We’ll spend some time chatting about hitting the night, so let’s go ahead and talk about pitching first. Danny Duffy was great through three innings, hitting four and allowing only two hits. Unfortunately, things were not so nice in the fourth. He gave Nelson Cruz an advantage at home and was visibly angry at himself. The anger only grew when he got a few flyouts from Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. Then things completely fell apart when he gave a single to Marwin Gonzalez, walked Luis Arraez, and then let Byron Buxton homer for the third game in a row, giving the Twins their only lead of the game.
The bullpen were not error free, but they were good enough. Tyler Zuber gave a header in 1.1 innings of work, Greg Holland defeating the situation. Ian Kenned let a solo run home, but also knocked out a few in his run of work. Gabe Speier started the eighth inning in a move by Manager Mike Matheny that left me under the impression. Speier was able to face the lefties before Trevor Rosenthal came on for Buxton and earned a four-out serve.
Jake Odorizzi was as slow as ever in his first start of 2020, and the Royals made nothing easier for him during his three innings. She managed to work him out for a few walks and four hits including a home team. In the end, he gave up only two total runs, but the Royals stepped up early in the Twins bullpen and not one of the first two guys they faced had worked anything out.
We could talk about how Ryan O’Hearn had an RBI single and a couple of walks because he again looks like a legitimate premier class first baseman. We could chat about how Salvador Perez had three hits, including another double and a home run. Most of you probably expect me to focus on Jorge Soler’s two-home game. And sure enough, these are worth checking out:
As noted earlier, the Twins took the lead in the fourth inning after Danny Duffy had his night undone. It felt like another of those games where the Royals just could not hang on, while a clearly superior opponent battled them around the ballpark. But one man was certain that things would not end there. That man, the hero Kansas City deserves, but not the one who wants it, was Nicky Lopez.
Nicky Lopez hit his first home game in a major league stadium – his home ground last year was at TD Ameritrade Park, the park where he had played college ball in a special game to host the College World Series – with a man on and tied the game backup. Without Nicky feeling like it, Soler and Salvy might not have had a chance to put the game out of reach.
Oh right, you probably want to see the Salvy explosion too, huh?
However, the Royals do not just muscle up. They used their legs a lot too. Brett Phillips had a beautiful dragbunt for a single right to Nicky’s home run to move the line and then he stole second. Adalberto Mondesi went his own way to the Royals final in the seventh. He hit an infield single, stole second, set third, and scored at a wild pitch. It was a good night for the Royals to line up, as they try to climb out of the hole in which they dug themselves last week.
The Royals now have their first official winning streak of the 2020 season with three games in a row. They also won their first series of the year and have a chance to go for the sweep tomorrow. The Royals will send rookie Brady Singer to the mound, but the Twins will face off against ace Jose Berríos. Get used to this matchup, these two young pitchers give a break in the rotation of their respective teams.
