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After a day in which the Cleveland Indians absolutely dominated the competition, the Twins had to roll into town and ruin everyone's fun by smacking the absolute snot out of the ball for nine innings en route to a 12-5 victory over the Tribe. I had already written yesterday off in terms of my productivity thanks to all of the trade deadline shenanigans, so I was hoping that the Tribe would make it worth it by defeating their AL Central rival. Unfortunately, Kepler & Co. had other ideas. Fortunately, in the words of Gimli son of Gloin: "That still only counts as one!". Hopefully the Tribe can bounce back tonight and even the series. And now, onto the news!
Indians 5, Twins 12
LGT Recap | Cleveland.com Recap | Box Score
Last night's game was terrible in more ways than one. After the Tribe responded with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead, it looked as if it would be another solid night for the team. Unfortunately, that facade was soon shattered in the third inning when Danny Salazar exited the game without recording an out and the Twins erupted for five runs. Napoli hit his club leading 25th home run in the eighth frame, but by then, Max Kepler had already unleashed his fury upon Progressive Field thrice over. Oh, and Andrew Miller made his Cleveland debut...and promptly gave up a 2 run home run to Joe Mauer. OH, and Danny Salazar's arm may be on the verge of exploding (someone hold me).
Indians news
Ha...haha...hahaha. And I will undergo a precautionary bout of mass alcohol consumption. You know, for peace of mind.
#IHopeLucroy drives 60 miles to the nearest Chik-fil-A in order to satiate an incredible urge for delicious chicken only to realize upon arrival that it's Sunday.
I mean, I hear we may need some help at the catcher position if he's not too set on this whole pitching thing...
Recently acquired catching prospect Francisco Mejia continues to sizzle at the plate and is now the owner of the 8th-longest hit streak of all time in Minor League history. Good pick up by the Tribe, I'd say.
Around the League
- Now that the trade deadline is officially passed, folks are starting to chime in about winners and losers. Unsurprisingly, the Cleveland Indians have been declared winners. Notable "losers" included the Detroit Tigers and Jonathan Lucroy.
- It looks like Yasiel Puig is heading to the minors after not being traded by LA on Monday. Also, it should be noted that there was a report running around Twitter yesterday that Puig, once informed that he would not be travelling with the Dodgers, "stormed off". That report has since been redacted as being untrue. Sorry Puig haters, no more fodder for you (for now).
- Danny Duffy had a historical day for the Royals yesterday as he recorded a franchise 16 strikeouts against the Rays.
- Yasmani Grandal found a new way to catch a baseball in yesterday's game.
- And finally, two tweets to finish off today's N&N. First is Puig's response to Ken Rosenthal after Rosenthal prematurely broke the story about Puig storming off:
@ken_rosenthal don't worry bro, we all make mistakes #puigyourfriend #seeyousoon
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) August 2, 2016
And second, if teams are still looking for a bullpen arm, they may consider former tennis star John McEnroe:
John McEnroe's first pitch at Mets game tonight is one of the best first pitches ever thrown pic.twitter.com/7g2MUzyt92
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 2, 2016