Whether you believe in his viability long-term as a starter for the Twins, Andrew Albers is stating his case for being involved in the conversation for who should make the five-man rotation next spring. We talked in the pregame about his starts being either good or bad, and suffice it to say that this afternoon's outing sits firmly in the "good" category. Albers didn't allow a run over seven innings, striking out five, not allowing a walk, and surrendering just four hits.
Jared Burton would have a rough eighth inning, which would ultimately lead to both the Blue Jays' runs. Two runs were more than enough, as Esmil Rogers scattered three hits over seven and two thirds. Minnesota's best and only true chance to score came in the sixth, when Pedro Florimon led off the inning with a double. He could have scored just three pitches later, when Alex Presley singled into left field, but Florimon was given the stop sign pretty late and came to a screeching halt.
Chris Herrmann cut at the first pitch he saw, a slider, and in most circumstances you'd expect the defensive team to exchange two outs for the run. Ryan Goins, however, saw that he had a plate and made a good throw to the plate in time to get Florimon trying to force the issue. J.P. Arencibia made a nice swipe tag. Presley would advance to third on a fly out off the bat of Brian Dozier, but he was stranded.
Toronto had their only chance to score off Albers in the third inning, when an error and a single put runners on the corners with one away. Albers got Rajai Davis to pop up before Dozier made a fantastic leaping catch to keep Brett Lawrie's line drive from giving the Jays the lead.
Bullet Point Highlights
- Presley has certainly made his impact on the Twins since arriving on September 1. In seven games he's 12-for-31 (.387) with three walks and four runs scored. In six of his seven games he's been on base at least twice.
- Trevor Plouffe had very good months in May and June before July and August entirely crushed whatever hope he'd had for a good season. But in his last ten games, Plouffe is 15-for-40 (.400) with a pair of homers.
- Oswaldo Arcia was 5-for-11 in the series, with a pair of walks.
- The Twins were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position today, a circumstance which was drawn out above. It's not good to bat .250 in those situations, but it's still better than what the club has posted all season (.230).
- Andrew Albers was awesome.