This is one of those games that you just don't need to dwell on. The only positive is there was nothing positive wasted. Nobody pitched well and nobody hit well for the most part.

The Twins lost a series to the team with the worst record in the AL, but they were 1 strike away with no one on base from winning the series yesterday and the A's got an infield hit, a wild pitch and a blooper just over the shortstop to tie the game. So the Twins' inability (bad luck?) in attempting to put away the A's cost them a chance to go for the sweep in this game.

That theme carried over in this game. Watching the first few innings, I really though Tommy Milone had it going. It looked like he was spotting his pitches wherever he wanted to. He had 4 strikeouts in his 2 2/3 innings with no walks, which should be a great formula in Oakland, except it wasn't to be.

With two outs and no one in the second, Milone surprised Danny Santana with a ground ball and his throw on the routine grounder went about 6 feet up the line and Joe Mauer was only able to knock it down and keep the runner at first. The next guy, a backup catcher no one's ever heard of, got out in front on a low offspeed pitch and managed to hook it over the wall for a two-run lead.

The next inning, Milone again got the first two batters out and with two strikes on the batter, hit in the foot with a curveball. Then all h*** broke loose as the next four batters went double, home run, home run single and that was it for Milone and pretty much all she wrote for the Twins, who had little offense in this series, scoring a grand total of 8 runs, four scoring on Trevor Plouffe's grand slam on Friday.

A great way to finish the first half. While technically the final game of the first half of the season was Game 81, most statistics that show first-half and second-half splits are actually referring to pre-All-Star break and post-All-Star break.

Friday's ninth-inning comeback may or may not be a major turning point of the season, but it certainly was in this important four-game series and really for the season series with the Tigers. Going into the bottom of the ninth inning Friday, the Tigers had outscored the Twins 10-3 with the Twins having very few scoring opportunities. Including that ninth inning and the final two games of the series, the Twins outscored the Tigers 23-6. The Tigers had won 8 of the first 10 meetings prior to the Twins winning the last three.

I've been more optimistic than most (hard to believe, right?) about the Twins' surprising play in the first half not because I thought this team was better than most thought but because I felt like this team was just going to get better as the season went on due to replacing ineffective players with more talented prospects and/or young players gaining experience. We're really starting to see this young talent start having a big impact.

Sunday was a great example with all four extra-base hits and 7 of the team's 9 hits coming from players age 25 or younger. Miguel Sano (22) got things going with a two-run first-inning home run. The more I watch this kid hit, the more I think he's going to be very special. He's been racking up the strikeouts lately, but he's shown a wonderful blend of patience and the ability to crush the ball to all fields. He has two home runs in his first 11 games, but it could easily be 4 as he hit two balls inches from the top of the wall in Kansas City and Target Field in areas where it would easily be home runs in just about any other ballpark. Even when the rest of the lineup is hitting well, I keep thinking let's just extend this inning to get to Sano.

Danny Santana (24) added a double and a triple (which would have been two triples if Eric Fryer wasn't running in front of him on the double). Santana has looked like the Santana of 2014 since getting that big hit against Joakim Soria on Friday. Santana of 2014 might not ever return, but it wouldn't be too difficult to imagine him being a league average shortstop offensively.

Eddie Rosario (23) had a triple and a single. He's picked it up this series after a little bit of a slump. He's had a decent start to his career, but his 47-8 K-BB ratio is concerning. I'm a little worried he'll be Santana 2.0. We keep hearing about Rosario's quick hands, but we kept hearing the same thing last year with Santana. So far, Rosario has been a slightly below-average hitter, but he's offset that with better than average defense. If his offense drops, however, it would be a problem.

Fortunately, the Twins will options in the outfield once Byron Buxton returns (assuming he only rehabs and doesn't get optioned to AAA when healthy) because Aaron Hicks (25) is making it look like he's starting to figure this thing out. Not only does he look like he's taking better at-bats, he's starting to get his numbers up as well. Hicks has never hit for much average. His strengths have always been a nice combination of patience and power to go with good athleticism. In Hicks' first 10 games this season, he had 10 strikeouts and just 1 walk and his OPS was just .480. I was worried at one point this season that he had adjusted his approach at the plate so much that he had abandoned his biggest strength: his patience at the plate. However, since May 24, he has 11 walks and 10 strikeouts and is batting .271/.354/.440 for a .795 OPS, which doesn't include him going 2-for-3 with a walk in Sunday's game, which was his sixth consecutive game with a walk. Prior to Sunday's game, Hicks was batting .286/.400/.643 in July.

If Buxton does return to reclaim center field, I hope Molitor will recognize the improvement of Hicks and give him plenty of playing time in the corner outfield spots and in center when Buxton needs a break. I dream of someday having an outfield of Hicks in left, Buxton in center and Rosario in right, but I know they won't sit Torii Hunter on a consistent basis anytime soon. I just really hope that Hicks' improved play isn't overlooked because of a silly thing like batting average.

This was supposed to be a big statement game. First game of the second half, high-priced free agent on the mound that the Twins outbid the Royals for, and a chance for a win in a four-game series on the road against the division-leading Royals.

Santana did his part, throwing 8 strong innings with 2 runs allowed with 8 strikeouts to just 6 base runners allowed (3 hits, 3 walks). It still felt a little disappointing because one of the runs came after a leadoff walk to Omar Infante (ugh), a sac bunt by the left-handed swinging Jarrod Dyson in front of Drew Butera (seriously?), who singled on an 0-2 hanging slider after Santana had blown 2 fastballs by Butera (bad selection and bad execution).

Still, the bigger disappointment was another bad day at the plate despite more hitting by Miguel Sano, who's making the front office look bad for waiting this long to call him up. Sano hit a low breaking pitch for a double off the wall in straightaway center field in the second inning and added a single between short and third against All-Star closer Greg Holland. The only other player with 2 hits was Joe Mauer, who had 4 hits the day before, and the only other RBI was on Aaron Hicks' solo home run leading off the third inning.

The offense was especially disappointing since Royals starter Danny Duffy has not been good this season and had an ERA over 8.00 in his previous 5 starts. Plus, the Twins came into the game with a .756 OPS against left-handed starters vs. a .658 OPS against right-handed starters.

The Twins didn't do much offensively, but they didn't have any luck either, especially late. Torii Hunter lined out to shortstop with Brian Dozier at second base to end the eighth inning and Trevor Plouffe was robbed of a possible double on a sliding catch by Alex Gordon to start the ninth. If both had found a hole, the Twins might have had a two-run lead after eight innings.

The biggest disappointment was the bullpen, which took two relievers all of two batters (and 0 outs) to lose the game. Blaine Boyer made the biggest "sin" by walking the leadoff man before Aaron Thompson gave up an RBI double to end the game. Seriously, the Twins need to drop Thompson now and bring up Caleb Thielbar or trade for a LOOGY. Thompson took the loss in Friday's game and has an ERA of 10.57 in 7 2/3 innings since June 5 with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts and an insane 34% line-drive rate.

Oh well. The Twins still split four games on the road against a first-place team. But it felt like it could have been so much more. The Twins didn't lose any ground to the Royals, which is a real danger when playing on the road, but neither were they able to get any closer, so they still are 4 1/2 games out of the division lead. They also have dropped into a tie with the Orioles in the wildcard standings. If the Angels beat Texas tonight, they'll be a half-game ahead of the Twins, meaning the Twins would be tied for the last playoff spot.

The Twins now have an important homestand with 3 games against the O's and 4 against the Miggy-less Tigers, who are in third place in the AL Central.

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.

The Twins decided to "celebrate" Father's Day, the first day of summer and Junior's Half-Birthday with another efficient loss. If you're going to give up 8 runs, you might as well do it on a day you're shut out.

I don't think there's much question that Jake Arrieta had it going on Sunday. He didn't give the Twins much of a chance to score. However, the Twins have scored 3 runs or less in 6 of their last 7 games and 12 of their last 15 games. It's not been pretty.

The good news is the Twins continue to get good starting pitching. Kyle Gibson racked up a lot of pitches due to spotty command, but he managed to give up just 2 runs in 5 innings. This marked the eighth straight game that Twins starters have allowed no more than 3 runs. Also good news is that Gibson has a 38-13 K-BB ratio over his last 42 2/3 innings (7 starts).

More good news was that Byron Buxton finally got his first hit at Target Field. It was just a single with two outs and none one in the eighth inning of an 8-0 game, but hopefully, it will help him relax and start to have better at-bats and leave a better impression with management before Aaron Hicks is ready to come off the DL. Buxton also reached on an error, which mean he reached base four times (including 2 walks) in the last two games, so CF hasn't been a main reason the Twins scored just 2 runs total in these games.

The drop in offense has been so sudden and dramatic, it's difficult to see the Twins waiting much longer to try to help the pitching out. The Twins do have some internal options (Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia, Danny Santana or Max Kepler) but unless the Twins are willing to play Eddie Rosario every day in CF, I'm not sure any of them will have much of an effect right now. Sano did hit a pretty dramatic home run on Sunday and Kepler is batting over .340, but Buxton's first taste of the big league's shows that there are no guarantees no matter how highly rated a prospect is, especially when they've never played in AAA. Arcia had a couple hits on Sunday, but he's still just hitting .200 since recovering from his injury. Santana is batting over .370, but the Twins might want to wait a little longer to make sure that he's ready to come back up.

The other good problem the Twins have is that they have 5 starters pitching well and will most likely will be needing to move 2 of them out of the rotation within a few weeks. Ervin Santana appears to be on track to return from suspension July 5. Ricky Nolasco appears to be avoiding surgery on his ankle for now, but no timetable has been set for him to return. However, when he does, he most likely will be put back in the rotation given his contract and his veteran status.

This will probably not be looked upon favorably by Twins fans, but the end result is the Twins have a logjam that they will need to figure out. After the bullpen meltdown today, my guess would be the temporary solution would be to put Trevor May and Tommy Milone in the bullpen and demote Aaron Thompson and Michael Tonkin. However, the Twins could make a more permanent solution by trading at least one starting pitcher for a left-handed bat. The most likely candidates for trade would by Mike Pelfrey and Milone, given their contract status and age. Milone isn't exactly old, but he doesn't have the upside or the raw stuff of May and Gibson. Pelfrey and Milone also aren't saddled with long-term contracts like Phil Hughes, Santana and Nolasco.

The Twins may wait until they have a better idea of when Nolasco will return before they pull the trigger on a deal. At the very least, I don't think it will be long before Thompson is demoted unless he starts to show dramatically better results. I also hope the Twins will drop the 13th pitcher so they can bolster the bench and allow Molitor more options to squeeze out some more runs from the anemic offense.

SoCalTwinsfan Junior, Jr. ran into the living room while sporting a Minnesota Twins jersey with a 25 on the back. He ran over to his grandfather and jumped on his knee.

S: "Whatcha doing, Grandpa?"

G: "Watching Byron Buxton's final baseball game."

S: "You mean of the season?"

G: "Nope. It's the final game of his career. He's retiring after today."

S: "But he's the best baseball player in the world!"

G: "No doubt about it. But he says he's too old to play such a difficult sport. He's going to try something easier. He's already signed a contract with the Timberwolves." Continue reading Game 62: Buxton’s Twins 4, Gallo’s Rangers 3 →