The Twins found themselves down 8-0 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. Carlos Silva struggled in the first inning by giving up 3 runs, including a 2-run homer to Miguel Tejada. Silva then pitched 3 scoreless innings before allowing Baltimore to extend the lead by a run in each of the fifth and 6th innings. The recently recalled Kyle Lohse came on for the 7th and looked terrible.

I was at the Dome for this game, so I can assure you that the top of the 7th inning was ugly. Lohse hit the the first batter he faced, Brandon Fahey, and continued to fall apart from there. He gave up a single to Melvin Mora and then an RBI single to Miguel Tejada. At that point the fans were starting to call for Lohse’s head and the Twins were scrambling to get Willie Eyre up in the bullpen. It got worse and without a pitcher warmed up there was nothing anyone could do but watch. A double by Ramon Hernandez scored two more runs, then Lohse walked Javy Lopez. Rick Anderson got on the phone to the bullpen, still not ready. Finally Lohse was able to retire the bottom third of the lineup with 2 strikeouts and a fly-out. The Twins were now down 8-0.

The Twins got right back into the game in the 7th with three straight singles from Punto, Kubel and Mauer. Hunter hit a shallow fly ball for the second out, but Michael Cuddyer bailed him out with a grand slam to cut Baltimore’s lead in half. Doubles from Mike Redmond and Justin Morneau added another run to the board.

In the end the lead was too much to overcome. The Orioles added another in the 9th, and the Twins added 2 more. Besides bad pitching, the Twins were hurt by failing to capitalize in scoring opportunities early in the game. How did the first 3 innings go for the Twins offense? In the first the Twins loaded the bases with no outs. An infield fly from Hunter and a GIDP from Cuddyer ended the inning with no runs. The Twins also stranded 2 runners in the 2nd and 2 runners in the 3rd. Torii Hunter was abysmal in the game. He batted twice with bases loaded and less than 2 outs. Both times he hit shallow fly balls, but that’s nothing new for Hunter.

Game Notes

• Jason Kubel is hitting well. He batted in the #2 spot and picked up 3 hits.
• Joe Mauer was 2-3 with 2 walks. He has, unofficially, broked a Major League record by reaching base 4 times in 5 straight games.
• Justin Morneau is hitting up. The night after hitting 2 homers, he was 3-4 with 2 RBIs, including the big 7th inning double.
• Cuddyer hit his 2nd grand slam in 4 games.
• Kyle Lohse gave up 4 hits, 3 walks and 4 runs in 2.2 innings. Any trade value he might have had is dwindling fast.
• Carlos Silva, in his past two starts, hasn’t looked like he’s capable of being a part of the rotation.