If you glanced at the score and saw that it was 12 to 3 and you saw an ‘L’ next to Griffin Jax’s name, you probably assumed that the poor rookie was shelled. While wasn’t exactly sharp once he reached the second time through the lineup, Jax was far from the Twins’ biggest issue on this night. He was just one of several.

Jax faced only one batter above minimum through the first three innings. A pair of doubles plated the first run of the game for Cleveland in the fourth. In the fifth, a throwing error by Miguel Sano on a potential double-play preceded a three-run bomb from Oscar Mercado. Cleveland scored another run in the inning, chasing Jax from the game.

The Twins had significant challenges on the other side of the ball, mustering just a single hit over the first six innings of the game against Cleveland starter Paul Quantrill.

In fact, the Twins only managed three hits all night, and two of them came from Sano, who clubbed a double and a three-run homer in a game that was 10-0 at the time.

The Minnesota bullpen did the thing that it’s started to do again lately, which is giving up a ton of runs in a short amount of time. Jovani Moran appeared in just his second-career MLB game and was shelled, giving up four earned runs in 1 ²⁄₃ innings. Andrew Albers did his part as well, gave up three earned runs in 2 ²⁄₃ innings.

There isn’t much else to say about this one, as the Twins didn’t appear too interested to put up a fight and they struggled mightily in all three facets of the game.

Notes

• Twins not named Miguel Sano combined to go 1-for-26 with five strikeouts and three walks.
• Five of the nine batters in the Twins’ lineup finished the games with an OPS of .732 or below. Not great.
• Guys, I dunno. That’s all there is to say about this one.

Studs

• Miguel Sano: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI

Duds

• Frankly, everyone. That includes Sano, who also made a costly error.

Roll Call