The Minnesota Twins split a doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday and the two games had plenty of quirks including long at-bats and plenty of home runs from the Twins.
The first game of the afternoon featured the Twins’ powerful lineup which got on the board when Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer in the third inning.
In the words of @HilaryDuff,
🎶 LET THE RAIN FALL DOWN 🎵 pic.twitter.com/2Oe3X3P1Fy
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) September 8, 2020
The Twins went on to hit two more home runs in the opener with Nelson Cruz launching a solo home run in the fifth inning and Miguel Sano hitting a two-run blast in the seventh to lead Minnesota to a 7-3 victory.
Reached down and got it.@Twins | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/RwG6MiKb4G
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) September 8, 2020
The second game of the day got off to another great start for the Twins as Brent Rooker hit his first Major League home run in the second inning to give Randy Dobnak a 2-0 lead.
First impressions: GOOD
Congrats on the 1st career MLB home run @Brent_Rooker19!!!#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/zIdl3eMEYU
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) September 8, 2020
But Dobnak struggled with his control in an uncharacteristic performance and as the Cardinals scored five runs in the third inning, it took a 19-pitch at-bat between Tyler Clippard and Matt Wieters to put an end to the rally.
Caleb Thielbar ended Dobnak's nightmare inning by getting Matt Wieters to fly out — on 19th pitch of the at-bat! Threw 10 straight 3-2 strikes. https://t.co/lBKxrrjws0 can find no longer at-bat by a Twins pitcher back to 1980. Closest: Darren Bragg vs. Brad Radke, 17 in 1995.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) September 9, 2020
Cruz smashed another home run in the nightcap, but the Twins couldn’t find enough offense as they fell by a score of 6-4. With the doubleheader, the Twins now have two straight days off before beginning a big series with Cleveland on Friday night.
