Game 18 4-14-20

Sorry I got a little behind here. Life with a three year old and 6 month old with a continuous ear infection sometimes takes priority. Anyways the Twins are coming off a great blow out win in Toronto. Let's see what happens in game 2 and 3 of the series. Can they head into their off-day with a nice road trip? Jhoulys Chacin (0-0) vs Chase Anderson (1-2) Game highlights below.

• Top of the 1st - with one out Arraez got to second after Cavan Biggio surprisingly threw the ball way over Travis Shaw's head. Polanco flew out for number 2 of the inning. Then Cruz hit a single scoring Arraez. Donaldson singled. Then, Garver walked. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Sano came up to bad and showed why he should be rated with 80 power. He hit the Twins 2nd grand slam of the season to left center field. Twins lead 5-0
  
• Top of the 2nd - Kepler continues to rake hitting a 412 foot shot. Twins lead 6-0
  
• Bottom of the 2nd - Randal Grichuk wanted to join the home run party and hit a solo shot of his own off of Chacin. Twins lead 6-1
  
• Top of the 3rd - Donaldson singled again, and Garver walked again...And Sano hit another bomb again, 421 ft. If only Cruz got on base to start the inning, Sano would have had back to back grand slams in this game. Rosario grounded out, and then Buxton hit a double. Kepler told Sano, if you can do it so can I, and hit his 2nd home run in as many at bats. Arraez then singled. And Anderson was happy to walk off the mound getting through 2.2 innings. Jacob Waguespack took over for the Jays. First batter he faced, Polanco launches a triple to the gap scoring Arraez. Then Cruz came up again this inning and hit an RBI single. Then Donaldson popped out to end the inning. Holy moly that was fun!!! Twins lead 13-1
  
• Bottom of the 3rd - I give the Blue Jays credit as they wanted to fight this one out. First at bat, Gurriel Jr hits a HR that only had a 16% chance of leaving the field. Next batter Chacin gives up his 3rd home run of the game to Bichette which had a slightly better 30% chance to be a HR. Vlad Jr. singled, Teoscar Hernandez hit a triple to dead center that had a 27% chance of not being caught by Buxton. Then Panik hit a sinking liner to Buxton that only had a 14% chance of not being caught, and it defied the odds and landed in for an RBI single. Frustrating to say the least for the Twins to see 4 out of 5 batters beat low odds on plays. Chacin followed up the single by plunking both Drury AND Shaw and somehow didn't get ejected from the game but Baldelli said he saw enough and yanked him for Dobnak. Dobnak got two easy outs before giving up a single to Gurriel Jr. (Both teams hit through the order this inning). The single scored Panik, but the Twins got their own luck and Buxton threw out Drury at home with 32% odds he'd throw the perfect bullet. This is one of the more crazy innings I have seen in this game. So much has happened this game and we are only through three innings!!! Twins lead 13-6
  
• Top of the 4th - Garver, Rosario and Buxton all singled, Buxton's scored Garver. That was the most normal half inning the Twins have had so far. Twins lead 14-6
  
• Top of the 5th - Cruz leads the inning off with a homer. Two batters later Garver said, "Hey, I hit for power too, dontcha know?" He has adopted Minnesota phrases pretty quickly. And he hit a home run as well. Cruz slammed his 452 ft. Garver's went 428 ft. Twins lead 16-6
  
• Top of the 6th - With 2 outs, Cruz thought if everyone is hitting 2 home runs this game I may as well join that bandwagon. Then the very next batter, Donaldson being the newcomer to the team wanted to fit in with the rest of the guys and hit his first HR of the game 416 ft to LF. Twins lead 18-6
  
• Bottom of the 7th - Dobnak did a great job coming in to relieve Chacin throwing 3 straight 1-2-3 innings. But he was exhausted so Duffey came in to start the 7th. He gave up a double to Bichette who eventually scored on a Drury single. Twins lead 18-7
  
• Bottom of the 8th - Not Duffey's best game today. Tellez got on after a Duffey error, and then scored after Biggio hit a double. Luckily the Twins didn't need Duffey or any of their pitchers to have good stuff today. Twins lead 18-8
  
• Top of the 9th - The Twins weren't even trying at this point. But with bad play by the Jays they couldn't help but run up the score. Donaldson took a base on balls. He scored on a single by Garver and a subsequent error on the play. Then Sano who had a monster of a game hit a double to score Garver. And that was that. May came in for the bottom of the 9th and got three easy outs to end the game.
  

TWINS WIN 20-8

What a fun game! 8 home runs for the twins, 3 players hitting 2 a piece. 11 extra base hits in total. The Twins were a whopping 7-14 with runners in scoring position. Chacin had a horrible game with a game score of an extremely low 3. But it didn't matter at all with the bats going off like they did.

Twins 12-6 _ 2nd place, 3 games behind Cleveland

https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=6cab95a1d12c4ff08255eefedfa37dcc&ReportType=1

Other League News

The Philadelphia (11-7) v. Milwaukee (7-10) game also had three players hit 2 HRs a piece. Gregorius, Harrison and Braun.

Game 19, 4-15-20

Twins are going for their 2nd straight sweep in a row, both would be on the road if they can accomplish it today. Berrios (3-1) v. a pitcher the Twins couldn't get in Ryu (2-1). Game Highlights below.

• Top of the 1st - Kepler hit a single, Sano walked, then Donaldson hit a single scoring Kepler. Garver walked to load the bases for Jake Cave, who fouled out to end the inning. Twins continue scoring in the 1st inning game after game. Twins lead 1-0
  
• Bottom of the 2nd - After getting through the 1st inning with out much damage, Berrios walked Gurriel Jr. to start the bottom of the 2nd and then gave up a 456 wallop to Drury. Damage done. Jays lead 2-1
  
• Top of the 6th - Coming off a crazy 28 combined run game. This one must be a hang over game as not much has happened, singles here and there but not much else going on. Polanco got on base with a walk in the top of the 6th. Buxton moved him to third on a single and then ran to second himself on the throw to third. Jason Adam relieved Ryu. Kepler scored Polanco on a ground out. Tied up the game, but that a ground out RBI has been one of the most exciting things to happen this game! Game tied 2-2
  
• Bottom of the 8th - With two outs and nobody on Berrios gave up his second home run of the game to Teoscar Hernandez. The two home runs hurt, but overall Berrios pitched a good game. Rogers comes into the game to relieve and gets the last out of the inning. Jays lead 3-2
  
• Top of the 9th - Do or die time for the Twins down a run. Kepler walked to start the inning. Wilmer Font comes in to pitch for the Jays. He walks Sano and Rosario pinch runs for him. Cruz smacks a double scoring Kepler which ties up the game. With still no outs, Anthony Bass comes in for Font after he blew the save. Donaldson comes up to bat and hits a single scoring Rosario and giving the Twins the lead. Now this game is turning into a fun one like the rest of this series. Just took 9 innings to get there today. Next up Garver hit a double, scoring both Cruz and Donaldson. Jake Cave singled. Adrianza grounded out, the first of the innings but it scored Garver. Polanco walked and then Buxton walked. Kepler comes up again as the Twins hit through the line up for the 2nd game in a row. Kepler got an RBI ground out. Finally Rosario grounded out to end that horrendous inning for the Jays. Twins lead 8-3
  
• Bottom of the 9th - The Blue Jays got runners in scoring position early in the inning, but Rogers shut them down for his 1st win of the season.
  

TWINS WIN 8-3

What a series. The bats that had been on and off for the season finally came roaring alive. 39 hits in the series sweep. Berrios got the Quality Start with a 55 game score mostly lower because of the 2 home runs. The Twins are on fire winning 6 straight. Unfortunately Cleveland keeps winning too (16-3)

Twins 13-6 _ 2nd Place, 3 games behind Cleveland

https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=cc3326d70247441188038b05fbc096b3&ReportType=1

Other League News

Top pitchers had great games today. Buehler, Ray, Verlander, Wheeler, Soroka, and Darvish all dominated in their starts today. Cleveland did not have a great game but snuck out the win with a Naquin walk off single in the 11th inning. Carlos Correa is out for two months for the Astros with an injury.