It got late early.

I knew I'd have to miss the first few innings of this game, but I figured, no problem.  I'll still see most of it.  Well, yes and no.  I saw most of the game, yes, but the game was decided during the part I didn't see.  Kyle Gibson gave up six runs in 2.2 innings.  The Twins got quite a few hits off Cody Anderson, but only one run.  They did manage to make the final score look better near the end, but never really threatened to get back into the game.

There's not really much more to say about the game, other than to note that Molitor used six relief pitchers to pitch 6.1 innings.  None of them was Perkins or Jepsen, of course, but most of the rest of the available relievers were used.  When that happens, you'll often hear announcers say something like, "Molitor was forced to use most of his bullpen in this game", which is a pet peeve of mine.  He wasn't "forced" to use most of his available relievers.  He chose to do it that way.  I'm not saying it was the wrong choice, just that it was a choice.  J. R. Graham used to be considered a long reliever--he didn't have to go just one inning.  Blaine Boyer or Neal Cotts could've pitched to more than two batters.  Again, I'm not saying what Molitor did was wrong.  I'm just saying that he wasn't "forced" to use six relievers.  Gibson's short start made his job harder, but there were still other ways he could've played it.  He chose to do it the way he did.

The loss dropped the Twins back into a tie with the Angels, 1.5 games behind Houston.  They now hit the road, going to Detroit for three games.  The Twins will go with Mike Pelfrey, who's been up and down all year but hasn't gone more than six innings in a start in over a month.  He's due, right?  The Tigers will go with Matt Boyd, who frankly has not been very good so far, although he did pitch well in his last start against Kansas City.  Only ten games left!  Time to start that season-ending ten-game winning streak!  We'll just have to settle for 88-74!