You know that you’re playing a struggling team when four guys come to the game with “COME” painted on their chests…

…and “BACK” painted on their backs.

In Kansas City, that’s apparently a surefire way to get on the ginormous scoreboard in center field. (I’m making a leap of faith here than the foursome didn’t visit the body art stand after the Twins took the early lead.)

This one should have been easier than it was. There should have been no need for the bases-loaded, two-out drama in the bottom of the ninth before David DeJesus grounded out for close the 4-1 victory.

As has been recent habit, the Twins didn’t come through in too many key situations. Carlos Gomez’s week proved to have little in common with Raul Ibanez’s week when Gomez struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning and again with the bases loaded and two outs in the third.

The encore whiff came after the Twins had taken a 3-0 lead, largely because the Royals starter couldn’t throw strikes and their shortstop launched a double-play relay closer to the first-base dugout than to the first baseman.

The Twins batted around but only scored 3 in the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Adam Everett did his best to break the game open but his line drive was caught with a dive by Esteban German, the Royals’ second baseman. 

Then, the Twins veered between going out meekly and wasting more chances. Nick Punto grounded out to the pitcher with runners at second and third in the sixth and, after Justin Morneau got an intentional walk in the ninth, Jason Kubel grounded into a double play that killed off a chance for the Twins to score a bunch of runs and maybe rest Joe Nathan for the night.

The final tally was 11 men left on base, seven of ‘em in scoring position.

Other than the needless drama, it was a fine night to be a Twins fan in Kansas City’s sweet ballpark, which is in the midst of an extensive makeover. Lots of Twins jerseys in the house — including Doug and Cristian and Bradke and Killebrew and even a Tony Fiore, as well as the current guys. Given last weekend’s punchout between the Royals and White Sox, it looked like nobody was silly enough to wear an AJ jersey. (Note to people with Santana jerseys: Keep ‘em in the closet, especially on the road.)

The Royals stayed close enough that their fans were loud, and the Twins presence wasn’t as overwhelming as it usually seems on TV when the y play here. But there was a fair amount of horn-honking in the parking lot afterward and the general consensus seems to be that reinforcements will be in town tomorrow.

You ought to make this trip sometime.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.