The Minnesota Twins Made Wacky Baseball History on Friday Night

Who keeps track of this stuff? The Twins became the first team since saves became a statistic to have a person with the last name "Lopez" save a game that was started by someone with the last name "Lopez."

Here at the Fastball on FanNation team, we are fans of odd and quirky history.

Earlier this week, we told you about this zany nugget from the Red Sox and Orioles.

Tonight? We get another good one, courtesy of the Minnesota Twins.

Per @OptaSTATS on Twitter:

"The @Twins are the first MLB team to have one Lopez earn the win (Pablo) and another get the save (Jorge) in the same game (since saves became an official stat in 1969)."

The @Twins are the first MLB team to have one López earn the win (Pablo) and another get the save (Jorge) in the same game (since saves became an official stat in 1969).

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 29, 2023

Who keeps track of this stuff? That's a stat that seems like it would have happened before, but then again, by count, only 30 players named Lopez have every played in Major League Baseball, so the odds are small of this having happened before.

Not all of those players were pitchers, so that limits that pool of 30 even more.

Very cool.

As for the game overall? Pablo Lopez got the win against the Royals by going six innings. He struggled though, giving up six earned runs on eight hits. He did strike out seven. He was acquired this offseason in a trade from the Marlins and is currently 2-2 with an ERA of 4.00. 

As for Jorge Lopez, who was acquired at the trade deadline a season ago from the Orioles, he got his second save by working a scoreless ninth inning. He's 1-0 with an ERA of 0.00 in 12 games. He's worked 11.2 innings and has a 0.43 WHIP.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday. First pitch is 2:10 p.m. ET.

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