The Twins logged their second consecutive losing month in May. They were 13-16, a bit of an uptick over April, when they were 9-15. For this we can thank the Baltimore Orioles, who are currently on a 14-game skid, four of the 14 courtesy of the Twins. The Twins have won seven of their last ten games, so you can see where we were before the O's filled our dance card. When I was first old enough to follow baseball, Baltimore was a fixture near the top of the American League standings. I can go around the field: Boog Powell at first base (succeeded by Eddie Murray), Dave Johnson at second, Mark Belanger at shortstop, Brooks Robinson at third base, Frank Robinson in right, Paul Blair in center, Don Buford in left, Elrod Hendricks behind the dish, a pitching staff of perennial all-stars and occasional all-stars, the fixture being Jim Palmer. Manager was Earl Weaver. If you want some fun, search "Earl Weaver" at YouTube.
You can see I'm putting off a discussion of the Twins. Here's a statistical nugget: in the American League, only the Toronto Blue Jays have hit more home runs than the Twins, yet the Twins have been out-homered in their games, 71-73. Yikes! During today's game, when a Twin stepped to the plate and his batting statistics flashed across the screen, I said to my daughter that it seems everyone on our team is hitting .225. She replied, "Sano ain't." Indeed he is not: .163, to be exact. He had a nice game yesterday, four at-bats, three strikeouts and a rally-killing double play grounder with the bases loaded. Three more strikeouts today. For the season so far, he has 129 at-bats and 58 strikeouts. Yikes! Yikes! When he's behind in the count, you want to avert your eyes, same as if a school bus was rolling toward an oblivious 7-year-old. But, pick a guy more or less at random and discuss his shortcomings. It happens that Sano rankles my daughter.
I'd make an exception for the newbies. I'm thinking of Larnach, Refsnyder, Kirilloff, Garlick. None is setting the world afire, but they all look like they belong in the major leagues, and they're apt to get better. I don't think Josh Donaldson (for example) is going to get better. He's the guy I'm down on. Maybe it's partly the dyed blond hair with modified Mohawk. But it's more this kind of thing: he's on third base, a guy also on first, one out; batter hits grounder to first; first baseman tags first as Donaldson jogs toward home; then first baseman throws to shortstop who tags runner for third out when Donaldson is still a couple of strides from home plate. No run. I guess he doesn't get paid enough to sprint. I forget who the runner on first was, but, after the first baseman made a putout on the batter, he's the one who should have stopped running. Did these guys start playing baseball yesterday?
Well, Donaldson had three hits today, including two doubles, plus a walk. If he could keep that up, I think I could look past the foppery and the mental lapses. I have a feeling, though, that I won't have to surrender my grudge.
Byron Buxton is arguably the most exciting player in baseball. If only what kept you on the edge of your seat didn't include worrying about when he'd miss three more weeks after bumping his head or injuring himself running to first base. He hasn't played since May 6. Everyone's amazed by Cal Ripken's record but perhaps no one more than Byron's mom. I can just imagine: "It's ok, sweetie, you'll be able to play outside with the other kids next month, when you feel better!"
Going back to the days of my early fandom, the Los Angeles Dodgers were probably the best team in the National League. Losing streaks are rare when half your games are pitched by Koufax-Drysdale. The current Twins need a winning streak but aren't apt to go on one for a related reason—it's hard to make it once around our pitching rotation without someone getting rocked. Leads in the late innings aren't safe, either. It's baseball, however, and there's a game tomorrow in Baltimore.
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