CLEVELAND — Livan Hernandez voiced strong feelings after Thursday’s 12-2 loss to Cleveland. He apologized to the Twins’ organization for his recent performance and then vented about some comments he heard on the Cleveland telecast.

I tried summarizing this emotion in the game story. Some more perspective:

The key stat: After going 6-1 in his first nine starts for the Twins, Livan Hernandez is 0-3 with a 9.37 ERA in his past six starts.

Another eye opener: In those six starts, he has allowed 64 hits in 31 2/3 innings. That’s more than two hits per inning

Some historical context: He continued his threat to become the first pitcher to yield 300 hits in a season since Phil Niekro allowed 311 in 1979.

Hernandez has allowed 136 hits in 15 starts. At this pace — 9.1 hits per outing — Hernandez would allow 308 hits if he reaches his career average of 34 starts.

The quote: Manager Ron Gardenhire said, “Everything’s waist-up, and he can’t pitch like that. He’s not an overpowering guy.”

The telling example: Gardenhire mentioned the Shin-Soo Choo’s three-run homer in the third inning. It came with runners at second and third.

“I think he had first base open and Choo up, and you know, it’s a perfect opportunity for a veteran to make a guy chase,” Gardenhire said. “And he hangs a curve ball or a slider or whatever it was, and it goes out of the ballpark.

“Things like that — that’s not him. He knows how to pitch, and it’s just not working out for him right now.”

Note: I’ll check back with you with Friday’s lineups from Milwaukee. Remember, if you’re headed to Miller Park, send us your pictures for the weekend by clicking here.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 12:18 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.