OAKLAND, CALIF. – Even the Oakland Coliseum had apparently seen enough.
Amid the fifth inning of Tuesday's second game of a doubleheader, the wall of left-field lights atop the stadium suddenly went dark. And while lighting — not lightning — delays aren't unheard of at the 55-year-old park, the timing was a little too conspicuous to go unchecked.
The Twins had already lost 7-0 in the first game, giving up three home runs, including a grand slam. They lost the second 1-0, marking the first time since their inaugural season of 1961 they were shut out in both ends of a doubleheader.
The Twins trailed by that 1-0 deficit in Game 2 when the electricity failed, forcing a 25-minute delay that the in-game sound system chose to fill with a light-themed playlist, including Kanye West's "All of the Lights" and Demi Lovato's "Neon Lights."
Eventually, one bulb illuminated. The two outermost panels then mostly relit. And the teams bravely decided to soldier on in a slightly dimmer atmosphere. Another delay, though, was really not what the Twins needed after just emerging from two days of fairly strict quarantining after an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases on the team.
The Twins finished the second game with only two hits, leaving two runners on in the seventh and final inning for their eighth loss in nine games. Meanwhile the Coliseum might be failing, but the team is not, as the Athletics have won 10 games in a row.
"Sometimes a day off is needed, but when you have multiple, it kind of gets guys out of rhythm, makes everyone kind of rusty," said Game 1 starter Matt Shoemaker, who gave up two home runs to arch-nemesis Mitch Moreland — giving the veteran five home runs in 14 career at-bats against the Twins righthander. "… It's definitely a unique — and up to this point — not great road trip for me personally and for the team. Hopefully we can turn it around."
There's only Wednesday's matinee to do that, though. The Twins fell 10-3 to Anaheim on Friday before having Saturday, Sunday and Monday's games postponed because positive COVID-19 tests on the Twins climbed to four.
Matt Olson's bases-loaded shot off Jorge Alcala banked off the right field foul pole in the fourth inning of Game 1 made back-to-back games where a grand slam sailed over the Twins' heads. Justin Upton hit one off Caleb Thielbar in the loss to the Angels on Friday. Former Twins prospect Akil Baddoo had a slam off Randy Dobnak back in the ninth inning of an April 5 victory at Detroit. So 15 games into the season, the Twins had already given up three grand slams.
Sean Manaea pitched his second career complete game, albeit a seven-inning one, giving up six hits and one walk while striking out seven in game one. Shoemaker (1-1) went 3⅓ innings and gave up four hits, five earned runs and four walks while walking four.
In the second game, Jose Berrios went through five innings, allowing four hits, an earned run and a walk but struck out five. Jesus Lozardo lasted 5⅓ innings for two hits, a walk and six strikeouts. The discombobulated Twins defense also struggled, committing two errors in the first game, as only three available outfielders forced some lineup creativity, including playing do-it-all Willians Astudillo at second base.
The stop-and-go aspect of this road swing, now culminating with three games in two days here before flying home after Wednesday's game, has been hard on the Twins. So a power outage — or whatever happened to the left-field lights — was just one more bizarre addition to the road trip of nightmares.
"It just takes a little bit of focus and a little bit of belief that we just need to do what we need to do to stick to our routines and to get ourselves ready physically and mentally to play these ballgames," Baldelli said ahead of the doubleheader. "We are creatures of habit. Everyone is to one extent or another, but the game of baseball, these guys have come up playing every day. That's what they do.
"… When that doesn't happen, it is a little weird sometimes."
"lose" - Google News
April 21, 2021 at 08:13AM
https://ift.tt/2QCbL3H
Twins return to action from COVID pause, lose 7-0 in first game of doubleheader at Oakland - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"lose" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3fa3ADu https://ift.tt/2VWImBB
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Twins return to action from COVID pause, lose 7-0 in first game of doubleheader at Oakland - Minneapolis Star Tribune"
Post a Comment