Minnesota Twins edge past Cleveland Indians 6-5 – MLB Update
Minnesota Twins edged past the Cleveland Indians 6-5 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday, September 18 in the opening game of their three match series.
Both teams displayed some top quality baseball skills in a game that was played on an extremely competitive note. Twins handled their nerves superbly under pressure to outplay their opponents in finer details of the game.
Starting pitcher P.J. Walters produced a match winning performance as he gave up just eight hits and four runs in five innings to keep the Indians on the defensive. Striking-out batters at regular intervals, he created all sorts of problems for the struggling
Indians’ batting line-up.
Relief pitchers Brain Duensing, Jared Burton, Casey Fien, Tyler Robertson and Glen Perkins combined to pitch brilliantly to help the Twins grab a memorable victory.
Joe Mauer made the most of scoring opportunities early on as he singled to left in the first inning to put Twins on the board. Justin Morneau also made his presence felt with a sacrifice fly hit to left in the first.
Elvis Escobar grounded out to third in the fourth inning to restore Twins’ one run lead. Josh Willingham earned an RBI single to left in the seventh to level the score 4-4 and force the match into the extra innings.
Alexi Casilla and Pedro Florimon drove in crucial runs in the 12th to stun the Indians.
"A win's a win," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, pleased with the final result yet disappointed with some mistakes that let Cleveland get back into the game.
"We gave it away a little bit early," Gardenhire said. "They had chances, we had chances. Then our bullpen was super, we got a couple key hits late and were fortunate to get the win."
"He's aggressive; that's what he brings to the team," Gardenhire said of Darin Mastroianni’s move. "Pestano made a great play, but the aggressiveness won the game in the end."
Although Ron Gardenhire and company are out of the playoff race, they can make themselves proud by ending the season on a high note and that is exactly what they did on Tuesday.
It will be interesting to see the Twins build up some much needed confidence and battle it out with other top teams in the League.
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