I thought I would "live blog" today's Twins game in Kansas City. I'm going to be sitting inside anyway, out of the heat, watching the game, and so might as well for my own amusement make a record of it. Then my sister phoned me and I ended up not turning on the TV till KC was batting, bottom of the first, Twins already ahead 2-0. I see on ESPN's game log that, in the top of the first, after Polanco made a lead-off out, Kepler walked, then scored on a 2-out double to "deep center" by Sano. The second run scored on Rosario's "infield single," and I am sitting here trying to imagine Miguel Sano scurrying home from second on a ball that didn't leave the infield.
Did they leave out the wild pitch on which he advanced to third before Rosario's hit? Something ain't right.
That Audra Martin is cute. She was probably born after the Coen brothers made Fargo, but if they had put it off until now, she could be cast without expending any of the budget on lessons for her on how to "talk Minnesotan." Sounds like Marge if Marge had worked for Fox Sports North instead of for the small town police department.
THIRD INNING. Dick Bremer mentions that Nelson Cruz is right now in contention for the Triple Crown. That's when a hitter leads his league in: batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. To fill in the details, Cruz at the start of today's game was batting .333 (4th in the league), had 9 home runs (2nd, behind four tied with 10), and 25 RBI (3rd, behind two tied with 27).
Dick, developing the theme, says further that Yankee DJ LeMahieu (hard to spell!) (I mean "LeMahieu," not "DJ"), who right now has the league's highest batting average (.411), is currently not playing due to injury, and that to qualify as the batting average champion a player has to have at least 3.1 plate appearances per game. Sidekick Bert Blyleven says that, given the 60-game season, this would be "around 200 plate appearances." Back in the day when Bert was Dick's steady on-air sidekick, they had a running joke about Bert's "California math" (Blyleven grew up and attended school in southern California), and it seems to me that Dick now misses a chance to revive their schtick by observing that, here in Minnesota, 60 x 3.1 equals (exactly) (60 x 3) + (60 x .1) = 180 + 6 = 186.
Did Eddie Rosario undergo a brain transplant during the off season? Batting with runners on first and second and no one out, he bunts for a hit! Along this line, last season he had four times as many strikeouts as walks, whereas this season, so far, he has 10 walks and only 16 strikeouts. Also, at least while I've been watching in 2020, he's never yet, with runners on first and third and less than two out, caught a fly ball on the edge of the warning track and then air-mailed a throw to the general vicinity of home plate while the runner on first jogs to second. I like the new Eddie!
Gonzalez doubles into the left field corner, scoring two, but the prospect of a bigger inning fizzles when Vargas, Cave, and Jeffers make consecutive outs without getting Eddie home from third.
And now, in their half of the third, the Royals halve the lead by getting their own 2-run double off new Twin pitcher Devin Smeltzer. This pains me, as I pull hard for Smeltzer, who I feel is kind of a marginal talent. There is no autobiographical explanation for my attraction to these guys. My friends will tell you that I am one of the finest natural athletes they ever played in front of. Twins lead, 4-2.
FOURTH INNING. Twins get a couple more baserunners but fail, again, to expand their lead when Sano grounds into an inning-ending double play. In the Royals half, Smeltzer pitches around an error and a hit, strands a couple of runners, and it's still 4-2, Twins.
Score does not change during FIFTH INNING, while I eat a late lunch. Wish I could say for sure it's the first time I've ever had bagel & cream cheese with a Miller High Life. At Boulevard Liquors in my neighborhood, there's always big "ON SALE" signs promoting this brand or that one, including some of the cheaper domestic macrobrews, and maybe they are on sale, but they aren't cheaper than the High Life, which never gets a sign. I think it's permanently on sale. Can't afford to be without it.
SIXTH INNING. Six up, six down, score remains 4-2.
SEVENTH INNING. Dick plainly nervous as another Twins threat fails to yield a fifth run. Does feel a little like a football game in which one team, after pushing the foe up and down the field for three quarters, leads 13-7 headed into the fourth. After the first two Royals make outs in their half of the inning, Dozier gets his third hit of the game, a single to right, and Rocco brings in Romo, who looks weird jogging in from the bullpen: like a Sturgis dude dismounted from his Harley to go for a run.
A week ago, there was bad blood between Romo and the Royals after Romo got the last out of a Twins win at Target Field. Guess that there was some kid stuff, like the Royals would complain about a pitch being called a strike and Romo would yell "Swing the bat!" et cetera. Plus, his game-won celebration features some gesticulations that the other team might feel are not, strictly speaking, sportsmanlike. Anyway, he walks the first guy, then a bounding ball over Gonzalez's head at third to score a run, then another walk, loading the bases before Mondesi fans for the third out: Twins lead 4-3.
Both teams down in order in the EIGHTH INNING, Clippard pitching for Twins. A scoring summary, with clips, reveals that Eddie's RBI single in the first was not an "infield hit" but a grounder through the infield, between short and third and into left field.
NINTH INNING: Cruz takes a step toward the Triple Crown, homering over the center field fence for an insurance run. Sano hits another double but is stranded. He’s now hit eight doubles in the last seven games. Twins ahead, 5-3, headed to the bottom of the ninth.
Taylor Rogers in for the save. Audra with a little story concerning how, after recently blowing a save—the game in which Kenta Maeda took a no-hitter into the ninth and then ended up with no decision—Rogers intended to express his regret by buying Maeda a bottle of his favorite booze. The kids are watching, Audra! Maybe it's okay since, as it turns out, Maeda doesn't drink, so Rogers sprung instead for his Japanese teammate's favorite kind of fancy rice. As the Royals mount a rally, this is a little like the comic relief of the grave-digging scene in Hamlet, only it's more like schmaltz relief. A 1-out double, Dozier's fourth hit of the game, then a 2-out single to bring the winning run to the bat, but a fly to left ends the game, and the Twins win, 5-4, lifting their record to 19-10. One more game and the regular season is half done, unless Covid snuffs it out first.
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