It was a weekend of sadness, fear, excitement and joy for the Minnesota Twins, and it included every type of baseball game imaginable. First it was a blowout for the Twins in game one and then it was the old fashioned pitcher’s battle in game two. To wrap it all up, the Twins did what they’ve done best over the past few seasons, they collected a comeback victory.
The Twins have won five straight games with their perfect homestand, and the month of May couldn’t have gotten off to a better start than with two sweeps over the White Sox and Tigers respectively.
It was a busy weekend, and one we won’t soon forget.
Friday: Twins 11, Tigers 1
Friday started off as a sad night for the Minnesota Twins. Their manager Ron Gardenhire left the team during the day after finding out that his brother, Mike Gardenhire, had passed away at his home at the age of 55. Mike Gardenhire had been with the team the previous weekend, so most players had a chance to meet him, which made the day even harder.
The Twins took an early lead in the opening game of the series, and Livan Hernandez looked brilliant after a poor outing last week. The Twins cruised to a 3-1 lead when fear struck in the fifth inning.
Carlos Gomez was having a great game. He had reached base in both of his first two plate appearances after being hit by a pitch and walking. Gomez went to the plate and singled to reach base for the third straight time. Later in Brendan Harris’ at-bat, Gomez took second base for the second time in the game. Many fans smiled and cheered as Go-Go collected his thirteenth steal of the season, but when Gomez didn’t move, those smiles turned to fear.
Gomez didn’t move for what seemed like forever, and interim manager Scott Ullger along with the team’s trainer ran onto the field. Minutes later, two team doctors wearing suits also rushed to the field. Gomez did eventually move, rise to his feet and then walk to the cart. In the lockeroom, he was deemed good to go, and what could have been a big blow to the team turned out to be just a big scare.
After Gomez exited, the team kept going. They added a run that inning, and then added four in the seventh and three in the eighth to win in dramatic fashion. The final score was 11-1, with Hernandez picking up his fourth win of the season.
Saturday: Twins 4, Tigers 1
On Saturday, the pitcher’s duel took place with Scott Baker taking on Justin Verlander. Baker pitched three solid innings to start off the game, allowing just one hit and no runs. But he’d leave the game after retiring Granderson for the final out in the third, re-aggravating his groin injury.
Brian Bass would take over however and continue the duel. The Twins scattered runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to give Bass support, and he took over from there. Bass went four innings after Baker’s exit and allowed no runs and just three hits to collect his first major league victory.
The game almost became close in the eighth inning with Neshek on the mound. After retiring two batters quickly, Neshek surrendered a solo homerun to Curtis Granderson and then a walk and a single to put the tying run at the plate. Fortunately, Jesse Crain relieved Neshek and quickly ended the inning. Joe Nathan then collected save number ten on the season.
Sunday: Twins 7, Tigers 6
Boof Bonser pitched five innings, and allowed no runs. You’d think that would allow him to pick up the win, but unfortunately for him, those five solid innings came after Bonser’s first inning in which he allowed six hits and six runs.
The game looked out of reach after the first, not because the Twins didn’t have any offense, but because it looked as if the Tigers had taken all of the momentum. Bonser and the Twins however, never gave up and slowly fought back.
The Twins cut into the lead in the fourth inning with one run, and then narrowed the lead to just a three- run deficit with two more runs in the fifth. The big inning, and the game-winning inning came in the seventh when the Twins scored four runs after a critical Tiger error to take the lead and eventually the game.
Matt Tolbert doubled, and then third basemen Carlos Guillen made an error to allow Punto to reach. Gomez chopped a ball off the plate to reach, and then Brendan Harris reached with a hit after that. The fourth run of the inning went to Joe Mauer when he hit one right back through the middle for the Twins’ lead, 7-6.
Matt Guerrier was solid in the seventh and eighth innings to earn the win and keep the Tigers off the board. Joe Nathan finished up the perfect homestand and series sweep with his fourth save in five games and his eleventh overall on the season.
Five Straight Wins
It has been a lot of fun to watch the Twins over the past week, and they’ll head on the road now for a three-game road trip starting Tuesday in Chicago. With the five straight wins, and the two series sweeps here in May, the Twins have surged to a 16-14 record overall and sole possession of first place in the American League Central.
Let’s hope the great pitching can continue and the bats can keep heating up going into the summer.
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