Article: MIN 7, CLE 4: Escobar é o Fogo

[Tom Froemming]

The Twins needed a spark, Eduardo Escobar brought the whole fire. Escobar blasted a three-run home run in the first that really seemed to loosen up the Twins and added another mammoth homer in the seventh for insurance. When asked by FSN's Marney Gellner if he got all of that second homer, Escobar responded, "yes, Fogo de Chão power."Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 23-30

Jose Berrios: 53 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 K, 1 BB, 69.7% strikes

Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB

Lineup: 3-for-12 w/RISP, 7 LOB

Top three per WPA: Escobar .276, Hildenberger .075, Duke .047

Download attachment: WinEx61.png

Escobar has credited his frequent visits to Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão as the source of his power, as he did once again in a postgame interview (see below). Well, a few weeks ago I confirmed with my Twitter friend Thiéres Rabelo from the Minnesota Brazil site and @TwinsBrasil that Fogo means "fire" in Portuguese. So today’s headline translates into English as “Escobar is the Fire.”

 

Don’t say I never taught you nothin’

 

Anyway, the Twins needed somebody to provide an early fire, and Escobar was the man for the job. He hit two homers and drove in four runs. Both Eddie Rosario and Robbie Grossman reached safely three times and Brian Dozier had a pair of hits. Miguel Sano hit a double that was 112 mph off the bat.

 

All that firepower was in support of Jose Berrios, who struck out seven batters over six innings. He gave up four runs on five hits and a walk, but it’s funny how that doesn’t seem to matter much when the offense is bringing the fogo.

 

Trevor Hildenberger, Zach Duke and Fernando Rodney all pitched scoreless innings. Rodney earned his 12th save.

 

Here are the highlights:

Postgame With Escobar

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Pen601.png

AL Central Standings

CLE 30-26

DET 27-30 (-3.5)

MIN 23-30 (-5.5)

KC 20-37 (-10.5)

CHW 17-37 (-12)

 

Next Three Games

Sat vs. CLE, 3:10 pm CT

Sun vs. CLE, 1:10 pm CT

Mon OFF

Tue vs. CHW, 3:10 pm CT (DH)

 

Last Three Games

CLE 9, MIN 8: Twins Fight Back, Fall Short

KC 11, MIN 8: We Can’t Have Nice Things

KC 2, MIN 1: Every Game is the Same Game

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Daily Roundtable: Minnesota's All-Star Selection

2018 MLB Draft: Minnesota Connections

 

Click here to view the article

[Dantes929]

1-0 in June.   Nice win.

 

[jun]

I still remember couple years ago people were still debating who's better Adrianza or Escobar or Florimon. It really sounds funny now. It might be time to debate who's better Polanco or Escobar. I never had any doubt that Escobar was one of the better players as soon as he came into the major league. He probably will never be as shiny as Polanco. He just comes to work everyday and works hard to get the job done. That's who he is.

[jimbo92107]

Fogo de Chão. I think Esco just got himself a free steak dinner! 

[Circus Boy]

The Twins look like a team that is still learning how to win, and games like the last two weeks can go a long way. The losses have mostly come down to one AB, one pitch. Even the almost-comeback games would have landed in the win column with one more swing, one more wicked sinker. Bottom line: Don't give up on this bunch yet.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in, 

[mikelink45]

That was a fun win.  A nice combination of all aspects of the game - lets enjoy a lot of these games in the next month and maybe we can start talking about bigger issues (like post season) later. 

[bighat]

Escobar and Rosario. We'll take it. It was enjoyable to see the Twins take an early lead and score 7 runs.

[dbminn]

Adding Sano really changes the look of the lineup. Funny, Cleveland thought it meant they should intentionally walk Rosario a couple of times, so Sano could bat with runners on base. Twins will win a lot more games if that's going to be the opponent's strategy.

[Darius]

That Sano double was an absolute rocket. Considering the density of our atmosphere, gravity, et al, I'm by sure a baseball can be hit much harder (the record is around 120 mph, but I'm skeptical of these meaurememt techniques if Sano's double was said to be nearly 10 mph slower).

[diehardtwinsfan]

now I'm craving Brazilian steak house...

[jtkoupal]

I like how the Twins bats are finally heating up. The pitching has to keep it up, however. If the offense can score like they can/should, an average pitching staff will win lots of games. 

 

As I have said, the season is not over yet, but the hole is enormous. It's going to be difficult to climb out of it, and it probably isn't going to happen. However, if it is going to happen, it has to start now.