KANSAS CITY, MO. -- I focused my game story on Francisco Liriano's part in Tuesday night's pitcher's duel with Bruce Chen, and ran out of room to rehash the ninth-inning drama.
Postgame: A look back at a tension-filled ninth inning
After getting stifled for seven innings against Bruce Chen, the Twins made things interesting against Royals closer Jonathan Broxton.
June 6, 2012 at 11:54AM
That's when the Twins had their best chance.
With Jonathan Broxton (1.59 ERA) pitching, Josh Willingham drilled a one-out double to left-center field, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Justin Morneau came up and nearly tied the game when he lined a ball just foul down the left-field line.
"It's a game of inches," Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "He hits that ball two more inches to the right, we're still playing."
Broxton said, "I thought, 'Oh, man!' I thought it caught the chalk, but it's kind of hard to tell where I'm at. Luckily it went foul."
Morneau was behind in the count 1-2 but battled his way to a seven-pitch walk. Then, with runners at first and second, Ryan Doumit took a rip at a first-pitch fastball -- belt-high, in the strike zone -- and flied out to left field.
Finally, Trevor Plouffe worked his way into a 2-1 hitter's count, before hitting a long drive to left-center field. For a moment, it looked like it might be another big hit for Plouffe, but center fielder Jarrod Dyson made a long running catch.
"I was hoping it would get to the gap," Manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But Dyson had it covered pretty good."
After an incredible 25-year career that saw him become MLB's all-time stolen bases leader and the greatest leadoff hitter ever, Rickey Henderson died Friday at age 65.
