Fernando Romero Extends Scoreless Streak in Win Over Cardinals

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Fernando Romero delivered a magnificent performance in his second big league start on Monday, racking up nine strikeouts over six shutout innings in a victory over the Cardinals. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed just three hits and three walks in the impressive outing.

This comes on the heels of Romero fanning five over 5 ⅔ scoreless frames to earn a victory in his first start against the Blue Jays last week. He should be owned and started in all mixed leagues at this point.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Twins, who have surged to 14-17 on the season, which puts them in second place in the American League Central, just 1 ½ games behind the division-leading Indians.

Eddie Rosario remained red-hot at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles an RBI and a run scored. He also took a home run away from Dexter Fowler with a tremendous leaping catch in the first inning. He has come on like gangbusters after a slow start and is now slashing .287/.310/.557 with seven homers, 25 RBI and four stolen bases.

Robbie Grossman also had a solid day for the Twins, going 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI.

On the Cardinals’ side, there was much less offense to go around. As a team, they tallied just four hits in the ballgame and Paul DeJong accounted for three of them, going 3-for-4 with a double. They also whiffed a total of 12 times against Romero and a pair of Twins’ relievers.

John Gant pitched decently in a spot start for the Cardinals, surrendering four runs on six hits over his 5 ⅓ innings of work. Gant struck out five and walked two on the night.

With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 20-13 on the season, though they maintain a one-game lead over the Brewers for the top spot in the National League Central.

These two clubs will meet again on Tuesday afternoon as Jake Odorizzi goes toe-to-toe with Cardinals’ ace Carlos Martinez.