The Minnesota Twins won a few games, and they were doing something that's not exactly a traditional Twins trait: Hitting home runs. At one point a few weeks ago, they led all of baseball in home runs hit since June something-or-other. Max Kepler hit three in one game, for crying out loud, before going into a homer drought until the final day of the month. Brian Dozier has also swung a hot bat since late June.
In some ways, the homer total is one of the only good things about the ball club. They won a pair of games in Atlanta Aug. 16 and 17, giving themselves a five-game cushion on baseball's worst team for most of the season. After Aug. 30, these two feisty teams were tied in the Major League basement at a whopping 49-83. That's because the Twins dropped a dozen games after leaving Turner Field for the final time. (The Braves will move into a new ballpark next season.)The Twins lost again to wrap things up in August, and a Braves win meant Minnesota found itself alone in that basement. 13 straight games. That's the longest losing skid of any MLB team this season by at least a couple games. It's the second-longest, single-season losing streak for the Twins since the ball club moved to Minnesota in 1961. That year, the Twins also lost 13 straight games. The 1982 squad holds the franchise record with 14 consecutive losses.
The team from 1982 keeps coming up this season when it comes to losing stats. They must have been pretty bad, too. #BeforeMyTime
These are some tough times for the club
When teams struggle, and we know that all teams do at some point, there's that saying, "finding new ways to lose." That's been the case lately. Whether it's giving up an inside-the-park home run (officially scored as a triple with an error) to lose the lead and then the game to the Blue Jays, or a pitching staff that just can't get the job done, it's always something.
There have been a few outfield collisions the past couple weeks. Shortstop Jorge Polanco and left fielder Robbie Grossman - nearly twice in one game. Eddie Rosario and Grossman. The latest was Danny Santana, playing center field, and Grossman. That one over the weekend turned out to be costly. Santana, who left the game the next inning, suffered a shoulder sprain. He's done for the season.
Fundamentals, kids. Talk to your teammates in the field so you know who's going to catch the baseball.
Bunting is another aspect of the game that has really plagued the local nine all season. I don't know that I've ever seen more fouled-off bunt attempts, poorly-executed bunts and especially bunts popped up for outs by one team in a single season. Then there's the situations. Bunting at a time that isn't ideal, when you look at the runners on base or number of outs. Like a red-hot hitter trying to bunt. I'm not sure if it's that coaches giving the go-ahead, or players trying to make something happen on their own, but it's frustrating to watch. People keep talking about how weird it is because manager Paul Molitor was such a good bunter as a player. It's gotten to the point where I just cringe when I see anybody bunt anymore. Ever.
Still, good things are happening, too
Let's get back to some positives though.
Dozier really turned his season around after a tough April and May. He couldn't buy a home run, it seemed. But in August he reached the 30-homer mark, plus he set career highs in home runs and RBI for a season, breaking the highs he set just last year. He smacked 24 extra-base hits in August, a franchise record for a calendar month. He hit 13 homers in August, the second-most all-time in Twins history, up there with the likes of Harmon Killebrew.
It's just a shame that Dozier's success with the bat hasn't been enough to turn the team's season around. Hey, he matched his August homers with the Twins current losing streak. That takes some talent, right?
With the trade of shortstop Eduardo Nunez, Jorge Polanco has found a comfy spot in that position with the Twins. Though he didn't play shortstop in the minors at all (weird, I know), he's done alright there. A couple errors here and there, but the Twins have plenty of those to go around.
Polanco was called up at the end of July and has been a fairly consistent hitter. He started out with a 12-game hitting streak. Welcome back, kid. Overall since his latest call-up, he has hits in 24 of the 28 games he's played. He's driven in 13 runs (There's that number again.).
1 month left. Finish it off, fellas.
Other than that, there are a lot of things that just aren't going well. Starting pitching has been a struggle for those not named Ervin Santana. Top prospect Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey were both sent down to the minors after their continued struggles. The overworked and heavily-relied upon bullpen has had its own problems, including injuries. Tommy Milone, Trevor May and Buddy Boshers all went down the same week, actually.
The games lately has just been so predictable, too. They often have the vibe of the beginning of the season, when it was pretty tough to have confidence that the Twins would pull out a win. Leads get blown, if they're obtained at all. Plus, in games where the bats are alive and well, the pitching fails them. And vice versa. Big Erv pitched a gem of a game in Kansas City during the losing streak, but the Twins lost 2-1 because they could find the hitting shoes.
We've reached September, which is always hard to believe since we want to hang onto summer. There's a month of baseball left for this team. We'll see how they finish it out. Don't forget: They're still in the process of hiring a general manager to replace the fired Terry Ryan.
It should be quite the offseason and spring training next year.
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