson got a big strikeout of Keston Hiura and made quick work of Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun. A positive sign moving forward for a team that’s in the playoff hunt. Sergio Romo, the other player acquired at the deadline, finished the game off nicely for his 19th save of the season.
Twin Takeaway – The not-so-good
Obviously it has to go to Ryne Harper tonight. Though he’s been a very pleasant surprise this year, tonight was not his best outing. Honestly it was quite astonishing that he allowed the first 4 batters of the inning to cross the plate. Fortunately for Harper, his mess was cleaned up quickly with a big-time bomba. The Twins must be able to pick one another up if they expect a successful run to the postseason.
With the Indians falling in extras the Twins moved back into sole possession of first-place, for now. With two impressive teams battling it out for control of the division, don’t be surprised if that doesn’t last long. The Minnesota Twins take on the Brewers tomorrow before heading to Texas to face the Rangers. Kyle Gibson starts for the Twins and needs a solid performance.