The Twins lost their third straight series on Tuesday to the San Francisco Giants after a very promising 3-0 lead turned into a 4-3 disaster. The Twins are now a game over .500 (yet they still lead the incredibly weak AL Central) and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are struggling to hit, to score runs, to get clutch hits and to get consistent relief from their bullpen.
The one bright spot has been starting pitching, and Tuesday’s starter Sonny Gray gave them five good innings. And then the top of the sixth inning came along and it all went awry. Gray loaded the bases with two walks and a double and exited the game. Reliever Jovani Moran walked in the first run for the Giants, reliever Brock Stewart walked in the second run and then closer Jorge Lopez served up a two-run home run to make it 4-3 Giants.
Joe Ryan gets the ball Wednesday.
Extra innings …
-And just when you thought the Twins schedule might get a little easier, it does not. They face the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, then hit the road to play the always tough Houston Astros.
-Speaking of the Blue Jays, the Tampa Bay Rays might have the best record in baseball, but they got the shit kicked out of them Tuesday night by the Jays, losing 20-1.
The Blue Jays scored their 20 runs on 27 hits, including four home runs, three doubles and one triple. On the mound for the Jays, ex-Twin Jose Berrios who cruised through the Tampa lineup, allowing only a run over seven innings. Berrios improved to 4-4 with a 4.22 ERA. If only the Twins had that kind of offense …
-It has been whiffs galore for Twins hitters against Giants pitching. In Monday’s 4-1 loss, the Twins struck out 16 times as a team, and the bottom of the order was especially terrible as Kyle Farmer, Willi Castro, Joey Gallo and Michael A. Taylor accounted for 11 of those 16 strikeouts. The Twins had 11 team strikeouts on Tuesday.
-The Twins’ April record was 16-12, but so far in May they have a losing record.