Kenta Maeda might never wear short socks again.
Kenta Maeda's second straight strong start helps Twins beat Tigers 4-2
Kenta Maeda's wardrobe functions just fine, with five more scoreless innings
July 10, 2021 at 5:03AM
The righthander took the mound for the Twins looking to sustain momentum after his previous start Sunday at Kansas City, the first appearance of the high socks. It was his strongest outing of the season, as he struck out 10 batters in six scoreless innings.
"The last outing, that's what gave me momentum coming into this one," Maeda said through an interpreter. "I had a good frame of mind and I like to have that kind of mind and carry it on to my future games as well."
Maeda struck out seven in five scoreless innings of work Friday night, when the Twins defeated the Tigers 4-2 despite managing only four hits at Target Field. All seven batters he struck out went down swinging. Of the 84 pitches he threw, 52 were strikes, and 17 were swung on and missed.
Akil Baddoo reached to start the game on an error by first baseman Miguel Sano, but Maeda responded by striking Jonathan Schoop while Baddoo was thrown out by Ben Rortvedt trying to steal second for a double play. Robbie Grossman then swung and missed on an 80-miles-per-hour slider from Maeda to end the inning.
The Tigers got the leadoff man aboard again in the second when first baseman Miguel Cabrera singled, but Maeda added two more strikeouts and an infield pop-up to strand the Detroit star at first. Maeda struck out at least one batter in each of the five innings he pitched.
Despite his five shutout innings, it wasn't Maeda who trotted out to the mound at the start of the sixth inning in a scoreless game, as fellow righthander Jorge Alcala came on in relief. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he decided to pull Maeda when Maeda mentioned he felt some fatigue, but that the starter probably could have gone one more inning.
Will the socks remain tall?
"I think it's time for me to take the long pants out of my locker," Maeda said.
For the second day in a row, the Twins were held hitless into the fifth inning, only to generate enough offense for a victory. On Friday, it was Matt Manning keeping the Twins off the bases, but hitters were making contact. Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz and Sano each hit balls over 103 mph that were caught for outs. Donaldson's traveled 407 feet to dead center.
Max Kepler finally broke through with a one-out single in the fifth inning, and the Twins offense then scored all their runs in the sixth. Arraez led off with a single and Donaldson walked, marking the end of Manning's night.
Lefthander Ian Krol came on and promptly committed a balk, advancing both runners. Trevor Larnach then laced an RBI single to right, and a long fly ball to center by Cruz drove in Donaldson for a 2-0 Twins lead.
After Alex Kirilloff walked and a 10-pitch at-bat for Jorge Polanco ended with a flyout, Kepler hit a two-out, stand-up triple that got past Grossman in left field to drive in Larnach and Kirilloff.
Grossman cut the Twins' lead in half with a two-run homer in the eighth off lefthander Caleb Thielbar. But Hansel Robles recorded the final five outs of the game for his ninth save in 11 attempts.
"Our guys stayed at it," Baldelli said. "This is what we're looking for."
Gerrit Cole gave up his opt-out right on Monday and will remain with the New York Yankees under a contract that runs through 2028 rather than become a free agent.
