Twins Keep Palms Winless in Matchups

 by Vin Castillo, Coca-Cola Palms Press Corps

It seems no matter the setting—Target Field or Palms Park—the Minnesota Twins have an answer for Miami. On Friday night, under a hazy Miami sky, the Palms’ winning streak ran headlong into a familiar wall, as the Twins strung together 14 hits and dealt the home side a 5–0 defeat.

For five innings, Blake Johnston fought without rhythm, scattering baserunners and trying to keep the ball in front of the outfield grass. In the third, Max Kepler tripled and Miguel Sanó brought him home with a sharp single. Then came the fifth, when the Twins’ middle of the order finally landed the heavy blow: three straight knocks from Donaldson, Kepler and Sanó, before Eddie Rosario punctuated the inning with a three-run homer that all but sealed it.

The Palms had chances—Nick Markakis lined out sharply with men on, Pat Grant and Chris Korb both came up empty in run-scoring spots—but Jake Odorizzi seemed untouchable when it mattered, leaning on his fastball and pounding the zone through eight scoreless innings.

“Baseball is funny that way,” manager Scott Hatteberg said after the game. “We’ve been playing as well as anybody for a week, and then you run into a club that has your number. The key is to shake it off, because we know what we’re capable of.”

Miami still owns one of the league’s better records, but with the Twins standing at 4–0 in head-to-heads this year, it’s a matchup that gnaws a little more each time out.

Box Score

 Minnesota Twins 5, Miami Palms 0
 Friday, May 8, 2020
 
 Minnesota Twins (4-0)                                    Miami Palms (23-17)                                     
 Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      
 ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      
 Buxton cf       5  1  3  0  0  2  3  0  0  1   .167      Sohn cf         4  0  1  0  0  0  3  0  0  0   .304
 Donaldson 3b    5  0  3  0  0  1  0  2  0  0   .389      Markakis lf     4  0  1  0  0  0  3  0  0  2   .291
 Kepler rf       5  1  2  1  0  0  2  0  0  1   .467      Grant 1b        3  0  0  0  1  0  6  0  0  4   .266
 Sano 1b         5  1  1  1  0  2  14 0  0  0   .278      Korb 3b         4  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  1   .289
 Cruz dh         5  0  1  0  0  2  0  0  0  2   .526      Encarnacion dh  4  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .279
 Polanco ss      4  1  2  0  0  0  0  3  0  2   .429      Wieters c       4  0  1  0  0  1  9  0  0  1   .258
 Rosario lf      4  1  1  3  0  0  3  0  0  0   .273      Holt rf         4  0  1  0  0  1  2  0  0  0   .227
 Avila c         4  0  1  0  0  1  4  0  0  2   .143      Munoz ss        4  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  0  1   .316
 Adrianza 2b     3  0  0  0  1  0  1  1  0  1   .071      Koch 2b         4  0  2  0  0  0  1  2  0  0   .260
 
                 -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---                            -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---            
 Totals          40 5  14 5  1  8  27 8  0  9             Totals          35 0  8  0  1  4  27 4  0  9  
 
 Minnesota Twins         0  0  1  0  4  0  0  0  0         5  14 0  
 Miami Palms             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0         0   8 0  
 
 LOB- Minnesota Twins 9, Miami Palms 9; 2B- Polanco(3), Kepler(2), Avila(1), Koch(4);
 3B- Kepler(1); HR- Rosario(2); RBI- Sano(5), Kepler(2), Rosario 3(4); GIDP- Kepler(1);
 RLSP- Cruz, Polanco 2, Kepler, Adrianza, Avila, Markakis 2, Grant 3;  
 
 DP- Miami Palms 1; 
 
 Minnesota Twins            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA
 Odorizzi(W 2-0)            8.0  8  0  0  1  4    0.56  
 Molleken                   1.0  0  0  0  0  0    0.00  
 
 Miami Palms                IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA
 Johnston(L 4-3)            5.0  10 5  5  1  6    3.83  
 Shipley                    2.0   4 0  0  0  0    7.31  
 Matusz                     2.0   0 0  0  0  2    6.32  
 
 Pitches-strikes- Odorizzi 99-61, Molleken 5-4, Johnston 87-59, Shipley 18-12, Matusz 17-13;
 Batters faced- Odorizzi 33, Molleken 3, Johnston 26, Shipley 9, Matusz 6; 
 
 Temp - 79, Sky - Mostly Cloudy, Wind - ESE 8mph

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