The Minnesota Twins were rained out for their Saturday game at home versus the Kansas City Royals. Maybe that's for the best. Look at it this way: If the Twins don't play a game, they can't lose a game either.
That may not be a very optimistic attitude, but at the moment, the Twins haven't given fans many reasons for optimism in this still young 2012 season. They are 5-15 and are riding a six-game losing streak. They were swept at home by the Boston Red Sox, who are having problems of their own.
The Twins showed some signs of life in the final game of the Red Sox series, but it wasn't enough and they lost by a run. Trevor Plouffe (who could use a haircut, by the way) drove a ball deep to left-center that looked like it would be a walk-off homer, but it didn't quite get far enough.
Starting pitching is everything
Offense has been a little better lately, but one of the real problems has been starting pitching. Can we get a quality start, please? Anyone? This key struggle right now goes back to the basics of winning a baseball game. Without pitching (and defense), it doesn't matter how many runs you score, you'll be in trouble.
Francisco Liriano is pitching so poorly right now that the Twins decided to skip his next start. You have to try something, but I'm not sure how much it will really help him. From the very first inning in the game Tuesday it was clear Nick Blackburn didn't have his stuff either. In Friday's one-run loss to the Royals, veteran Carl Pavano gave up a couple runs even before an out was recorded.
The Twins were also tied with the Red Sox late in the game, before Matt Capps gave up a home run to seal their fate. After the game, he apparently still thought it was a good pitch that he threw. Maybe, but if the batter hit it out, let's agree that it wasn't the right pitch.
Bats coming alive, Mauer needs to as well
As for the Twins and their bats, it's not terrible at the moment. Danny Valencia got ahold of a pitch and put it in the bullpen, and he just missed another one Friday night. Justin Morneau is playing right now, which is good news on its own.
Joe Mauer has already taken some heat this season for his performance, and I think he should expect that throughout the season since he's the multi-million-dollar man and all. He was already booed at Target Field this year.
He has also been healthy enough to play, which is great, but he needs to really dig in this year and start smacking the ball around. Not just those 1-for-3 or 2-for-4 days where he hits some singles. I'm talking about driving in runs with doubles and hitting for power with some home runs. I don't think it's too unreasonable to put to pressure on him this season to step up and lead this team offensively.
Back in the win column
What the Twins need to focus on right now is winning baseball games. Make the pitches, get the clutch hits and come away with the win. Easier said than done, I know. But you really can't look at anything else, like standings or records, until you start getting back into a good winning rhythm.
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