It was, for the most part, a disappointing series for the Twins against a team that they should be able to defeat easily. Not only did they lose on Friday night with ace Johan Santana on the mound, but Joe Nathan took the loss in the ninth inning on Sunday. With the exception of Saturday night, the Twins bats were weak all series long largely due to the ineffectiveness of the "piranhas".

Nick Punto rode the bench for a second straight game as the Gardenhire hopes that some time off will have the same effect it did on Jason Bartlett. Since returning to the lineup Bartlett has looked much better in the field and he had a 3 for 3 afternoon at the plate with 3 RBI.

As for Sunday's game, the Twins gave Boof Bonser an early 1 run lead in the second inning when Michael Cuddyer scored on a Torii Hunter groundout. Cuddyer had been advanced to third on Justin Morneau's third double of the season. The D-rays tied the game in the fifth on a Jonny Gomes single. The Twins immediately took back the lead in the bottom of that inning when Bartlett drove in Jason Kubel with 2 out.

As has been common in the past, the long ball got the best of Bonser. In the top of the sixth Brendan Harris led off the inning with a solo homer. Delmon Young hit a 2-run homer later in the inning to give the D-rays a 4-2 lead. The Twins were able to tie the game in the seventh on singles from Hunter and Bartlett with a double from Kubel in between.

Having a day off on Monday, Ron Gardenhire brought Nathan into the tied game in the ninth. I can't clearly remember a time when Nathan has struggled so much. He didn't look great on Thursday night, but the Carl Crawford running error got him off the hook. On Sunday Nathan allowed 2 runs on 4 hits to take his first loss of the season. In fact, it was Nathan's first loss since September, 6 2005.

Game Notes

• Joe Mauer got the day off and Mike Redmond saw his first action behind the plate. Redmond threw out 3 base stealers in the game. His struggles at the plate continued with an 0-4 day.
• Jason Kubel was 2-4 at the plate with an RBI and 2 runs scored.
• Alexi Casilla got the start at second base, giving Luis Castillo an extra day's rest. Casilla was 0-4.
• Matt Guerrier has pitched 8 2/3 innings this year and allowed just 2 hits and no walks while giving up 0 runs.

#42

Torii Hunter honored Jackie Robinson on the 60th anniversary of him breaking into the major leagues. Hunter also wore his pants legs high, which was the style of Robinson's playing days. Hunter made a nice head first slide into home in the seventh inning barely avoiding the tag while sneaking his hand across the plate. Dick Bremer immediately called it a slide "Jackie Robinson would be proud of."

Kyle Lohse

Kyle Lohse is doing his best to make the Twins regret their decision to trade him last season. In eight innings against the Cubs he allowed no runs, 5 hits and struck out 12 batters.

Coming Up

The Twins have an off day on Monday before opening up a 3 game road series against the Seattle Mariners. I can't wait until Wednesday night's game when they'll face young phenom pitcher Felix Hernandez. It probably won't be good for the Twins, but it's always fun to see a pitcher who could be on par with Santana for years to come.