The Minnesota Twins’ 12-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night had a lot of rough moments, but none were as bad as a fourth-inning grand slam from Luis Robert.
The White Sox loaded the bases off starter Sonny Gray when Robert came to the plate. With Gray trying to work out of the jam, Robert effectively ended the game with a single swing of his bat, silencing Target Field and the Twins’ broadcast booth.
The Twins call of Luis Robert's grand slam is a thing of beauty pic.twitter.com/6EQBihsA6g
— White Sox Takes (@WhiteSoxTakes) July 15, 2022
Twins play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer knew the ball had left the yard off the crack of Robert’s bat and gave Chicago a 6-1 lead. It’s hard to blame Bremer for his call, however, considering the state of the Twins’ pitching staff.
Minnesota’s staff has become a hot topic leading up to the trade deadline as their four-game lead over the White Sox entering Friday (and a 3.5-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians) could be even larger if the Twins had been more effective on the mound.
That’s led to severe disappointment in the Twins’ broadcast booth including a walk-off homer by Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez on June 30.
RIP to the Twins broadcaster, who died https://t.co/xnuIKr8uon
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 30, 2022
Even worse? Twins general manager Thad Levine spent more time pumping up the return of injured players including Gray than potential trade targets during a Wednesday morning interview on WCCO Radio.
Levine also acknowledged that pitching would be the team’s focus heading into the trade deadline, but the Twins may need immediate help to stay atop the American League Central.
