The Twins battled the cold and a recently surging opponent to shutout the Royals 5-0. It was due to a combination of great pitching by Livan Hernandez and some great performances by the team’s young players.
The bulk of the offense came in the second off of Royal starter Gil Meche. After the first two Twins walked, Denard Span hit a single for the first Major League RBI of his career. Carlos Gomez then doubled in 2 more and Matt Tolbert capped it off with an RBI single, which was one of his 3 hits for the game. The remaining run came just an inning later when Justin Morneau blasted a solo shot. That was his third of the season, all of which have come against the Royals, so it bodes well that the Twins play them so much.
Certainly the youth powering the offense was great, but Livan Hernandez certainly was the main cause for win, pitching 7 shutout innings while giving up 7 hits and only 1 walk. He was able to pitch himself out of a few jams without surrendering any runs. This can only be good for the Twins, having a solid veteran presence at the top of a young rotation.
The team was able weather the elements for an impressive W. All facets of their game was great and this should be used as a stepping stone to further performances of the same nature.
