The Twins picked up their third straight series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it’s not completely satisfying because they dropped the finale 2-1 on Sunday which means they are still two games under .500 at 47-49 before the All-Star break.
A sweep of the Bucs would’ve resulted in a .500 record (48-48) for the Twins, which to my thinking could be called a “clean slate” moment for a team that has had an up-and-down first half.
In other words, forget the first half and take heart that the Twins battled back from a terrible June to even their record.
But that did not happen.
Instead, they still have work to do against the Rockies, they have to avoid being swept by the Dodgers and they have to continue to fight against the Washington Nationals and a red-hot Red Sox team before the calendar turns to August, and August isn’t pretty at all, folks.
A .500 start to the second half of the season would’ve made all of that just a tad easier.
Extra innings…
–I had a feeling the Twins might lose on Sunday because they had to face Bucs starter Mitch Keller, who has had some success versus the Twins. Coming into Sunday’s game, Keller had pitched to a 1.50 ERA against the Twins, with 20 strikeouts across 12 innings, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
And Keller delivered again, allowing just a run across six innings on four hits. The two teams then took a 1-1 tie into the ninth inning, only to see Twins closer Jhoan Duran allow three hits, followed by Brooks Lee failing to turn a double play because the ball apparently got stuck in the webbing of his glove. Instead of getting out of the inning, Lee’s only play was to first base, allowing the runner at third to score. Ballgame.
–A day after Buxton hit for the cycle, he followed that performance with two hits, including a double, and an RBI, his 56th of the season.
–OK, so the Twins didn’t sweep the Pirates, but they MUST sweep the Rockies. The Rocks are:
- 22-74.
- 1-5 in extra-innings.
- 10-16 in one-run games.
- 4-26 in blowout losses.
- 5-22 in interleague games.
They also are winless against the Red Sox, Cubs, Tigers, Royals, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies and Rangers, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
–But the Rockies are undefeated against the Marlins. How does that happen? And the Marlins took two of three games from the Twins. Oh, man, I don’t like where this is headed…