Game 161: Twins edge Royals to tie for first
Kansas City @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
It wasn’t pretty the last time the Twins faced off against Zack Greinke, who gave up just a single run off seven hits with eight strike outs. That was at Kauffman Stadium, though, and this time it was at the Metrodome with the upper deck curtain raised to allow for more fans.
The extra fans must have helped as the Twins scored four runs of Greinke on their way to a 5-4 victory over the Royals. The victory, along with another Tiger loss, pulled the Twins into a tie for first place with one game left to go.
Nick Blackburn was opposite Greinke on the mound and went toe-to-toe with the Cy Young candidate by retiring the first 12 batters he faced. Blackburn then gave up back-to-back singles but pitched out of the inning without giving up any runs.
Greinke, on the other hand, was his stellar self on the mound and gave up two hits and two walks in the first five innings while striking out five. Greinke, though, would fall apart in the sixth and face all nine batters while giving up four runs.
Nick Punto started the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Denard Span. Orlando Cabrera grounded out but got Punto over to third and scored on a line drive single from Joe Mauer.
With two outs, Jason Kubel hit a ground rule double and Michael Cuddyer loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Delmon Young continued to hit a hot bat by knocking in three runs with a double to right field. Jose Morales would also single before Greinke got Matt Tolbert to line out to short.
The Royals would claw their way back into the game that was started when Mike Jacobs hit a solo home run to right in the seventh to make it a 4-1 ballgame. In the eighth, Miguel Olivo hit a ground rule double off Blackburn before being replaced by Jose Mijares.
Mijares would give up a home run to Alex Gordon, the first batter he faced, to make it a 4-3 game. Mijares gave up another single before being taken out of the game. Jon Rauch came to the mound and gave up a single before getting Mitch Maier to ground into a double play. A run would score, though, to tie the game at four.
It only took nine pitches in the bottom half of the eighth to break the tie, however, as Michael Cuddyer hit his 31st home run of the season to left field. Joe Nathan came out in the ninth and retired the side with two strike outs and a ground out to extend the Twins team save record to 47.
Attendance: 48,644
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