Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn’t dwelling on his team’s two failed attempts to score a runner from third base with no outs on Monday night. His mind was on pitching after the 8-6 loss to Toronto.

But those two chances are worth noting.

Fourth inning, no outs, Brian Buscher on third after hitting an RBI triple. LHP Brian Tallet relieves the injured Jesse Litsch with an 0-2 count to Delmon Young, and immediately gets him to swing and miss at strike three. Jose Morales hits a hard liner to shortstop Marco Scutaro with the infield drawn in, and Nick Punto strikes out to end the inning.

Eighth inning, no outs, Brendan Harris on third after doubling and advancing to third on a wild pitch. LHP Scott Downs strikes out the next three batters: Young swinging, pinch-hitter Joe Crede swinging, and Punto looking.

The Twins allowed 19 hits, including 13 by Kevin Slowey, and Luis Ayala coughed up the lead, but those two missed chances soured an otherwise good night offensively.

(*) Denard Span went 2-for-4 with his seventh walk, a stolen base and a run scored.
(*) Justin Morneau went 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and one fly out to the RF warning track.
(*) Jason Kubel went 2-for-4 with two RBI and his first home run since Sept. 23.
(*) Michael Cuddyer went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.
(*) Buscher, starting his first game, went 1-for-2 with his first career triple.
(*) Young went 1-for-4, with a single and run scored in the second inning.
(*) Morales went 1-for-3 with a single, a run scored and that hard line out mentioned above.
(*) Punto went 1-for-4 and with a two-run, two-out single that gave the Twins a 3-1 lead.

Also, interesting to see R.A. Dickey get a chance in relief with the Twins down 8-6 in the eighth inning. Not that there should have been any doubts, but it’s a sign his roster spot is safe when Scott Baker is activated from the DL after tonight’s game.

Note: For a great perspective piece on what Mark Fidrych meant to baseball in 1976, check out Patrick Reusse’s latest Morning Growl.Â

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 9:05 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.