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sports Monday 21 august 2023

Keuchel has perfect game broken up in 7th as Twins beat Pirates 2-0

By BRIAN HALL good job doing that."
Associated Press ENERGY SHOT
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dal- Baldelli spoke with Keuchel
las Keuchel carried a per- in the middle of the game
fect game into the seventh and asked the veteran if
inning before allowing a he thought he could finish
double to Pittsburgh's Bry- the game if the no-hitter
an Reynolds, and Edouard was intact. Keuchel gave
Julien drove in a pair of runs an emphatic yes, in part
for the Minnesota Twins in a due to the large amounts
2-0 win against the Pirates of caffeine he had con-
on Sunday. sumed.
Keuchel, the 35-year-old, "That might have been
soft-tossing left-hander, some of the caffeine work-
didn't allow a baserunner ing in my bloodstream,
until Reynolds' drive with but at the same time, I just
one out in the seventh kind of assessed each in-
evaded outfielder Matt Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel throws to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning of ning and I was being truth-
Wallner and deflected a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, in Minneapolis. ful," Keuchel said, adding
off the wall for the first hit. Associated Press about the seventh inning: "I
Signed to a minor league hit into the middle innings victory. "Last night, we did game today that Keuchel knew I was kind of running
contract in June, Keuchel for the second straight day. a good job bouncing back took advantage of a very on fumes at that point. So
(1-1) was making his third Sonny Gray carried a per- and won the game against liberal strike zone. When it wasn't a relief, but at the
start in the majors this sea- fect game into the sixth a really effective starter," Pi- you get a veteran guy that same time, when I came
son. inning on Saturday before rates manager Derek Shel- can manipulate the ball out, I knew I gave every-
He was pulled after allow- Pittsburgh rallied for a 3-1 ton said. "I think we saw a the way he does, he did a thing I had."q
ing Reynolds's hit on his 85th
pitch of the game. Griffin
Jax got two strikeouts to
end the seventh. Jhoan
Duran struck out two in the
ninth and earned his 23rd
save.
"I feel like I'm very aware
of everything going on,"
Keuchel said of knowing
he had a perfect game
going. "To me, that's the
fun part, is going out and
competing against other
great athletes in the box.
To do that, and corral the
strike zone again today,
was probably the most fun
I've had in a very long time
and I'd like to keep it up."
Julien plated Donovan So-
lano with a sacrifice fly in
the fourth and then drove
in Solano with a double
in the sixth for Minnesota,
which has won five of sev-
en and extended its lead
in the American League
Central to six games over
Cleveland.
"It's not by accident that
he continues to find ways
to get outs, and he's been
doing it for over a decade,"
Twins manager Rocco
Baldelli said. "And he's do-
ing it in a way that you see
less of in today's game."
Pittsburgh right-hander Os-
valdo Bido (2-4) gave up
two runs in 3 1/3 innings af-
ter replacing opener Ryan
Borucki, who threw two
perfect innings to start.
The Pirates have lost eight
of 12 and were being no-