It began with the San Diego Padres, it continued against the St. Louis Cardinals and now the Twins have lost two of three games to an Atlanta Braves team that is clearly head and shoulders above the club from Minnesota.
The Twins on Tuesday showed some grit to tie the game, but then they fell apart in extra innings to lose 8-6.
Minnesota banged out 14 hits, including six doubles, but as productive as that sounds it wasn’t nearly enough because the Twins were 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base.
A 4-4 game forced extra innings and then it got ugly because the Twins allowed four runs in the top of the 10th. Closer Jhoan Duran, who fell to 6-8 on the season, served up four runs (three earned) on four hits in a third of an inning. He allowed only three earned runs because Eddie Julien threw home on a fielder’s choice, but threw the ball too high. Julien is having a terrible week.
The Twins get one more crack at the Braves on Wednesday. David Festa gets the ball versus Chris Sale, who is a new man in Atlanta. Absolutely plagued by injuries in Boston, Sale is now 14-3 with a 2.62 ERA. The Slim Reaper needs to give us all he can.
Extra innings…
-This is how it all shook out on Tuesday: The Royals beat the Guardians again, so both teams are tied for first place at 75-58 with the Twins 2.5 games back. I’m not ready to panic just yet, but I’m getting damn close.
-Starter Simeon Woods Richardson didn’t have great command, tossing 91 pitches across four-plus innings with three walks.
-Why was Julien hitting cleanup on Tuesday? Yes, he has shown a little improvement with the bat, but I don’t think he warrants that spot just yet.
-Willi Castro and Trevor Larnach had six of the Twins’ 14 hits.
-I think relievers Duran and Griffin Jax should flip roles. Make Jax the closer and reduce Duran’s role to set-up guy. I say this because Duran has struggled of late while Jax has been terrific all season. Jax has pitched to a 1.70 ERA with 76 whiffs across 58-plus innings.
-As predicted/expected, the Twins have jettisoned reliever Trevor Richards by designating him for assignment.
-Injured starter and Deadhead Joe Ryan has been moved to the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his season.
-The Twins have claimed reliever Michael Tonkin off waivers from the New York Yankees. The Twins know Tonkin well because this is his third stint with the club.
-I am more than ready for Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Brooks Lee to return to the lineup.