A Couple Outs Short: Twins Lose 5-4

It’s been a week now since the Twins have had a starting pitcher finish the sixth inning. And even with an off day on Monday, the bullpen has been stretched thin by a series of short starts, close games, an extra inning affair and an especially short start on Tuesday by Ervin Santana. With Glen Perkins still fighting a back problem and Kevin Jepsen having thrown in each of the last five games, there weren’t a lot of reliable options tonight.

I expect manager Paul Molitor was hoping for six strong innings from Tommy Milone, which would allow him to use the three good arms available over those last three innings: Neil Cotts, Casey Fien and Trevor May. That didn’t happen, but trying to make it happen was when things got ugly.

(There were a few less enticing options. Blaine Boyer - who pitched - could throw a few pitches. Same with Brian Duensing. And Ryan O'Rourke was available if absolutely necessary. Here is the number of pitches the relievers have thrown over the last week.)

The Twins had a 4-2 lead at the game’s midpoint. Milone was pretty hittable in the bottom half of the fifth, giving up three hits to six batters. However he should get credit for giving up just one run, and maybe extra credit for getting Evan Longoria to ground out to end the threat.

But the bottom half of the sixth started the same way as the fifth – with a double off of the southpaw Milone. He stayed in for two more batters, both of whom faced him as right-handed hitters, and he gave up the tying run on a one-out hit by Joey Butler.

That hit scored two batters later because of two defensive miscues. First, Eduardo Escobar threw to home when he really had no chance to get that tying run, which allowed Butler to stretch his single to second base. Then, after advancing on a groundout, he scored when catcher Kurt Suzuki allowed a Neil Cotts curveball to trickle between his legs.

It’s a shame because, in the end, the bullpen got all the outs they needed to get at the end of the game. It was the threat of not having coverage that likely led to Molitor trying to stretch Milone a little longer than he should have.

Alternately, the Rays won because they were more aggressive with their bullpen. Starter Drew Smyly was pulled after 4.2 innings. Brandon Gomes got four outs against the bottom of the Twins lineup, and then Alex Colome threw two innings before turning it over to closer Brad Boxberger. The Twins managed just one hit in 4.1 innings off that trio.

In short, the Rays gave the Twins a dose of Minnesota’s own potent cocktail tonight: a great bullpen, a couple of timely hits and taking advantage of a defensive miscue or two. It’s the same recipe the Twins have used to turn a 0-3 road trip into a 6-4 road trip. That doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Twins Takes

It’s likely time to start debating who is going to lose time in the outfield when Aaron Hicks returns next week. Tonight, both Torii Hunter and Byron Buxton stated their case for finding some bench time.

Hunter was 0-4 and hit into a double play in the fifth inning. It not only ended a threat to extend the lead, but ended the last threat the Twins would have.

Buxton, meanwhile, struck out four times and was actually pinch-hit for in the ninth inning by backup catcher Chris Herrmann. And I can’t blame Molitor for the move. This wasn’t a case of a rookie getting fooled by veteran guile. He was flat out missing fastballs right through the strike zone. I thought back to the last time he struck out four times, when we found out the next day he had been playing with a strained thumb and was put on the DL. I won’t be shocked if, at the very least, he has a day of rest on Friday, which would mean seeing Shane Robinson three days in a row.

Buxton, by the way, since his recall, is still hitting .264, but has a 12:1 K:BB ratio. His defense continues to be outstanding in center field.

The bottom of the Twins lineup had another great night. Escobar hit his third home run in two games. Suzuki just missed a home run and still went 2-4. He’s hitting .392 on this road trip. And even Robinson contributed a hit and also “drove in” the Twins fourth run on an error by Asdrubal Cabrera that was likely influenced by Robinson’s speed.