Kyle Gibson took the loss, going 5 innings while giving up 4 runs (3 earned - more on that in a minute) on 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out none. Even so, the performance saw him lower his ERA to 5.97 and his WHIP to 1.96...trending the right direction after a horrible start in Detroit on the 9th and a better start against Kansas City last week.
The Twins' offense managed 5 hits and 1 run off of Edinson Volquez, scoring after getting the first two men on to lead off the 2nd inning. A ground ball out and subsequent double play later and the threat was over. In 7 innings, Volquez struck out 5 and walked 1, Brian Dozier, who scored the only Twins run when Hosmer's force attempt went high and wide of second base.
KEY INNING
"Arcia's defense in LF makes me yearn for _elmon Young patrolling that area. wooooof"
-davidwatts
Tied 1-1 in the 6th, the aforementioned error by Arcia in left resulted in Moustakas reaching to lead off the home half of the inning. Gibson proceeded to walk Hosmer; Kendrys Morales slapped a double down the third base line, scoring Moustakas, and Moliter went to the pen. On his 2nd pitch, Blaine Boyer skipped the throw past Suzuki allowing Hosmer to come home and concluded the Perez at-bat with a sac fly, sending Morales home. Boyer managed to get the next 5 batters out, but the damage was basically done.
Thielbar and Stauffer combined for another 3-run inning (the 8th) and the Twins' 4, 5 and 6 hitters sleep-walked through the top of the 9th to end the game with a whimper.
It's frustrating to see routine plays not made. We know our outfielders aren't going to cover much ground, but it'd be nice if they at least caught the balls they can get to.
That said, the Arcia error (and Schafer and Dozier failing to catch a pop fly) allowed everyone to ignore the weak batting the Twins had. The Twins scored a grand total of one run, and showed no particular signs that they would've scored another one no matter how long the game had gone. The Twins are currently fourteenth in the league in runs and dead last in OBP, slugging, and of course OPS. We knew the pitching wouldn't be very good and the defense would be poor, but most people thought the Twins would score a decent number of runs. They'll doubtless improve, but the offense output has been dreadful so far.
Solid points all...wish they weren't.