Maeda’s Magic and Sano’s Bombas Lead Twins over Indians

Bombas. Bullpen. Win. Repeat. The Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians for the second night in a row on Saturday night, this time by a score of 3-0. Kenta Maeda and Miguel Sano were the stars of the night. The Twins improve to 6-2 and extend their division lead on the Indians to 1.5 games, as the Indians fall to 5-4.

Kenta Maeda simply put this team on his back tonight. Maeda only allowed 1 hit in 6 IP while recording 6 K’s and only giving up 1 walk. Maeda had a no hitter through 4 1/3 innings of work until Indians CF Bradley Zimmer reached first on an infield single that went to review.

Kenta Maeda’s no-hit bid is broken up by a Bradley Zimmer infield chopper with a 40.5 mph exit velocity, because baseball. I thought he’d be out on replay, but it’s a tough overturn to make.

First hit comes with 1 out in the 5th.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) August 2, 2020

MORE BOMBAS

The Twins produced all of their runs on bombas, of course. The first one came from Miguel Sano, who finally showed his power by hitting his first of the year in the 3rd inning. This ball was an absolute laser that almost took someones head off in the Twins bullpen.

Miguel Sano makes it 1-0 with a home run. #twins #indians pic.twitter.com/UFPdbhlUOW

— Justin Groc (@jgroc) August 1, 2020

Exit velocity on Miguel Sano’s first homer of the season was 110.6 mph, the technical term for which is ****ing smoked.

“Expected batting average” on it was .950. I’d like to see the .050 that turned into an out.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 1, 2020

Fast forward to the 4th inning, when Eddie Rosario would get in on the HR fun, hitting his 2nd of the year. Rosario made Indians SP Carlos Carrasco pay after he hung a first pitch breaking ball.

Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins (2) Solo. pic.twitter.com/ubU1zdKPr0

— MLB HR Tracker (@hr_mlb) August 2, 2020

Miguel Sano was not done though, hitting his 2nd bomba of the night in the 5th inning off of Carrasco. If you thought he first HR of the night was hit hard wait until you see this…

Second home run of the night for Miguel Sano would’ve killed someone if fans were allowed. pic.twitter.com/uyljp5wBQo

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) August 2, 2020

A three-run lead is all this pitching staff needs, as the stingy Twins bullpen came in and picked up right where Maeda left off. Trevor May, Cody Stashak, and Taylor Rogers all quieted the Indians helping the Twins secure the victory.

THE BEST

Miguel Sano finally showed up to play ball tonight, and I didn’t realize how much I missed watching him hit homeruns. If Sano can build on this and consistently play at a high level it would be a huge boost to this lineup, especially if Josh Donaldson misses an extended period of time.

THE WORST

It is hard to find something bad in a game like this, but Mitch Garver has really struggled out the gate this year. Garver is now 2-15 on the year and has already struck out 9 times.

The Twins will be back in action tomorrow at 1:10 pm against the Indians as they look to win their third straight series. Taking the mound for the Twins will be Homer Bailey (1-0) 3.60 ERA he will face off against Adam Civale (1-0) 3.00 ERA.

Cameron Thompson | Minnesota Sports Fan