Game 41: Road trip fail
Minnesota @ Boston (Game 2 of 2)
Summary
The last game of a seven game road trip ended like it started. With a loss. Francisco Liriano looked good in the game, but the Twins were once again unable to score runs. The Twins were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and failed to get on the board until the 8th inning.
The Twins went 2-for-7 this road trip and thankfully will head home for a Friday evening game against the struggling Brewers as the “Border Battle” is renewed.
Batting
Denard Span was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Brendan Harris was 2-for-3. Michael Cuddyer doubled to lead off the 8th inning and later scored off of a Delmon Young sacrifice fly ball for his 16th RBI on the season.
With runners at 2B and 3B, Joe Mauer grounded out to score Span for his 20th RBI.
The long ball was missing as it has been much of this road trip.
Pitching
Francisco Liriano had a good outing, although statistically it may not appear that way. Liriano pitched 4.2 innings and threw 98 pitches. He allowed 5 runs on 5 hits (2 home runs) while striking out 6 opposing batters. He uncharacteristically gave up 3 walks in the 4 innings.
The loss drops Liriano to 4-3 on the season and is his 3rd loss in a row. He has really only had one bad outing and this outing all though not stellar, Liriano looked good for most the game.
Jeff Manship, Jesse Crain and Jon Rauch each pitched an inning as well, with only Manship giving up 1 run on 1 hit.
Notes
The Twins will be glad to be off this road trip. JJ Hardy who was rumored to be joining the Twins in Boston will likely be taking the weekend off. The deep bone bruise has not healed enough for Hardy to do much more then hit the ball of the tee at this point.
Minnesota is now 24-17 and are now tied with Detroit for the lead in the Central Division.
Attendance
38,144 (Fenway Park)
