The Twins were shutout for the 7th time this year as the Reds beat the Twins 6-0. It wasnt a fair fight to begin with as the Reds threw out ace Johnny Cueto, while the Twins were trying to get by with a Duensing/Swarzak tandem and pray for some offense. The offense didnt happen as Reds pitchers limited the Twins to 3 hits and a walk.

Duensing wasnt that bad, but ran out of gas in the 4th inning and the meat of the Reds order came up and did all the damage. Brandon Phillips blasted a 2 run HR to straightaway center and Scott Rolen added a RBI double.

The Twins still have a chance to win the series Sunday afternoon, and after that finally get back to playing American League teams.

Notes:
-Joe Mauer's double gives him 15 on the year. He is third on the team in doubles behind Willingham (19) and Span (17)
-Justin Morneau had the day off. He has 11 hits in 53 plate appearances since June 8th, the start of the extended interleague part of the schedule.
-Anthony Swarzak pitched 4 innings of relief. He has now pitched 35.2 innings of relief. Alex burnett lead the team with 36 relief innings.
-Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch for the 10th time this year. The last time a Twins player had 10 or more HBP in a season was Denard Span in 2009 (10). The club record is Chuck Knoblauch's 19 in 1996.
-Matt Capps pitched. He has not been traded for a ham steak yet.

Jay Sherman pretty much sums up the state of the Twins starting pitching

httpv://youtu.be/RiMOKmp0uZc

Yes, they all stink. The Tigers had 16 (!) hits and were walked 3 times. Its a shame because ever since Jason Justin Morneau has returned to the lineup 9 games ago, the Twins have been scoring a lot of runs and hitting the ball with some authority. (6.4 runs per game, 10 HRs, and a slash line of .273/.340/.450/.790) But, are only 5-4 and have slipped to 11 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.

Twins start a string of afternoon games starting today. Carl Pavano is on the mound. hopefully he can go 6 innings.