Minnesota Twins Lose to St. Louis Cardinals Because of Quiet Bats

The Minnesota Twins lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, FL this afternoon.

The pitching staff for the Twins was solid, allowing three runs on nine hits and three walks. Jason Marquis started the game for the Twins and had a much better outing than his last start. He went three innings, giving up three hits, walking two and allowing one earned run.

It was much improved from his 1.2 inning outing against the Red Sox on the 5th.

The story, however, remains the Minnesota Twins bats. After only managing five hits yesterday against the Tampa Bay Rays, they only got six in today's contest. Jamey Carroll, Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit combined to go 1-for-8 at the plate with two strikeouts.

If the Twins hope to be competitive this season those three will need to do better than that.

Glen Perkins, with the ink still drying on his contract extension, had another beautiful outing for the Twins. He worked one inning, faced three batters and struck out two. It is very possible to believe that if Twins closer Matt Capps struggles like he did last year, Perkins will be the Twins new closer.

Matt Capps worked an inning today and struck out two. Unfortunately, he also allowed two hits, one of which was a home run. The only nice thing is that the home run came with the bases empty.

Capps has been struggling some this spring, allowing far too many hits.

Next up for the Twins is a trip to McKechnie Field in Bradenton, FL to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have given up five or more runs in four of their six games this spring, so it's hopefully an opportunity for the Twins to get their offense going.