Mariners 12, Twins 3: Gimenez rides again

Any time you look at the box score and see that catcher Chris Gimenez made it to the mound, you can presume one of two things -- that either the ballgame went deep into extra innings, or the Twins were having pitching struggles. In the case of Tuesday night's opener in Seattle, it was, unfortunately, the latter.

Hector Santiago got out to a rough start, allowing the first two batters to reach before serving up Robinson Cano's 11th homer of the year. Any hopes of Santiago bouncing back and pitching deep into the ballgame were dashed in the third inning, when back-to-back walks were plated by a Kyle Seager double and a Taylor Motter sacrifice fly. A 5-0 deficit forced Paul Molitor's hand, and Santiago was pulled, marking the second time this year that he's failed to make it out of the third inning (May 14th at Cleveland.)

The Mariner offense was increasingly relentless against mop-up arm Randy Rosario, who gave up five earned runs and recorded just one out in a disheartening fourth inning, after which Seattle led by ten runs. The rest of the bullpen was adequate, including the aforementioned Gimenez (who might have pitched the best inning of the night.)

The Twins didn't find much in the way of run-scoring tonight, but did see Brian Dozier hit his ninth home run. The Twins fall to 29-25, but remain a game above the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central -- so in the end, everything's all right anyhow.

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Notes: Despite losing by nine runs, the Twins had eleven hits to Seattle's twelve. The difference? Minnesota went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position -- Seattle was 7-for-12.

Eduardo Escobar made his first career appearance behind the plate in the eighth inning. He's now played at least one out at every position (including pitcher) except for first base. After the game, Paul Molitor said, "We had to go through a couple chest protectors to find one that didn't make it look a little silly."

Studs:

Brian Dozier (1-for-4, HR, BB)

Chris Gimenez (1.0 IP, 0 R)

Duds:

Hector Santiago (2.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 BB)

Randy Rosario (0.1 IP, 5 ER)

Comment of the Gamethread: James Fillmore on the conversion rate of Randy Rosario's ERA

Robot Roll Call: