Paul Molitor is feeling everyone’s pain. “It’s getting harder,” the manager said after a 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, “to come up with words.”
The Minnesota Twins are now 0-9 to start the season. The last team to start 0-9 was the 2003 Detroit Tigers who lost 119 games. The 2002 Tigers started 0-11 and finished with 106 losses.
“It’s kind of the repetitive story day to day,” Molitor said. “We get good pitching, and it’s just not enough offense once again. Not a lot of opportunities, but we left a couple guys out there.”
Ervin Santana pitched well, going 7.0 innings and only giving up three earned runs on seven hits. He struck out six, gave up a home run and walked one.
He did not appear upset with the lack of run support after the game.
Byron Buxton left the game with a right hand contusion after being hit by a pitch in the third inning. He was replaced in center field by Max Kepler.
“Well, I was concerned,” said Molitor. “He was trying to put on a good face there as far as tenderness, staying in the game. Where the pitch hit on the back of the hand, you’re worried about a break, so we wanted to get that X-ray right away.”
Molitor seemed fine with Kepler’s performance in center field, but will explore options in the upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
“Well, he made some nice plays today,” said Molitor. “He has enough experience in various outfield positions to step in when we need him.”
Trevor Plouffe, a team leader who went through the early losses last year, remained calm, but also was pretty blunt about how the team is doing.
He also tweeted out a message to the fans after the game:
To leave things on a positive note, Taylor Rogers made his major league debut. He threw 0.2 scoreless innings and only gave up a hit.
