An impressive run of dominance by Twins pitchers continued Friday night as Jake Odorizzi allowed just one hit over seven shutout innings to lead Minnesota to a 6-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Odorizzi was lights out, allowing a double to the second batter of the game and then retiring 20 straight Tigers before exiting after seven frames. Sixty-six of his 95 pitches were strikes as he lowered his ERA to 2.32 this season.
The right-hander has not allowed a run in 20 consecutive innings. He beat Justin Verlander and the Astros with seven shutout innings April 29 and then came back and blanked the Yankees with six shutout innings May 4, only to follow that up with his gem Friday night.
“The pitching has been exceptional,” manager Rocco Baldelli said, via the Twins. “Carrying us in a lot of different ways. [Odorizzi], pretty incredible, throwing the ball about as well and as dominant as anyone could possibly be. Going out there and knowing we have that behind us, it helps us to swing the bats with confidence. It’s been a great run.”
Over his last five starts – all wins – Odorizzi has a 0.86 ERA while allowing just three runs and seven hits. Repeat. Seven hits total in his last three starts.
Want some more juicy pitching stats?
- Twins have allowed a total of 12 runs in their last 11 victories.
- Odorizzi is 3rd in the AL with a 2.32 ERA.
- Jose Berrios is 5th in the AL with a 2.53 ERA
- Martin Perez is 10th in the AL with a 2.83 ERA
- Minnesota starters have a combined 3.38 ERA, 2nd-best in the AL.
- 8 pitchers in the AL have 5+ wins, 3 are Twins (Odorizzi, Berrios, Perez).
Twins have outscored opponents 26-1 over 4 games. They are the 1st team in last 4 seasons to allow no more than 1 run over 4-game span. The last team to scored 26+ runs over 4-game span while allowing 1 or fewer was the Twins in 2004 (July 5-8: scored 32, allowed 1).@EliasSports
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 11, 2019
At 24-12, the Twins own the best winning percentage (.667) in the majors and have now increased their lead over Cleveland in the AL Central to 4 1/2 games.
The Twins and Tigers play a split doubleheader Saturday, with Michael Pineda starting the first game (1:10 p.m.) and Kohl Stewart making a spot start in game two (7:10 p.m.).
