Game 31, 4-29-20

Minnesota is going for the short 2 game series win vs LA today. Jose Berrios (3-2) is up against Julio Urias (1-0).

Game highlights below:

• Top of the 2nd - The Twins looked good this inning. Garver walked after Donaldson grounded out. Cave got a single moving Garver to 2nd. Adrianza struck out. But Polanco hit a single to center unfortunately leaving Garver at 3rd. 2 outs, bases loaded and Jose Berrios is at the plate. He actually connected with the ball but grounded into a 6-4 fielders choice to end the inning.
  
• Bottom of the 2nd - Berrios struck out all three batters in the first inning, but Baldelli wished he had a crystal ball when Berrios was up with the bases loaded right before this, as he would have yanked him from the game. Here is what happened. Bellinger and Seager singled putting men on the corners. Betts plated Bellinger with a single. Enrique Hernandez struck out. Will Smith singled, knocking in Seager. Betts made it to third under the throw, and Smith moved to second on the throw. Pitcher Julio Urias doubled to left center scoring both men on base. Jon Pederson doubled scoring Urias. Muncy and Turner struck out to end the awful inning. Definitely Berrios' worst inning of the year. Dodgers lead 5-0
  
• Bottom of the 3rd - Zack Littell comes in for Berrios after 2 innings. 5 runs given up, but he did manage to strike out all 6 of the outs he got...so that's something. With Kepler injured, Rosario is getting more regular reps in the outfield instead of platooning with Cave, and he has been a bit rusty. Bellinger started the inning out getting on base with a Rosario dropped ball error. Luckily Seager hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Then Littell got the next out. Dodgers lead 5-0
  
• Bottom of the 4th - Littell started then inning by walking Hernandez. 2 batters later, the pitcher, Urias, now confident after his double in the 2nd, cockily struts up to the plate...and he hits another double knocking in Hernandez this time. That's his 3rd RBI of the game. Littell got out with no further damage. Dodgers lead 6-0
  
• Bottom of the 5th - Little is still on the mound for the Twins in this current blow out. After getting a double play on the second batter of the inning, Seager singled, and then Betts doubled scoring Seager. Dodgers lead 7-0
  
• Top of the 8th - The Dodgers have limited the Twins to three batters in 6 out of 7 innings. Adrianza started the 8th with a single. Urias left the blow out throwing a really good game. No need to push anything and risk injury. Adam Kolarek relieved him. Polanco flied out. Nelson Cruz who is on the bench since it is an NL game, pinch hit for Marwin and got a single. Buxton doubled, moving his total to 11 on the season. That scored both Adrianza and Cruz. Rosario struck out. Next Sano hit his 8th home run of the season, putting the twins down by three. Donaldson grounded out to end the inning. Dodgers lead 7-4
  
• Top of the 9th - Kenley Jansen came in to close this one out for the Dodgers. Do the Twins have anything left inside them against this top closer? The answer was a simple nope. Avila got on base with a walk, but Jansen got three strike outs with 2 looking to end the game.
  

Dodgers win 7-4

This game was a bit of a dud. Berrios was terrible with a 31 game score. The Twins were 3-6 with runners in scoring position, but those were just half the hits we got the whole game batting .188 for the day. But splitting the series in Los Angeles is encouraging. The first game we played extremely well and this could be a team we face if we make it to the World Series. I know, that is way too far away...but can't a man dream?!

https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=a90d2e1e29c045d7be10dac855672e81&ReportType=1

Twins 23-8 _ Tied for first with the Indians

Other League News

*Where are they now?-Brian Dozier edition. He is with San Diego (13-17) and just hit his 6th home run of the season. However, there is a big BUT...but he is only batting .192 the first month of the season. *Boston (13-20) only let Toronto's (12-19) Chase Anderson get through one inning pitching before he was bounced giving up 5 runs. However, Toronto clawed their way back for a one run win. I don't know if Boston thought this would be a complete rebuilding year, but after the first month it looks like it may be. *Detroit (5-25) is abysmal this year, they just lost to the Yankees (17-15) 12-2. The Tigers are being outscored on average by 3.5 runs per game!! The top qualifying batter for OPS is Harold Castro at .724. No starter has an ERA under 5.00 or an OPS against below .790. Ouch!!! This train wreck will be fun to follow throughout the year. *Yoan Moncada of the White Sox is out for 1 week, and David Dahl of the Rockies is out for 2 weeks. *HOME RUN watch: Aristedes Aquino has now hit his 17th home run for Cincinnati (16-14) in 30 games. That is more than 1 every two games right now. *CLEVELAND watch: Shane Bieber had a bad start and got his first loss of the season. Cleveland has now lost 3 straight, and despite the loss to the Dodgers today, the Twins are still tied for first

TWINS PLAYER STATS & MORE

https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0