The Twins dropped their second straight game and the series to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, increasing the likelihood that Falvey & Co. will be dealing players as we near the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
They might as well start with pitcher Lance Lynn, who has been inconsistent all season, including Saturday when he once again struggled to find the strike zone. Lynn threw 118 pitches in five innings, largely because he walked six batters. He also had six strikeouts, but he gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and the Twins never recovered, losing 4-2. Lynn was among the league leaders in the AL for base on balls before Saturday’s game, but he might be leading the pack after that performance. He fell to 7-8 with a 5.23 ERA.
“Just was one of those nights where I could not get them to put it in play,” Lynn told MLB.com. “And when I didn’t make a pitch, I gave up a couple runs on two balls out of the zone that weren’t bad pitches. That’s baseball. You just have to come back the next time and try to do better.”
So the Twins might be selling, but who’s buying? With Lynn’s record and earned run average, he might not be that attractive. However, prior to Saturday’s start, he did have 91 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched.
Jake Odorizzi gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings…
-Joe Mauer had a 3-for-4 game Saturday, including a double to give him 415 in his career. With that double, he passed Kirby Puckett to become the Twins’ all-team leader in two-baggers.
According to MLB.com:
Mauer, 35, has 415 doubles through 6,695 at-bats, while Puckett had 414 in 7,244 at-bats. Mauer, who went 3-for-4, has 45 career doubles against the Royals, which is his third-most against any team, trailing only the White Sox (52) and Indians (51).
-Congrats, Joe. You delivered some good news in an otherwise terrible game for the Twins. They have no business losing to a team that’s 39 games under .500.