Watch the Live Play-by-Play of the Kansas City Royals (19-18) @ Minnesota Twins (22-15) MLB The Show SIM. 7:10pmCT

[thuuuuney]

Thank You
Last time I promise, thank you to all of you who have tuned in. Someday soon the real Twins will be back at Target Field and this project will be over, but I've grown closer to many of you as a result of this Virtual Twins season and I'm incredibly thankful for all of you.

 

Twingo
Thanks again to SotaStick for sponsoring our "Target Field," promotions, the winner of Twingo today can get any  Twins shirt in stock again courtesy of SotaStick!

• Rules: I have created 5 boards for you to chose from. Comment on twitch before first pitch which board you plan to play with and you are stuck with that board for the remainder of the game.
• Should we have no winners, prize carries over into tomorrow's game.
• Let's say Board #3 wins first and 3 people have it, I will randomly chose one of the three names to win the prize.
• Boards: Twingo Boards (Will be fully updated by 5:30pm).

Catch-Up
The Twins get their sweep of the year at Target Field courtesy of a Walk-Off 2-Run HR by Mitch Garver and the Twins are riding on their best record of the season thus far. After an off-day Thursday, the surprisingly hot Kansas City Royals, 19-18, come into town for a three game set.

 

Pre-game
6:45pmCT

 

Where to watch
Virtual Twins Baseball Network
 

AL Central Standings

1. Twins 22-15 
2. Indians 22-19 
3. Royals 19-18 
4. White Sox 15-23 
5. Tigers 11-27 

 

Starting Pitchers

• Royals: Jakob Junis 3-3, 5.26 ERA, 37.2 IP, 28 K's
• Twins: Homer Bailey* 2-1, 2.23 ERA, 40.1 IP, 30 K's

*=Homer Bailey: 10th in AL, ERA (2.23).

 

Royals Batting Order

1. 2B Whit Merrifield .281 BA, 8 HR, 26 RBI
2. SS Adalberto Mondesi .271 BA, 6 HR, 20 RBI
3. RF Jorge Soler* .363 BA, 10 HR, 22 RBI
4. 3B Hunter Dozier .204 BA, 4 HR, 17 RBI
5. LF Alex Gordon .279 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBI
6. C Salvador Perez .258 BA, 4 HR, 15 RBI
7. 1B Ryan O'Hearn .200 BA, 4 HR, 9 RBI
8. DH Maikel Franco .282 BA, 4 HR, 14 RBI
9. CF Bret Phillips .349 BA, 5 HR, 18 RBI

Royals: One of Nine teams in MLB with 4 players 20RBI or more.
*= Jorge Soler: 2nd in AL, OPS (1.105).

 

Twins Batting Order

1. RF Max Kepler .229 BA, 9 HR, 12 RBI
2. SS Jorge Polanco .282 BA, 4 HR, 24 RBI
3. C Mitch Garver* .322 BA, 14 HR, 25 RBI
4. 1B Miguel Sano .286 BA, 10 HR, 18 RBI
5. DH Nelson Cruz .267 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBI
6. LF Eddie Rosario .230 BA, 5 HR, 17 RBI
7. 3B Josh Donaldson .248 BA, 2 HR, 12 RBI
8. 2B Luis Arraez .297 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI
9. CF Byron Buxton .228 BA, 5 HR, 11 RBI

*=Mitch Garver: 1st in AL, OPS (1.111).

 

Bomba Tracker
- 2019 through 37 games: 66
- 2020: 59

 

Storylines
1. The Royals come into the contest with one of the hottest individual players in baseball in Jorge Soler, but also one of the more proficient offenses early in the American League. Behind a resurgence in Alex Gordon (.279/6/25)  and leadership from their 2019 All-Star in Whit Merrifield, Ned Yost's squad look to spoil the homestand this weekend.
2. Behind the third walk-off win of the year, the Twins have some strong momentum for the first time since April Fools Day and will turn to their best starter so far this season in Homer Bailey to try and take game one.

[thuuuuney]

Miss the game? https://www.twitch.tv/videos/615337634

• Want to skip the pre-game? Time Stamp: 28:00

Wrap-Up and Highlights

 

The Twins come off of an off-day on Thursday riding the highest wave of optimism they've had all year. Their first sweep in front of Target Field with the icing on the cake being a Mitch Garver Walk-Off Bomba sent them roaring past the Giants with 15-6, 6-0, and 4-2 wins in the series. But today began a set with the Kansas City Royals who, before the season started, seemed like a misnomer. But heading into today's game the Royals were above .500 at this point in the year and this surely would be a great start to a great series.

 

The action kicked off with the Twins scoring fir..

• https://clips.twitch.tv/HonestWimpyArmadilloShazBotstix

Never mind, as for the first time this year we go to the booth review and a "home-run," is taken away from Garver and the Twins. Garver would double on a hanging slider the next pitch and stand at second with one away and the big man Miguel Sano would make sure to send the next hanging slider he saw packing.

• https://clips.twitch.tv/SparklingAwkwardButterflyPupper

After Sano put Minnesota in front the game would proceed to fly by rather uneventfully. Not to say the game got boring but this was yet another pticher's duel. But heading into the top half of the 6th, the Royals would have their best opportunity all day, runners at 1st and 2nd with two gone and the potential go-ahead run in their HR leader in 2019 stepped in the box in Jorge Soler.

• https://clips.twitch.tv/AggressiveVastMartenKeepo

These moments are why there is no way Rocco can take Bailey out when Rich Hill comes back from IL. Time and time again Homer Bailey has proven here in 2020 that with all the doubt behind his signing, Bailey was here and he was ready.

• https://clips.twitch.tv/MiniatureFlirtySnailFrankerZ

It's not flashy, but Homer Bailey moves to 3-1 and owns the 4th ERA in the American League at 1.86 as the Twins win a pitcher's duel behind a superb performance from the most unlikely of starters heading into this 2020 season.

 

Twins (23-15) WIN 2-0 over the Royals (19-19)

 

Box Score

 

Kansas City

1. Merrifield, 2B: 0-4 .273BA
2. Mondesi, SS: 1-4 .270BA
3. Soler, RF: 0-4 .352BA
4. Dozier, 3B: 2-2, 2 BB .217BA
5. Gordon, LF: 0-4 .270BA
6. Perez, C: 0-4 .270BA
7. O'Hearn, 1B: 0-3, BB .195BA
8. Franco, DH: 1-3 .283BA
9. Phillips, CF: 1-3 .328BA

Fielding

E: Merrifield (6)

 

Baserunning

CS: Dozier (2) (On hit and run).

 

Pitching

• Junis (L, 3-4). 6.0IP, 5H, 2ER, 6K's 4.94ERA
• Hahn. 2.0IP, 2BB, 1K 4.50ERA

 

 

Minnesota

1. Kepler, RF: 0-4 .222BA
2. Polanco, SS: 1-4 .281BA
3. Garver, C: 1-4 2B, R .320BA
4. Sano, 1B: 2-4 2-Run HR .293BA
5. Cruz, DH: 1-3 .268BA
6. Rosario, LF: 0-3 .224BA
7. Donaldson, 3B: 0-2, BB .244BA
8. Arraez, 2B: 0-3 2K's .289BA
9. Buxton, CF: 0-2, BB .224BA

Batting

2B: Garver (4)

HR: Sano (11)

RBI: Sano 2 (20)

GIDP: Garver (5)

 

Pitching

• Bailey (W, 3-1). 8.0IP, 5H, 3BB, 3K's 1.86ERA
• Rodgers (S, 11). 1.0IP, 2H, 2K's 4.58ERA

 

Game Two: 5/9/20 6:45pmCT Pre-game, 7:10pmCT Start