It was Day Two of the Toronto Home Run Derby, while the Twins managed only a single hit in the sixth inning. Yes, you read that right. One hit. One…measly…hit. Here’s the game recap from Twinkie Town. Be sure to visit to get the full rundown.
It only took about 21 hours for the eternal optimism of spring training to dissolve into an ugly marriage of bad starting pitching and anemic offense for the Twins, who now find themselves at 0-2 after consecutive lousy performances to kick off 2011. Today’s loss came at the hands of Toronto’s Kyle Drabek, who handcuffed the Twins en route to a 6-1 victory.
Drabek and the Toronto bullpen surrendered one run and allowed one hit to a Twins offense that couldn’t do anything. Denard Span’s 6th-inning single accounted for the only hit of the game, while the Twins manufactured their only run on a walk, a stolen base, and two productive outs (somewhere, Whitey Herzog just trembled with excitement) in the third. Drabek went seven innings, striking out seven and walking three.
Meanwhile, Francisco Liriano was, as a local manager might say, “fighting it” all day, walking five, giving up four earned runs and allowing solo home runs to Jose Molina and Jayson Nix. He finished the day with 90 pitches and in just 4.1 innings, and if eye tests mean anything, which they don’t, just didn’t look comfortable at all. Kevin Slowey made his second appearance in as many games and let both his inherited runners score, throwing in one of his own for good measure on a double by Travis Snider’s disturbing mustache.
There’s another game tomorrow. Let’s focus on that.
I know we’re only two games into a 162-game season, but the Twins couldn’t have looked much worse out of the gate. Let’s hope the bats wake up tomorrow to give Nick Blackburn some support and avoid the sweep.