Fading Fast

Again and again, Carlos Silva and the rest of the pitchers are learning a tough lesson this year: No matter how well you pitch, you just can't win if your team doesn't score any runs. Silva pitched about as well as could have been expected today, going 7 innings and allowing just one run to the White Sox. Unfortunately, for the third straight game the Twins' offense was unable to put a single run on the board until the late innings. Sox pitcher Jon Garland mowed down the Twins hitters 1-2-3 inning after inning. Mike Ryan (who went 3/4 and had a decent game, for once) delivered a clutch 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 1, but unfortunately it wouldn't extend the game for too long as Messy Crain would come out in the 10th and allow a leadoff double to the extremely light-hitting Geoff Blum that resulted in the game winning run when Blum was brought home by the light-hitting Timo Perez. Crain is a wreck. After a great first half, his inability to strike out Major League hitters has caught up with him very quickly, and he's giving up key hits to bad hitters, as he showed tonight.

I fear the Twins offense is falling back into its slump after showing life for a week or so. Their inability to hit in this series was borderline absurd. Now, in fairness, they did run into three damn good pitchers; but when you're in a playoff race and playing a division rival, you have just GOT to find a way to get some runs across the plate. When your marquis power hitter (Morneau) is hitting .241/.307 and the number 2 guy in your order (Punto) is hitting .246/.307, you're going to have trouble generating many runs from the top of the order. Even the trio of Lew Ford, Matt LeCroy, and Joe Mauer - who have been very hot as of late - went a combined 0/12.

After winning in one of the most amazing games of the year on Tuesday night, the Twins have followed up with two very ugly performances yesterday and today. Hopefully we can chalk up the offense's pathetic performance in this series to the fact that three great pitchers dominated them; but our next series is in Texas against a pitching staff that is mediocre at best. If the Twins' bats are as quiet in Arlington as they were in this series, you can kiss any thoughts of the post-season goodbye.