The Twins scored a rare 1-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday, then gave it all back in the form of a 9-3 loss on Saturday.
The result is that the Twins are again four games under .500, which is… which is… which is what exactly? They aren’t completely terrible like the White Sox and Rockies, but they also aren’t very good. It’s nothing to get too excited about.
The Nats beat Joe Ryan, who wasn’t nearly as sharp on Saturday as he was in his last outing. Ryan allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits across five innings with a walk and five strikeouts. Ryan, of course, got no help from the offense, despite collecting a dozen hits. The problem is that the Twins were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.
The Twins go for the series win on Sunday. A starter has not been named.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 50-54.
–More ridiculous injury news for the Twins: Buxton is day to day with left side soreness and pitcher David Festa has landed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, according to MLB.com.
–In Friday’s win, the Twins got a sacrifice fly from Byron Buxton and that was all they needed because four pitchers combined to three-hit the Nats. Daniel Zebulon Matthews led the way with six innings of two-hit ball with no walks and seven strikeouts on 81 pitches.
–Nats pitcher MacKenzie Gore took the loss on Friday, but it should’ve been so much worse for him because Gore tossed 101 pitches across five innings, but only 55 of them landed for strikes. The result was two wild pitches and six walks. And yet he only allowed one run. That probably says more about the Twins’ offense than it does Gore’s pitching. Oh, I see, the Twins were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, which means they are 1-for-17 with RISP in the first two games versus the Nats.
–It’s too bad the Twins aren’t playing any better because the Detroit Tigers suddenly are ice cold. The Tigers lost again on Saturday — their sixth straight loss — and are 1-9 in their last 10 games. Despite being a .500 ballclub, the Cleveland Guardians are now seven games back of first place. The Twins are nine games back.
–Rough night for the Rockies: The Baltimore Orioles steamrolled the Denver team 18-0, including a nine-run seventh inning. The Birds were 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Now that’s how it’s done, Twins fans.
–Ex-Twin and Rockies infielder Kyle Farmer got the ball in the ninth and allowed one more run, a home run. However, he only needed seven pitches to get out of the inning.