CLEVELAND, Ohio — Things are starting to get very concerning for the Minnesota Twins. Entering the season, there were high hopes in the Twin Cities that the young core was ready to compete. MLB.com’s preseason power rankings had the Twins as the 6th best team in baseball heading into opening day. They have the 2nd worst record in baseball (7-14) and are already questioning their status in the league.
An early 2-0 lead over Cleveland (10-11) on Monday looked to signal positive signs moving forward. However, the rough season got rougher as Cleveland pulled back to tie the game twice, eventually pushing the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Jordan Luplow wasted no time as he lead with a walk-off two-run homer to steal a 5-3 victory.
The Twins offense seemed to be humming in the 2nd as Brent Rooker sent a solo shot 412 feet to center. Rooker has been struggling from the plate this year (entered with .095 AVG, 0 HR), so his contribution was big to see. In the 4th, Jorge Polanco extended the lead to two with a sac-fly as the Twins seemed to be in control.
It took two separate comebacks for Cleveland to send the game to extras. First, a double from Eddie Rosario and a single from Franmil Reyes tied the game in the 6th inning. When the Twins reclaimed the lead in the 8th, Jose Ramirez responded; he blasted a 3-2 pitch for a solo homerun in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game again.
The Luplow homer sealed the 2nd straight win for Cleveland and the 3rd straight loss for the Twins. The Twins are now 1-5 in their last six games and 2-9 in their last eleven.
Average is not good enough
When looking at the Twins stats to this point, nothing sticks out as a sore point. However, no part of their team is a strength, either. In the MLB, the Twins rank 20th in runs scored (85), 14th in slugging percentage (.391), and 15th in hits. Their pitching staff ranks 15th in ERA (4.20) and 24th in strikeouts (177).
The stats paint the picture of a team that has been unable to do enough to win, regardless of the style needed. In their recent series with Oakland, they started off the series with back-to-back shutout losses. To avoid the sweep, the Twins offense exploded for 12 runs in the final game of the series. However, the pitching staff surrendered 13 to the A’s in a gut-wrenching sweep.
Monday’s game was another example of the Twins finding a way to lose as shaky execution down the stretch cost them. The home run to Jose Ramirez sticks out, as Cleveland had the option to pitch around the slugger in the 8th. After falling behind 3-0, reliever Tyler Duffey tried to fight back in the count, and it cost him.
The Twins are in need of some major adjustments to get back on track. Their 7-14 record puts them in 4th in the AL Central, leading only the MLB-worst Detroit Tigers.
