Giants 13, Twins 8 – Perhaps there are problems with the bullpen

The Moment: The Twins looked like they were on their way to a sweep of the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, with a 5-4 lead as the 7th inning started. That didn’t last, as Buster Posey doubled with two men on and put the Giants in front. The Giants would go on to score 7 more runs off the Twins bullpen, so truly, this at bat was the fulcrum at which the game pivoted.

The Hero: Buster Posey had two other at bats, aside from the go ahead double, in which he drove in runs. That’s pretty good. Hey, how old is too old to be called “Buster”?

The Goat: Make no mistake, Matt Belisle wasn’t the only bad Twins pitcher today, but he was the one that blew it for the Twins, giving up the 4 runs that saw Minnesota give up the lead and fall helplessly behind.

The Soundtrack: Tonight *Best You Ever Had) – John Legend. This is not dedicated to any member of the Twins current bullpen.

The Story: First, let’s give credit where credit is due… Congratulations to Nik Turley on his first MLB start! He did fine, 4 innings, 4 strikeouts and 4 ER. His problem was a high BABIP, as the Giants kept finding spots where Twins weren’t. All said, it wasn’t a bad outing for someone who perhaps never even thought he would be at this level. Congratulations!

And hey, congrats to the offense as well, who didn’t really do anything wrong either. Eduardo Escobar had the best game, including a big home run that almost left the stadium. No Twin has ever hit a ball into the sea at AT&T Park, and Escobar was very close. Byron Buxton also left the park with a solo home run, his first hit on the road. The Twins scored 8 times, as the title of this post states, and they kept grinding until the bitter end, with the last three runs coming in the 0th inning.

But alas, the bullpen was again a nightmare.Belisle gave up those crucial four runs, while Craig Breslow didn’t fair much better, allowing 5 runs in his inning of work. Only two pitchers really came out not looking like a losers: new pitcher Chris Heston and Buddy Boshers, who worked two innings without allowing a run..

This game was a stinker, thanks to the ineffectiveness of the veteran relievers, but it’s hard to feel really down about this particular game after a 6-4 road trip to the West Coast. The Twins come home tomorrow night for another crack at the Mariners.