Just as the Twins offense seemed to find traction after a couple weeks of swinging at air, Washington National pitchers struck out a Twins record-tying 18 hitters in a 9 inning game Saturday. Starter Tanner Roark, a ground ball pitcher who averages 6 K/IP, caught the Twins looking. Twins batters watched 40% of the 78 strikes thrown by Roark.
If the game plan was to make Roark throw pitches to force him from the game early, it didn’t work. In fact, Roark threw a career-high 121 pitches in 7 innings, striking out a career-best 15 batters. Twins mustered just two hits, a single by Joe Mauer and a double by Max Kepler.