The Twins pitching staff put seven zeroes on the board, but one outlandishly crooked number in the fourth inning was all it took for Chicago to extend Minnesota's losing streak to six games. Francisco Liriano had himself yet another disaster on the South Side, giving up seven runs in the fourth to blow the Twins' puny 2-0 lead.
Paul Konerko tied the game with a two-run homer in that inning, before Jermaine Dye ripped a bases-loaded fastball approximately 940 feet to left for a grand slam.
The loss drops Liriano to 2-5 on the season; the seven runs help bloat his ERA to 6.04, and you have to wonder if it's time to accept that the glorious 2006 edition of Liriano - you remember, the guy with the 2.16 ERA, the guy that struck out more than a hitter per inning? - is pretty much dead and buried.
The Twins are now five and a half games out of first, behind a Detroit team that they just swept last week. Yes, it's early yet, but being five games under .500 as Memorial Day approaches is not the way to set up a challenge for the division title.
"We're not OK with what's going on," said Michael Cuddyer (to the Pioneer Press).
Neither are we, Michael. Neither are we.
(Ed. Note: Sorry about the lateness of this recap; the series of tubes went down in England.)