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Twins players gift David Festa plenty of runs vs. Diamondbacks for a winning MLB debut

Bobby Nightengale, Star Tribune on

Published in Baseball

PHOENIX — David Festa, like all players making their major league debut, received advice from a lot of people before Thursday's start at Chase Field. No one probably mentioned all the time sitting around between innings.

After Festa pitched a clean first inning in 13 pitches, he waited 26 minutes before he returned to the mound as the Twins scored six runs. He pitched around a walk in the second inning, then paced the dugout for another 16 minutes. Following the third inning was 20 more minutes.

In many ways, the wait was worth it. Twins hitters gifted Festa with an 11-run lead, and Festa received a winning decision in his debut, a 13-6 victory, after he completed five innings. The Twins took two of three of games in their interleague series against the Diamondbacks.

The Twins even survived a major injury scare when Carlos Correa left in the seventh inning after he was hit by a pitch on his right forearm. An X-ray was negative for a fracture.

Festa, the 24-year-old right-hander, retired nine of his first 10 batters before his debut snowballed a bit. The first hit he allowed was a solo homer to Ketel Marte in the fourth inning, a change-up that ended up in the Chase Field pool beyond the center-field wall.

After Festa struck out the next two batters — the first two strikeouts of his career — he surrendered five consecutive two-out singles in a 32-pitch inning.

Festa, the Twins' highest-rated pitching prospect to debut since Joe Ryan in 2021, was one of the best strikeout artists in Class AAA this season. On Thursday, he was content inducing contact that missed barrels. He generated only six swings and misses with his three-pitch mix featuring a fastball, slider and change-up.

After giving up a leadoff double in the fifth inning, which came around to score, Festa ended his outing with a flyout and two groundouts. Manager Rocco Baldelli offered him a handshake in the dugout and then he chatted with pitching coach Pete Maki.

 

The Twins have scored at least six runs in 10 of their last 14 games.

They loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning, via three straight singles, and it turned into a six-run explosion. Or maybe it was a D-backs implosion. Manuel Margot drove in a run with an infield single in the shortstop hole. Another run scored on a catcher's interference. Two more runs on a ground ball to third base that turned into a throwing error when the ball was airmailed into right field.

Four runs scored without the Twins hitting a ball out of the infield after loading the bases. Jose Miranda added a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center, and Carlos Santana, the ninth batter in the inning, drilled an RBI double.

Byron Buxton saved two outs with his speed as the Twins rallied. He raced to second on a ground ball to the second baseman in the second inning, taking away a typically easy fielder's choice, that helped load the bases. He opened the third inning with an infield single on a routine grounder to the shortstop. Two pitches later, Willi Castro hit an RBI triple into the left-center gap.

In the fourth inning, Buxton decided to show off his power, too. He blasted a three-run, 456-foot homer to dead center for an 11-0 lead. Buxton has three homers in his last four games.

D-backs lefty Jordan Montgomery, one of the top pitchers on the free agent market in the offseason, was booed by Diamondbacks fans as he walked off the field. He allowed nine hits and eight runs (four earned) in 2 2/3 innings. He threw something against the wall in the dugout in frustration.


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