Cleveland 9, Minnesota 8: Mauer's Big Day at the Plate Ruined by Shaky Bullpen

Hey, remember that time during today's game (up until the 8th inning, actually) when the Twins were winning the game against the Cleveland Indians? Equal parts solid pitching on behalf of rookie Kyle Gibson and the offensive prowess of excellent-baseball-playing-and-sideburn-having catcher Joseph P. Mauer gave the Twins a great chance to win the game, but the rare appearance of a shaky bullpen nixed any chance the Twins really had of winning today.

For his part, Gibson pitched well enough to keep the Twins in the lead and the Indians quiet. He went 5.1 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. He did walk 2 batters and gave up 6 hits, but he also struck out 3. The best news about Gibson's start was the number of home runs allowed: 0. Coming into today's game, he'd had a major problem with them, but managed to keep the Indians relatively quiet. Carlos Carrasco, the Indians' right-hander, had another rough start, lasting just 4.1 innings and allowing 4 earned runs on 10 hits (no walks, though, and 4 Ks). The Twins offense was really just having a pretty good day.

We'll talk briefly about Joe Mauer's day at the plate: 5-for-7, HR, 4 RBI, 2 runs scored. The man plays baseball well. Clete Thomas was the only other player to come close ("close") to Mauer's production at the plate. Thomas was 3-for-6 with 2 runs scored as well.

Most games, those 8 runs would secure the Twins a win, but with the bullpen performances of Casey Fien, Glen Perkins, and Ryan Pressly, a win would not come. Fien gave up 4 earned runs in his 8th inning appearance, Perk gave up a homer to Carlos Santana in the 10th (though he also struck out 3), and Pressly gave up the game-losing run in the 12th inning. A rough day for a bullpen that's usually been solid (as they've had to be with this starting pitching staff, but that's another story), and the Twins drop the game and series to the Cleveland Indians.

Roll Call

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	WestRiverTwinsFan	85
2	jere.johnson.37	67
3	myjah	49
4	less cowbell, more 'neau	35
5	twinsgirl197	17
6	ColossusOfRhode	12
7	kenzertz	10
8	Sportsavenue	7
9	2wins87	7
10	Flip27	6

Win Expectancy...the painful version
<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-08-14&team=Twins&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-08-14&team=Twins&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>

Coming Up...
The Twins start a 4-game series with the White Sox at home at Target Field tomorrow. Game time is 7:10 pm, and features Mike Pelfrey throwing for Minnesota and Andre Rienzo (huh?) for Chicago. Make sure to stop by Twinkie Town for all your game-time needs!