Twins Drop An Ugly One to Pirates

by Jesse on Jun 18, 2009 2:36 AM EDT in Game Recaps

Sometimes, it's just hard to watch.

On Wednesday, Ian Snell finally got himself a win. He did walk three, and he there were times when he struggled to hit his spots, but the Twins' offense had a hard time getting anything going. A big double by Joe Crede in the bottom of the third put both Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel across, and tied the game at two, but that was as good as it got for the bats.

When the game was still in reach, Michael Cuddyer made a massive mistake by getting caught in a run-down between third and home. Francisco Liriano, who struck out six and walked just one over his seven innings, still couldn't avoid one or two fateful pitches. The nail in the coffin was the bullpen, with Sean Henn and Luis Ayala combining to let the Pirates double their runs.

The first six hitters in Minnesota's order combined for all six hits, and six of the seven walks. On the flip side, the seven through nine hitters were 0-for-11 with a walk; Delmon Young stranded five. With the entire offense, they were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

There isn't enough you can say about how disappointing the offense was last night. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, saw every man in their order reach base either via a hit or a walk. There's a lot of talent in Pittsburgh this year, even if it's not all being realized, but it's still tough to lose a game this decisively to one of baseball's most miserable franchises in the last ten years.

Thursday afternoon the Twins get an opportunity to erase last night's performance and pick up a series win. For now I'm more than happy to put this one behind me.

Complete Twins/Pirates coverage from SB Nation.

Stars of the Game
#3: Joe Crede (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .000 WPA)
#2: Joe Mauer (1-for-4, 2B, RBI, R, .064 WPA)
#2: Michael Cuddyer (2-for-2, 2 BB, .157 WPA)

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Comments

Span

This team needs Span back. The middle is still producing, but there aren’t enough guys on base when they come up. Too often back to back hits by the M&M’s are just leaving us with two men on and lesser hitters to knock them in.

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on Jun 18, 2009 2:57 AM EDT reply actions

why can this team

get OVER .500?

by STLVikesFAN on Jun 18, 2009 7:15 AM EDT reply actions

Lineup

It seems like Cuddyer is swinging better now that his finger is in better shape. I wonder why he was not batting higher in the order.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 18, 2009 9:36 AM EDT reply actions

Even before then

I can’t figure out why he’s been consistently hitting behind Crede. I mean, I get that Joe’s the “power bat” who should hit fourth or fifth in your stereotypical lineup, but Cuddyer has as many homers, and he actually gets on base every now and then. Plus, a homer usually indicates a hot streak for Cuddyer, and when he’s hot, he’s a right-handed Morneau.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Jun 19, 2009 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions