The Minnesota Twins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-5 on Sunday. Despite the six run difference in the final score, the game did actually go to extra innings. Pittsburgh reliever Ben Heller struggled mightily in just his second appearance of the season. After giving up five earned runs to the Dodgers on Thursday, Heller surrendered six more to the Twins on Sunday, walking one and hitting three other batters.
One of the people he hit was Willi Castro, who was absolutely abused by the Pirates over the weekend.
Heller was the second Pirates pitcher to hit Castro on Sunday and fourth to hit him in two days. On top of that, Castro was also hit by a pitch in the Pirates' game against the Yankees last Thursday. After his latest HBP he briefly lost his temper and slammed his helmet into the ground.
Willi Castro was not happy after another HBP#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/ol4jNDNt96
Castro has now been hit by nine pitches this season. Only three players in MLB have more and one of them is his teammate, Ryan Jeffers. Somehow Jeffers earned a 10-pitch walk in between Heller hitting Byron Buxton and Castro.
It is a dangerous time to be in the Twins' lineup. Led by Jeffers and Castro, Minnesota batters have been hit a total of 44 times this season, which is the second-most in baseball behind the Guardians 47. No other club has 40. The hardest working person in baseball right now might be Twins equipment manager Rod McCormick who must be scrambling to keep up with the demand for more protective batting gear.
STEPHEN DOUGLAS
