Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier went 1-for-4 with a home run in Tuesday’s loss to the Kansas City Royals.
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Plating five runs against the Twins, slugger Morales capped the Royals’ seven-run ninth-inning with a home run, his second of the game. It stayed four games behind Baltimore, which holds the second spot. Dozier also started a dazzling double play to finish the fifth inning, with a diving stop of Eric Hosmer’s sharp grounder and a glove flick to second base to get the ball out while he was flat on the dirt.
“It’s kind of like a video game”, said Twins manager Paul Molitor.
The game has major postseason implications for the defending world champions, who have won the first two games of the series and are playing the third game of a 14-game stretch against teams under.500.
Included in that run was 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on August 21, when he scattered eight hits and walked two but earned his 11th win. The double by Escobar extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Two batters later, Paulo Orlando rolled a two-run single to right field, giving Kansas City a three-run lead. “Just four really tough losses and (we) had a chance to win all of them”.
Dozier was gone by the time reporters entered the clubhouse after the game.
Brian Dozier hit his 39th home run of the season for the Twins, moving him into a tie with Rogers Hornsby (twice) and Alfonso Soriano for fourth-most home runs by a second baseman in a season.
If there’s anything negative to say about this run that Dozier is on, it’s that he doesn’t have very good timing.
CARDINALS 12, PIRATES 6: Adam Wainwright drove in three runs and survived five occasionally bumpy innings to pick up his first victory since mid-July as the St. Louis Cardinals drummed the staggering Pittsburgh Pirates.
Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain missed his sixth straight game because of left wrist inflammation.
TWINS: 1B Joe Mauer was given a day to rest his strained quadriceps muscles, an injury that has lingered for the last three weeks.
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ROYALS: After a travel day, Kansas City starts a three-game series on Friday in Chicago. Gibson has been largely disappointing in his Twins career, but is 5-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts against Kansas City. RHP Tyler Duffey pitches for Minnesota against Cleveland RHP Danny Salazar. After hitting four home runs in a win on Saturday night, Minnesota clobbered four more on Sunday, including Byron Buxton’s first career grand slam.
