The Twins showed plenty of fight and showcased some impressive offensive moments as they closed out the regular season with a Week 13 split.
Game 1: Twins vs Roth's Indians- Looking to avenge an early season loss to the Tribe, the Twins didn't wait around long to strike in this one. Taylor Phillips led off with a double and would score on a RBI double from Dustin Bone. With Bone now in scoring position, Twins pitcher Justin Howard unleashed a nuke of a HR that cut through the stiff wind on Field 4. In the second, Ray Darragh led off with a single and Karlos Rodriguez drew a walk to put ducks on the pond for Dwayne Henson. Henson stepped up and smoked a double to the LF fence to drive in a run. After a Phillips sacrifice fly plated another run, Joe Calvano laced an RBI double to make it consecutive 3-run innings for the Twins. Jumping to the 4th, the Twins were ready to put the Tribe away for good, erupting for seven runs in an inning that featured a 2-RBI double from Junior Nieves, an RBI single from Phillips and an inside the park Grand Slam from Calvano. The Tribe scratched across a few runs late, but ultimately the Twins claimed a 13-8 victory. Full Game: https://youtu.be/2_l8-wUC2oY
Game 2: Twins vs Strull's Yankees- After falling behind 2-0 going into the home half of the first, the Twins were able to load the bases but couldn't scratch a run across. Moving to the bottom of the fourth trailing 3-0, Super Sub Ari Loiben led off the inning with a walk and would score on a sacrifice fly from Justin Howard. Later in the game, Karlos Rodriguez scorched an RBI double and Loiben plated Henson on a sacrifice fly. Unfortunately for the Twins, Strull's squad erupted for 9 runs over the last two innings to hand the Twins a 12-3 loss. Full Game: https://youtu.be/kE_KqqyRQR4
POW:
Justin Howard: 1-2. Into the wind HR on field 4, 3 RBI, SF , 2 bb. Settling in nicely from the mound in mid season form anchoring our defense with his kick saves on balls up the middle getting the assist on a much needed double play ball.
Ray Darragh: Perfect for the day 5-5, 2 Runs, played 3 different positions today and all year was the epitome of a team player. Doing everything that was asked of him well and playing hurt most of the time while hustling on every play.
Dwayne Henson: 2-3, 2B, bb, RBI, 3 Runs. Filling the stat sheet up for his best weekend of the year, helping turn the line up over when we needed it most.
Shout out to a hard fought year with a lot of ups and downs and tough breaks we endured throughout the season. The amount of fight and grit displayed while continuing to have a great attitude after an 0-6 start is much appreciated by this captain. Twins will look to take those intangible traits and use them to emerge from the mini playoffs and continue on a Championship run.