Lance Lynn on Monday pitched well in his second start for the Twins, striking out nine in five innings with no runs allowed. He also slashed his ERA to 5.00 from 11.25 after a disastrous start against the Pittsburgh Pirates last week.
But Justin Verlander was just as good for the World Series-winning Houston Astros and they beat the Twins 2-0. Verlander improved to 2-0 on the season, while Lynn didn’t figure in the decision. Reliever Taylor Rogers spelled Lynn and he gave up a run and took the loss. The Astros also picked up a run off reliever Addison Reed late in the game.
The Twins collected six hits in Monday’s game, including extra-base hits from Joe Mauer, Jason Castro and Eduardo Escobar, who continues to hit well when given the chance. Logan Morrison is as cold as Minnesota’s weather. He was hitless again Monday and is now hitting (if you can call it that) .043. As a team, the Twins were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, which isn’t going to win you a lot of games. The weather needs to warm up.
Extra innings…
-Speaking of Minnesota weather, Thursday’s home opener was a sellout and 38 degrees. Saturday’s game came along and the temperature fell to 27 degrees and so did attendance. About 18,000 attended that game, less than half the attendance of Thursday’s game. For Monday’s game, it was 35 degrees and about 15,000 attended.
-It doesn’t get any easier for the Twins on Tuesday. Dallas Keuchel gets the ball for the Astros, while the Twins will counter with Jake Odorizzi.