Plouffe, Pavano Help Twins Avoid 100 Losses With Win Over Royals

The 1982 Minnesota Twins won't be getting any company this season.

This year's installment of the Twins managed to avoid the dubious distinction of being the second team in franchise history to lose 100 games, thanks to a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night at Target Field. The win was the second in a row for Minnesota, marking the first time the team has won consecutive games since August 31 and September 2.

The game marked the final time that John Gordon would sit in the play-by-play chair for the Minnesota Twins, having spent the last 25 years with the club. Gordon had announced prior to the beginning of the season that he was cutting back his schedule, and that this would be his final season with the team. He was honored by the team with a ceremony prior to the game.

All of the offense that took place in this game, at least as far as runs scored, came in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kansas City starter Bruce Chen. . .who earlier in the day had been rumored to be on his way to Boston to start in a possible one-game playoff for the Red Sox. . .pitched eight scoreless innings for the Royals, but was lifted for reliever Blake Wood. Wood got Joe Benson to ground out for the first out of the inning, but then allowed a double to pinch-hitter Denard Span. Ben Revere grounded out to shortstop, allowing Span to advance to third, and Trevor Plouffe laced a single to left with one out to bring Span home with the game's only run.

Pavano pitched a brilliant game for the Twins in the season finale, allowing just five hits in throwing a complete game shutout for Minnesota. It looked like he was in a bit of trouble in the top of the eighth when Mike Moustakas led off the inning with a triple, but Pavano induced two ground balls back to the mound to keep Moustakas at third, and got Alcides Escobar to ground out to third to end the threat.

The victory leaves the Twins with a 2011 record of 63 wins and 99 losses, a disappointing season to be certain, and the Twins are going to have a lot of questions to answer this off-season as they look toward 2012. Fortunately, players like Chris Parmelee, Joe Benson, and Liam Hendriks got some valuable time in the lineup and on the mound at the end of this season to get them better prepared to make a contribution in 2012.

That's it for the 2011 Minnesota Twins' season, ladies and gentlemen, but we'll continue to cover the Twins for you all off-season, as will our good friends from Twinkie Town. We hope you'll keep coming back for all the best news, notes, and information on Minnesota's favorite baseball team.

John Gordon To Call Final Game For Minnesota Twins Tonight

Tosoni's Blast Gives Twins 7-4 Win Over Royals

The Minnesota Twins gave their fans at Target Field on Tuesday night at least one good memory from the last month of this season, as they powered their way past the Kansas City Royals by a score of 7-4.

After the Royals got an RBI single from Lorenzo Cain in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead, Chris Parmelee answered by leading off the bottom half of the inning with his fourth home run of the year to tie the game at one. In the bottom of the fifth, Denard Span's triple with two outs plated Matt Tolbert to make the score 2-1 in favor of Minnesota. Ben Revere followed that up with another triple to bring home Span and make the score 3-1, but Revere was thrown out at the plate attempting to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run.

The Royals scratched out another run to make the score 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning, but in the bottom of the sixth, the Twins really made their mark on this one. Danny Valencia, Parmelee, and Trevor Plouffe started the inning with three consecutive singles off of Royals' starter Sean O'Sullivan to load the bases with nobody out. O'Sullivan was then lifted for reliever Vin Mazzaro to face former French Resistance Fighter Rene Tosoni (™ Twinkie Town). Tosoni took Mazzaro's first pitch and turned it around for a grand slam to right field, making the score 7-2 in favor of the Twins.

Kansas City managed a couple of runs in the top of the ninth off of Joe Nathan, but got no closer than 7-4 as the Twins took home the victory.

The Twins will attempt to avoid becoming the second team in Minnesota history to lose 100 games when they play their 2011 season finale against the Royals on Wednesday night at Target Field. The first pitch for that one is again scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time, and the starting pitchers will be left-hander Bruce Chen (12-8, 3.98 ERA) for Kansas City and righty Carl Pavano (8-13, 4.48 ERA) for the Twins.

Slowey Loses Again As Twins Fall To Royals

Kevin Slowey lost his eighth consecutive start on Monday night, as the Minnesota Twins fell to the Kansas City Royals at Target Field by a score of 7-3.

It looked like Slowey might actually get out of his rut, as the Twins led 3-1 going into the top of the sixth inning of Monday night's game, but then things fell apart for the Minnesota right-hander. Slowey gave up three runs to Kansas City in the top of the inning, and was credited with another one after being lifted for Jim Hoey as the Twins fell behind for good. The score was 5-3 after six, and Kansas City added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to provide the final margin of victory.

The loss was number 99 on the year for Minnesota, which means that the Twins will have to win their final two games of the year to avoid just the second 100-loss season since the team moved to Minnesota in 1961. They've already clinched the second-worst record in the Minnesota era of the franchise.

Tuesday night's game at Target Field is scheduled to get underway at 7:10 PM Central time. The Twins will send right-hander Anthony Swarzak (3-7, 4.42 ERA) to the mound, while the Royals will counter with Sean O'Sullivan (2-5, 6.92 ERA).

Twins Host Royals To Finish 2011 Season

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