One night after stranding big runs on base, the Minnesota Twins stranded ten runners and wasted an incredibly high five Milwaukee wild pitches as they fell to the Brewers 5-3 and took a series loss.
Francisco Liriano took the mound for the Twins, but playing by National League rules, he was pinch hit for when the Twins put together a two-out threat in the top half of the sixth inning. Two Brewer runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning defined Liriano’s night, and he failed to put forth a quality start for the first time since May 20.
After the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, the Twins pulled ahead in the fourth on a two-RBI single by Delmon Young. That would be the extent of the team’s offense however, and despite advancing several runners via five Milwaukee wild pitches, the Twins left seven runners in scoring position with two outs and failed to complete a ninth inning rally.
The loss for Minnesota moves them to 40-31 on the season, and they’ll now be playing tomorrow to avoid being swept by their border battle. It won’t be an easy task though as the Brewers will send their ace, Yovani Gallardo (6-3, 2.59 ERA) to the mound up against the struggling Nick Blackburn (6-4, 5.80 ERA).
While so many things went wrong for the Twins in their second game against the Brewers, one thing did go right for the team: a loss by the Detroit Tigers held their divisional lead at 1.5 games in the American League Central.
Notes: In danger of falling below .300 for the second consecutive night, Joe Mauer finished the game with hits in his final three at-bats to raise his average to .309 for the season…Jason Kubel’s average continues to silently climb, and his 2-3 night has him at .258 for the year…With a 1:10 CT start time tomorrow, catcher Drew Butera will likely be behind the plate for the series finale.