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Zobrist’s eight RBIs propel Rays’ blowout
MINNEAPOLIS — Ben Zobrist’s good week only got better on Thursday afternoon.
Entering Thursday’s Game 1, Zobrist had 15 RBIs for the season, eight of which had come in the Rays’ previous three games. With four hits, including a three-run home run, Zobrist put up a club-record eight RBIs in the first game of a day-night twin bill as the Rays rolled to a 15-3 victory over the Twins.
Zobrist’s eight RBIs broke the previous club record of seven, set by Carlos Pena in 2007.
“I did not know that,” Zobrist said of the record. “Any time you have that many RBIs, it’s because your teammates are getting on base for you.
“That’s a team thing, RBIs are.”
In the first inning, Zobrist helped the Rays get out to an early lead with an RBI single. In the sixth, he followed a pair of one-out singles with a three-run blast to right field for his sixth home run of the season.
Zobrist later added a pair of two-run doubles, in the seventh and in the ninth. With his performance, Zobrist was the first player in the Majors with eight or more RBIs in a game since Adam Lind did it for the Blue Jays on Aug. 31, 2009.
In his last four games, Zobrist has three home runs, and five homers in his last 11 games.
“He just came up at the right spots and didn’t miss,” said Rays manager Joe Maddon.
“Ben’s just not missing. He’s getting his opportunities, the at-bats have been working, and he’s done a great job with it.”
Of course, Zobrist was far from the only Rays player swinging the bat well. While the temperatures remained chilly at Target Field, the Rays’ bats stayed hot in a second straight easy win over Minnesota.
The first five batters did not get hits like they did Wednesday night, but the Rays got on the board early with a two-run first inning, and they didn’t stop there.
“Everybody kept having good quality at-bats,” Zobrist said. “We can be a very dangerous team up and down the lineup.”
Twins right-hander Nick Blackburn fared even worse than lefty Francisco Liriano did in the series opener, which was the opposite of what the Twins needed to open Thursday’s day-night doubleheader.
Blackburn lasted 3 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs — five earned — on eight hits and four walks.
“I just couldn’t throw strikes,” Blackburn said. “Everything I was throwing was going in the dirt. It was just one of those days. It’s not very often I have to tell myself to the get the ball up.”
After the two-run first, Casey Kotchman belted a solo homer in the second. In the third, a walk, single and two Twins errors brought in two more runs for the Rays, and in the fourth, Blackburn surrendered two more runs on a walk, triple and two singles.
Just as they did in Wednesday’s 8-2 victory, the Rays kept hitting even after knocking the starter out of the game, scoring in six of the first seven innings.
“It was a pretty good day for us,” designated hitter Johnny Damon said. “Hopefully we can continue this.”
Damon extended his hit streak to 15 games with a second-inning single, also notching a triple, two walks, a stolen base and three runs scored. Matt Joyce went 3-for-4, with two walks, two runs scored and one RBI. B.J. Upton also went 3-for-4, walking twice, driving in a pair and scoring three runs.
Overshadowed a bit by the Rays’ 15-run outburst, right-hander Jeremy Hellickson delivered yet another quality performance by a Rays starter on the mound. Tossing 6 1/3 innings, Hellickson gave up three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Hellickson, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, which is about a 3 1/2-hour drive from Target Field, picked up his second straight win in front of about 100 friends and family members, improving his record to 2-2 with a 4.31 ERA.
As much as he was impressed by Zobrist, Maddon really liked what he saw from his rookie right-hander.
“It starts with Hellickson for me,” Maddon said. “Jeremy came out, we got some runs, and he held them in check and permitted us to keep batting on.”
Hellickson appeared to run out of gas in the seventh inning, which his manager attributed to all the sitting the right-hander had to do during the top halves of innings.
When asked about it, Hellickson didn’t have a problem with the long innings in the dugout.
“I’ll take those all day, every day,” Hellickson said. “I’ll sit in there as long as they want to stay out and hit.”
It was a true team effort for the Rays, as seven different players scored at least one run and every starter except for Sam Fuld and Kelly Shoppach hit safely at least once.
With the win, the Rays improved to 12-3 since April 10, the best record in baseball over that stretch. Maddon also improved to 417-417 for his career, the first time he’s been at the .500 mark since 16 games into his first season with the club in 2006.
Right now, Maddon is very happy with the way his team is playing.
“The energy’s there, the want to is there, and that’s all you can ever ask for as a manager,” he said. “I really like the way we’re going about our games right now. And I really believe it’s going to stay.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
At snowy Target Field, Rays roll past Twins
MINNEAPOLIS — It was like a winter wonderland Wednesday at Target Field, complete with snow, Santa Claus and Christmas carols.
Baseball is not typically played in snow globe-like conditions and “Let It Snow” usually is not played over the loudspeaker. But none of that stopped the Rays from heating up at the plate and taking the series opener, 8-2, from the Twins.
After having Tuesday’s game postponed until Thursday due to inclement weather, it wasn’t much nicer Wednesday in the Twin Cities. The game time temperature was a chilly 40 degrees, with a 17-mph wind making it feel like it was closer to 30.
“It felt a lot warmer in the first inning,” Rays manager Joe Maddon quipped, referring to his team’s four-run outburst in the opening frame.
Leading off the game, left fielder Sam Fuld crushed a 2-2 fastball deep to right field, barely missing a home run, for an easy double. Designated hitter Johnny Damon followed with a single to center field, plating Fuld and putting the Rays up 1-0 just nine pitches into the game.
That one-two punch of Fuld and Damon at the top of the order has been sparking the Rays lately as they’ve become one of the hottest teams in baseball, and they did it again against lefty Francisco Liriano and the Twins.
Damon was followed by a B.J. Upton double, and they both scored one batter later on Ben Zobrist’s two-run triple. Zobrist then scored on a Sean Rodriguez single. Five batters into the game, Tampa Bay had five hits and four runs on the board, with no outs.
“The bats were hot even though we weren’t yet,” Zobrist said. “It looked like it was tough for both pitchers to kind of get everything going the first inning, fortunately we capitalized on it.”
After Liriano appeared to settle in over the next two innings, he struggled again in the fourth, giving up a leadoff single and walking a pair before being lifted from the game. Liriano finished with seven runs allowed on six hits over three-plus innings, with four walks and four strikeouts.
“I was just leaving the ball up in the zone,” Liriano said of his slow start. “It was a cold night, so it wasn’t fun to pitch. I just couldn’t get comfortable and was making mistakes.”
Liriano’s replacement, right-hander Eric Hacker, did not fair much better, walking in a pair of runs with the bases loaded and giving up a sacrifice fly to center field to Zobrist, which made it 7-1.
Zobrist finished 1-for-4 on the night with three RBIs and a run scored.
Davis struggled in the third and seventh, but was otherwise in command throughout. Scattering seven hits and three walks over 6 2/3 innings, Davis gave up one run in the third on a Jason Kubel single, which scored Matt Tolbert, and another in the seventh on Alexi Casilla’s sacrifice fly.
“He was throwing strikes,” said Twins center fielder Denard Span of Davis. “We fell behind in the early innings and he threw the ball over the plate. In conditions like this, that’s all you want your pitcher to do, just to throw strikes and let the hitters get out.”
The early lead helped Davis out, too. With a four-run cushion before he stepped on the mound, Davis was able to pitch to contact while looking to jam hitters inside.
Davis also was one of the few players on the night not wearing much extra clothing to stay warm. A native of Lake Wales, Fla., pitching in snow was a first for Davis, but he stuck with the short sleeves because that’s what he’s used to wearing.
“I’ve seen snow, never pitched in it before,” Davis said. “I tried it before, and I just don’t feel comfortable with [long sleeves].
“You’ve just got to grind it out.”
Maddon, along with most players, were dressed with just the opposite mindset of Davis. They wore as much clothing as possible, including special hats with ear flaps to keep warm.
Many in attendance embraced the wintry weather.
At least one fan dressed as Santa was sighted in the stands, which was even more appropriate when “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” was heard at one point between innings. Another group, shown both on the television broadcast and the video board at the ballpark, was seen shirtless and enjoying ice cream.
“I loved it, I thought that was appropriate, well-done, well thought out,” Maddon said of the Christmas carols played throughout the game. “My compliments. And also to the fans of the Minnesota Twins. To show up en masse like that, under these circumstances, I really thought that was kind of unbelievable. It indicates what a great fan base they have here.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Liriano scuffles in loss to Royals
MINNEAPOLIS — In the first three innings of games this season, Francisco Liriano has been impressive. It’s the next three that are the issue.
In his office Wednesday morning, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire discussed with reporters Liriano’s middle-inning struggles, attributing them to a tendency by Liriano to get overhyped after something goes wrong. Against the Royals, Gardenhire did not believe that was the issue in the Twins’ 10-5 loss.
“He was making pitches, the ball was just rolling through,” Gardenhire said. “They found some holes. Off the end of the bat, the ball rolled up the middle, another one in the hole, a jam shot that shot through the hole there. He blooped another one to right.
“He was making pitches. I didn’t think he was trying to overthrow the ball and he was using all of his pitches. They just found some holes in the one inning.”
That inning was the fourth, in which the Royals plated six runs on eight hits, all off Liriano.
After holding the Royals hitless through three innings on Wednesday, Liriano had his outing derailed by a leadoff single in the fourth. Each of the next five batters got a hit as well, and the Royals were on their way to a road win.
Royals center fielder Melky Cabrera got things started with a single, and Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Jeff Francoeur and Wilson Betemit each followed with singles of their own. Mike Aviles added a two-run double and later scored the sixth run of the inning.
“It was a tough inning for me,” Liriano said. “I think I made some good pitches in that inning, and they were still getting hits. You’ve just got to tip your hat to them.”
Against Cabrera, Liriano fell behind 2-0 before giving up a single through the hole to left field. Gordon hit the first pitch he saw back up the middle, just past Matt Tolbert at short. Liriano was ahead of Butler, 1-2, but the first baseman hit a fastball to left for the base hit.
He was behind Francoeur, 1-0, and gave up an RBI single back through the middle, on a pitch that was nearly in the dirt.
“The one Francoeur hit up the middle, I went to block it,” catcher Drew Butera said. “Obviously he’s a good bad-ball hitter, but at the same time, he still made the pitches, executed what he wanted to do, and it was just one of those days.”
Behind 0-1, Betemit hit a changeup on a soft liner to left, scoring another run.
Aviles was behind 0-2, but still managed to hit the ball just past Danny Valencia at third base and into shallow left field for the hustle double. No matter what Liriano did, any pitch he tried, the Royals had an answer for it and managed to find a hole for a base hit.
“We just kept putting the good part of the bat on the ball, putting the ball in play and everything was falling in,” Aviles said. “We really didn’t hit the ball as hard as we could in that inning, if you really think about it, but it doesn’t really matter as long as the balls find holes and we keep putting pressure on the defense.”
Liriano finished with seven runs allowed on eight hits in five innings of work, including a walk and four strikeouts. Royals starter Kyle Davies also lasted just five innings, but it was enough for the win, as he allowed five runs on 10 hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
The Twins answered with a four-run, six-hit inning of their own in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single by Delmon Young, but couldn’t catch up.
“It was a day of bunches, man,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We bunched together a bunch of hits and they came back and bunched together a bunch of hits. Again, our bullpen was spectacular and did the job.”
Four Twins collected two or more hits in the game, including Tolbert, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young and Denard Span, who went 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored.
Unfortunately for the Twins and the 36,286 fans on hand — the smallest crowd so far in Target Field history — most of those hits came off Davies. Once Yost went to his bullpen, the Twins’ managed just two more hits in four innings.
Between Kanekoa Texeira, Tim Collins and Jeremy Jeffress, the Royals’ relievers retired 12-of-14 batters faced. Jeffress allowed one hit while facing seven batters over two innings, earning his first Major League save.
“A solid bullpen, I think you saw some really good arms coming out of the bullpen,” Gardenhire said. “That’s the adjustments they’re starting to make. Young kids with great arms out of the bullpen, bringing in some veterans that have won. It’s about getting a winning atmosphere.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Twins beat 4/12
Hughes picks up win against former team
MINNEAPOLIS — Even after picking up his second career win Tuesday against his former team, Twins left-handed reliever Dusty Hughes insisted it was just another game.
“It’s great” Hughes said. “I wouldn’t say it’s any extra because it’s against the old team or anything like that. [But] it really is kind of neat to get to pitch against them.”
After spending seven years in the Kansas City Royals organization, Hughes was happy to see some familiar faces in town.
Some of his best friends remaining in the Royals’ clubhouse, whom he still spends time with when he can, include Mitch Maier, Mike Aviles, Billy Butler, Kanekoa Texeira and Joakim Soria. When he came in to pitch the 10th of the Twins’ 4-3 victory, Hughes retired the heart of the Royals’ lineup in order, including Butler, who batted second in the inning.
“You have to kind of put things behind you as far as that goes,” Hughes said. “It was kind of neat to get to face Billy Butler and [Alex] Gordon. But it’s just [like] any other game, you go out there to win a ballgame.
“I was going to try to keep us in it at that point. You just try and do anything you can to not give up any runs and give our team a chance. I was fortunate enough to do that tonight.”
Hughes needed just 12 pitches, and a spectacular diving grab of his own, to get out of the inning and send it to the bottom of the 10th.
Before the Twins decided to claim Hughes off waivers from the Royals this offseason, they consulted with the left-handed hitters in their lineup.
The consensus among them was that Hughes was a tough-to-hit, deceptive southpaw. To Hughes, hearing the respect his new teammates had for him meant a lot.
“I heard that a couple weeks ago,” Hughes said. “I didn’t know that in Spring Training at all, but yeah, that’s unbelievable to me because of just the whole repertoire of left-handed hitters they have here, starting with [Denard] Span and all the way down to [Jason] Kubel.
“It’s pretty flattering to know that if they asked any of those guys, for them to say, ‘He can pitch for us,’ it’s a confidence builder for me.”
Since struggling in his season debut April 1 at Toronto, Hughes has been exactly as advertised. In two innings of work against the Yankees, he allowed just two hits while striking out three batters. Against the A’s on Saturday at Target Field, Hughes retired each of the two batters he faced in the seventh with a strikeout.
Hughes has been an integral part of a surprisingly good Twins bullpen that many thought was the team’s biggest question mark heading into the 2011 season. Entering Tuesday, Minnesota was tied with Toronto for the third-lowest bullpen ERA in the American League at 3.00 over 27 innings. Twins relievers had allowed just 22 hits and held opponents to a .239 batting average.
“Somebody pointed out to me that we hadn’t given up a run for a while, and we obviously did the other day,” Hughes said. “So, I’ve got to get on that guy.
“But I think as a whole, we’ve got a really good group out there. We’re starting to really mesh well already and it’s getting good, it’s getting fun.”
Twins’ offense struggling out of the gate
MINNEAPOLIS — Last season, the Minnesota Twins ranked at or near the top of the Majors of most offensive statistical categories. Through nine games this season, they were at or near the bottom.
The 2010 Twins were second in the Majors in on-base percentage, seventh in slugging and third in batting average. Entering Tuesday, the Twins were 29th, 30th and 29th in the same categories. Thanks to those struggles, and surprise hot starts by the Indians and Royals, the Twins entered Tuesday night last in the American League Central standings.
As the Twins continued to struggle at the plate through their first home series, some boos could be heard from the crowd following disappointing groundouts or strikeouts.
“They just want us to get hits, that’s all,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We expect that. We want to get hits, and guys are trying really hard. And they’re good hitters, they’ve got the track record.”
Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Minnesota entered Tuesday last in RBIs, driving in just 24 runs compared to the Reds, who lead the Majors with 62. The Twins also ranked last in total bases with 85, walks with 19, and home runs with three.
With an OPS of .554, the Twins are more than 300 points behind the Phillies, who lead at .865. One problem may be the Twins aren’t taking enough pitches, as they’ve seen only 1,209, which ranks last in the league and is 450 fewer than the Tigers have faced.
Whatever the issue may be, the Twins continue to say they’re not worried about it, and they expect the offense will come at some point.
“It’s way too early,” Gardenhire said. “Everybody wants to get off to a good start, obviously we haven’t. We’ve faced some really good pitching staffs early in the season.
“I feel pretty good about this group.”
Twins handing out too many free passes
MINNEAPOLIS — When the Twins mounted a three-run rally in the eighth inning Sunday, it was not enough because they had dug themselves into too deep of a hole.
It can be tough to win when your starter pitches just five innings and gives up four runs on seven hits, including two no-doubt home runs. That was the case Sunday, but the bigger issue so far this season has been the surprisingly high number of walks allowed.
After leading the Majors with the fewest walks allowed at 383 last season, the Twins have put 36 opposing hitters on base via the walk, the eighth-highest total in the league entering Tuesday.
Left-handed starter Francisco Liriano has especially struggled with walks, giving up eight through his first two starts of the season, both losses.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” Liriano said. “We’re not the type of guys to go out there and walk a lot of people. I think we’re trying to do too much, trying to be too perfect.”
The A’s walked five times in their 5-3 victory over the Twins, including a crucial free pass in the sixth inning issued by reliver Jeff Manship. After relieving Scott Baker, Manship walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases.
Each of the next three batters drove in one run apiece. In his postgame press conference, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire acknowledged that walks were an issue, but did not think they were the reason for his team’s loss.
“Too many [walks]. I think that’s the one frustrating thing,” Gardenhire said. “We’re accustomed to throwing the ball over the plate and making them swing, and we’ve given way too many gifts out there.
“We’re just misfiring a little bit, but this shouldn’t be about our pitching. What did we give up, seven runs in this series? I think that was about it. So it’s really not about our pitching.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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