Duenslinger Gunned Down, Twins Lose 8-2

Brian Duensing struck out seven Tigers on Friday night. There, I've given you about the only good Twins statistic of the night, as Minnesota took another beating from Detroit by a score of 8-2. The Twins have now lost 11 in a row to the other Motor City Kitties, and trail them by seven games in the AL Central. Their 0-7 record this year versus the Tigers has a little to do with that.

Duensing's non-strikeout ABs were troublesome all night, as he was throwing multiple pitches right down the heart of the plate, and the Tigers were hitting them with a fierceness. Ryan Raburn and Jhonny Peralta delivered solo home runs in the first and second to give the Tigers an early lead. With the score 2-1, Peralta continued pounding Duensing, knocking in two more runs on a third-inning single and contributing an RBi double in the fifth. Duensing's final numbers: 4 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 9 hits. But hey, 7 Ks!

Max Scherzer overcame his previous bad outings against the Twins and his sketchy 2011 road record, allowing just one run and four hits in seven innings of work.

After the game, the Twins activated Scott Baker for Saturday's start. Luke Hughes was sent down, giving the Twins 13 pitchers at this time. Have to figure that this is because that they don't know what they'll be getting from Baker tomorrow.

Making a move on Detroit/Cleveland in this homestand has now given way to just keeping pace. Disappointing, but not doomed. A return to form from Baker on Saturday would be most welcome.

Studs: Peralta, Scherzer

Duds: pretty much the whole home team. Two stinkers in a row. Three would turn this from a minor setback to a potential disaster.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody.