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.