KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the end, the Twins settled for a more conventional double play, a liner straight to shortstop Andrelton Simmons and a short toss to Josh Donaldson at third to cap off their 5-4 win over the Royals on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
But immediately before that, the Twins almost pulled one that was much more exciting, one which eventually was overturned after a review that lasted more than two and a half minutes.
Another play at third — this one featuring an off-balance, on-target throw from Simmons after the shortstop had already nabbed the runner at first and Miguel Sanó’s throw back had ticked away from Jorge Polanco at second, allowing the runner to attempt to advance to third — injected plenty of excitement into the game’s final inning.
“I just said, ‘God, that’s how hard it’s going to be to win a ball game?’ starter José Berríos, who was watching from the training room, said.
While replay found Royals (29-27) pinch runner Jarrod Dyson safe at third, putting the game-tying run just 90-feet away with one out, reliever Hansel Robles was able to work around it, getting Michael A. Taylor to line into the double play, for his fifth save of the season.
“It’s like you think you’ve seen everything and then you see something else,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “These kinds of swings in the game are what makes it fun and what makes it interesting and what makes it all exciting.”
Another thing not often seen?
Forty-year-old Nelson Cruz swiping a bag.
With Alex Kirilloff at the plate in the third inning, the designated hitter broke for second, successfully stealing his first base since May 12, 2018.
“We’re going to hear about this forever,” Baldelli said. “…I can hear him through about three walls and two doors right now still talking about it.”
While Cruz wound up being thrown out at home trying to score later that inning, he showed off his wheels once again later in the day with a hustle double. He had a chance to catch his breath later in the inning, jogging home on Sanó’s home run off the scoreboard in left field which put the Twins (23-35) up for good.
For Sanó, it was his second home run in as many games, and one of three on the day for the Twins, who also got a two-run blast in the second inning from Ryan Jeffers and a solo shot in the third from Kyle Garlick.
“This is one of the places I like to hit,” Sanó said. “Kansas City, you know, my whole career here, I’ve been hitting really good. Those are big moments, big times. I’m proud of (my) hitting at this stadium.”
That hitting helped Berríos to his team-leading sixth win of the season. Berríos lasted six innings in the game, giving up four runs on six hits, before the Twins turned it over to Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers and Hansel Robles to finish it off.
While Duffey and Rogers threw non-eventful 1-2-3 innings, the eventful ninth inning capped a nice day for the Twins after getting shellacked by the Royals a day earlier.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s a lot of fun being in the dugout when you get something like that and you finish a game like that,” Baldelli said. “The excitement at the end kind of the cherry on top but it was a very good overall effort I think from our group.”
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June 06, 2021 at 07:25AM
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Twins beat Royals despite late-inning excitement - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
"exciting" - Google News
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