Minnesota Twins complete Royals sweep as they move 5 1/2 wins ahead in Central
The Kansas City Royals had a powerful pitcher in their roster and there was no denying the intent of manager Ned Yost behind the team’s selection. The visiting underdogs were on the verge of a sweep out humiliation and there was to be no compromise on that possibility as the ball club was looking to end the series loss on a positive note. The Minnesota Twins were, on the other hand, looking for a way to generate a considerable lead over the Chicago White Sox. They were already sitting 4 wins apart and this match proved as vital as any other encounter.
Zack Greinke was the one to start on the mound for the Kansas City ball club. The 2009 American League Cy Young award winning pitcher has not been faring well in his time with the team. He’s lost 12 and won just 8 of his last 29 games in the season. His Earning Run Average sits on 3.90 and yesterday couldn’t save the player from a defeat. He conceded 5 hits, 4 runs and 3 walks in his 8 innings of play.
Compared to Greinke, the Twins brought in Brian Duensing for the encounter. The 27 year old pitcher came in for his 9th start of the season. The player carries an ERA of 2.02 and it was his great pitching that saw the Royals reel. He allowed 6 hits, 1 run and 0 walks during his 8 innings of play. He threw 105 times and struck out 7 hitters.
The Royals started strong in the fight and their initial run caused a lot of problems for their rivals. However, their attack was weak and the team was unable to generate a good lead to put the Central Division in any kind of pressure or peril. Kansas City opened their account on scoring in the top 2nd and it came in good measure. Wilson Betemit started off the play with a double to the deep right. He got to the third base, eventually when Yuniesky Betancourt flied out to right. The run finally came when Betemit sprinted towards the last base off Brayan Pena’s double to the deep right. This brought up the game’s first run and immediately set the tempo for the remaining innings.
Zack Greinke had made a tremendous slide to the bottom 5th. He was hitless and it looked like a special day was dawning on the visitors. However, that wasn’t to be the case as the Twins made a stunning recovery on their form in the inning with three runs. The team were down with two men out and Jose Morales appeared to face the Royals’ ace man. He was surprisingly walked and on came James Jerry Hardy. The power hitter singled to the left centre and moved Morales to the second base. Matt Tolbert came on next and delivered a stunning single to the right. Morales ran home clear and Tolbert moved to second, following a second advancing throw. The scores were levelled and the damage had been done. However, the inning was not over. Denard Span came in to deliver a triple to the deep right. The hit got Hardy and Tolbert through for two more runs. The team was now 3 – 1 up.
Greinke tried his best to contain the Twins but his luck ran dry when it came to the results. Hardy provided another mountain for the royals to handle in the bottom 7th as he smashed a 415 feet homer to the centre. The hit was an insurance policy for the team which needed as much runs as it were possible to keep Kansas City down. Fortunately, that was all the team needed to edge past the visitors.
Betemit provided the same mirror performance from the top 2nd as he doubled and made his way to the third base from Betancourt’s grounder out to shortstop. Pena grounded out next but got Betemit through for the second run of the team. Kila Ka’aihue made it 3 for the visitors when Alex Gordon provided him with space to move following his single to the left.
Unfortunately the game ended with the Kansas City ball club falling to a Twins sweep. The match concluded on 4 – 3 with the Minnesota team winning the bout and cleaning the series with a 5 and half game advantage in the Central League.
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