The Twins may have a new look, but this performance was straight out of the Piranha error -- at least with regards to balls in play. They didn't do anything spectacular on the mound or basepaths, and they committed two errors, but it seemed that every time they made contact off John Danks, it managed to find a hole.
The only problem was that Danks added to the misery with poor control, and thus he found himself hitting the showers after 2 1/3 innings.
His day started ominously when he walked a guy he couldn't afford to walk, Carlos Gomez, leading off the game. He ended up picking off Gomez, but Brendan Harris then chopped one over the first base bag and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Danks gave up two in the first, but seemed to settle down with a 1-2-3 inning in the second, but he'd only record one more out -- a bases loaded strikeout of Delmon Young. Around that: four singles and a walk, one to Craig Monroe that ended his night.
Nick Masset came in and immediately poured gasoline on the fire -- his first pitch was stroked into right by Mike Lamb, and all of the inherited runners came around to score.
A walk also spelled the end of the Sox's night in the top of the sixth inning -- after the Sox climbed back to 7-3 with three solo homers by Nick Swisher, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede, Masset had two outs with runners on the corners and Young at the plate. He got ahead in the count 0-2, but Young won the battle by drawing his first walk of the season. Jason Kubel followed with a grand slam, and that was the ballgame.
More notes:
- Along with his solo shot, Swisher made a beautiful sliding catch on the warning track to end the second inning.
- Brian Anderson (1-for-2 with a double) got his first hit of the season, and Alexei Ramirez saw his first action in four games (0-for-2, another shattered bat).
- After the game was well in hand, Pierzynski broke up a potential double play with a huge takeout slide, barreling into Brendan Harris and forcing an errant throw.
- Crede made a nice play behind third base in the ninth inning, sliding to one knee, popping up and making a perfect throw.
Record: 5-3 |
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