Red Sox 9, Twins 2: Nothing Lasts Forever
05/05/2024 23:09
Time to start a new streak tomorrow
All of the times that we had together—we should have known nothing lasts forever...
As a burgeoning baseball fan in the 1990s, I practically wore out my dad's 1991 Minnesota Twins highlight reel VHS cassette. I'd watch the section on that season's 15-game winning streak and think "wow—what that must have been like to experience!"
Over the past two weeks, the 2024 Twins gave current fans a very close approximation to the '91 half-month perfecto. Alas, the Boston Red Sox were too much to overcome on this day and the winning streak will go into the record books as an even dozen.
Today, Ryan Jeffers brought the sausage out early with a solo home run off Sox starter Cooper Criswell to open the scoring in the third inning.
Joe Ryan (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB) gave the hometown nine a quality start under the cloudless afternoon skies—the biggest blemish being a two-run bomb off the bat of Ceddanne Rafaela.
The biggest reason for Boston's 3-1 lead after seven innings of play—too many cRISPy LOBsters in the bottom half of innings:
- 2nd inning: Twins load the bases with zero outs—nothing contacts the irregular pentagon.
- 5th inning: Carlos Santana smashes a leadoff double—doesn't move from the second sack.
- 6th inning: Consecutive walks to Max Kepler & Carlos Correa start a rally—which fizzles just as quickly into another goose egg.
All told, the Twins were a woeful 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position—putting enormous pressure on a strapped bullpen once Ryan hit the showers. Predictably, strapped turned to sapped in the late innings, as BoSox bats battered Kody Funderburk & Jay Jackson to turn this one into a laugher. Albeit not growing his 5th-best position on the all-time saves list, Kenley Jansen finished this one off for the Crimson Hose.
Your final: Boston Red Sox 9, Minnesota Twins 2.
Studs
- A 12-game winning streak for the Minnesota Twins! Whether perpetuated by packaged meat, canine admittance, Hello Kitty ad reads, or—you know—solid team baseball, it was an extraordinary ride that completely changed the complexion of 2024's early goings. I bookended the streak with my attendance (games 1 & 12).
Duds
- Manuel Margot: Continued to struggle mightily at the plate and lost a ball in the left field sun that broke this one open.
Comment of the Game
- Uncle Lincoln intimating that 13-game win streaks aren't all they're cracked up to be anyway.
