MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins are certainly taking Major League Baseball's desire to shorten games to heart. Friday's first game was over after two Twins batted.
Jorge Polanco blitzed a Matt Boyd change-up into the planters in left field, and Josh Donaldson tattooed a fastball about 440 feet to straightaway center. Neither team came particularly close to scoring after that, and the Twins beat the Tigers for the first time this season, 2-0 in a seven-inning shutout at Target Field.
The teams will play another game _ a history-making game, since it's the first time the Twins, the visitors in a makeup of last Friday's rainout in Detroit, have batted first for an entire game in Minnesota. Matt Wisler will pitch for the Twins as the opener.
Game 1, scheduled for seven innings as part of MLB's COVID-19 rules, was completed in just one hour, 45 minutes.
Randy Dobnak, who surrendered 12 hits while recording 13 outs in Detroit on Saturday, this time had the Tigers hitting the ball at his infielders. Dobnak (6-2) induced six ground balls, including two double plays, struck out four, and cruised through five shutout innings on just 61 pitches. But manager Rocco Baldelli went to Tyler Duffey to retire all three hitters he faced in the sixth inning, and Taylor Rogers completed the shutout, earning his eighth save by pitching the seventh inning.
"I got ahead a lot more today, I think," Dobnak said. "In a tight game like this, it was time for the big dogs to come in."
Boyd wasn't bad for the Tigers, either, once the brief, and decisive, home run barrage ended. Boyd allowed only two hits the rest of the way, striking out eight in a six-inning start.
"Jorge had a great at-bat, and I got to see a couple of pitches," said Donaldson, who like Polanco hit a 3-2 pitch for a home run. "Then (Boyd) made a mistake and I was able to take advantage."
Donaldson's 441-footer was the fourth in Target Field history to hit the Delta Sky360 Suite in dead center. ByungHo Park, Miguel Sano and Jake Cave have also done it.
Brent Rooker made his major league debut for the Twins, playing left field. He was hit by a pitch and lined out sharply in his two plate appearances. Rooker replaced Max Kepler on the roster after Kepler was place on the 10-day injured list because of a groin pull.
