Twins 10, Tigers 4: Sweeptember

Over this past series against the Tigers, the Minnesota Twins have averaged 10 runs a game.

Think about that. 10 runs. A game.

This will be the first series in 13 years where the Twins have swept the Tigers at Comerica.

Once against it was the bullpen doing most of the damage. Buck Farmer had five relatively decent innings, with a final line of 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. Not a stellar day, but by no means an insurmountable lead.

Then the bullpen came into play.

Chad Bell - 0.2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

Victor Alcantara - 1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

Zac Reininger - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.

Warwick Saupold - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2K.

Of these players Saupold is the only one was an ERA below 5.00. In fact the only one among Farmer, Bell, Alcantara, and Reininger with an ERA under 7.00 is Bell with a 6.94.

The Tigers did minimal damage offensively, with Andrew Romine scoring on a wild pitch and Alex Presley driving in Jose Iglesias for the game’s second run, both coming in the fifth.

Iglesias showed some hustle with a single in the ninth, and Ian Kinsler did his Ian Kinsler thing by belting in a beautiful two-run homer, showing precisely why he won the Heart and Hustle award. The man never stops playing.

Alas, the game ended one batter later with an infield pop up. The Twins won 10-4, outhitting the Tigers 13-9.

ROARS:

While true that Castellanos was good at third today, it’s hard to see that being his place for the future unless he makes a lot of offseason progress at the position ahead of the 2018 season. One game does not undo a season’s worth of sloppy defense.

Alex Presley was once again excellent offensively. He’s the type of player who doesn’t invite a lot of notice, but has been steady in regular season play. As September draws to a close it’s clear Presley is playing for a job, either with the Tigers or with another team that will want a decent utility player on their bench. He’s certainly making a case for himself, and will likely end the year with an average over .300.

These kids were champs for willingly sweating it out in 90 degree heat for the FSD crew.

HISSES:

The bullpen. Enough said.

JaCoby Jones. Now hear me out, because he didn’t really do anything wrong — aside from striking out in all four of his plate appearances. Defensively he was fine in center, in spite of a few missed catches. The issue with Jones is that he seems to be too much in his head, and offensively it’s causing him to overthink his swings at the plate. Jones needs to learn to trust his instincts more, or he’s not going to have a long run in the majors.

STREAKS & INFO:

And today would not be that day, as Paul Molitor decided he’d rather make a mid-inning pitching change with an eight run lead rather than have Pressly face Presley. The baseball gods are cruel some days. Why won’t you let us have any fun, Paul?