As predicted, Kyle Gibson and the Twins couldn’t beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, so the losing streak now stands at 10 games. It’s the longest losing streak of the season, and they’ll now have to try to end it in Cleveland with Hector Santiago on Monday. I’m not hopeful.
Longest Twins losing streaks
14 — May 19-June 2, 1982
13 — May 26-June 7, 1961
11 — Sept. 9-21, 2011
10 — Aug. 18-28, 2016 and 4 other times— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) August 28, 2016
Sunday’s 9-6 loss was less about how the Twins played and more about how Josh Donaldson played. The defending American League MVP hit three home runs on Sunday, giving him 33 on the season to go along with 91 RBIs. In other words, he’s in contention for AL MVP this year as well. In three games, the Blue Jays hit nine home runs.
In a truly Canadian moment, Jays fans shower field with hats as Josh Donaldson complete baseball hat trick: 3 home runs. It's 9-5 Jays.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) August 28, 2016
And yet the Twins scored six runs on Sunday, seven on Saturday and eight on Friday. With decent pitching, those are all wins; with lousy pitching, you have a 10-game losing streak. As of Sunday, the Twins’ team ERA was 5.12, which is dead last in the AL and second from the bottom in all of baseball.
Extra innings…
-Starter Ervin Santana has cleared major league trade waivers, according to a report in the Pioneer Press, which means Santana can be traded to any club the remainder of the season. Catcher Kurt Suzuki also cleared waivers this month.
-The Twins are 8-5 against the Indians this season, so if the losing streak is going to end it likely happens versus the Tribe. The Twins have a losing record against every team in the AL, except for Cleveland, Seattle (3-0), Texas (5-2) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (4-2).