Losing a heartbreaker at least means it was close. That's a step in the right direction.
The Minnesota Twins fell 5-4 Monday night to the Cleveland Indians. The Twins scored three runs in the eighth to knot the game at four, but it wasn't meant to be as Shin-Soo Choo knocked home the winning run in the top of the ninth.
The excitement was a welcome respite from a spell of blowouts: Six of Minnesota's nine losses this month have come by four runs or more.
The Twins will send Jason Marquis to the hill Tuesday. Marquis, 2-2, lugs a 6.26 ERA into the game, having given up 19 earned runs through five starts. Last time out he pitched 4.0 innings and surrendered seven hits, three walks and five earned runs.
Marquis will go up against Derek Lowe, who has been pitching like an ace all season. Lowe has a 2.47 ERA and is 5-1. He hasn't lost since April 18 and have given up just five earned runs in his last four starts.
The last-place Twins are now a season-high 4.5 games back of the second-to-last-place Kansas City Royals in the AL Central.
First pitch Tuesday is slated for 12:10 Central.
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