Tyler Duffey went 7.0 innings and struck out nine, and the Twins got off to a 1-0 start against the Chicago White Sox, but that’s about all that went well for Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.
Molitor chose to give Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier and Kurt Suzuki the day off for maintenance, and the team could not muster any more runs off of White Sox starter Jose Quintana after the third.
Mauer was supposed to get a day off yesterday, but Park got hurt. Dozier has a hamstring issue, and Suzuki suffered whiplash on Saturday.
“The lineup was a little bit thin — you could say that,” manager Paul Molitor told the Pioneer Press, “and we couldn’t find ways to do much.”
Eduardo Nunez had a leadoff double and Jorge Polanco walked, but Nunez was doubled off when he didn’t realize Austin Jackson caught Miguel Sano’s sinking line drive to center and was rounding third to head home.
“It was not a good play,” Molitor told the Star Tribune. “He knows. You’ve got to know where the outfielders are playing, and understand that with no outs, scoring is not the priority, it’s only getting to third base.”
The Twins gave up a run in the fourth and fifth innings, then another in the seventh. Their 8-23 record is tied for the worst start in franchise history. They have lost for the ninth time in 10 games, and dropped to 2-15 on the road.
“We’ve got injuries, but we’re not playing good baseball,” Trevor Plouffe told the Star Tribune after the Twins wrapped up their dismal 1-5 road trip. “I think we will turn it around. I thought we made some strides, but we’re back to playing poor baseball.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Associated Press]
