In one of the better paced games of the season, the Twins defeated the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Tuesday evening.
Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios looked more like his old self, holding the Nationals bats silent for seven innings of work.
It was a pitching duel to start, with Berrios and Anibal Sanchez of the Nationals allowing zero hits through four innings.
The only base runner who reached during that span was Twins second baseman Jonathan Schoop who drew a walk in the third inning. Berrios eventually allowed a single to Howie Kendrick in the fifth inning but his teammates weren’t able to knock him in.
Willians Astudillo was finally able to put the ball in play against Sanchez with a single to center field in the bottom half of the fifth.
Finally in the bottom of the seventh, the Twins would crack the game open. Eddie Rosario led off the inning with a double and Mitch Garver corked his 30th home run of the season to give Minnesota the 2-0 lead.
GARV SAUCE COMES THROUGH AGAIN! 🥫#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/WOEg8z2AtH
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) September 11, 2019
For Garver, it’s his ninth home run against interleague teams this season, which ties a team record previously held by Trevor Plouffe, who hit the same amount in 2012.
Berrios was then relieved for Sergio Romo to begin the eighth inning. In seven innings of work, Berrios was magnificent, allowing just two hits, one walk with zero runs. It’s a breath of fresh air for the starting pitcher after owning an ERA of of 8.07 in his past six starts entering Tuesday.
Minnesota would get three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when Jorge Polanco roped a two-RBI single scoring Jonathan Schoop and Luis Arraez. After Ehire Adrianza added a sacrafice fly, the Twins didn’t look back.
Trevor May was tasked with pitching the ninth inning, where the right hander pitched a 1-2-3 frame.
With the win, the Twins are 89-55 on the season and will go for the series win Wednesday evening against the Nationals with Martin Perez starting for Minnesota.
