For the seventh time this season the Minnesota Twins were swept in a three-game series. Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander went 7.1 innings, giving up three earned runs. Ricky Nolasco went 5.0, gave up four runs, but only two were earned.
Nolasco had a wild pick-off attempt, but the defense behind him made his job a lot harder than it had to be.
A throwing error by Eduardo Nunez on the first play of the first inning enabled Ian Kinsler to advance to second. J.D. Martinez drove him in with a single when Eddie Rosario’s throw from left field missed the cutoff man.
“We’ve talked about the first inning and being ready,” manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune. “Some of the basic things you would hope at this level. We have to catch the ball and hit the cutoff man and all those things that jump out at you when you are playing poorly.”
Nick Castellanos doubled in the third on another poor throw from Rosario. One batter later, Justin Upton was given an RBI single when his blooper to short right deflected off Dozier’s glove for a hit. Miguel Sano overran the ball, enabling Upton to move to second.
In the fifth inning Nunez and Rosario didn’t communicate on an Upton fly to short left field, allowing the ball to drop for a hit.
“I thought Ricky pitched well,” Molitor said. “He didn’t get what he deserved in terms of us backing him up.”
Rosario capped it all off by stealing third with the Twins up 4-0 and Joe Mauer at bat. He was sent down to Triple-A after the game.
“The risk 100 fold is greater than the reward,” Molitor told the Pioneer Press. “Being safe doesn’t make it right for me. I wanted to get Eddie out of the game at that point.”
“We have to find what is our type of game, number one,” Dozier told the Star Tribune. “It hasn’t been very good, but today was even worse. To be honest with you, it was kind of embarrassing. Running bases. Hitting cutoff men, keeping double plays in order. The little things that makes a ballclub good. And it was kind of exposed today that we did a lot of things wrong.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Associated Press]
