The Twins 8-game win streak came to an end with a 5-3 loss on Wednesday night in Houston. Carlos Silva put together another quality start, but the lack of run support and a shaky outing from Kyle Lohse combined for the loss. Silva gave up a solo homerun in the 1st inning but then put together 4 scoreless innings before allowing 1 run in the 6th and walking the only batter he faced in the 7th. Juan Rincon came in and threw a wild pitch and gave up a double which tied the game.

The Astros took the lead with 2 runs off Kyle Lohse in the 8th. Dennys Reyes started out the winning with 2 outs and Lohse was brought in to face the right-handed hitting Preston Wilson. Wilson got an accidental hit on a check swing and things fell apart for Lohse after that. Lohse walked Eric Munson and gave up a single to Jason Lane and a double to Adam Everett. Lohse didn’t retire a batter and Willie Eyre had to come in to close out the inning.

The Twins offense got just 6 hits in the game and didn’t score after the 4th inning. The Twins scored two runs in the second on RBI singles from Lew Ford and Jason Bartlett. The run in the 4th came on a passed ball the scored Lew Ford from third. It was dissapointing to see the offense struggle so much against a mediocre pitcher in Wandy Rodriguez. Hopefully they’ll fair better against Roger Clemens on Thursday night.

Game Notes

• Luis Castillo was 0-5 in the leadoff spot. He’s now batting just .279 with an OBP of .350.
• Lew Ford got a start in LF and picked up 2 hits, a run and an RBI.
• Joe Mauer was 1-3, dropping his average to .377. Not many guys can drop their average with a 1-3 game.
• No heroics from Morneau in this game. He was 0-4.
• Juan Rincon wasn’t charged with a run, but he allowed an inherited runner to score in the 7th and got the blown save.

Clemens’ Debut

As everyone who’s read a paper or watched TV in the past week knows, Roger Clemens will make his season debut Thursday against the Twins. He’ll face some tough competition in Francisco Liriano. The game will be nationally televised and likely lead SportsCenter. Nothing would be cooler than a strong showing from Liriano and the rest of the Twins while under the spotlight.