Twins Suffer Another Blow

Written by: John Meyer on 18th May 2009

Twins Suffer Another Blow | read this item

I can’t remember the last time any team, not just the Twins, but any team became victims of three walk-off losses in a row. The old Yankees Stadium was never very friendly to the Minnesota Twins, but new Yankee Stadium already has plenty of bad memories for the Twins.

Today’s blow came off the bat of Johnny Damon in the bottom of the 10th inning. Damon’s homerun heroics gave the Yankees a 3-2 win and the Twins’ their third defeat in a row.

For six innings starters, Kevin Slowey and AJ Burnett, were both pitching shutouts and scattering just six hits between the two clubs. In the top of the 7th inning Matt Tolbert’s RBI single snapped the Twins’ staggering 0-21 slump with runners in scoring position. After a pair of wild pitches and a base hit the Twins were able to take a 2-0 lead. Despite Slowey’s eight strikeouts the Yankees pounced right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 7th including an Alex Rodriguez solo homerun.

Both sides squandered multiple opportunities to take the lead back including a game saving play by Joe Mauer. After a bizarre deflected hit off of Jose Mijares’ glove, Mauer grabbed the ball and faked a throw to 1st base. At the same time Yankee speedster, Brett Gardner, tried to sneak behind Mauer and get to homeplate. Roughly 20 feet from home Mauer and Gardner had a race to the base with a fully extended, diving Mauer making the tag on Gardner for the out. Although it would not lead to a Twins victory, the play was an incredible and showcased the amazing athleticism of the Twins All-Star.

The first three games of this series have showcased very strong outings from Twins starters, yet the bullpen is getting overworked and outmatched when needed. All three of these losses have been heart-breakers for the Twins, but it must be noted that this club has a lot of heart and fight in them. Every day this Twins team will come out ready to battle despite what happened the night before. Let’s hope the Twins can grab one victory in New York before another tough road series in Chicago.

*Stat Update* Thanks to Kelly Thesier of MLB.com I learned the last time the Twins lost three straight games all in walk-off fashion was August 19-21, 1973. Needless to say… I wasn’t alive.

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