April 3, 2018

Lance Lynn can’t extend streak of quality starts for Twins

The streak of quality starts for Twins pitching ended at three games after Lance Lynn, who joined the Twins as a free agent during the offseason, was lit up for five runs, including a grand slam, in the first inning of Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Twins rallied late in the game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome that early deficit. Frankly, Lynn was terrible. In four innings, he gave up three hits, including a home run, and allowed five runs, all earned. He also issued six walks and struck out three. He exited with the loss and an ERA of 11.25.

In fact, nobody pitched that well for the Twins. Lynn and four relievers issued 11 walks on Monday, which probably had the analytically-minded Falvey & Co. grinding their teeth.

The series with the Bucs resumes Wednesday. Jake Odorizzi gets the ball.

Extra innings…

-Brian Dozier hit his third home run, while Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar and Max Kepler each hit doubles in Monday’s loss.

-My son and I are back in Minnesota for the second time to see the Twins’ home opener Thursday versus the Seattle Mariners. Last year we visited during August; this time, we have managed to give ourselves a taste of Minnesota cold. We arrived to snow and it has continued to fall well into Monday night. Snow is in the forecast Tuesday, then it’s expected to be partly sunny and cold. Thursday’s high temperature is forecast to be 30 degrees.

A few images from our trip so far:

My son met the pilots on Alaska Airlines, flight 36.

Yes, it snowed.

It didn’t take my son long to find this store.

Some of the beautiful old homes in our St. Paul neighborhood.

 

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.