Will Smith shines as Kansas City Royals annihilate Minnesota Twins 9-1 – MLB Update
Kansas City Royals humiliated the Minnesota Twins 9-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday, September 11 in the opening game of their three match series.
Royals made the most of available opportunities in a game that proved to be completely one sided. The pitching rotation should be given credit for allowing Twins to score just one run in a hitters’ friendly ballpark.
Jeff Francoeur provided Royals with an excellent start as he singled to left in the second inning. Lorenzo Cain tripled to left and Salvador Perez hit a sacrifice fly to left in the third inning to stretch Royals’ lead to 4-0.
"The guys definitely let me know I was a home run away from the cycle," Cain said. "I was looking for a pitch to drive and ended up getting hit in the head. I went down for a second, but I'll be fine. Bounced back up and I'll be ready to go tomorrow."
Second baseman Johnny Giavotella Eric Hosmer and shortstop Alcides Escobar also made useful contributions to help Royals post a huge total on the board. For the Twins, Ryan Doumit singled to centre to score the only run.
Royals’ starting pitcher Will Smith made quick work of Twins’ batting line-up as he pitched seven scoreless innings. Allowing just seven hits and striking-out seven batters, he showed just what he is capable of.
Relief pitchers Aaron Crow and Louis Coleman combined to give up just one run in two innings as the Royals beat Twins for just the sixth time in 16 meetings.
"That guy's awesome," Smith said about Perez. "He's so good. You love having him back there. You feel confident that the running game, he's just going to completely shut it down."
"It was just the time of day. It's frustrating when you can't see the ball," Willingham said.
Royals certainly have some of the best hitting and pitching talent in their Major League Baseball squad. However, unfortunately they have not been able to live up to their immense potential this season. It will be interesting to see if Ned Yost and company
can learn from their mistakes to turn things around in the next season.
Tags: