Who is the Twins’ best pitching prospect?
Zebby Matthews and his powerful jawline toed the rubber for the Twins, as Nestor Cortes and his association of tricks that one may call “crafty” took the mound for the Padres.
Initial results favored no one. San Diego tried and failed to score in the game’s opening frames. Minnesota, as well, placed men on base, but an invisible barrier cursed second base, causing Ryan Jeffers to attempt in vain to turn a single into a double in the first, and forcing Austin Martin to remain stationary after he doubled with two outs in the second. Stronger attempts will be needed to score.
The third brought runs. A sacrifice fly from Luis Arraez. who was returning to Target Field in a non-Twins uniform for the first time. Then a matching RBI groundout by Byron Buxton. Then a second run for the Padres. Soon, chaos.
Cortes was thrown out of the game. Unceremoniously, he disagreed with the home plate umpire calling ball four on a close pitch in a 3-2 count and voiced his opinion. The umpire disagreed with his disagreement. Unfortunately for the lefty, umpires hold the ultimate executive ability to do something about it. A simple finger point clarified Cortes’ position remaining in the game. Mike Shildt came to support his player and mime the motions of an upset manager otherwise privy to the uselessness of his objections. A new pitcher trudged in from the bullpen.
His ejection came with runners on first and second. Royce Lewis singled to load the bases. Kody Clemens grounded into a gentleman’s “fielder’s choice,” which is what the perfectly vague term scorers use to avoid bruised egos from defenders. An accurate description is that Jake Cronenworth mangled a potential double play, causing two runs to score as runners nestled in at second and third.
Trevor Larnach chopped a single up the gut to plate two more—and while Minnesota threatened for more in the inning—they settled for a four-piece giving them a 5-2 lead.
Sorry, Lewis just homered. 6-2 lead. Sorry, Buxton just drove in a run on a single. 7-2 lead.
San Diego plated two more runs to push the situation into “save” territory. Evidently, the man for the job was Kody Funderburk : the lefty emerged from the pen, likely as confused as any that he was the one serving as the closer. Nonetheless, he did it, holding the Padres scoreless to secure the win for the Twins.
Notes:
Post-Game Interview:
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
