The ‘Jose Bautista Show’ rampantly bemuses the Minnesota Twins (Pt. 2)
The Minnesota Twins were hosting their last series at Target Field. Their 4 games set was scheduled against the mighty Toronto Blue Jays, who had just come from home, beating the New York Yankees 2 – 1. The finale for the league is scheduled on the 3rd
of October and these fixtures will prove to be a great show for the spectators. The home team is through to the playoffs but the visitors are still up on the mark with Cito announcing his retirement. There is still some time left till the end of the season
and it has to be seen how Major League Baseball ends in October.
The action began with the Toronto club facing their opponents in the strike zone. Minnesota had Francisco Liriano on and the top ball pitcher was there to give the Jays a hard lesson in the strike zone. The Twins are in the playoffs, partly due to the player’s
contribution and with that said, he was called on tonight, to deliver a stellar performance. His Earning Run Average of below 3.5 was something Jays Manager, Cito Gaston would have been aware of before the game.
The first inning remained quiet for both teams and there wasn’t much to go around in the game. Shawn Hill started the match from the Jays’ side and it came as a surprise to see the veteran make his way to the game, given his lacklustre performance in the
league and his long absence from the game. With this being his 4th game of the season, there wasn’t anyone out there to back him up with a lot of figures. The ball thrower had a lot of expectations from Cito when he came into the game. For many
fans, Shawn’s selection was an enigma.
The top 2nd came under way and Toronto was put straight into action. For those who didn’t know, the team was going through some inspirational influence and given their antics in the last game against the New York Yankees, the Twins were hoping
for a change in their opponents’ mentality. Vernon Wells started the innings with a fly out to the centre. With his exodus, in came John Buck. The new hitter followed Wells to the dugout with a grounder out to third. With two men down, Cito brought on Aaron
Hill. The man of the match from the last game walked to the first base. Liriano probably knew the danger involved with pitching fast balls to the batter.
However, what followed was something Liriano had not foreseen. Edwin Encarnacion was the fourth man to walk on to the strike zone and he made short work of Francisco as he glided a 349 feet homer to the stands on the right. The home run was the first to
come and it brought up two runs on the board. Hill was already on base when the shot was fired across the field. That lead to him scoring a run as well, making it 2 – 0 for the visitors.
With two runs up, the Jays kept on pouncing on the Twins. Shawn Hill did the best he could and he quelled the Twins’ attack to keep them at bay with 0 on the score board. Many were aware of what was going on and it took no genius to suggest it was Gaston
who was powering the side up, in terms of spiritual guidance. The skipper had his signature written all over the display. The sides were mum for the 3rd and the 4th innings. That changed however in the top 5th, when Toronto
came out to bat.
Edwin was itching for a go at Francisco and he got what he wanted. The maestro played an amazing 411 feet homer to the centre. The smash was reminiscent of Jim Thome’s home runs and that was probably what Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was thinking of. The
home team was aching for some relief but that never came as Jose Molina made Francisco Liriano’s night much worse. He also smashed a stellar home run, 383 feet into the left side.
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