The Twins are now exactly at that milestone record of last season, 34-34. It was the day they finally reached .500 and they went on to never drop below that again. This year the Twins could very well fall below .500 on Tuesday night, even with Santana on the mound. They’re not playing nearly as well as at this time a year ago, and there’s not much indication of them getting better.

Silva has always been an inconsistent pitcher, it’s a fact of life. So, it comes as no surprise that he followed up his complete game shutout against the Braves last week by allowing 10 hits and 4 runs through 6 innings. What sealed the victory for the Mets was Juan Rincon’s second straight night of struggles. He allowed 3 runs in an inning on Sunday against the Brewers and on Monday the Mets scored 4 runs against him while he retired just 1 batter.

In a way it didn’t really matter what the pitching did, because the offense didn’t help at all. Starter John Maine held them to 4 hits and a run through 7 1/3 innings and the Twins ended the game with just 5 hits.

Jason Bartlett committed his 13th error of the year. Errors can be a misleading stat, but 13 is still far too many for a guy who’s hitting below .250 with no power. The collapse of him and Punto this year has been a big part of the Twins inconsistent offense.

Game Notes

• Michael Cuddyer led the Twins with 2 hits, including a double, and drove in the Twins’ only run.
• Justin Morneau was 0 for 3 with a walk.
• Joe Mauer was behind the plate and was 0 for 3 with a walk.

The fact that Pat Neshek had to come on in the 8th to help Rincon out of trouble got me thinking about how the bullpen has changed over the past year. Joe Nathan is still a solid anchor at third, but Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek are starting to replace the injured Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon. Guerrier and Neshek are first and second in innings pitched for the bullpen and appearances. They’ve both put up fantastic numbers this year with ERAs in the ones and less than a baserunner allowed per inning.

On Tuesday Johan Santana will try to keep the Twins’ record and his own 6-6 record above the .500 mark. Santana has pitched well enough to be a 8 or 9 win pitcher so far, but has been robbed of wins by his offense. He will match up against Jorge Sosa who has been brilliant at points, but has struggled in some starts. He’s 6-2 with a 3.42 ERA on the year.