MINNEAPOLIS – The twins scratched Nelson Cruz with a non-COVID-19 disease before Tuesday’s series opener against the Red Sox – and they certainly missed his big right-handed bat.
Fortunately for the twins, reinforcements will soon be on their way, with Josh Donaldson returning to waiting on Wednesday after recovering from a straight hamster strain and Cruz recovering from illness. That added power should help Minnesota have a bigger punch than when they gave up their third straight game in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on a cold Tuesday at Target Field.
Cruz was originally in the starting line-up against left-hander Martín Pérez as part of the regulars’ right-handed stack, above the order against the legs, but was scratched less than an hour before the game and was replaced in left-handed batting order. Jake Cave.
“Obviously, he is a very important part of what we are doing and facing a left today, but we need to find a way to unite and have a good beat and score a few runs in both directions.” said manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Baldelli had no updates on Cruz’s condition after the game, apart from the fact that the designated player left the stadium before the match and was resting at home.
It was a particularly big loss, as Cruz had a .935 OPS career against Boston in the game and also had the third-best slugging percentage in the American League at .926. He also played a series of seven shooting games and a team that leads 10 RBIs until Tuesday.
The Gemini had a lot of those opportunities for RBIs throughout Tuesday’s contest, putting runners on base in every inning except the ninth and blocking 10 baserunners in total, but they failed to get through. Minnesota finished the game 0-for-8 with runners in the scoring position and paid only in the first half on a sacrifice flight and the choice of an RBI player.
It didn’t help that the 33-degree temperature at the first pitch on Target Field matched the third coldest home game in twins’ history, and a continuous dust of blown lightning made an atmosphere close to the globe. snow at the stadium for the first five innings.
“I think this is one of those times that I think a lot of teams go through when you’re looking for great success,” Baldelli said. “You’re looking for something to get everything moving and to get things moving. In some of these games. We had some really good games to start this game. We had a bunch of guys based. “
In the first half, Willians Astudillo came out with runners at the corners, because the twins could not put a crooked number after loading the bases without any outside. Kyle Garlick twice left the men on the third base, and Minnesota also failed to make it past the eighth against left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez, despite putting a pair on board.
It’s not that they didn’t make solid contact; a trio of balls hit hard against the Red Sox breeders at the end of the game by Miguel Sanó, Andrelton Simmons and Jorge Polanco each had an expected average of at least .470 pieces, but all three came out on top.
Things just didn’t fall apart. Maybe the Rain Bearer will bring a shake.
Although it was said that Donaldson was almost ready to return to the line on Monday, the twins chose to detain him for some extra time, partly due to bad weather expectations in the Minneapolis area, which would have created suboptimal conditions for return and health.
“He’s a great player,” Baldelli said. “Every time you can insert a guy of that caliber in a range, it will create some good energy and probably a good production in the field.”
But with the former 2015 AL MVP Award winner ready to recover from a ball-scoring spring – 10 of the 19 ball training balls from Spring Training qualified as hard-hitting balls with exit speeds of at least 95 mph. – the twins hope that their range will look and feel different.
“When he’s there, he’s going to produce for us and we need that,” Cave said. “There are guys who aren’t particularly happy – and me – with the way they’ve turned the bat and stuff like that. So if we can bring another guy there who can bring more confidence to the range … I think it will help the whole range. “