The Twins lose on a Little League home run by the light hitting Jason Kendall, and it was also reported that Ken Macha took the entire Brewer team to Dairy Queen after the game for their spectacular come-back win. There was no such joy in the Twins clubhouse, as Nick Blackburn's throwing error cost the Twins a game in which they should have won. Blackburn's pitched at least eight innings in three straight starts now, which is expected from your staff ace. But in all three of those starts, he's had the lead in the eighth and twice he's blown those leads. Two weeks ago in Oakland he was cruising along with a 3-0 lead and, after an Adam Kennedy home run, the game was tied after eight and the Twins would end up losing in the ninth. On Wednesday Blackburn had a 3-2 lead with two out and nobody on base in the bottom of the eighth inning. All he needed to do was to get out light-hitting J.J. Hardy and his night would be satisfyingly complete. Hardy blooped a single to center field -- still, you're fine, as long as you get out the .230-hitting Jason Kendall. Instead, Kendall hits one off the wall, Hardy scores, and because Brendan Harris' throw got past Joe Mauer on the relay to the plate, Kendall took off for third. Nick Blackburn, who was backing up the play at the plate, threw wildly to third, and the ball went into the outfield, and Kendall could walk home with the winning run. In essence, Blackburn made two bad pitches in the entire game: the pitch that Kendall ripped for the double, and the errant throw he made to third. Not sure why Blackburn even threw to third; as long as you get the next guy out, the game's still tied. It would have taken a perfect throw to get Kendall, and instead you make a terrible decision and a horrendous throw and you lose the game right then and there. Ridiculous.I imagine Ron Gardenhire will be second-guessed for keeping Blackburn in the game. I'm not one of those people who would second-guess Gardenhire for this move, as Blackburn's your ace and you ought to ride your best pitcher. He had a low pitch count (not that that should matter, anyway) and he was in control of the game. And even though Blackb
urn chose a really pathetic way to lose the game, it's better than seeing Matt Guerrier lose the game. But the reality is, now that Blackburn's lost leads in the eighth inning twice in three starts, it's probably going to make Gardenhire even more cautious with his starters. I think a reason that Blackburn and all of the starters seem to struggle in the eighth inning is that it's uncharted territory to them. The regime has told them, "give me six or seven good innings and you've done you're job," and because of that mentality that has been driven into them even as early as the minor leagues, when they get to the eighth and ninth innings, they feel that they shouldn't be on the mound. If they're good, they should possess that killer instinct that great pitchers have. Not only do they not have that, but they're managed by a guy who loves to lose with his bullpen. So Blackburn's struggles will likely force Gardenhire's hand. The next time that the Twins are up by a run going into the eighth inning, expect Matty Guerrier to be in there. That means that Guerrier will be pitching a whole lot more than he has already this season, which means that Guerrier will eventually be overused, which means more Matt Guerrier Specials (MGS), which means more Twins losses. So it'll all even out as it should.
urn chose a really pathetic way to lose the game, it's better than seeing Matt Guerrier lose the game. But the reality is, now that Blackburn's lost leads in the eighth inning twice in three starts, it's probably going to make Gardenhire even more cautious with his starters. I think a reason that Blackburn and all of the starters seem to struggle in the eighth inning is that it's uncharted territory to them. The regime has told them, "give me six or seven good innings and you've done you're job," and because of that mentality that has been driven into them even as early as the minor leagues, when they get to the eighth and ninth innings, they feel that they shouldn't be on the mound. If they're good, they should possess that killer instinct that great pitchers have. Not only do they not have that, but they're managed by a guy who loves to lose with his bullpen. So Blackburn's struggles will likely force Gardenhire's hand. The next time that the Twins are up by a run going into the eighth inning, expect Matty Guerrier to be in there. That means that Guerrier will be pitching a whole lot more than he has already this season, which means that Guerrier will eventually be overused, which means more Matt Guerrier Specials (MGS), which means more Twins losses. So it'll all even out as it should.Blackburn's eighth inning was pretty pathetic, but it's not as pathetic as the earlier runs that he surrendered. Looking at the Brewer lineup, it's surprising that the team is competing for first place (considering the Twins, that sounds familiar). Aside from Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, there isn't a whole lot in that lineup that really scares the opposition. The bottom of the order is s
o bad that it even conjures up a certain sense of Puntoesque Patheticness: J.J. Hardy's hitting in the .210s, Jason Kendall hasn't done jackshit since leaving the Pirates five years ago, and on Wednesday the pitcher's spot was filled by Braden Looper, who was hitting .050 on the season. So of course, all three RBIs that the Brewers got were from Kendall and Looper, who inexplicably got a base hit in the third inning. You don't give up hits to the opposing pitcher, especially ones who are 1 for 21 at the plate. That's tantamount to giving up a hit to Nick Punto -- it's just unacceptable. You look at that lineup and you say, hey, if Braun and Fielder are going to beat us, so be it. They're their best hitters. But you don't give up hits -- game winning hits, no less -- to the sore thumbs of the opponent's lineup. Jason Kendall is terrible at the plate -- you sure as hell don't give up game-winning Little League homers to this guy. The ball almost went over the fence legitimately. We're talking about a guy who has hit six home runs combined in the last five years. Pathetic.
o bad that it even conjures up a certain sense of Puntoesque Patheticness: J.J. Hardy's hitting in the .210s, Jason Kendall hasn't done jackshit since leaving the Pirates five years ago, and on Wednesday the pitcher's spot was filled by Braden Looper, who was hitting .050 on the season. So of course, all three RBIs that the Brewers got were from Kendall and Looper, who inexplicably got a base hit in the third inning. You don't give up hits to the opposing pitcher, especially ones who are 1 for 21 at the plate. That's tantamount to giving up a hit to Nick Punto -- it's just unacceptable. You look at that lineup and you say, hey, if Braun and Fielder are going to beat us, so be it. They're their best hitters. But you don't give up hits -- game winning hits, no less -- to the sore thumbs of the opponent's lineup. Jason Kendall is terrible at the plate -- you sure as hell don't give up game-winning Little League homers to this guy. The ball almost went over the fence legitimately. We're talking about a guy who has hit six home runs combined in the last five years. Pathetic.Now the Twins face minor-league veteran Mike Burns on Thursday afternoon, and he opposes Scott Baker, who might have a good start and might have a bad start. He's just so inconsistent that it's been frustrating to watch this season. The Twins likely will have a hard time with Burns on Thursday; after all, they only got three runs off Braden Looper on Wednesday, and he didn't have much to offer in terms of talent.
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