So much for following up last week's no hitter. Francisco Liriano's start was already pushed back a couple days due to illness. After last night's outing, perhaps he should have been pushed back a few more days as Liriano was pulled after three innings down 4-0, sick and having trouble catching his breath on the mound. Things wouldn't get any better for the Twins, as Brian Duensing relieved Liriano on short rest due to Saturday's rain delay in which he only pitched two innings. Duensing lasted only two innings giving up four walks, and by the time he was pulled the Twins were down 6-0. To be fair, Duensing suffered through a one hour rain delay between the fourth and fifth innings. Fitting for the Twins, who are now ten games below .500 and a full 11 games behind the division leading Cleveland Indians, the delay included golf ball sized hail, which I'm sure must have been fun for anyone at the game. But it's not so much the 10-2 final score that concerns me about last night's game, although we certainly cannot be happy about another blowout. It's the nine walks allowed by Twins pitchers, 3 by Liriano, 4 by Duensing and 2 by Alex Burnett. This is simply not what we're used to seeing as Twins fans. And it has nothing to do with injuries on the offensive side of the team.
On a good note, congratulations to Rene Tosoni for his first major league home run last night! He gets the only stud, as he scored the Twins only two runs in the ball game. Otherwise, it was more of the same, as the Twins managed only five hits on the night. The middle of the order did nothing, as Justin Morneau posted another 0-4 (he's now batting .204), Danny Valencia was 0-3 with a walk, and Michael Cuddyer was 0-4. Wouldn't have mattered, giving up 10 runs.