K Squad's Untimely Return

ALDS Game 3:
Astros 9
Twins 1

As you may have heard, the 2023 Twins shattered the record for most strikeouts by any team. Ever. 

And as seemingly different as the Twins have seemed so far in these playoffs, they're still that team that set the record. And boy did the strikeouts rear their ugly head at a bad time in game 3, putting the Twins on the brink of elimination. 

Also didn't help that Sonny Gray got 4 runs tagged on him in the 1st inning. Yeah there was a sharp grounder that Alex Kirilloff maybe should have fielded, and maybe if he does the Astros get nothing. But that play didn't make Gray serve up a 3 run meatball to Jose Abreu.

The Twins had a chance to get runs back in the first, with 1 out and 2 in scoring position. But Lewis and Correa both struck out. They got the first 2 on in the 3rd, but a Polanco strikeout helped Houston escape again. 

An Alex Bregman homerun padded the lead to 5-0. Then the Twins took 3 walks to load the bases in the 5th, before again having a pair of strikeouts. 

In the 6th the Twins did finally put a run across on a Castro single, but then Ryan Jeffers hit into a momentum ending double play. 

That was the last attempted rally that would have mattered. Houston tacked on a few more runs off the Twins bullpen for a 9-1 final. 

The Twins ended up with 14 strikeouts total. They were 1 for 9 with RISP (a ghastly 4 for 35 with RISP in the playoffs). A couple moments, and a few standout pitching performances, have masked that this lineup has been a major liability in the playoffs. And they are 1 game away from being the reason the season is over. 


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