The Minnesota Twins have started their 2019 in the best possible way, beating divisional rivals the Cleveland Indians 2-0.
It was a tale of two pitchers at Target Field as Jose Berrios proved his pedigree up against two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber.
And it was the Twins ace who proved the more impressive, striking out 10 across 7.2 frames – the most ever by a Twins Opening Day starter.
On the other hand, Kluber benefited from the Twins’ tactic of going after early pitches, leaving the Indians’ fielders to mop up.
It wasn’t until Byron Buxton smashed a double in the 6th that the Twins had a hit off of Kluber.
And that hit precipitated more success at the plate for the Twins in the 7th, when debutants Nelson Cruz and CJ Cron combined for hits, and were then driven in by another debutant, Marwin Gonzalez.
Scoreless no more! #OpeningDay #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/KYKRbV3Zwy
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 28, 2019
Berrios departed to a standing ovation for Taylor Rogers with one out left in the 8th, and it was Rogers who returned in the 9th to record the save.
The Twins and Indians meet again at Target Field on Saturday, with Jake Odorizzi pitching for the Twins and Trevor Bauer for the Indians.
For the latest Twins 2019 season content from BMTN, follow our Flipboard magazine.
