Twins Power Past Struggling Athletics
After dropping back-to-back series for the first time since the middle of April, the Minnesota Twins received just what the doctor ordered: a series against the struggling Athletics. The team is taking full advantage of the road matchup, winning the second game of the series 10-3. Team ace Pablo López picked up another win and the squad has put up 20 runs over two nights. Meanwhile, the A’s have lost eight straight and are at risk of losing a ninth straight series, with the season looking more lost by the day.
The Athletics did strike first when López was slow out of the blocks. Letting up a double to Lawrence Butler and an RBI single to Brent Rooker before recording his first out. Despite the poor start, López was able to turn in a respectable start, going five innings with only two earned runs. His only other blemish came from a one-out triple by Tyler Soderstrom that the Athletics converted into a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Willi Castro ignited the Twins' offense in the fourth inning with a solo home run, cutting the deficit in half.
The game swung hard in the Twins’ favor in the sixth inning. Starting with the lead-off batter, Trevor Larnach sent a ball 432 feet for a game-tying home run. The Twins were far from done. Two batters later, Willi Castro knocked his second ball of the day over the fence, giving Minnesota its first lead at 3-2. Then, with two outs, Brooks Lee reached first on an infield single, and Royce Lewis and Harrison Bader walked to load the bases for Byron Buxton. Buxton delivered the goods with a single to center field, scoring two runners to cap the four-run sixth for Minnesota, who led 5-2. The A’s responded in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own. Cole Sands entered in relief of López and, just like the Twins starter, gave up a lead-off double. It was a double that the Athletics cashed in on to bring the deficit back to two.
The Twins continued the offensive onslaught in the seventh inning. The bases quickly loaded with a Larnach single, a Carlos Correa walk, and a Ty France single. A’s reliever Tyler Ferguson then handed Minnesota a run, hitting Lee and scoring Larnach. Lewis then tacked on two more with a double to center field. Ferguson capped off a disastrous inning by throwing a wild pitch that allowed Lee to scamper home from third to complete another four-run inning for the Twins, who led 9-3.
The Twins tacked on another insurance run in the eighth to put their total into double digits for the second straight game. The relievers for the A’s simply had no answers for the Twins once the bats came alive, and the Minnesota bullpen continues to impress. The Athletics are in true freefall, having lost 19 of the past 20 games. Meanwhile, Minnesota will try to clinch the series win on Wednesday night. Wednesday’s game will start at 9:05 P.M. CST.
