Twins Fall, 3-1. Ouch.

The Twins could have maybe overcome a quiet offense or a shaky bullpen, but both at the same time?  Nope.

Kansas City took advantage of their superior bullpen and just enough offense to snare a 3-1 victory, effectively ending Minnesota's realistic playoff hopes and putting them into the realm of LiterallyEverythingHasToGoRightTheNextTwoDaysLand.

The Twins opened the scoring with three singles off Chris Davis Young in the second, with Aaron Hicks grabbing the RBI.  The Royals answered immediately, with Jarrod Dyson scoring on an Eric Hosmer grounder off Ervin Santana.

And then, it was a whole lot of nothing.  Young baffled the Twins, not allowing another hit, and only leaving the game after walking Eddie Rosario in the seventh.  Louis Coleman came in and got a quick double play to end the inning.

Ervin Santana continued his September run of excellence into October, effectively shutting down the Royals until the eighth, when Alcides Escobar reached out and dropped a slider into shallow right for a single, ending Ervin's night and potentially his season.  Glen Perkins entered, and Ben Zobrist drilled a double to left-center, scoring Escobar.  Mike Moustakas singled, Torii Hunter booted it, and Zobrist scored on the error to make it 3-1.  (Man, Perkins' second half has been unpleasant.)  Trevor May cleaned up the mess, striking out Kendrys Morales with the bases loaded.

The bottom of the eighth saw the Twins' first hits since the second, singles from ED and Joe Mauer, but a double play and a Miguel Sano strikeout snuffed any threat.

Kevin Jepsen pitched a scoreless, very adventurous ninth, and sure looked like he tweaked something while pitching.  It may not matter, as Wade Davis pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, and Houston appears well on their way to blowing Arizona's doors off, which would put the Twins two back with two games to go.  Shit.

ROBOT ROLL CALL

CHARTS & GRAPHS

Source: FanGraphs

Enjoy your weekend, everybody.