The Twins fell by a score of 6-4 in the 3rd game of the series and the final of 7 games against the Yankees this year. They never led for a single inning in the series, and are now a demoralizing 0-7 against the Yankees this year.

The string of losses puts the Twins in 3rd place in the AL Central--4 games behind Detroit and 1.5 games behind Chicago. They also fell back to .500 for the first time since June 29th.

The Twins have the perfect opportunity to bounce back before the All-Star break, with 3 home games against the White Sox. Detroit will be playing the last place Indians, so it's unlikely they'll gain much ground on them, but if the Twins can win the series this weekend, they'll stay well within striking distance when the second half opens.

Lineup problems

One thing that needs to change, is what Ron Gardenhire is doing with the #2 spot in the lineup. He had been batting Brendan Harris there on a regular basis, which was fine until Harris fell into a slump. After hitting 2 for 27 in the month of July, Harris was finally given a day off, but Gardenhire chose instead to bat the .183 hitting Matt Tolbert in the 2-hole.

I can't think of a much better way to dampen an already spotty offense than putting perhaps it's worst hitter almost at the top of the lineup. The Twins simply lack an ideal #2 hitter, so it only makes sense that they should move Joe Mauer to that spot and slide everyone else up a spot.

Other Notes

• Mauer accumulated enought plate appearances on Tuesday night to finally qualify for the AL Batting lead. He currently sits atop both leagues with a .389 batting average. Ichiro Suzuki is #2 with a .361 average.
• The Yankees won largely by shutting Justin Morneau down. He was 0-10 in the 3-game series, a sharp turn from his strong 9-15 + 2 HR effort in the Detroit series.