Twins 9 Cubs 5 W-Barraclough (2-0) L-Mills (6-7)

The Minnesota Twins made their final trip to Chicago of the season. It wasn’t their typical trip to the South Side to play the Sox, but it was up to see the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Twins bats awoke in a fun game on a cloudy night. Luis Arraez started the night with a lead-off single and Byron Buxton did the same. Jorge Polanco struck out swinging, but Willson Contreras made a wild throw to second base on the play. This plated Polanco and put the Twins on the board first. Josh Donaldson followed with a sac fly to right and the Twins led before the Cubs grabbed a bat. Rafael Ortega started the bottom of the first with a base hit to right and stole second base. Ian Happ reached on an infield single and Willson Contreras hit a sacrifice fly to center. This pulled the Cubs within a run after an inning of play. Trayce Thompson tied things up when he belted a Griffin Jax fastball out to right for a solo homer. Willson Contreras added a solo homer in the third to put Chicago up 3-2 after three frames. The Twins answered in the fourth when Josh Donaldson walked with one out and went to second on a wild pitch. Max Kepler singled him home to tie the game up at three apiece. The next batter, Nick Gordon smacked an Alec Mills fastball out to left-center for a two-run homer to put the Twins back on top. The Twins added on in the fifth as Luis Arraez led-off with a walk. Byron Buxton singled to left and Josh Donaldson hit a run-scoring single to center. Max Kepler followed with an RBI single of his own and Minnesota had a 7-3 lead. The Cubs wouldn’t give in during the sixth. Rafael Ortega led-off with a single to left and Frank Schwindel hit a ground-rule double. Patrick Wisdom delivered a two-out single to right, which plated a pair and the Cubs were within two. The Twins put this game to rest in the seventh. Josh Donaldson led-off with a double and Miguel Sano doubled him in. Nick Gordon and Mitch Garver singled to score another run and put the Twins up by four runs. The Twins bullpen threw three shutout innings to close out the game and pick up the win tonight. 

-Final Thoughts- Griffin Jax did not have control of his breaking pitches and wasn’t very sharp. He went three innings and allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Kyle Barraclough struck out three in 1 2/3 scoreless innings, Danny Coulombe gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, and Jorge Alcala eventually got out of the sixth. Tyler Duffey fanned two in a 1-2-3 seventh, Caleb Thielbar had a scoreless eighth, and Alex Colome had a clean ninth. Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler, Nick Gordon, and Mitch Garver had three hits each on the night. Byron Buxton added two hits in a sixteen-hit night for the Twins. The team hit 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left twelve men on base. Tomorrow, Joe Ryan faces Kyle Hendricks in Game 2. 

Joanie loves to draw Minnesota Twins baseball players. She sits down at her desk, pulls up a photo of her drawing subject on my phone, and pencils out a masterpiece in less than 2 hours.

We recently created a mom-managed Instagram account for Joanie to share her drawings (@twinsartbyjojo). She tags the appropriate player when she posts.

As you can see, Luis Arraez and Sergio Romo both “liked” their drawings and commented. Warmed Joanie’s heart, I tell you! She was squealing.