Good riddance to the Brew Crew.
The Twins got a lead to their best relievers after six innings, but the Brewers once again took it to the Twins' bullpen to win the season series 4-2. Three of the losses to the Brewers were given to Twins relievers.
Today, the main goat for the Twins was Casey Fien, who has been very good all season when he's been healthy. After Blaine Boyer allowed a two-out run-scoring single in the seventh inning of a 1-0 game, Fien gave up a pair of two-run homers to Ryan Braun and Adam Lind. Fien did not retire a batter. While it was certainly a bad outing for Fien, it was also a rare one for Fien, who had been just about as good as Glen Perkins this year, according to FIP. Prior to this game, Fien had only allowed 1 HR and 6 runs all season. Since coming off the DL on May 29, Fien had allowed only 1 run in 12 1/3 innings with an 11/1 K/BB ratio.
The bullpen woes led to a great outing by Tommy Milone being wasted. He dominated for 6 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts and just 2 hits and 3 walks allowed. His outing could have been longer if not for Hernan Perez singling after a 10-pitch at-bat with two outs in the second inning. A walk to the No. 8 batter followed before the inning ended with the pitcher flying out to right field. No runs scored that inning, but that forced Milone to throw about twice as many pitches in that inning as he did in the other five innings. It might not have made a difference since Milone's spot in the order came up with two runners in scoring position and two outs in a one-run game in the top of the seventh, so manager Paul Molitor might have pinch hit for Milone regardless, but with Milone at 99 pitches instead of about 85, I'm sure he didn't even entertain the thought of leaving Milone in the game.
The move worked out poorly as Eduardo Nunez got out to end the inning and then Boyer, Milone's pitching replacement, couldn't hold the lead.
The Twins did make some noise in the 9th with Torii Hunter hitting a two-run home run, his third long ball in two games, with no outs and pinch hitter Shane Robinson reaching on an error with two outs to extend the game. That brought up Danny Santana as the tying run. Kennys Vargas was still on the bench and could have pinch hit for Santana. It would have meant Robinson taking over in left field, Escobar at short and the next reliever replacing Vargas. However, Molitor chose to stick with Santana, who managed to flair a single to left field with two strikes. That brought the Twins' best hitter, Brian Dozier, to the plate as the go-ahead run. However, Dozier inexplicable took a fastball down the middle at the knees for strike three to end the game.