Brewers Trip Twins 5-3; A Maldonado By Any Other Name is Not as Sweet

Francisco Liriano had a no-hitter through five innings. Trevor Plouffe continued his ridiculous tear, belting two more home runs. Brian Dozier seems to be exiting his slump and had a very nice play in the field. Aaaaaaaand the Twins lost anyway.

With the game knotted at 3-3, a runner at second, two outs, and a count of 1-2, Matt Capps left a nice, flat pitch out over the plate for Martin (Not Candy) Maldonado, who drilled it into the bullpens, giving Milwaukee a 5-3 lead they would not relinquish.

The game started as a pitcher's duel, with both Liriano and Yovani Gallardo pitching four scoreless innings to start the contest. In the 5th, Plouffe opened the scoring with a solo home run. They extended the lead to 2-0 and had the bases loaded, but Josh Willingham flew out to end the threat.

After that, Liriano, who did not have no-hit stuff despite the Brewers' lack of same, really started to scuffle, walking two before facing Ryan Braun with one out in the sixth. Braun got Milwaukee's first hit and first three runs with a home run to center. Sigh.

The hottest hitter in baseball responded for the Twins with his second home run of the game, which found the second deck in left. How ridiculous has Plouffe been? This ridiculous: 5 HRs in 4 days, 7 HRs in 7 days, and 10 HRs in 14 days. All from a guy who could have been DFA'd one month ago without a second thought.

Again, though: not enough. Disappointing. Felt like a game the Twins had in their back pocket all along, until they didn't.

Studs: Plouffe, Dozier (a multi-hit game!), Alexi Casilla, who also had an exquisite defensive play at 2nd, and the set-up tandem of Deunsing and Burton held the line.

Duds: Capps.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody.