Just when you think it can get no worse for these underachieving Twins — especially after they lost 9-3 on Monday to the Boston Red Sox — the team runs onto the field Tuesday and hits rock bottom, losing again to the Sox, 10-4. Perhaps that doesn’t sound so bad, except that the Twins were losing 10-0 going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
What can one say? This team continues to struggle at the plate and to score runs, and yet once again a Twins starting pitcher made a quality start and lost because of a lack of run support. This time it was Bailey Ober, who fell to 4-4 on the season but still has an earned run average of 2.83. Ober was fine, the bullpen was terrible. Reliever Brent Headrick followed him and allowed five runs on 41 pitches.
Sonny Gray gets the ball Wednesday.
Extra innings …
-No team in the AL Central has a winning record. The Twins (incredibly) are still winning the division, but are now two games under .500 at 36-38, good enough to have a one-game lead on the Cleveland Guardians. The way things are going for the Twins, I don’t expect that to last.
-There was a silver lining in Tuesday’s loss: Both Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, who have been slumping most of the season, finally connected for home runs late in the game. Royce Lewis also connected for a dinger, one of three hits for him on Tuesday. Lewis is not slumping at the plate, so why is he hitting sixth in the lineup? Move him up, Rocco.
-Here we go again: Ex-Twin Luis Arraez, now with the Miami Marlins, had his third, five-hit game of the season on Monday to demolish the Blue Jays, 11-0. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of old friend Jose Berrios. The Marlins are now 42-31. Arraez is hitting .398 in late June. Amazing.
-And then there was this …
He’s right you know https://t.co/hyeG0slfme
— Rod Carew (@RodCarew_29) June 20, 2023