The Minnesota Twins lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday afternoon, completing a series sweep for the away team. In even worse news, the Twins lost Francisco Liriano due to injury as well.
Liriano, Minnesota's starting pitcher, left the game after just two innings due to a shoulder strain. Reports are now indicating that he'll be placed on the 15-day disabled list with Rochester's Scott Diamond taking his place in the rotation.
As for the loss that counted in the standings, which now have the Twins at a disappointing 55 wins and 75 losses, the Orioles were able to score six runs in comparison to Minnesota's one. The lone Minnesota run came when Trevor Plouffe crossed the plate in the third inning thanks to an RBI double from Justin Morneau, his 29th of the season. Unfortunately, as the final score indicates, that wasn't nearly enough.
A ragtag relief performance made up of Alex Burnett, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Capps and Jose Mijares didn't prove to be terrible, but Swarzak -- originally scheduled to start Friday -- gave up five runs over 3.1 innings to seal the Twins' fate.
The Twins have now lost 17 of their last 22 gmaes, including five straight, so the rest of the season might not be pretty ... especially with the loss of Liriano.