Another game, another short start, another couple of hurt dudes for the Minnesota Twins. Kevin Slowey lasted just four innings, giving up five runs thanks to a cocktail of pitches out over the plate and shaky fielding; meanwhile, Joe Mauer is probably done for the year with a case of pneumonia, Tsuyoshi Nishioka is done with an oblique strain, and Jason Kubel left the game with a sore foot. (Danny Valencia was also a late scratch with the flu, but hey, Francisco Liriano was activated!)
Thanks to a couple Cleveland errors, the Twins offense wasn't quite as futile as it's been. A drop by Grady Sizemore on a Rene Tosoni liner allowed the first two Twins runs to score, and a throwing error by Tony Sipp on a throw to first led to Minnesota's fourth run of the game. They even made it interesting in the ninth; trailing 7-4, they stung a few balls off Cleveland closer Chris Perez and narrowed the gap to 7-6 before Perez struck Tosoni out to end it. That's a 6-game losing streak for Minnesota, and 11 of 12 overall.
Studs: Joe Benson (a single, two doubles, a triple and a mullet; I believe this is the Kelly Gruber Cycle); Jim Thome with his 603rd home run, this one off of Joe Nathan; and what the hell, Kyle Waldrop (should've had two solid innings of relief, but another wild Plouffe throw on a routine double play extended the inning and led to Phil Dumatrait and Cleveland's sixth run).
Duds: Slowey, Plouffe, Ben Revere doing god knows what in the outfield besides letting Thome score on him, whoever cleans and disinfects the Twins clubhouse.