1-run losses are the worst

Not a great way to start this hugely important series with the Tigers... going in, the Twins has to be thinking that winning 2 of 3 at home would be enough to get them within 5 games of the Tigers. Now, they just need to focus on salvaging 1 game of the series.

Thanks to the lack of timely hitting, the Twins have managed to score 2 runs in 2 games... still had their chances to win both.

You can't fault the pitching efforts of either Matt Garza or Johan Santana, who were superb. Garza gave up just 1 unearned run (and had a really nice array of offspeed stuff), and Santana gave up just a manageable 3 runs.

The offense certainly had chances. On Wednesday's game the Twins left 14 runners stranded, including 4 runners left at third base. It was the Twins best hitters that did most of the damage, as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau were a combined 1/9 with 1 BB, and they left 11 runners on base. It's tough to win like that.

Following Wednesday's game the Twins stand 8 games behind the division-leading Tigers and 6 games behind the Wildcard-leading Indians. The series finale will feature Scott Baker for the Twins going against Jeremy Bonderman. There's still a long way to go in this season, but the Twins can ill afford a sweep.

Vote for Pat Neshek!

Just a reminder to go vote for Pat Neshek to make it onto the All-Star game!

With a 1.37 ERA, a fantastic K/BB ratio, and being very stingy about giving up hits, Neshek is the best middle reliever in the MLB!

VOTE FOR NESHEK