The ‘Jose Bautista Show’ rampantly bemuses the Minnesota Twins (Pt. 4 final)
Minnesota was already on a losing trend when they went into their final series. The defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays in their home ground on Thursday just made things worse for the side. Their home crowd at Target Field expected a change in the team’s play
but given the circumstances, nothing could be done by the team to alter their imminent fate in the fixture. The visiting Canadian team was in the leading position from the start in the encounter. They had 4 runs in the 4th inning and those numbers
were on the scoreboard before the Twins even started their scoring bid in the fixture.
Francisco Liriano was the man to face most of the blame for the result on the Twins half. He conceded 5 runs in all and most of them came from the 3 home runs conceded in his 5.1 innings of play. The fact that the Blue Jays made short work of Liriano acted
as a poison for Minnesota’s team morale. Before the game, the ball thrower had conceded the fewest homers in the league. The figure of 6 homers in 150 innings resonated strongly with the fans and baseball analysts.
Shawn Hill did wonders for the Toronto side. His experience counted for a lot of good pitching going into the game. The pitcher made the hosts quiver in the strike zone. At the end of his 4.2 innings of pitching, nothing much was done by the Twins to rattle
or provoke the ball thrower on the mound. He walked off with a 1 run concession figure. It can be debated on what was going right for the Jays but one thing was sure, Edwin Encarnacion, Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista were riding high on spirit and determination.
Their push gave the ball club an edge over their opponents.
With the first game under the visitor’s belt, Minnesota will be hoping for a change in fate during their next encounter. Joe Mauer and Jim Thome are in dipping form and manager Ron Gardenhire wants the players fit for the post season. Meanwhile, manager
Cito Gaston will look to leave the Blue Jays on a positive note. With the players already following the man’s lead in high motivation, it can’t be denied that a clean sweep or a series win isn’t possible.
There are two players to look for in the next encounter and a quick profile and form review will be given below. Even though the Twins were strapped down for their last encounter on Thursday, there is still hope from most of the fans that there will be someone
to make the necessary difference in thwarting the visitors.
Minnesota Twins
Joe Mauer: Twins leading batting average hitter has been instrumental for his team thus far. He was last year’s most valuable player and it should come as no surprise that the player has a lot to do in the playoffs when the normal season
comes into play. At the moment, he has been having no decent strikes on the ball. The player returned from a knee injury in the previous game and many will be hoping to see the star back to his ball smashing ways, in the next few games.
Mauer has a Batting Average of 0.327 and he ranks 3rd in the league. He also ranks 3rd in the On Base Percentage of 0.403. This makes him a formidable player on the diamond. It only has to be seen how his influence will make the team
better in the near future.
Toronto Blue Jays
Edwin Encarnacion: The Jays’ star batter has been hitting high notes in the field recently and last night’s encounter saw the man tarnish Liriano’s good pitching record in the league. With a batting average of 0.236 and 18 homers in the
season, makes Edwin look anything less than a serious contender in the team. But his recent performance has been staggering. His 3 RBIs (Runs Batted In), 3 hits and 2 homers speak volume. Jose Bautista may have stolen the player’s light in the game on Thursday
but it should be made clear that the hard hitter is a surprise package.
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