The Minnesota Twins gave an all new meaning to "Minnesota nice" on Monday night at Target Field. The gracious hosts tied a team record for hits allowed in their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the Dodgers put up 24 hits on their way to plastering the Twins by a score of 15-0.
The 24 hits allowed by Twins pitching on Monday night was the most that they've allowed since allowing 24 hits to the Seattle Mariners in an 18-8 Twins loss back on June 11, 1996. Three different Dodgers. . .Tony Gwynn, Jr., Matt Kemp, and Tyler Oeltjen. . .collected four hits, and every Dodger starter drove in at least one run on the evening.
The victim of the majority of the whooping was starter Nick Blackburn (6-6, 3.64 ERA), who lasted 4.1 innings, giving up twelve hits and eight runs, seven of which were earned. Anthony Swarzak, Phil Dumatrait, and Jose Mijares pitched 3.2 combined innings of relief, and allowed seven additional runs on ten hits. Matt Capps didn't allow any further Dodger runs, but still allowed two hits in his inning of work. Capps' ninth inning of work was the second inning of the game that didn't see the Dodgers score at least one run.
Chad Billingsley (7-6, 4.22 ERA) was the beneficiary of the Dodgers' offensive output for the evening. Billingsley worked six innings, allowing four hits and no runs. Blake Hawksworth, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Scott Elbert combined for three perfect innings of relief after Billingsley had been removed.
The same two teams will get together on Tuesday night at Target Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time. The Dodgers will go with left-hander Ted Lilly (5-7, 4.63 ERA), while the Twins will hope that left-hander Brian Duensing (4-7, 4.54 ERA) can stop the bleeding and end this most recent losing streak.