Athletics 5, Twins 2: At least we have Royce Lewis

With an overworked bullpen, the Twins needed a lot of effective innings out of the duo of Dylan Bundy and Josh Winder tonight. Bundy did his part, tossing 3 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 3 along the way.

Winder was not so effective, as Kevin Smith (the baseball player, not the actor/filmmaker best known for Clerks) blasted a 2-run homer to left in the 4th inning.

Royce Lewis, who continues to show that he belongs at the MLB level, got one of those runs back with a homer of his own in the 5th. Then, in the 5th, Gary Sanchez hit 4th homer of the year to tie the game at 2-2.

Winder didn’t seem to have his best stuff tonight, as the 7th started with a walk to Jed Lowrie then he hit Ramon Laureano with a pitch. Seth Brown hit an RBI double, and then Sean Murphy blooped a 2-run single to center to make it a 5-2 game. Elvis Andrus grounded into a double play, but Winder allowed two more singles, ending his night. Caleb Thielbar got us out of the 7th, and Winders final line was 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.

Nothing much happened in the 8th and 9th innings, giving us the final of 5-2, Athletics.

Studs:

• Royce Lewis: 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI
• Gary Sanchez: 1-4, HR
• Max Kepler: 2-3, BB
• Caleb Thielbar: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K

Duds:

• Jose Miranda: 0-4
• Ryan Jeffers: 0-4
• Jorge Polanco: 0-4
• Josh Winder: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

I don’t see how the Twins can send Royce Lewis back to St. Paul right now, but I guess the Twins disagree.