On paper the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Guardians, but they actually handed two AL Central rivals a gigantic ‘L’ on Monday night at Target Field.
Minnesota kicked off a critical series with Cleveland that will likely go along way in ultimately deciding who wins the AL Central. The Twins have built a seven game lead over the Guardians, a lead that could grow to as many as nine games by the middle of the week.
It might seem that on a night where Royce Lewis hit his second grand slam in as many games, the Twins bullpen was perfect, and the team won 10-6 that the Guardians were the biggest losers of the night.
Thanks to the Twins scoreboard operator, Cleveland ended up earning a moral victory.
When Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez stepped up to the plate in the third inning, the Twins scoreboard went sicko mode and flashed a graphic that referenced his fight with Tim Anderson and essentially KO’d him again.
Twins scoreboard trolls Tim Anderson for getting KO’d by Jose Ramirez
“Currently 1-0 with a 1st round TKO of Tim Anderson and a no-decision against Miguel Cabrera,” read the Twins scoreboard.
Awesome. pic.twitter.com/pUSXtSfWXR
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) August 29, 2023
*Chef’s Kiss*
Ramirez and Anderson got into the biggest brawl fo the baseball season earlier in August with the latter catching a right hook to the face and falling to the ground. The incident resulted in suspensions for both players but Anderson has taken the worst of the fallout.
Not only was he deemed the instigator but he’s been dragged at every turn for appearing to get knocked out. He was only knocked to the ground after a brutal punch from Ramirez, but he continues to wear the incident like a stain — something that proved true as recently as last night.
The Twins aren’t the only AL Central team to rib Anderson and the Sox ove the fight. The reference to Miguel Cabrera in the Twins graphic is from when he jokingly squared up against Ramriez when the Guardians were honoring him in Cleveland after the fight.
Of course, the White Sox don’t need any help being a laughing stock this season. Chicago is having one of its worst seasons in franchise history, both in terms of their record and the general hopelessness of the future.
Then again, if an opportunity to troll a division rival presents itself it needs to be taken.