The Twins won in dramatic fashion, as they came from 5 runs down to tie it in the 9th, then won 9-8 in the 10th. The team had been struggling for much of the game and seemed headed for the loss, but never gave up and their effort paid off.
Before the 9th, the team had managed to get only 5 hits, but did put some runs on the board. In the 3rd, Carlos Gomez hit an RBI single and Alexi Casilla followed that by hitting a sac fly to score Mike Lamb. Lamb would later add an RBI single of his own in the 7th. But the real offense came in the 9th. Down 8-3 with 2 outs, the team got 2 runs off of Lamb and Gomez, via RBI singles again. Just when the rally was starting, Craig Monroe blasted a 3 run pinch hit homer to tie it at 8. In the 10th, Justin Morneau led off with his 9th homer of the season to make it 9-8.
Livan Hernandez had a horrible start. Though he lasted 6+ innings, he gave up 8 runs on 13 hits and just couldn’t get it together. This is his 2nd straight bad start after he beginning the season so well. 5 relievers combined to hold the Royals scoreless, including Joe Nathan pitching a perfect 10th for the save, making up in a way for his gaffe last night.
This win will energize the Twins in a great way. It’s the kind of comeback win that can do wonders for a team’s confidence. Even when they were one out away from defeat, they never gave up and kept getting the hits they needed and the Monroe and Morneau blasts only serve as exclamation points on the night. After two extra innings wins, the team has all the momentum as they go for the sweep tomorrow.
