Twins' Offense Develops Anemia

The Twins offense underwent a medical check-up earlier tonight, and the diagnosis: anemia. And they certainly showed their anemic qualities in picking up only three hits and drawing a sole walk. Of the three hits, two did not make it out of the infield. Of the four baserunners, two were erased by double plays. No Twin made it past second base. From casual observation, I'm guessing their case of anemia is pretty darn severe.

In all seriousness, the offense was quite atrocious. It's only one game, but it was one bad game. Matt Tolbert had the only hit out of the infield and managed to keep his average right at .400. I don't think it can last much longer.

Francisco Liriano also made his second start of the season, with this one going only marginally better than the first. Although he made it through five innings this time, he still struggled mightily to find the strike zone. Of the 88 pitches he threw, only 47 went for strikes, as he racked up five more walks against just three strikeouts. He allowed fewer hits (4) and fewer runs (3), though, than in his first outing. So I don't know that we can mark this as a step in the right direction, because it didn't look much improved at all, but at the very least he didn't go backwards.

The bullpen looked good, giving up one hit (albeit a home run) in four innings of work, while striking out two. Juan Rincon and Jesse Crain each pitched two innings. Giving the game ball to Crain exemplifies just how bad this game was for the Twins. For their first game against the Indians of the season, it's not a good sign.