No Surprises

It appears the new sidebar counter that we just added on Monday is entirely appropriate. What did the Twins' 7-9 hitters do last night? It was Rondell White, Lew Ford, and Nick Punto; they went 2-for-9 with a walk and a double and if you count in misplaced number two hitter Jason Bartlett's night, they went 2-for-13.

Essentially, last night's victory was a Twins lose-by-numbers. The starting pitcher gave up a few runs, but pitched well overall. The offense did nothing, as the 3-4-5 combination of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Torii Hunter went 2-for-10 with two walks and thus, not surprisingly, the Twins scored no runs off of Dustin McGowan who, outside of a one-hitter earlier this season, has been very inconsistent over the year.

The pitching victim was Scott Baker, had a very solid outing outside of a two-run homer by Vernon Wells, completing seven innings while allowing four runs on five hits and striking out five. Unfortunately, the Jays surprisingly managed a few runs off of Pat Neshek, putting the game out of reach for an absolutely punchless offense.

Although I'd love to have more analysis to give, there simply isn't much to say, as the problems aren't new. The roots causing these issues haven't changed at all. Until Terry Ryan and the Twins make a change or two to improve the offense, nothing is likely to change. Unfortunately, they might not do anything if they are truly convinced that the return of White is as good as any trade they can make. It's especially concerning when the Twins' announcers (who usually tow the company line anyways) are so excited about a 2-for-4 night that is somehow proof that the move is enough.

The news doesn't get much better today, when Carlos Silva faces off against Jesse Litsch, a finesse sinkerballer with the kind of stuff that usually stifles the Twins offense. Hopefully there's a surprise, but it feels like nothing is changing and the ship is sinking awfully fast.