The Minnesota Twins (8-5) won the second game of the series in San Juan/Puerto Rico against the Cleveland Indians (9-7) 2:1 after 16 innings. Local hero Jose Berrios started off with a strong performance, while Max Kepler left the game early with an injury.
Twins manager Paul Molitor explained in the days before the series that he had already planned to let Berrios play in San Juan during spring training. And the Puerto Rican confirmed the trust placed in him with a great performance.
Berrios pitched seven shutout innings for the Twins and only played three hits (5 SO). This made him the first pitcher from Puerto Rico to pitch seven shutout innings in Hiram Bithorn Stadium. He is the fourth local pitcher to start a game in the Regular Season. His predecessors were Javier Vazquez, Roberto Hernandez and Pedro Feliciano.
However, his opponent, Carlos Carrasco, was similarly dominant and pitched seven innings (3 H, BB, 7 SO).
The offensive rows of both teams were thus cold for a long time. It wasn’t until the 14th inning that the clubs on both sides woke up. The Indians took the lead through Edwin Encarnacion’s home run, but Miguel Sano also made a 1-1 draw with Homer shortly thereafter.
The decision was finally made in the 16th inning by a walkoff RBI single by Ryan LaMarre in favor of Minnesota’s home team. The Twins had previously loaded the bases against substitute starter Josh Tomlin.
“It was a hell of a baseball game,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor: “We were just trying to find a way to get a few points on the scoreboard and win. But there was outstanding pitching on both sides.”
LaMarre only came into play in the tenth inning after Max Kepler injured his knee and had to get out. Previously, Kepler 1-3 was involved. A diagnosis has yet to be made.
The game officially lasted 5:13 hours and was the longest ever to take place at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, both in innings and actual playing time.
Page 1: Twins beat Indians in 16 innings
Page 2: Results and highlights from the night