Twins need offense to pick up the pace in later innings - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

sumurbelakang.blogspot.com

For much of the Twins’ eight-game road trip that concluded on Wednesday in Milwaukee, a pattern emerged: If you could keep the Twins’ potent offense somewhat quiet in the first few innings, you had a chance to win later on.

In multiple games, the Twins would jump out to an early lead but were unable to add on. It happened Tuesday, when they scored four runs between the first three innings and none for the next six. Same with Monday: Four runs in the third, none after that. Sunday against the Royals, too.

While the Twins bucked that trend in Wednesday’s 12-2 rout of the Brewers, the Twins’ offense has been much more active in the early innings of games, and while there’s no one reason for that, the Twins know they’ll need to keep adding offense toward the later innings.

“They know that the runs in the sixth and seventh and eighth innings matter just as much as the runs at the beginning of the game and when you have a lead, you have to continue to tack on,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “This is not lost on our guys. They’re very aware. We just have to go out and have those at-bats from the beginning until the end of the game because we are seeing them at different points. We just need to see more of them.”

The first inning has been the best for the Twins this season: They’ve scored 21 runs right out of the chute. In the second, they’ve scored 20. They’ve scored 12 in the third and 15 in the fourth. In no other inning have they scored more than 10. In the eighth inning this year, they’ve scored a combined three runs.

“We’re an aggressive team. We go out, swing the bats and get things started,” center fielder Byron Buxton said. “A little bit if you want to point at anything later in the game, we probably get a little more overly aggressive. Other than that, you can’t change the way we approach the game. It’s the way we do things.”

GARVER BREAKS OUT

Just hours before Mitch Garver went out and contributed three hits to the Twins’ 15-hit total Wednesday, Baldelli expressed faith that the time would come for Garver.

The beginning of the season had been particularly tough on Garver, who entered Wednesday hitting .111 with just four hits in his first 11 games. But after watching him have one of the best offensive seasons for a catcher ever a season ago, Baldelli’s level of concern was fairly low.

“He’s a great player, so it’s going to come and he’s going to make those adjustments,” Baldelli said.

It came Wednesday, giving Garver something he “could be happy to go home with,” after what he dubbed as a tough roadtrip for himself at the plate.

“The at-bats were getting a lot more comfortable,” Garver said Wednesday. “I was seeing the ball better these past few days. I know the results weren’t there the last few games in Milwaukee, but I felt more comfortable, seeing the ball better. I know what I can do, and I feel like nobody can beat me. I’m getting back to that point right now.”

FAMILIAR FOES

The Twins didn’t have to wait long for their chance to seek revenge against the Royals, who swept them in Kansas City last weekend.

Because of a scheduling quirk, the Twins find themselves in a stretch of more than two weeks where they only play the Royals and Brewers, who they just took two of three games from in Milwaukee.

“You don’t see that on the schedule, historically, very often,” Baldelli said. “…It does force you to probably make some adjustments on all sides of the ball, and the other team is watching you, too, so they might make some adjustments as well.”

That is especially important for starting pitchers, who the teams have gotten an extended look at. Devin Smeltzer, Jake Odorizzi and Jose Berrios took the ball against the Royals last weekend. Odorizzi and Berrios are on tap to face the Royals again this weekend.

“That’s a lot of games against the same guys. But at the same time, they still have to execute just like we do,” Twins reliever Tyler Duffey said. “You have to trust that you’re going to do things the way you’re supposed to and hope the results are in your favor.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"later" - Google News
August 14, 2020 at 12:03AM
https://ift.tt/2DYopnh

Twins need offense to pick up the pace in later innings - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
"later" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KR2wq4


Bagikan Berita Ini