Game 78: Twins lifeless in loss
Minnesota @ Kansas City (Game 1 of 3)
Nick Blackburn only gave up two earned runs on the mound against Kansas City, however, the team couldn’t get any offense going and gave the Royals plenty of opportunities with defensive miscues in a 4-2 loss at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals jumped out to an early lead with a two out double to right field off the bat of Mitch Maier. Cuddyer would make a wild throw towards third that ended up in left field which allowed Miguel Olivo to score and put Maier at third. The Twins would put runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings but were unable to put a run on the board.
Fireworks would come out in the sixth inning as Ron Gardenhire came out to argue with the umpire on a ball that may have hit off the foot of Jason Kubel. Gardenhire was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Larry Vanover for his actions. The Royals showed some power in the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back home runs from Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo, both of which had full counts on them, to make it a 3-0 game.
Blackburn was removed from the game after giving up three runs, two earned, off 10 hits with four strike outs and a walk. R.A. Dickey pitched the seventh inning and retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a single to Callaspo and a RBI triple to Olivo to make it a 4-0 game.
The Twins finally got some offense going in the top half of the eighth inning as Justin Morneau hit a 2-run homer to right field for his 18th of the year to cut the deficit in half. That’s all the offense the team could put together, though, as Joakim Soria retired the side with three strike outs to close out the game.
Attendance: 22,066 (Kauffman Stadium)
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