It’s oftentimes been tough to be a Minnesota Twins fan this season, but Wednesday night was not one of those times.
Pablo Lopez threw the first complete game shutout of his career, striking out a dozen Kansas City Royals batters along the way. It marks just second time this season that a Twins pitcher has gone the distance. Joe Ryan pitched a complete game shutout back on June 22nd against the Boston Red Sox on a night Minnesota’s bat similarly woke up.
Lopez didn’t get as much run support as Ryan did, but the Twins gave him four runs which was more than enough to get the job done. With his dozen strikeouts on Wednesday, Lopez moved into third among pitchers in the league with 138 total on the season.
Of course, his performance comes against the backdrop of frustrations from fans who have watched the Twins offense struggle while the guy the team traded to Miami for Lopez is on his way to potentially hitting .400.
"I love this place and I'm glad I'm a Minnesota Twin," Lopez said after the game. "A night that I'll never forget."
That wasn’t all that happened after the game. Lopez was given an ice bath by his teammates during his postgame remarks, punctuating a night that was anything but cold for the Twins.
Pablo Lopez gets ice bath after complete game shutout (Video)
For as rough as things have been, Lopez getting an ice bath in what can only be described as a moment of pure bliss is exactly what the team needs.
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 6, 2023
The win over Kansas City completed a series sweep and kept Minnesota’s hot streak going. Ever since getting swept by the Atlanta Braves last week, the Twins are 5-1 and the offense has sprung to life.
Over the course of that sweep to Atlanta, the Twins mustered up a meager three runs and went 0-for-23 with runners in scoring position. Since then the offense has put up 31 runs in six games including a whopping 22 runs in this series against the Royals.
That’s the sort of production fans have been waiting to see all season, and Wednesday night was the perfect storm of what this team could be. The combination of hot bats and a stellar starting performance resulted in one of the most impressive wins of the season, and hopefully gives us a taste of things to come.