August 5, 2016

So much for the sweep: Twins drop final game to Tribe, 9-2

Well…

All the hope, promise, fun and excitement generated by the Twins the last few days ended in disappointment Thursday after they couldn’t complete the sweep of the Cleveland Indians. The winning streak also ended at four games, and the Twins were denied a chance to take four games from the Indians in Cleveland for the first time in club history.

Another disappointment: Starter Hector Santiago, who the Twins traded for by sending Ricky Nolasco to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, lost his first game for the team on Thursday. In fact, he pitched a little like Nolasco: effective at times but susceptible to the long ball. Santiago gave the Twins five innings, but gave up five hits, including two home runs, and four runs, all earned. He falls to 10-5 and his ERA inched higher to 4.37 from 4.25.

Extra innings…

-Max Kepler’s play has been grabbing headlines of late, but don’t forget Brian Dozier. He hit another home run on Thursday to give him 22 on the season.

-Miguel Sano was back in the lineup at third base — and he contributed a double to Thursday’s cause — but he also committed his 15th error. Now, there’s talk that Sano is once again headed to Triple-A Rochester to work on his game. Although Sano has hit 15 home runs this season and driven in 42, he also leads the team in strikeouts with 113.

-Old friend Nolasco made his Angels pitching debut on Thursday. He went six innings, giving up six hits and five runs, all earned, but didn’t figure in the decision. Those six hits included three home runs. I don’t think Ricky’s going to be missed in Minnesota.

-The Twins now travel to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, before coming home to play the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals.

Ervin Santana gets the ball on Friday.

 

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.