Marathon--Twins win in 17!

[stringer bell]

I got home in time to watch what I thought was the last inning of a good game between the Rose Hose and our Twins. I ended up watching 9 innings of baseball with enough twists and turns for a month of "talkers". Apologies to the regular game summary guys, but much to comment on, so I started this thread.

 

1) The Twins got their first walk-off win of 2019, with Max Kepler singling in the winning run from third on a hot grounder just inside the first base bag.

 

2) Red Sox manager Joey Cora might get suspended for his outburst after Kepler's hit. Eddie Rosario tried to bunt earlier in the 17th, stepped forward in the box and made contact with the ball. The Red Sox said he was out of the batter's box, the replay showed Rosario's feet on the chalk line.

 

3) Zack Littell earned his first major league win. After a single, stolen base and throwing error, the Sox had a runner on third with none out in the 17th, but Littell got a strikeout, weak grounder and another ground ball out to strand the go-ahead runner at third.

 

4) Both teams used their entire bullpen. Even with a 13-man pitching staff, there may well be roster changes. Ironically, Littell is a likely candidate to be sent down, because he pitched two innings and his option has already been used. 

 

5) The Twins bullpen held up pretty well. Morin and Harper yielded solo homers, but otherwise all the relievers kept the Sox off the board, with varying degrees of impressiveness. Parker pitched a scoreless inning, but allowed two hits. Magill had the bases loaded, but pitched out of it. 

 

6) Mitch Garver was charged with the only error of the game when his throw went into center field. I thought the throw should have been at least blocked. Garver also got picked off third base with nobody out in the sixth inning, a huge mistake.

 

7) Kepler had a huge day with three run-scoring hits and a walk. His homer in the bottom of the 13th extended the game until the Twins were able to win. 

 

8) If the Twins do make pitching staff changes, who comes and who goes? Only Duffey and Littell can be optioned out of the bullpen. I believe both Eades and Romero are not able to be recalled because they were optioned less than 10 days ago.