Story by
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Dean Kremer, Alan Roden shine as Twins beat Angles
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Dean Kremer, Alan Roden shine as Twins beat Angles
A day after their playoff hopes officially died — what became apparent during a prolonged slide during August and September became official on Saturday — the Twins rebounded with a decisive 8-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.
The Twins, who made a push for the postseason by buying at the trade deadline, were in position to snag a wild card about a month ago with around a 40 percent chance to make the playoffs. But the Twins spiraled out of the playoff race over the course of the next month, competing much of the time without their two all-stars ( Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan ).
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Inconsistencies from the offense and rotation helped contribute to their demise.
And so now, the Twins (73-83) are playing for the future. The have six games remaining after Sunday's win — three in San Francisco and three at home against the Texas Rangers — before the season wraps up.The final week of the season will serve as an evaluation period of sorts. On Sunday, the Twins had to like what they saw.
Dean Kremer , who has one more year of team control after this one, twirled a gem, throwing six scoreless innings and giving up just one hit and striking out eight as he dominated the lineup of the Angels (60-96). Fellow starter Bailey Ober , who was listed as the Twins' starter for Monday's game in San Francisco, followed him into the game, throwing three scoreless in relief and picking up the save. It was the first relief outing of his MLB career.
Offensively, Alan Roden , who should be in the mix for a spot in the outfield next year, had an RBI single in the first inning and later hit a three-run home run, turning a five-run lead into an eight-run lead in the seventh inning.
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Top prospect Walker Jenkins, who has shaken off some of his early struggles this weekend in Anaheim, had a hit and scored on an RBI knock from Josh Bell , one of three hits for Bell in the game.
Fellow rookies Emmanuel Rodriguez, himself a top prospect as well, and Ben Ross also had a hit and scored a run, with Ross also contributing his first-career MLB RBI.
And Brooks Lee , another important piece of the Twins' future, collected three hits and scored three runs.
