Tonight, Andrew Vaughn reminded Twins Territory why any player whose career has involved only the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers is bad news for a team based in Minnesota. Vaughn’s tiebreaking eighth-inning single sealed the deal on a Brew Crew win, evening the series and handing the loss to recent acquisition Jeff Hoffman.
The Twins isolated their offense to the second inning tonight, rallying against Brewer starter Robert Gasser after a plethora of baserunners made it 1-0 Milwaukee in the home first. Luke Keaschall led off the inning with a double, then watched as Kaelen Culpepper filled first behind him on a HBP (the first of two tonight for the newcomer.) After a pair of quick outs, the threat was threatened (the heat was hot), until another bout of loose command — an Austin Martin HBP to load the bases, and a Ryan Jeffers walk to spin the carousel — tied things up for the Twins.
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Then, it was a 3-1 lead, with Royce Lewis roping a double to left that plated a pair. Despite the concentration of runs, Gasser would still fail to make it through five innings, giving way after 90-some-odd pitches and seven hits allowed by the fifth inning, paired with two walks and two hit batsmen. The Milwaukee bullpen would go 4.1 shutout innings, and the Twins would not record a hit after Gasser’s exit.
Meanwhile, a two-out Brice Turang single tied the score in the fourth, as Bradley — who hit a man and walked two of this own — was unable to get past five innings.
As mentioned, the winning run was manufactured in the eighth; with Hoffman on the mound, William Contreras led off with a single, then gave way to pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge, who stole his way into scoring position and came home happy on Vaughn’s ground-ball single. And while Trevor Larnach gave one a ride to right in the ninth, there would be no more joy for Minnesota’s side, as a fired-up Brewers squad locked down their 73rd win with a perfect ninth.
There’s still time for the Twins to win this series, although it will require Connor Prielipp to outduel the Miz tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes!
STUDS:
1B Royce Lewis (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B)
RF/CF Luke Keaschall (2-for-4, R, 2B)
RP Travis Admas (IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K)
DUDS:
RP Jeff Hoffman (IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)
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