It was a bullpen day at the ballpark for the Twins.
They elected to go with six relievers on Tuesday and the loss fell squarely on them after they served up four home runs in a 6-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Trevor May was tagged with the blown save and Taylor Rogers took the loss after he served up the fourth and final home run of the game.
Rogers last season was 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA when pitching with no days of rest.
He threw 21 pitches yesterday
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) August 12, 2020
It was a disappointing loss because the Twins showed more spark Tuesday than they have in recent days. They banged out 10 hits, including three home runs (two from Eddie Rosario) and yet the bullpen couldn’t preserve the early 4-1 lead.
Kenta Maeda gets the ball Wednesday in the rubber match.
Extra innings…
-One of the positives on Tuesday was Byron Buxton, who appears to have sent his early hitting slump to the showers. He had three hits in four at bats and is now hitting better than .260.
-On the negative side of the ledger, the Twins are striking out a lot. As a team they struck out 16 times on Tuesday, including the struggling Mitch Garver. Despite his one hit, he struck out three times. Luis Arraez also struck out twice in four at bats.
-Another bright spot: Reliever Cody Stashak struck out the side on 12 pitches in the second inning.
-On Monday, the Twins snapped their four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Brewers. Highlights from that game include an Eddie Rosario grand slam and a Randy Dobnak win. The Dobber is now 3-1 with a 0.90 ERA after he limited the Brewers to one run over five innings on 79 pitches. Four relievers took it from there to close out the game, including ace lefty, Rogers, who wasn’t so sharp on Tuesday, but he was on Monday to lock down his fourth save of the season.
-The Twins are now 11-7 and still have a half-game lead over Gardy’s Guys, otherwise known as the Detroit Tigers, in the AL Central.