MLB Rankings: Baseball’s Greatest Hits of Week-20
By Bill Felber
MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-20
4. Marwin Gonzalez, 59 percent
As regional rivals, the Twins and Brewers have played four times this season. All four have been classics befitting the teams’ statuses at or near the top of their divisions.
The teams’ Tuesday game in Milwaukee was a superb illustration of the clubs’ contentiousness. Behind Martin Perez’s strong start, the Twins got away to a 3-1 lead through six innings. In the seventh, though, the Brewers took advantage of Perez’s relief corps to score four times and jump into a 5-4 lead. That’s where the score stood when the Twins faced Drew Pomeranz in the eighth inning.
Eddie Rosario opened the inning by touching Pomeranz for a two-base hit, and Miguel Sano followed by drawing a walk. Pomeranz retired Luis Arreaz on a fly ball, then Brewers manager Craig Counsell called on Matt Albers to face C.j. Cron. Albers struck out Cron.
With Marwin Gonzalez up next, Counsell summoned bullpen ace Josh Hader to record the inning’s final out and protect the 5-4 lead. The opposite happened: Hader challenged Gonzalez with a first-pitch fastball that Gonzalez turned into a three-run home run. That gave Minnesota a 7-5 lead, and the Twins pen retired six of the final Brewers hitters to complete the comeback victory.