The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Bullpen Falls Again

It is games like the game last night that make it hard to cheer for the Twins, or for any team that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

There just isn't a whole lot to say about this one. Nick Blackburn looked solid, but not spectacular. The top of the order didn't get many hits, but got on base none the less. The middle of the line up finally came to life, courtesy of Delmon Young.

Things looked good heading into the late innings. 

Everything was set for another column extolling the resiliency of the Twins. They scored nine runs, a day after getting completely shut out, against a pretty decent pitcher (Jeremy Bonderman did have half of the Tiger's wins.)

In the sixth, Blackburn began to struggle and Gardy decided to turn this one over to the bullpen.

I wholeheartedly agreed with this decision, and I'm guessing most people did too. The 'pen is supposed to be one of the Twins' great strengths this year, and one of Gardy's strengths is managing it.

Tonight was an exception to both rules.

The box score will tell you that Pat Neshek got the loss, and it was the runs he gave up that completed the Tigers' comeback.

But I'm putting this loss on Matt Guerrier and Ron Gardenhire.

It was clear from the time Guerrier hit the mound that he didn't have his best stuff. No matter, because the Twins were up 5-2 at the time. Even after allowing his inherited runner to score, along with one of his own, Guerrier ended the 6th with the lead.

Another offense outburst seemed to seal the deal, and Guerrier looked a little sharper in the 7th than he did in the 6th.

The 8th was a disaster. Back-to-Back doubles opened the inning, followed by another error from "defensive specialist" Adam Everett (who should be replaced by Matt Tolbert until he can work these kinks out). An RBI single finally chased Guerrier, who left with two runners on.

Gardy should have pulled him after the second double. Tigers' hitters were just waiting for Guerrier's fastball, and were really hammering it to all fields. Hindsight may be 20-20, but if Gardy thought that maybe Matty G was going to all of a sudden revert to his 2007 form and save the inning, he was delusional.  

In the end, it was irrelevant, because Pat Neshek couldn't stop the bleeding either. The defense couldn't turn a double play on a ball hit to short, which would come back to bite them shortly, and Ivan Rodriguez cleared the bases with his first triple of the year. 

Former Twin Jacque Jones' Sac Fly broke the tie, but had the Twins turned two, the inning would have been over.

What-ifs aside, the Tigers padded their lead with a Clete Thomas triple and a Placido Polanco RBI single to take an 11-9 lead into the top of the 9th.

Credit goes to the Twins offense, who almost mounted their own comeback. With two outs, Jason Kubel coaxed a walk out of Todd Jones, and Brendan Harris singled to put the tying run on with two outs.

Had Mike Lamb been at the plate, things may have been different. However, he had been lifted for Nick Punto's defense. Punto saw a pitch he liked and drove it to left field with all his might.

Nick Punto, however, has what commentators like to call "Warning Track Power."

And that's exactly where the Twins comeback hopes ended, just short of the wall in left.

The Good: Delmon Young: 3-5, 3R, 2RBI, 2B, SB.

Its about time Delmon made it up to 'The Good'; he's got way too much talent to be a bane for the Twins instead of the asset he could be.

The Bad: Carlos Gomez. 0-5, 2Ks, SB.

Gomez has gone hit-less in his last three games, and his batting average has fallen below that of the guy he beat out in spring training, recent call up Denard Span. I highly doubt he will lose his job to Span, but if he doesn't start hitting soon, the thought will undoubtedly cross Gardy's mind.

The Ugly: The Bullpen. Neshek and Guerrier: 2.1IP, 8H, 7R, 6ER, 1K, 1HR.

These guys MUST get it together if the Twins have any hope of being competitive. I'm significantly worried that Neshek's struggles at the end of last season weren't just dead-arm problems, and that his effectiveness is going to be limited this season. Fortunately, the Twins have a ready supply of live arms if it looks like these problems will hang around.