After being swept in Milwaukee to begin the week, the slide continued for the Minnesota Twins as they arrived in New York to take on the Mets in a three-game series to close out their nine-game roadtrip. Going up against Mike Pelfrey, the Twins’ chances were expected to be limited, but despite out hitting New York, the Twins made two errors and went 1-7 with runners in scoring position as they lost their fourth straight game, 5-2.
Starter Kevin Slowey handled the first three innings well, but the Mets put three runs on the board in the fourth inning and one in each of the next two innings to end Slowey’s night. With the loss, Slowey is now 7-5 on the season and he has allowed at least five runs in each of his last three starts.
After getting a leadoff homerun from Denard Span on the game’s second pitch, the Twins’ offense trailed off. They scattered seven more hits throughout the final eight innings, but collected just one hit with runners in scoring position. Span and first baseman Justin Morneau accounted for half of Minnesota’s hits.
Thanks to the help of the Atlanta Braves, who beat the Detroit Tigers, the Twins remain in first place. The White Sox won yet another game though, and the Twins now stand in first place by just a half game over Detroit and just 1.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Delmon Young dropped below .300 again with his 0-4 night…With the loss, the Twins are now just 7-9 this year in Interleague action. When the Twins entered this stretch of National League play, they were tied with the New York Yankees for the best Interleague record since it began in 1997…In game two, the Twins will take on former teammate Johan Santana. If he wins, he’ll have beaten all 30 teams in Major League Baseball during his career.