The Twins finished their final homestand of the first half of this season by topping the Royals in an offensive slugfest. Sunday’s final score ended up being a little closer than it needed to be, thanks to some shaky pitching from Glen Perkins, but the Twins 10-8 victory won the series against Royals, and allowed them to finish their 7 game homestand with a 4-3 record.
Friday: Brian Duensing VS Luis Mendoza
Royals 4 : Twins 3
WP: Mendoza
Brian Duensing once again took a spot start to aid the Twins’ beleaguered rotation. Immediately from the first pitch, you could see that Duensing was struggling with location. He wasn’t missing the zone – quite the opposite in fact, it looked like he was hitting too much of the zone – and the Royals made him pay. Duensing lasted a brief 4.0 innings, giving up 8 hits, 3 earned runs and only striking out 1.
On the opposite side of the coin was Luis Mendoza, who had complete control of his full repertoire of pitches and was simply shutting down the Twins offense. Mendoza
The Twins tried to make it interesting in the bottom of the 9th off of Royals closer Jonathan Broxton. Denard Span started the inning with a walk and was advanced to 2nd off of Ben Revere single. Joe Mauer then doubled to plate Span and advance Revere to 3rd. Josh Willingham grounded out – scoring Revere
Saturday: Scott Diamond VS Jonathan Sanchez
Twins 7 : Royals 2
WP: Diamond LP: Sanchez
Scott Diamond continues to be the Twins best starter this season. Saturday’s early game saw Diamond go 8.0 innings, holding the Royals to 6 hits and 2 earned runs. Diamond’s progression this season has been impressive – he has improved his groundball rate to around 62%, up from 46% last season. Simply put, 6/10 balls that are put in play against Diamond are on the ground and are usually easy outs. If he can continue to show solid command and maintain that high of a ground ball rate – Diamond will be the Twins #1 starter for years to come.
Much like Friday’s game, the opposing pitcher was the complete opposite of the Twins starter. Thankfully, this meant that Jonathan Sanchez was going to have a poor game. Sanchez struggled with his control early and often, giving up 6 walks and 10 hits over 4.1 innings. Adding to the pain was Sanchez’s failure to keep an eye on the Twins base runners who tallied up 5 steals against the Royals (Casilla had 2, Span, Mastroianni and Dozier each had 1).
The Twins offense finally woke from their long slumber and pushed across 7 runs. Trevor Plouffe was the star of the show, pushing across an RBI on a double in the 3rd, as well as blasting a solo homer in the 8th.
Saturday: (Game 2) Cole DeVries VS Luke Hochevar
Twins 5 : Royals 1
WP: DeVries LP: Hochevar
The Twins took advantage of the newly created 26 man rule, which allows a team playing in a double header to call up one additional player without having to send another player down. In need of a starter, the Twins called up Cole DeVries – who was demoted from the rotation due to inconsistent pitching just a few weeks ago.
DeVries proved the move to be a wise one, however, pitching 6.0 innings holding the Royals to 5 hits and 1 earned run. DeVries pitched well enough to cause some Twins’ writers (and fans) to ask who would get sent down following the game – Nick Blackburn (who was blown up in his previous start) or DeVries? Unfortunately for DeVries, his solid outing was enough to earn his 2nd major league win – but not enough to keep his roster spot – the Twins sent him back to Rochester
Continuing the trend of the first two games, the opposing starter was exactly the opposite of the Twins starter. Hochevar, who had been the Royals hottest starter, was knocked around the field by the Twins offense. Hochevar lasted 6.0 innings, giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs.
Josh Wilingham and Trevor Plouffe have entered their own private home run contest – each vying to be the team’s home run leader. Willingham pulled even with Plouffe’s 16 home runs by blasting a 2 run shot in the first inning to put the Twins ahead early.
Chris Parmelee (who FINALLY got some playing time!) absolutely crushed his first home run of the year (into Target Plaza
In 3 previous doubleheaders, the Twins had been swept each time – the day / night sweep of the Royals finally put an end to that dubious streak.
Sunday: Francisco Liriano VS Bruce Chen
Twins 10 : Royals 8
WP: Gray LP: Chen
The stars were aligned on Sunday for the Royals. The Twins most inconsistent pitcher was on the mound and was not throwing his best stuff. Conversely, Bruce Chen – who seems to be Twins kryptonite, was pitching an absolute gem.
By the time the Royals chased Liriano from the game in the 6th, they had taken a 3-1 lead that looked to be safe behind Chen’s dominate outing. Jeff Gray entered in relief of Liriano and promptly allowed both inherited runners to score. At 5-1, the Twins looked to be buried behind an insurmountable lead.
Baseball’s a funny game though. With the Twins down 5-1 and Bruce Chen throwing the lights out – you could have easily called this game over and moved on to something else to fill your Sunday afternoon. If you did – you would have missed the Twins suddenly surging back to life.
The bottom of the 6th started with a Brian Dozier triple. Span scored Dozier on a sac-bunt to close the gap to 5-2. Jamey Carroll then fought an epic battle with Chen, forcing him to throw 11 pitches before eventually drawing a walk. This protracted faceoff must have broken Chen, as the wheels absolutely fell off for the Royals after this at bat.
Joe Mauer sharply singled to advance Carroll to 2nd, brining Josh Willingham to the plate. Willingham decided that it was time to take the home run lead back from Trevor Plouffe (who hit his 17th homer in the 3rd to tie the game) and blasted a 3 run shot to left center field that tied the game.
After a Justin Morneau strikeout, Trevor Plouffe stepped up and took the home run lead right back from Willingham, launching his 18th homer of the season to the left field bleachers.
The Twins pushed across another run in the 7th on a Denard Span single and 3 more in the 8th on a Drew Butera home run to left field. (You know you’re having a bad day when Drew Butera nails a 3-run home run…sorry Royals fans).
Butera’s blast originally looked like extra padding on an easy Twins win – but ended up being needed insurance as the Royals tagged Glen Perkins for 3 (2 out) runs in the top of the 9th. Perkins rallied, however, and earned the final out – sealing the Twins victory.
Looking Forward:
The Twins begin a 4 game series in Detroit , before wrapping up the first half of the season with 3 games in Texas
Where Things Stand
The team currently sits 12 games under .500, and is somehow only 8.5 back of first place. With this piecemeal rotation, it’s hard to see the Twins making any serious run at the division title, however, leading many experts to speculate the Twins as sellers after the All-Star game.
Twins GM Terry Ryan recently said that no player was “untouchable” on the current roster. That’s a wise statement, given this team’s recent performance. Recent speculation has focused on Glen Perkins and Jared Burton as potential trade targets. Burton
Glen Perkins signed a 3 year contract extension early in the year that looked like a ‘closer in waiting’ type of agreement with the team. With Matt Capps likely to be dealt by the trading deadline and with Perkins’ dominate pitching in 2011, the Twins thought they had their next closer on the roster. However, Perkins’ 2012 numbers have been a little less stellar. While he has not been bad by any stretch – he has been a little more hittable than last season. In 33.2 innings of work, Perkins has a 3.46 ERA and has struck out 41.
Their great numbers lead experts to believe the Twins will shop them come July 31st – I’m inclined to believe the opposite. The Twins know they likely have their future closer and set-up man already in place. With a roster full of holes and question marks – the Twins bullpen has been one of the few bright spots. I don’t see the team moving these two assets without requiring a hefty haul in return.
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