The offense has completely disappeared on the Twins, sending the team to its third straight loss and a sweep at the hands of the surging Kansas City Royals, who now lead Minnesota by 2.5 games in the AL Central.
It’s not like the team was blown out — the Royals scored two runs on six hits — but the Twins countered with one extra-base hit and four singles which isn’t going to get you very far.
The Twins have been shut out 10 times this season, including three times since Aug. 31, another reminder that the club continues to struggle to score runs. They have scored 23 runs over the last 11 games, or 2.09 runs per game.
Twins pitching did its job, although the knock on Simeon Woods Richardson is that he did what he usually does, which is he gives the team a few innings, he limits the damage, but he is far from dominant.
The result is that the Twins are now five games behind the Cleveland Guardians at 76-67. They also are only 3.5 games up on the M’s and Tigers for the final wild card spot in the division. How did this happen? Oy vey.
David Festa gets the ball Monday.
Extra innings…
-It’s time to make hay and the Twins can do it, based on the upcoming home stand. The club has a three-game set against the terrible Los Angeles Angels, followed by three more versus a so-so Cincinnati Reds team, although watch out for Elly De La Cruz. The Twins at the very least need two series wins against both clubs. Anything less and they are going to be in real trouble.
Why will they be in trouble? Because the series of games that follow the homestand, I believe, will decide the outcome of the AL Central. That’s when they hit the road to play four at Cleveland and three more at Boston. If that doesn’t go well, they come home to play three games against the lowly Miami Marlins, but then they end the season with three more at home versus the Baltimore Orioles.
-At this point, I don’t really care what kind of shape Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton might be in. Correa can roll out to home plate in a wheelchair for all I care and Buck can limp up to the dish with crutches, but they need to play. Put a bat in their hands and get them into the lineup! I mean, no one else is hitting. Could they be any worse?
-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was not pleased with his team’s effort following the Sunday loss.
“That was an unprofessional series of baseball we played and that’s all I’ve got for you,” Baldelli told MLB.com. “I don’t think anything else has to be said.”
You can say that again.