The Twins 8-7 victory over the Cubs in 10 innings last night felt like a turning point on the 2012 season. It was an indication that this team is different from the squad that took the field just two months ago. Last night’s team overcame a multitude of errors; Revere’s misplay of Starlin Castro’s first inning triple, Darin Mastroianni letting an Ian Stewart fly ball drop out of his glove, Jamey Carroll foolishly trying to stretch a double into a triple, Ryan Doumit trying to leg a well hit single into a double – and still managed to earn a hard fought win.
The Cubs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to Starlin Castro’s lead off triple and Alfonso Soriano’s home run to dead center. The Twins rallied to tie the game at 2-2 in the 4th, but starting pitcher PJ Walter’s couldn’t keep the game tied, giving up a leadoff triple to Stewart, followed by a base hit to Reed Johnson and then a two run homer to Castro. Even down 5-2, the game still felt within reach. The Cubs’ bullpen is one of the worst in the NL, and they kept that reputation up after taking over for Travis Wood in the 5th. The Cubs allowed a run to the Twins in every inning except the 8th for the rest of the ballgame.
The Twins pulled ahead 6-5 in the 7th and looked like they were going to keep the lead. Alfonso Soriano had different plans, as he smashed a slider from Glen Perkins into orbit – hitting the third deck in left field. The Cubs pulled ahead 7-6, and it looked like the Twins just were not going to have enough to overcome their earlier mistakes.
Thankfully, they were still playing against the Cubs’ bullpen.
Trailing by 1 in the 9th, Josh Willingham lead off the inning with what looked to be the game tying home run. Unfortunately, it lost steam about 5 feet short of the wall and dropped for a very loud single. Justin Morneau followed that with a ball that was absolutely crushed to center, resulting in a triple (that would have been a game winning 2 run homerun in almost any other park).
The Twins brought in Denard Span to pinch run for Morneau and looked to have the game wrapped up with a man on third and no out. A strikeout from Doumit and a questionable decision by Span to run home on contact during the Alexi Casilla at-bat ended any hope of a rally.
Matt Capps entered the 10th and even though he faced 10 batters, managed to keep the Cubs off the scoreboard.
Darin Mastroianni lead off the 10th with a walk, and Ben Revere moved him over with a sac bunt. Jamey Carroll’s soft single put runners on the corners with one out and brought Josh Willingham up to bat. The Cubs brought 5 men into the infield, intending to take away any ground balls – which seemed like an odd strategy because Willingham almost always puts the ball in the air.
Of course, Willingham sharply hit the ball on the ground – luckily between a gap in the line and third baseman Ian Stewarts’ glove, singling in Mastroianni and ending the game.
This is pure speculative conjuncture, but I don’t think the April and May 2012 Twins win this ballgame. The Cubs had this game won on more than one occasion – it would have been very easy for the Twins to fold and simply let the game get away from them. Instead, they hit well in the clutch, rallying from 3 deficits, and used their bullpen to keep the game in check despite a less than stellar starting effort from Walters.
Last night’s game felt like the intersection of two teams heading in opposite directions. The last place Twins have found their momentum and their identity and seem to be on the right track. The last place Cubs look listless and seem like their ship is taking on water fast.
MVP:
Last night’s MVP goes to Ben Revere, who was 3 for 4, with 1 walk and 2 stolen bases.
Runner Up: Darin Mastroianni, who needed a good game to show why his spot on this roster is deserved: 2 for 4, 2 RBI and 1 walk. Mastroianni was a big part of last night’s win, tying the game with a well hit triple and acting as the winning run on Willingham’s single.
One Last Thought:
How do you Cubs fans do it? I understand that you now have the “wonder kid” Epstein as President of Baseball Operations – so there’s some semblance of hope for the future – but good grief does this team look hopeless as presently constructed. No bullpen depth – a roster of aging veterans (DeJesus, Soriano, Johnson, Stewart) and backups (Barney, Clevenger, Mather) around a solid first baseman and a super star shortstop who seems to have as many brain farts as flashes of brilliance.
Your one point of salvation is a decent starting rotation – unfortunately with an offense that can go stagnant at any point in time and a bullpen held together by the likes of Asencio, Russell and Camp – that rotation is not going to earn any wins.
Hats off to the legit Cubs fans (not just the beer drinking partiers that “claim” to be Cubs fans). This would be one heck of a hard team to cheer for year after year.
That being said, I hope the Twins continue to add to your misery and sweep you back to Chicago
No hard feelings?
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