Scott Baker had another less than great start and the offense failed to get much of anything started as the Twins were defeated handily by the Tampa Bay Rays in the series opener Monday night. The loss marked the 7th time this season that the Twins have been outscored by 5 or more runs, which contributes to their league-worst -29 run differential.

Although Baker didn't allow any home runs this time out, he did allow 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk through 6 innings. I'm sad to say it was Baker's best start of the season. He failed to complete 5 innings in both of his previous starts while allowing 6 runs in each. He struck out 7 Rays batters, and missing more bats is always a good sign. However, the Rays are 3rd in the league in strikeouts, so the higher rate is probably more indicative of a free-swinging ball club.

Offensively, the Twins compiled just 5 hits. The lone run came on Joe Crede's solo home run in the 6th inning--his 3rd of the year.

Delmon Young got another start in LF while Denard Span played CF and Gomez sat on the bench.

Over the weekend Joe Mauer caught 7 innings in 2 games and then DH'd on Sunday. On Monday I thought he was scheduled to catch a full 9 innings, but he was replaced by Donny Lehmann defensively in the 8th inning. Mauer was 1-2 with an RBI in the game. He had reported some soreness on Sunday, which is not surprising, so perhaps the Twins have decided to ease him into full-time duty a little more.