In an otherwise disaster of a game, Brian Dozier kept up his torrid home run hitting pace by blasting No. 26 in an 11-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Brian Dozier has now homered in three consecutive games for the second time this month, third time this season, fourth time in his career.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) August 14, 2016
After that, nothing went right for the Twins. Starter Hector Santiago, he of the recent trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is still looking for his first win as a member of the Twins after he got shelled, ultimately surrendering seven runs, all earned, in four innings of work.
Making matters worse, fielding — the other category besides pitching that has haunted the Twins this season — was terrible after the team committed four errors — two each from outfielder Robbie Grossman and infielder Jorge Polanco.
The Twins rank dead last in team pitching in the American League and the same goes for team fielding, having committed 91 errors this season. They’re clearly on pace to commit more than 100 errors, but how many more? And yet team hitting (Thanks, Brian Dozier) continues to improve, rising to No. 7 in the AL out of 15 teams.
Meanwhile, the Ricky Nolasco for Hector Santiago trade, despite looking attractive on paper, appears to be a bust for the Twins and interim GM Rob Antony. It’s hard to blame Antony because Santiago was 6-0 in July; instead, it just seems fitting for the kind of year the Twins have had. Santiago may have been undefeated last month, but he’s winless with the Twins at 0-3, including an astronomical ERA of 9.42. If Antony once had the inside track for the permanent GM job, my guess now is that the owners are working the phones for someone outside the organization. Andy MacPhail, anyone?
Extra innings…
-Reliever Ryan Pressly made his AL-leading 57th appearance in Sunday’s game.
-The Twins finished the seven-game home stand 2-5.
-Just what the Twins don’t need: slugger Miguel Sano will have an MRI on his sore right elbow, according to MLB.com.
-The Twins lost two games at home to the Atlanta Braves earlier in the season, and now the Twins will travel to play the Braves on Tuesday. Ervin Santana gets the ball.