Minnesota Twins 5 Cleveland Indians 6 (June 1, 2006)
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0 commentsThe Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians battled to the end in last night's game. It took two Minnesota rallies, but they still fell short, losing 6-5 to the division leading Cleveland Indians. The Twins now find themselves 7.5 games back of first place, and must win tonight, to keep their post season hopes alive.
The Minnesota Twins offense battled hard last night, as they came back twice from scores of 3-0, and 6-3, to fall short 6-5 in the end. The Twins offense scored three runs in the fifth, and two more in the ninth, gathering a total of 13 hits, stranding eight runners, four in scoring position. This was just one of those hard fought games, where someone had to lose. Unfortunately for the Twins, it was them. There is really no faulting the Twins bats, who hit the ball hard. Brian Buscher batted 3 for 4, and hit his first Major League home run. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Bartlett both hit doubles, and Jason Tyner went 4 for 5.
Defensively for the Twins, they made some very good plays. They turned a double play, Nick Punto made an off balance throw from behind second base to retire a runner, Torri Hunter grabbed a ball out of the air just before crashing into the center field wall, and guys like Jason Bartlett and Brian Buscher dug out balls, to make nice throws to retire runners. The Twins did make two errors in the game. One on a Jason Bartlett throw, and the other was an attempted pick off play from Boof Bonser.
The other small defensive mistakes that came back to haunt the Twins were a single, a walk, then a hit batter in the bottom of the eighth inning, which allowed Ryan Garko's single to score a run, and keep the bases loaded. Then Jhonny Peralta's sacrifice fly, would put the nail in the coffin for the Twins, scoring the eventual winning run, and capping off a two run inning for Cleveland.
Twins runs in the top of the fifth inning, would come as a result of small ball. Brian Buscher would hit a lead off single. Then came singles from Jason Tyner, and Jason Bartlett whose single would score Buscher. Then Torri Hunter's single, would score Tyner, and a Justin Morneau RBI single scored Bartlett, to cap off a three run fifth inning.
The Twins rally in the ninth, would be ignited by Brian Buscher's first career home run. Then a Jason Tyner one out single, followed by a double from Jason Bartlett, would put runners on second and third. An RBI sacrifice fly from Torii Hunter, would score Tyner. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Justin Morneau would strike out to end the game.
Pitching for the Twins, Boof Bonser settled down after the third inning, allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits, with six strike outs, and one walk. Bonser did give up a two run home run to Travis Hafner in the bottom of the first inning, and a solo shot from Grady Sizemore in the bottom of the third, giving the Indians an early 3-0 lead. Then Carmon Cali came in relief for one-third of an inning and struggled. He allowed two runs, on one hit, with a walk, and a hit batter. Pat Neshek, allowed only one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
Cleveland Indians starter Jake Westbrook was solid until the Twins finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning with three runs to tie the game. Westbrook pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs, on ten hits, striking out four, and walking two. Rafael Perez would no hit the Twins, in the one-third of an inning he'd pitch, and Rafael Bentancourt would no hit the Twins in the eight inning. Finally, closer Joe Borowski would pitch in the ninth inning, allowing two runs, on three hits, and one strike out. Borowski would earn his 38th save of the season.
The Twins and Indians will play the series finale tonight at 6:05pm. The aces will battle each other, as Johan Santana will pitch for the Twins, and C.C Sabathia for the Indians. For the pitching preview, please read my post titled "Battle of the Aces: The Premiere Show."
GO JOHAN!!!!!!
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WIN TWINS!!!!!!
Date
June 1, 2006
