September 22, 2016

Wednesday rainout means Twins’ spoiler tour gets welcome break

The Twins need a break because the spoiler tour was effectively canceled after Tuesday’s dreadful loss to the Detroit Tigers. After suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mets, the Twins came home to make a stand — or so you would think because what else is there to play for this season?

But that’s not what happened. Instead, the Twins got hammered as the Tigers scored eight runs on 11 hits, including two home runs, a triple and two doubles. Every player in the lineup had at least one hit. The Twins, meanwhile, showed absolutely no fire and scored one run on three pathetic hits. Brian Dozier had a hit to extend his hitting streak to 23 games, followed by Robbie Grossman (who hit his 11th home run) and catcher John Ryan Murphy, of all people, had a hit as well. Starter Hector Santiago fell to 12-9.

The Twins will play a doubleheader Thursday because of Wednesday’s rainout. Pat Dean gets the ball in the first game, followed by Ervin Santana in the nightcap.

Extra innings…

-The Twins will try and snap a four-game losing streak Thursday.

-The Twins are 55-96.

-The Twins have nine players with 10 or more home runs. Go figure.

-Outfielder Eddie Rosario will miss the rest of the season with a fractured left thumb.

-The Twins are 13-27 in one-run games this season.

-MLB Trade Rumors says the Twins need three things: better player development, more pitching (ya think?) and a long-term catcher. I can’t disagree.

-Sept. 22, 1968: Six days before I was born, Cesar Tovar of the Twins became the second player in major league history to play one inning at each position in a game. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A’s was the first to do it and he did it the same season.

 

 

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.