Should have gotten to this on the off day. Please refer to the box score along with this reply. "Hold for just one inning" - that is what these guys get paid for. In this game, however, we had a 2-run lead to protect over 4 innings. Any opponent can overcome such a deficit in that span. Shoemaker should have been pulled before giving up that dong. Instead, he left the game after 5 innings with the score 4 - 6. At that point, the Twins still have to be thinking about piling on runs in support of the pitching and defense. They did not. If the Mariners could score 4 runs in 4 innings, the Twins ought to be able to do so, as well. The fact is that the Twins got no production from the bottom half of their batting order. Batters 1 - 4 totaled 7 H in 15 AB with 3 BBBatter 5 managed to go 1/4Batters 6 - 9? O-fer 15 with a walkHard to win a game with half a squad. Add to that a RISP of 2-10 and 8 LOB and you have a real problem. The Twins have shown an ability to score early, but as others have remarked their situational hitting needs work and their ability to manufacture runs has been spotty. Today's 4-2 loss to the Scarlet Hose (0-8 RISP, 10 LOB!) reinforces the point. This offense is dangerous, but it won't be truly scary until it becomes more consistent.