The Minnesota Twins are feeling it. An eighth loss in a row, this time to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 15-8, can’t be good for team morale.
“The losing streak is heavy for a lot of us,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune. “It’s tough when you give up 15 [and] lose by a touchdown.”
Minnesota was facing an old friend, Francisco Liriano, and beat him up pretty good, connecting for two hits and four runs (three earned runs) and chased him after 5.0 innings.
“I was a little bit wild today,” Liriano told the Associated Press through a translator. “Thank God that the offense hit the ball well today.”
The Twins pitchers didn’t fare much better. Starter Pat Dean gave up eight hits and six earned runs in 3.0 innings.
“We threw [Dean] out there in a tough environment,” Molitor told the Star Tribune. “He was around the plate, but he threw a lot of pitches which were just missing, causing him to come in there a little bit. The two home runs in the second [inning], both on three-ball counts — he had to throw strikes and they didn’t miss them.”
Canadian Andrew Albers threw 2.1 innings in front of his hometown crowd and only gave up one earned run. “Watching those ’90s [championship] teams, back when it was SkyDome,” he told the Star Tribune, “you always dream of pitching here one day.”
But the greatest silver lining, perhaps, was that 2010 first-round pick Alex Wimmers, who has had a slew of injury issues since being drafted out of Ohio State, threw a scoreless inning in his major league debut.
“It’s awesome, a great experience,” Wimmers told the Star Tribune, his eyes welling up as his teammates congratulated him. “I’ve been around these guys for a while. I’m just very fortunate that they all have my back and support me.”
[Star Tribune, Associated Press]
