Twins play small ball, ride solid pitching performances to win
OAKLAND, Calif. — When the Twins and Athletics met up earlier this month at Target Field, runs were hard to come by and Rocco Baldelli, watching from afar while dealing with COVID-19 in his Baltimore hotel room, could sense the stress was high from miles and miles away.
The Twins and Athletics tangled in yet another close game on Monday. In this one, the Twins used strong performances from their pitching staff and some small ball to oust the Athletics for the fourth time this season, this game a 3-1victory over the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum.
Rookie Royce Lewis, whose time in the majors appears to becoming to an end soon with Carlos Correa (finger) nearing a return from the injured list, has made the most of his first opportunity, and did again on Monday, scoring two of the team’s three runs.
Lewis led off the third inning with a double to left and came around to score on a Jorge Polanco single. The 22-year-old reached again two innings later, drawing a walk to lead off the fifth.
And then, some old school ball.
Nick Gordon laid down a perfect bunt, moving Lewis into scoring position, and Byron Buxton followed by shooting a single to left as the trio of former first-round picks teamed up to manufacture what would become the game-winning run.
The call for the bunt, Baldelli said, came from the dugout.
“I just want to win ballgames. Our players just want to win ballgames and however we can do that, that’s going to be good with us,” Baldelli said. “To see something a little different kind of maybe fires everyone up for a second.”
For good measure, Sánchez added a little breathing room in the sixth inning, hitting a home run out to center, his second in his past four games. Sánchez finished the day with a pair of extra base hits — he also doubled — and also got some kudos from his starter, Chris Archer, for the game he called behind the plate.
Archer, in a 62-pitch effort, threw four innings and surrendered a run on just a pair of hits. After a taxing first inning, Archer worked a nine-pitch second and then cruised through the third, too, before allowing an RBI double to Elvis Andrus in the fourth inning that tied the game at the time.
“I give what they ask me to give,” Archer said of the shortened start. “We got the win. Our bullpen was set so whatever they ask me to do, that’s what I’m willing to do.”
Behind Archer, the bullpen certainly was set.
Rookie Yennier Cano, working in just his second career game, threw a pair of scoreless frames and ended up with the win. His teammates made sure to celebrate the accomplishment in the clubhouse postgame, dousing him in beer.
“It was unexpected,” Cano said. “One of the best things to happen in my life as a baseball player. I got my first beer shower and it was fun and I appreciate their support.”
While Cano walked away with the win, it was possible in part because of the efforts of Griffin Jax (two innings) and Tyler Duffey behind him, both of whom protected the Twins’ (21-15) two-run advantage.
With Emilio Pagán having pitched in the past three games and the Twins wanting to avoid using Jhoan Duran for the third time in four days, Duffey drew the save opportunity on Monday against the A’s (15-23), his first appearance in the ninth inning since April 9.
And he responded to the situation, collecting just his fifth career save.
“We played a good ballgame all the way around. We played pretty solidly defensively,” Baldelli said. “We pitched very well. I was very happy with what we saw. We scratched some runs across. Gary (Sánchez) hits one to the moon. It was a good day.”
