Total Twins Draft League, Top Pick Series, Game 2: A Darrell of laughs

01/01/2025 09:30 AM

One team's domination on mound and at bat led to an easy win.

Happy New Year, Twins Territory! Let's ring in 2025 with a simulated baseball tournament result:

For only the second time in the Total Twins Draft League playoffs, the Minneapolis Winners did not hammer the opposition to bits, their lumber muted by the opposition's arms.

Darrell Jackson pitched 6.1 three-hit innings and Marty Cordova swatted two home runs as the Bloomington Berries cruised to a 7-1 series-tying victory.

While Bloomington opened the scoring against Mark Redman in the early-middle innings, including Cordova's first longball in the fourth to make it 3-0, Jackson calmly worked his way through the Winners' lineup. Although he only struck out three, Jackson induced weak contact throughout the game, preventing Minneapolis from stringing together runners or starting any rally.

In the seventh, the Berries sledgehammered the game open. Cordova led off with a single and stole second, Steve Braun doubled him home to chase Redman, and Brian Dozier greeted Willie Banks with his second RBI double of the game. Banks balked Dozier to third before Mitch Garver brought in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

The Winners got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning, Jeff Reed's single off LaTroy Hawkins scoring Steve Brye and putting a run on Jackson's record, but stranded a pair on Royce Lewis' groundout.

The ninth saw some excitement, first with Cordova's second homer and later with Minneapolis running themselves out of a rally. With Josh Winder on the hill and one out, Ben Revere walked but was thrown out trying to steal second. Byron Buxton followed with a would-have-been RBI single and successfully swiped the next bag, but Winder struck out Chuck Knoblauch to end the game.