May 23, 2018

Twins erase losing streak with winning streak

The Twins have erased a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak after they squeaked by the Detroit Tigers on Monday and blanked ’em on Tuesday, 6-0.

Lance Lynn won for the second time this season after he showed much better command, throwing 100 pitches in six-plus scoreless innings with a walk and four strikeouts. Tuesdays performance lowered his ERA to 6.34 from 7.47.

The Twins go for the sweep on Wednesday. Kyle Gibson gets the ball.

Extra innings…

-Phil Hughes and the Twins have parted ways after the team designated him for assignment or release Monday night. He is not expected to be picked up off waivers by another team because he is still owed $22.5 million, which means the Twins are expected to eat the rest of his contract, according to MLB.com.

Hughes came to the Twins as a free agent after he spent seven seasons with the New York Yankees. He won 18 games in 2010, 16 games in 2012, then signed with the Twins following the 2013 season in which he won only four games. Once in Minnesota, though, he made an immediate splash by winning 16 games again with a 3.52 ERA. He also set a major league record with a strikeout/walk ratio of 11.63/1.

But he was never the same after 2014. He won 16 games over three injury-plagued seasons before he was moved to the bullpen where he continued to struggle.

-On Monday, Jose Berrios and the Twins beat the Tigers 4-2. Berrios again pitched well after he struck out nine over eight innings and improved to 5-4 with a respectable 3.82 ERA. Closer Fernando Rodney picked up his 10th save. After a slow start, Rodney is now among the leaders in saves in the American League.

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.