The Twins ran all over the Los Angeles Angels 12-3 on Monday and then fell to earth hard on Tuesday as the Halos pulled off the same trick and clobbered Minnesota 12-2.
Everything that went right in Monday’s win — plenty of quality pitching and offense — completely disappeared a day later as the Twins eked out two runs on six hits. The pitching also went south.
Starter Zebby Matthews allowed five runs across four-plus innings and then the Twins’ much-maligned bullpen, which actually pitched four scoreless innings on Monday, served up seven runs to cap the blowout. Pierson Ohl was responsible for four of those runs, followed by Thomas Hatch, who allowed three more in an inning of work.
The Twins will try again on Wednesday. Taj Bradley gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 64-81.
–The Twins have had only one month of winning baseball. It happened in May when they went 18-8. They could still turn things around in September, I suppose.
–Zebby’s line: five runs allowed on seven hits across four-plus innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Not his best effort.
–The highlight of Tuesday’s loss, if one can say that, was position player Ryan Fitzgerald’s second appearance as a pitcher in the eighth inning, and again he tossed a scoreless frame. Not only that, but he also homered to score the Twins’ only runs in the game.
–The other highlight was the play of Austin Martin. Martin has quietly put together a very solid season at the plate. He had two more hits on Tuesday, scored a run and is now hitting .302. Over the last 15 games, he is hitting .381, according to MLB.com.
–In Monday’s win, Royce Lewis smashed two home runs and drove in four more while starter Simeon Woods Richardson improved to 6-4 with a 4.58 ERA.
–Ex-Twin Chris Paddack, a former starting pitcher for the Twins who was traded to Detroit around the trade deadline, is now pitching out of the bullpen for the Tigers. On Tuesday, he tossed three scoreless innings and struck out four in relief of starter Casey Mize. The Tigers crushed the Yankees 12-2. Sound familiar?