The Twins find themselves in a serious pickle.
If they don’t get deep starts out of their rotation, then manager Rocco Baldelli is forced to turn to a bullpen that was torn apart at the trade deadline and now features very little talent. In other words, what is he and the Twins to do? They appear to be trapped with nowhere to go.
Saturday’s game was the perfect example. Team ace Joe Ryan had an off night and was done after he allowed five runs across just two innings, so the Twins had to call on the “relief” corps with predictable enough results.
Thomas Hatch served up four runs, Brooks Kriske coughed up two more and the Twins were routed by the Kansas City Royals 11-2 to lose the game and series. The Twins have lost six straight which matches their longest losing streak of the season. They also lost six in a row between June 12 and June 18, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
They try again on Sunday. Bailey Ober gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 62-80. They are winless in September.
–Ryan’s line: five runs allowed on four hits, including a home run, across two innings with four walks and two strikeouts. Definitely not a typical Ryan performance.
–The Chicago White Sox winning streak came to an end Saturday after they were blanked 6-0 by the Tigers and pitcher Tarik Skubal. Skubal improved to 13-4 with a 2.10 ERA after he allowed just two hits across seven innings with one walk and six whiffs.
–And the San Diego Padres snapped their losing streak with a 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies before 43,000 fans (!) at Coors Field. Ex-Twin Luis Arraez drove in two runs with a 3-for-6 day at the plate. That dude is going to get his hits sooner or later. The Rocks are 40-102.
–Say what you will about the West Sacramento A’s (or whatever you want to call them), but they find a way to regularly produce run-scoring talent. On Saturday, they banged out 21 hits in a 17-4 take down of the Los Angeles Angels. They cranked out eight extra-base hits, including four home runs. They scored seven runs in the first two innings, two more in the middle of the game and tacked on eight more before it was all said and done.
–Here are the two worst teams by win-loss record in the American League: your Minnesota Twins and the South Siders. Go ahead, look it up.