In Milwaukee there was hardly a thing to complain about on Friday and Saturday night. The Twins seemed to be turning a corner. Sunday’s loss was disappointing, but could largely be blamed on Ramon Ortiz and Dennys Reyes. Things got ugly on Monday in Texas which could lead to the conclusion that the Twins just happened to catch the Brewers at a good time.

Ramon Ortiz’s season began to fall off track several weeks ago, and now it appears that Silva is headed in the same direction. After allowing 5 ER in 6 IP in Cleveland last week, he was charged with 7 runs in just 4 1/3 IP on Monday night.

The offensive struggles resumed for the Twins after they scored 19 runs against Milwaukee over the weekend. Vicente Padilla who had been terrible for Texas this year kept the Twins bats pretty silent before leaving the game a little early after taking a batted ball off his hand. He allowed 2 runs through 5 2/3 while earning only his second win of the season.

There was a bit of a scare in the eighth when Glen Perkins left the game grimacing in pain after a pitch. Initial reports said it was just a cramp, which would definitely be a best-case scenario. With the Twins already losing 2 relievers in the past week and with 2 starters struggling the Twins can’t afford to lose anymore arms.

Update: Gardy speculated (based on information from the team trainers) that Perkins could be out for a couple weeks. That would leave the Twins with no lefties in the bullpen after Reyes went complained of shoulder pain on Sunday.

Game Notes

• Nick Punto got another start at SS with Jason Bartlett complaining about neck and shoulder pain. Luis Rodriguez got the start at third.
• The Twins had no extra base hits – just 5 singles and 2 walks. It’s somewhat remarkable that they managed 4 runs.
• Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau struck out back-to-back in the first inning with runners on first and second. Torii Hunter came through with a single for one run, but it should’ve been a bigger inning against Padilla.
• Julio DePaula was terrible in his second outing of the season. He inherited one runner from Silva and then walked 2 batters to load the bases before giving up a grand slam to Gerald Laird. In the next inning he allowed another home run to Nelson Cruz. In total he gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 runs.

The Twins have lost 4 out of the last 5 Johan Santana starts and have averaged just over 2 runs per game over those starts. Santana had his best start of the season last week in the 2-0 loss to Cleveland. Santana (4-4, 3.26) will face off against Kameron Loe (1-3, 6.21) on Tuesday. A loss would be pretty demoralizing for the Twins.