If the Twins don’t reach the playoffs this season, they’ll be able to whip out a U.S. map and figure out why.

They were outscored 40-15 during a four-game sweep in Chicago by the White Sox in June.

The bullpen posted a 20.25 ERA in as the Twins were swept in Boston by the Red Sox in early July .

They were swept in three games at Yankee Stadium in late July - and are 3-19 there since 2001.

They were swept this week at Rogers Centre by the Blue Jays - and are 1-8 there since 2005.

That’s 13 of their road losses this season - just under 33 percent - concentrated in four cities.

I’ve witnessed 10 of these 13 games. Maybe it’s my fault. Joe C. was 5-6 before handing off to me - and things only got worse.

The Twins are back at the Dome for six games before their final trip of the regular season - a 10-gamer to Baltimore, Cleveland and Tampa Bay. The White Sox open a weekend series at The Cell against Torii Hunter and the Angels. Joe C. has tonight’s game but I’ll be back tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Random thoughts, The race. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.