The Toronto Blue Jays were in a giving mood in Game 1 of their series at Target Field on Friday, issuing nine base on balls to Twins hitters. Unfortunately, the Twins, continuing a recent theme, could not capitalize on all those base runners and lost 3-1.
They went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base and again, continuing another shocking trend, came up empty with the bases loaded.
The lack of run-scoring production means pitcher Louie Varland had to absorb the loss, despite making another quality start for a staff that is already knee-deep in them. Yet this Twins team is struggling to hit and score runs. They have a team batting average of .230, which ranks them 11th out of 15 American League teams, and they are dead last in team strikeouts with nearly 500 through 50 games, or about 10 team whiffs per game, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Pablo Lopez gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings …
-The Blue Jays reportedly had a players-only meeting before they arrived in Minnesota to face the Twins. Isn’t it time the Twins had one of those meetings?
-The Twins did get a “win” in their final game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. But was it a win or was it a big fat gift from the Giants? I’m afraid it’s the latter because the G-men bumbled and fumbled their way to four errors. Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani allowed seven runs, but only four of those runs were earned.
-Still, Twins ace Joe Ryan won the game and improved to 7-1 with a 2.21 ERA. The season he is having has All-Star written all over it.
-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and his wife Allie are apparently expecting twin boys this September. If you’re a member of the Twins, isn’t this expected?
-Ex-Twins watch: Kyle Gibson, now with the Baltimore Orioles, beat the Yankees Thursday, allowing only two hits over seven innings in a 3-1 win to improve to 6-3 with a 3.82 ERA.