The Twins’ Pablo Lopez, who was pegged as a possible AL Cy Young candidate this season, has been anything but that after he lost again on Sunday to the Texas Rangers, 6-2.
Lopez has allowed 13 runs over his two previous starts. He’s now 4-5 with an ERA of 5.25.
“It makes me mad more than anything,” López told MLB.com. “I haven’t been giving the team length or quality innings or good performances to keep them going. It’s a matter of making adjustments. I’m still not sure what that could be. I do know that something needs to change, and hopefully it happens quicker rather than later.”
Joe Ryan gets the ball Monday.
Extra innings…
-A sweep of the Rangers would have been nice because the next four games are against the red-hot Royals, a team that is 8-2 over the last 10 games.
The last time the Royals were this good was in 2015. They won the AL Central with ease and went on to win the World Series. I thought the Twins had struggled in 2015, but no, they finished second to the Royals at 83-79, although they were 12 games out of first place in Paul Molitor’s first season as manager.
The Twins were 7-12 against the Royals that season and were swept by them at the end of it, losing 3-1, 5-1 and 6-1.
The Star Tribune on Game 162 of the season.
“There were plenty of highlights for the Twins, despite absorbing their third consecutive loss to finish the season at 83-79.
“Rookie outfielder Max Kepler lined a Johnny Cueto pitch into right field in the third inning to collect his first major league hit.
“Danny Santana drove in his first run since before the All-Star break with a fourth-inning single.
“And though he was rocked for five runs, four hits and three walks while retiring only eight batters, Ricky Nolasco took a step forward simply by starting a game for the first time since May 31.”
-The date of Kepler’s first major league hit? Oct. 4, 2015.
-Remember Ricky Nolasco? (Or are you trying to forget?) Nolasco spent parts of three seasons with the Twins before he was traded to the Angels in August 2016. He was 15-22 with a 5.44 ERA as a Twin.
Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com