Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews rebounded nicely on Tuesday and Taj Bradley followed suit, allowing just a run over six innings with nine strikeouts on Wednesday.
But the bullpen got into trouble again and this time the Texas Rangers emerged with a 4-2 win.
Reliever Travis Adams followed Bradley and promptly served up single, single, single and wild pitch and the Rangers pulled ahead 3-1 and never looked back. Adams falls to 1-4 with a 7.67 ERA. Ugh.
Well, here we go again. The Twins will try to win the series on Thursday. Bailey Ober gets the ball opposite Tyler Mahle, who had a cup of coffee with the club before moving on. I’d like to see him lose.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 68-90 and one of four teams in the majors with at least 90 losses. The others: Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies. That is not good company.
–This season can’t end soon enough because there are so many questions that need to be answered in the off-season, including: Does Rocco stay or go? Does Derek Falvey stay or go? Will ownership announce the limited partners and what kind of commitment, financial or otherwise, will they make with this team? Are they prepared to spend at all, and if not, how do they intend to bring fans back to Target Field? Relying strictly on minor league talent could easily turn the Twins into the next White Sox or Rockies. Is anyone ready for that? I’m not.
–Silver linings: Byron Buxton hit home run No. 32.
–Silver linings: the bullpen has been pretty bad. The exception would be Cody Laweryson, who closed out Wednesday’s game with a clean sheet and two whiffs. He has pitched to a 1.29 ERA since being called up Sept. 13.
–Bradley’s line: one run allowed on two hits, including a solo blast, with two walks and nine strikeouts across six innings.
–The collapse is complete: the Cleveland Guardians won again Wednesday over the Detroit Tigers to move into sole possession of first place in the division. The Guards have been on one heck of a run.
–The New York Yankees have tied the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East lead after an 8-1 win over those White Sox, while the Blue Jays have to tangle with the Boston Red Sox. The Sox beat ’em 7-1.
–Perhaps that’s the hardest of all: watching other teams win and celebrate while the Twins go nowhere.