Jose Berrios held the Detroit Tigers to one run over six innings, then watched as reliever Addison Reed gave it all away in a 5-2 loss on Wednesday. In the bottom of the eighth, Reed gave up five hits, four runs, but only three were earned because of a throwing error. Still, the damage was done and so was the game.
Reed now has four blown saves and fell to 1-5.
But perhaps Reed’s performance wouldn’t have been an issue if the Twins could actually hit and score runs. Once again, Twins pitching received little support from an offense that scored only two runs on four hits. And three of those hits came from the same two guys we’ve been talking about for weeks: Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar. The fourth hit? That came from the bat of Logan Morrison, who is now hitting .191 this season.
All of this has me asking: What is up with this team? Give me the burn-the-house-down spectacle of 2016, or a playoff-chasing season like 2017, but don’t give me something in between. This 2018 squad is better than this and yet…
Lance Lynn gets the ball Thursday in the rubber match with the Tigers.
Extra innings…
-Wednesday’s win was No. 1,100 for Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, most of which were earned when he managed the Twins.
“You don’t win 1,100 games as a manager by accident,” Tigers catcher James McCann told MLB.com. “You win 1,100 games because you earn your players’ trust and you become a favorite with your players. I guarantee you if you ask every guy in this clubhouse, they’re all going to have something good to say about him as a manager, but also as a person. That’s how you get to 1,100 wins. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the way you do it for a while is by earning trust from your players.”
I thought that was a pretty telling quote about Gardy. I wonder: Would the Twins say this about Paul Molitor?
-Reliever Matt Belisle is back with the Twins after he was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians. Belisle filled in nicely for the Twins last season after former closer Brandon Kintzler was traded to the Washington Nationals. Belisle notched nine saves down the stretch for the Twins.
-Speaking of relievers, Fernando Rodney continues to get the job done and now has 14 saves this season. Rodney is tied for the fifth most saves in the American League. Not bad for a guy who turned 41 in March.