In an utterly forgettable 2011 season, it may be hard to believe that, as a team, the Twins defense was right at league average, according to UZR. Excellent play across the outfield was offset by terrible play in the infield, and good range numbers were offset by many errors, an inability to turn double plays, and lack of strong arms. While the defense ended up around league average, there was a significant, over 30 run / 3 win, drop in the field compared to 2010. With all the personnel changes across the board (only 3 of 8 position players: Denard Span, Joe Mauer and Danny Valencia are expected to start opening day at the same position), what can we expect from the Twins in the field in 2012? After the jump, I'll attempt to answer this question by looking at each position's UZR from 2011, projected playing time, and projected 2012 UZR. I know there are many questions with UZR as a defensive metric, especially when looking at single player/year samples, but UZR is easily available and in most cases I'm regressing my own player projections toward their career mean. Of course, projecting playing time at this point can be a crapshoot, and I suspect many of you will disagree with both playing time and UZR projections. That's great, just let us all know what you think in the comments.

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One of the key reasons for the Twins 99-loss season last year was the implosion in the bullpen. After winning the division title in 2010, in an effort to save salary, the Twins let free agents Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch and Brian Fuentes sign elsewhere. While I can't fault the Twins for letting the four relievers go, considering they signed for a combined total of $39.25M in guaranteed money, quite a bit considering the quartet combined for a middling 3.81 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 2011.

I don't bring this up to beat a dead horse and complain about last year, but rather to look forward to 2012 and what we could expect from the bullpen this season. Unfortunately, it appears many of the same mistakes made in the 2011 off season, including gambling on comebacks from injury (Joe Nathan, Pat Neshek) and counting on minor league relievers to step up when performance in AA/AAA was mostly average or worse (Alex Burnett, Jim Hoey, Phil Dumatrait), appear to be repeated in 2012. After the jump, I'll go into a bit more detail, analyzing just how much the bullpen hurt the team in 2011 and look at how 2012 projections compare. But I'll warn you in advance, the results are not pretty...

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No huge news this afternoon, just a few updates from earlier news throughout the day:

• LaVelle has looked at the other potential destinations, and thinks Cuddyer will end up staying with the Twins. He also notes that the Twins offer was 3 years around $24M, a tad less than reported this afternoon by Jon Heyman. Finally, LaVelle reports that the Twins have been in contact with Scott Boras, the agent for Edwin Jackson (among many others). I suspect Boras will be successful in getting someone to overpay for Jackson, and I hope it's not the Twins.

• Fox Sports' Jon Morosi reports that the Rockies are still talking to the Orioles about a trade for Huston Street. The Twins were connected to Street earlier this morning, and while I don't think he makes a lot of sense (especially giving up a good prospect to get him), Street really doesn't make any sense for a team like Baltimore, who have so many holes to fill. Troy Renck (Denver Post) has heard that Street-Baltimore talks have "no traction", so who knows.

• Seth Stohs believes the PTBNL in the Kevin Slowey is probably a Rule V candidate from the Rockies' minor league system, and both teams are waiting to see how the draft works out. I agree, this is the most likely case. But as some have commented here during the afternoon, there's a possibility that Seth Smith is the PTBNL. The only way I imagine this could be the case is if the Twins didn't want a trade for Smith to potentially get in the way of reaching an agreement with Cuddyer or Jason Kubel.

If anything else happens during the evening, we'll keep you posted.

Update, 7:08 pm - Jayson Stark opines on the closer market, saying that if the Red Sox deal for A's closer Andrew Bailey, it drastically reduces big money destinations for established free agent closers. Could this play into the Twins' hands down the line? There's no way Minnesota goes after K-Rod or Ryan Madsen unless it turns into an Orlando-Hudson-in-2010 type situation.

Update, 6:39 pm - Per LEN III, Matt Capps has passed his physical. It's official folks, he's back.

Update, 4:30 pm - T.R. Sullivan has some good info on the top-tier free agent pitchers. He states that Buehrle is looking for a four-year contract, but doesn't mention the Twins at all. My blueprint choice, Roy Oswalt, is apparently looking for a three-year deal. Take a year off each of those requests and I'd be interested, although I'm not as high on Oswalt as I was when I wrote my off-season plan.

Update, 3:50 pm - The Twins have admitted that they probably don't have room for both Cuddyer and Kubel in their budget, but are clearly keeping their options open as Kubel also has an offer on the table from the Twins.

Update, 1:52 pm - Jayson Stark reports that the Rockies are willing to eat all of Huston Street's contract in a trade, in order to get better prospects back. We've bantered here about a Street-Pavano swap, but how does this new information affect your thinking? Would anyone be willing to trade a prospect or two for Street?

Jon Heyman reports that the Twins have offered Michael Cuddyer a 3 year / $25M contract, and that Cuddyer has not accepted the offer (yet). As much as I like what Cuddyer has done for this team, I do not like the idea of a three year commitment with the number of outfield prospects on the farm. Although $8M+ isn't a terrible amount to be on the hook each year. More to come on this, I'm guessing the Twins are pushing for an answer today, one way or the other.

Kevin Slowey

I can't add much more to Jesse's post below. I'm not a fan of selling as low as the Twins did with Slowey (PTBNL and cash). But I'm not sure Slowey is going to be a fan of Coors Field, given his extreme fly ball tendencies.

Aaron Harang

MLBTradeRumors (Hey! I know this Steve Adams guy) reports that starting pitcher Aaron Harang has signed a 2 year / $12M deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Consider this another inning eating below average starter off the free agent board, which is good for the Twins, who now have fewer in house options after trading Slowey.

Hiroyuki Nakajima

NPB Tracker reports that the winning bid (and team) for Nakajima will be announced today. The Twins aren't mentioned as a top candidate here, and I don't know squat about Nakajima. But given last year's performance from uber-shortstop Nishi, I'd prefer the Twins go another direction for the rotation.

Sergio Santos

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that they have completed a trade with the Chicago White Sox , acquiring closer Sergio Santos in exchange for A/AA pitching prospect Nestor Molina. I don't know about you, but Alex Anthopoulous (Toronto GM) negotiating with Kenny Williams (Chicago GM) doesn't seem like a fair fight to me. Then again, Chicago has a number of very good bullpen arms and a somewhat ugly rotation situation on the horizon if Mark Buerhle leaves this year and John Danks and Gavin Floyd leave over the next two years. Williams isn't afraid to gamble, though.

Update 9:50 AM

The Rockies have agreed to take Kevin Slowey, according to MLB.com. The Twins will receive a player to be named later. Kevin Slowey is going to hang out with ski bums in Denver; this is an oddly perfect fit.

Good morning everyone. Day two of the winter meetings is upon us, and Twinkie Town will be here throughout the day with updates. Hopefully today is the day we hear one way or the other regarding Michael Cuddyer... Getting right to it:

Matt Capps

By now, most of you have hard about the Matt Capps signing. I think the best we can say is that the Twins now have a closer for 2011. I'm pretty much with Jon from the evening update below, meh. Unless Capps can regain form and miss bats (career low 4.66 SO/9 last year), expect the ninth inning to remain a roller coaster in 2012. I'd rather the Twins have promoted Glen Perkins to closer and signed one or two cheaper bullpen arms, preferably ones with solid strikeout rates, without paying a premium for a "closer". Not to mention an additional supplemental draft pick. But Capps is now a Twin, hopefully he will bounce back and have a solid 2012 season.

Kevin Slowey

According to Buster Olney's Twitter feed, Slowey is a non-tender candidate and the Twins have let teams know he's available. This doesn't come as a surprise to most of us, as the organization has been actively shopping Slowey since last season. In my opinion, it would be a mistake to non-tender Slowey or trade him for a bag of balls. With Brian Duensing looking more and more like a reliever every day, and injury risks associated with Scott Baker and others in the rotation, I'd rather slot Slowey in the #5 spot in the rotation and at least give him a fighting chance at a solid 2012 season and improving his trade value over the summer. Thomas Harding of MLB.com thinks the Rockies' Seth Smith may be a match for the Twins. If the Twins are truly done with Slowey, this wouldn't be the worst trade in the world, and it would be a decent replacement for Jason Kubel.

In just under two years, no Twins player hit a grand slam at Target Field until French Resistance Fighter Rene Tosoni's first pitch blast in the sixth inning of a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. With the win, the Twins avoid their 100th loss of the season. So tonight's finale will have some meaning, hopefully the few veterans who remain standing will put forward a solid effort and prevent the first 100 loss Twins season since 1982. 

On the mound, Anthony Swarzak had a decent outing, giving up two runs in just over 6 innings. But he was hit hard again, as the Royals pounded out 10 hits including 4 doubles. Swarzak helped himself all night with his command, as 69 of his 98 pitches went for strikes and six strikeouts versus zero walks. Fortunately the Royals couldn't take advantage, leaving nine runners on base on the night. Sorry for the short recap, but I'm just off a red eye flight from San Diego...

Studs

• Rene Tosoni: 1-4, HR, 4 RBI. The grand slam provided key insurance runs the Twins would need later...
• Chris Parmelee: 2-4, 2 R, HR. He continues to rake, hit his 4th home run and is now batting .351.
  
• Trevor Plouffe: 3-4, R. Solid at the plate, but he committed his 12th error, no surprise it was on a throw.
  
• Ben Revere: 1-4, RBI. Provided the two plays of the night, with a nice catch in foul territory, key to keeping the Royals off the board after back to back singles opened the 7th inning. And he lined a triple past a diving Jarrod Dyson (definitely not a vacuum cleaner last night...), but was thrown out at home plate after running through the stop sign.

Duds

None, just happy to see a win.

The Twins sure find new and interesting ways to lose ball games. Last night against the Seattle Mariners, down 5-4 in the ninth inning, the Twins loaded the bases with no outs off closer Brandon League. You have to give Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki a lot of credit, as Michael Cuddyer hit a foul ball that likely would have scored French Resistance Fighter Rene Tosoni, but Ichiro let the ball drop in front of him. It was a gutsy play, and in the end it worked, as Cuddyer struck out on the next pitch, and Chris Parmelee and Danny Valencia both grounded out to end the game. With the loss, the Twins losing streak extends to ten games for the first time since 1998, increasing their chances at the second overall pick as well.

On the mound, Liam Hendriks was hit hard early and often as the Mariners jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an Ichiro triple and doubles by Kyle Seager and Mike Carp in the first inning. Hendriks would settle down with four scoreless innings, although there was a bit of luck giving up three singles and two doubles between the second and fifth innings. Then in the sixth, with the Twins up 4-2, Alex Liddi smashed a hanging slider to tie the game and send Hendriks to the showers. After the home run, it was just a matter of waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the seventh, Brian Duensing walked Kyle Seager to lead off the inning, and of course he scored on three ground balls, only one of which left the infield.

In all, another depressing loss to a bottom dwelling team. I for one can't wait for the stench of this season to be over so I can get on to the stench of a 5-11 Vikings season. At least the Lynx won their semifinal series last night, so we've got that going for us. Studs and duds after the jump.

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The Twins are one game closer to losing 100 games this season. There was reason for a little optimism last night in Kansas City, as Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer both returned to the Twins lineup. But the Royals had perennial All Star Cliff Lee on the mound, and he shut down the Twins lineup, allowing only two hits and a walk over eight sharp innings. According to MLB.com, Gardy said the following about Lee:

"He was pretty good tonight. I've seen him do that to a lot of clubs. I'm not about to get after that guy because he pitched his tail off and he took advantage of our hitters. If they weren't swinging right or weren't swinging good, then Mr. Lee was the reason why they weren't doing it."

Oh wait, it wasn't Cliff Lee out there. It was the immortal Bruce Chen, the same guy the Twins have pounded for 17 hits in just over 17 innings in two starts this season. But those starts were in April and July, before the Twins lineup was dominated by minor leaguers. Sorry Gardy, I know you're probably tired of ripping these guys, but when a team that has been limited to one run or fewer a total of 14 times in its last 24 games, it's probably a sign of a feeble offense rather than an ace level performance from the opposing starter.

Duds

Everyone with a bat. And the defense, as Joe Benson and Trevor Plouffe both committed throwing errors.

Studs

I don't think I can call anyone a "stud". Carl Pavano wasn't terrible, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) over 7 innings. But he gave up 11 more hits and 2 home runs, continuing his impression of Livan Hernandez. Only less effective. Lester Oliveros wasn't very good, giving up a hit and a walk over less than an inning. Maybe Jose Mijares gets the "stud" of the night, as he faced one batter, striking out Alex Gordon looking. Yay!

Way back on April 7th, the Rochester Red Wings opened their season with the following lineup:

1. Ben Revere - CF / 2. Brandon Roberts - LF / 3. Trevor Plouffe - SS / 4. Brian Dinkelman - DH / 5. Jeff Bailey - 1B / 6. Rene Tosoni - RF / 7. Matthew Brown - 2B / 8. Chase Lambin - 3B / Rene Rivera - C. 

Five of these players (in bold) were in last night's Twins lineup. But it gets better, in addition to the five Red Wings, Chris Parmelee and Joe Benson were in the opening day lineup for the New Britain Rock Cats, and both made their Major League debut with the Twins last night.

So I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that the Twins were shut out for the second straight game by the Chicago White Sox and starter Jake Peavy. Which is a shame, because Twins starter Liam Hendriks was pretty good in his debut, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks over seven innings, striking out four. A hanging slider that Alex Rios hammered for a solo home run was the only big mistake of the night for Hendriks, otherwise you have to like what you saw from the rookie. 

Offensively, what can I say? Six hits, including one double, 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, 14 (!) strikeouts against two walks. Pretty sad state of the lineup at this point, although it may do the Twins more long term good to give the rookies some serious playing time down the stretch. I'm not going to bother with studs and duds this morning, consider Hendriks and Chris Parmelee (2-4 in his MLB debut) to be the only studs on the Twins side.

I'll say one thing about last night, at least the Twins offense showed some life, jumping out to separate three run leads in the fourth and fifth innings. Naturally, starter Anthony Swarzak immediately gave up both leads, surrendering 8 runs over the two innings. These days, it seems like either the pitching or the offense shows up, but rarely on the same night.

All the action was in the fourth and fifth innings, as Jason Kubel started the scoring with a three run homer to put the Twins up 3-0. But in the bottom of the inning, someone named Alejandro De Aza answered with a three run homer of his own to tie the game. In the fifth, a double from Joe Mauer and single from Michael Cuddyer plated three to put the Twins up 6-3.

Then the wheels fell off. Swarzak started out the fifth east enough, striking out Juan Pierre with a 95 MPH heater. But after that, every pitch was up, giving up back to back line drives, a soft fly ball single and hitting Dayan Viciedo for good measure. Then the Twins terrible defense reared its ugly head, as Cuddyer (playing first base) attempted to throw out Viciedo at second base but the ball ended up in left field, scoring another two runs to tie the game at 6. Alex Burnett relieved Swarzak and promptly gave up a walk, hit by pitch and another run. At the end of it all, the White Sox were up 8-6 and the game was pretty much over. 

Studs

1. Middle of the order: The 3-4-5 hitters (Joe Mauer, Cuddyer and Kubel) went a combined 5 for 12 with 4 runs and 6 RBI.
   
2. Lester Oliveros: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO. Pitched two good innings at the end.
   

Duds

1. The rest of the lineup: Went a combined 2 for 22. That's what you get when half of Rochester is in the lineup.
   
2. Anthony Swarzak: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO. He wasn't very good, it appears Swarzak's peripherals may be catching up to him. 
3. Alex Burnett: 0.1 IP, BB, HBP. Ugh.

I understand that Royals and Pirates fans have to deal with this year after year, but I'm still getting used to the Twins being out of contention in August, having to play out the string and finish the season. Last night against the Baltimore Orioles, the Twins put forward a listless effort, losing by a lopsided 8-1 score.

Brian Duensing's rocky second half continues, as the Orioles jumped to an early 7-0 lead, and he was pulled with zero outs in the top of the third inning. Final line: 2.0 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR. Duensing's ERA now stands at 5.12 overall for the season, and 7.42 over the second half. And his struggles against right handers continues, as they went 9 for 12 (.750) against him last night (left handers were 0 for 3). It goes without saying that Duensing will be pitching as a LOOGY out of the bullpen if he can't turn it around.

Offensively, the Twins managed only four hits on the night, with a Danny Valencia home run the only damage done to Orioles starter Alfredo Simon. The less said about the current state of the offense, the better. At least Justin Morneau was

Studs

1. Danny Valencia: 1-2, HR, BB. The only bright spot offensively.
   
2. Bullpen: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 SO. Did an admirable job keeping the Orioles off the board after Duensing left. New acquisition Lester Oliveros got out of a jam in the third inning with a double play and strikeout, hitting 98 MPH on the gun, generally throwing strikes as well.
   

Duds

Everyone else, escpecially Duensing.

There's a reason Justin Verlander is a favorite for this year's AL Cy Young award. Fastball that hits 98-99 MPH, a curve ball that makes Bert Blyleven proud, not to mention a a lot more consistency than we've seen from any Twins starter in recent years. Frankly, watching Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Drew Butera at the bottom of the order against Verlander was like watching tee ballers against a high school pitcher. The Twins had chances in the first two innings after leadoff hits by Ben Revere and Danny Valencia, but pop outs and strikeouts would end the threats. After that point, Verlander cruised to his 18th victory of the season, giving up only a single run in the top of the 8th as Justin Morneau lined a single to score Revere.

Nick Blackburn had problems keeping the ball down all night, as he gave up 11 hits and 5 runs while failing to get out of the 5th inning. It seemed like virtually all of the Detroit hits were on pitches belt high or above, a place where Blackburn simply cannot survive as a major league pitcher.

Studs

1. Justin Verlander: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO. Duh.
   
2. Ben Revere: 2-4, R. He also managed an outfield assist on a roughly 10 foot one hop throw to second that second base umpire Tom Hallion mistakenly saw beat Delmon Young to the base. 
3. Joe Mauer: 2-3, BB. Two line drives off Verlander, too bad no one could drive him home.
   
4. Jose Mijares: 1.0 IP, H, 0 R, BB. Not so much because he pitched well (he didn't), but because his matchup against Delmon Young in the 8th inning provided a highlight of the night. I half expected Mijares to throw a bean ball after last year's incident, but instead he got Young to fly out weakly to left. 

Duds

Pretty much everyone else out there in a Twins uniform tonight.

There are games where the umpire expands the zone a bit and gives a few inches on either side of the plate, resulting in a quick, crisp, generally low scoring game. Tonight wasn't one of those games, as home plate umpire Tim McClelland squeezed the zone all night, calling a total of 14 walks combined for both teams. Seven of those walks came from Twins starter Francisco Liriano, who somehow came out with a "quality start", pitching 6 innings and giving up 3 runs off 4 hits and 7 walks on the night. MLB.com's game recap called Liriano "effectively wild", but I'm inclined to call 8 runners left on base over six innings to be a bit lucky given the number of base runners Liriano allowed tonight.

The Twins offense got off to a good start in the first inning against Erik Bedard, scoring the first two runs of the game. But the Twins failed to take advantage of a bases loaded situation, as Danny Valencia and Tsuyoshi Nishioka both struck out to end the threat. The two run lead held up until the top of the fifth when Darnell McDonald (former Twins farm hand alert!) hit a two run game tying home run off Liriano. After trading runs in the sixth, Matt Capps relieved Liriano in the seventh inning, promptly loading the bases with one out. Phil Dumatrait relieved Capps with David Ortiz due up. Dumatrait did his job on the mound, getting Ortiz to ground weakly up the first base line. But Dumatrait couldn't shovel the ball cleanly for a force out at home, and the Red Sox went up for good. After that point, the Twins managed only a Joe Mauer single over three scoreless innings, and the losing streak now stands at six. 

Studs and duds after the jump, enjoy tomorrow's afternoon game.

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With less than two months left in the season, there is very little margin for error for the Twins if they are going to have any chance of catching the division leading Detroit Tigers. And it doesn't help to face a red hot pitcher like Ervin Santana, who was coming off a no hitter in his previous start. While Santana didn't have no-hit stuff last night, he was good enough to scatter eight hits and give up only one run in his second straight complete game. Even though Santana deserves a lot of credit, the Twins offense had plenty of chances with eight hits and two walks and base runners in all but one inning (the 7th), including the leadoff hitter in five of nine innings. But a combined 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and two double plays were enough to squash any rallies throughout.

On the mound, the long ball did Brian Duensing in, as Mark Trumbo launched a three run, 457 foot moon shot to put the Angels up 4-1 in the fourth inning. And in the next inning, Torii Hunter got hold of a 3-2 change-up to provide the final result. The Twins are going to need a winning streak very soon, hopefully tonight will be a start. Studs and duds are after the jump, enjoy the late game...

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Joe Mauer is awesome, let's just leave it at that. But some shaky late inning Rangers defense had as much to do with the Twins victory as any base hit. After a rowdy first eight innings, where the Rangers slugged their way to an 8-7 lead and brought out their stud closer Naftali Feliz, it appeared the Twins were on their way to another loss last night in Arlington. After Danny Valencia grounded out to lead off the inning, Delmon Young singled up the middle to bring up Jim Thome, who smashed a long fly ball that just died in front of the wall in left field. But left fielder Josh Hamilton couldn't haul it in, giving the Twins runners at second and third with one out. Thome was given a gift double on the play, but it should have been an error on Hamilton. But no matter, Tsuyoshi Nishioka followed with a ground ball right up the middle, fielded by drawn-in shortstop Elvis Andrus, who thought about nailing Delmon Young at home plate, but instead bobbled the ball to allow the Twins to tie the game. Joe Mauer pinch hit for Drew Butera, and battled with Feliz, finally getting a 98 MPH fastball up in the zone that he could line to the gap in left center and put the Twins up 9-8. 

But the Twins weren't out of the woods yet, as Joe Nathan came on for the save against the meat of the Rangers order. Josh Hamilton led off with a single, and after a Michael Young fielders choice and Nelson Cruz hit by a pitch (Brandon Inge style...appeared to get his jersey), the Rangers had runners on first and second with one out. That's when Nathan dug deep with an absolutely nasty 3-2 slider in the dirt to strike out Mitch Moreland, and then smoke past David Murphy to end the game. The Tigers beat the White Sox last night as well, so the Twins remain seven games back of first place. But they gained a game on Chicago and Cleveland, which is just about as important at this point in the season. Brian Duensing and Colby Lewis square off tonight in game three of the series, as the Twins hope to keep on winning and let the chips fall where they may.

Studs and duds after the jump.

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Through eight innings, the Twins offense managed a total of only four base runners as Cleveland Indians starter Justin Masterson posted zero after zero with his array of hard sinking fastballs. But in the bottom of the ninth inning off All Star closer Chris Perez, with the Twins down 1-0 and one out, Joe Mauer walked, Michael Cuddyer singled to left field, and Jim Thome was intentionally walked to load the bases. Up came Danny Valencia, whom you may have heard was a college roommate of Perez ten years ago at the University of Miami. Expect Valencia to have bragging rights for quite a while, as he lined a walk-off single to left field to score Mauer and Cuddyer. With the victory, the Twins are now six games behind the division leading Indians (who are tied with the Detroit Tigers) with a chance to cut the deficit to five this afternoon at Target Field. 

Twins starter Francisco Liriano was solid, but not sharp, as he gave up one run off four hits and four walks with five strikeouts over six innings. From the first batter, it was apparent that home plate umpire Alan Porter was not going to have a pitcher-friendly strike zone, but Liriano managed to escape trouble repeatedly, stranding eight of the nine Indians batters to reach base. Fortunately, Phil Dumatrait, Matt Capps and Glen Perkins held the Indians down with three scoreless innings in relief of Liriano, keeping the Twins in the game and setting up the walk-off win.

Notes, studs and duds after the jump. Enjoy the afternoon game, everyone stay cool!

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You know those crisp pitchers duels that guys like Carl Pavano or Mark Buehrle tend to pitch, games that finish in just a shade over two hours? This afternoon wasn't one of those games, three and a half hours long, 28 hits, 12 walks and three batters hit by pitch. Definitely not a game that will be used as an example to youngsters during extended spring training. In the end, the Tampa Bay Rays outlasted the Twins late, scoring seven runs in the 8th and 9th innings to blow a 5-5 tie wide open and salvage the last game of a three game series.

Francisco Liriano was anything but sharp tonight, hitting Rays leadoff batter Johnny Damon with his second pitch of the game, and struggling to throw strikes through 4-1/3 innings and 91 pitches (49 strikes), giving up six hits, five runs (all earned) while walking four and hitting another three Rays for good measure. This was one of those days where you understand why the Twins haven't locked Liriano up long term. But as bad as Liriano was, the Rays pitchers, beginning with starter Wade Davis, coughed up separate 2-0 and 5-2 leads through the first five innings, as the Twins hitters got Liriano off the hook for a loss. Anthony Swarzak kept the Twins in the ball game, throwing two scoreless innings in relief of Liriano. And after Jose Mijares (struck out the only batter he faced) and Alex Burnett got the Twins through the top of the seventh, it felt like the Twins would pull another one out late. But in the top of the eighth inning, Burnett gave up four runs on a ground ball single, squeeze bunt and a two run Sean Rodriguez home run to put the Rays up 9-5. That was all she wrote as Phil Dumatrait came out for the ninth and gave up a three run home run to Evan Longoria and put the Twins down for good. 

Tomorrow, the Twins begin a four game series in Chicago against the White Sox. Let's hope the bullpen arms aren't too wiped out after back to back short outings from Scott Baker and Liriano. Studs, duds and notes follow after the jump.

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This one wasn't pretty, but after an ugly six game losing streak, the Twins will take a win any way they can get it. Base running was the key to a quick start from the offense, as three stolen bases from Ben Revere and Jason Repko in the first and second innings helped the Twins open up a 3-0 lead.In Repko's case, he was picked off first base by Dodgers starter Ted Lilly, but he just beat the Casey Blake throw to second base and position himself to score on Revere's second single of the game.

Brian Duensing was solid through three innings, facing the minimum nine batters thanks to a 6-4-3 double play. But he had trouble hitting his spots. leaving the ball over the plate for a couple long fly balls in the first, and a Matt Kemp line drive right at third baseman Danny Valencia in the second. Duensing's lack of command caught up with him in the fourth, as he led off the inning by walking Tony Gwynn Jr. and Casey Blake with the heart of the Dodgers order coming up. But thanks to a nice ranging play from Alexi Casilla, a Matt Kemp sacrifice fly was the only damage done. 

In the fifth, after Rene Rivera singled in Repko to open a 4-1 lead, Duensing gave it right back. With one out, Aaron Miles hit a first pitch slider just over the left field fence for his first home run. A single and two more walks loaded the bases with two outs, and Andre Ethier grounded a game tying two run single just to the right of a diving Alexi Casilla. Fortunately, in the bottom of the fifth, Luke Hughes quickly put the Twin back in front with a two run home run that just cleared the garden in left field.

From that point on, the bullpen did its job, pitching four scoreless innings to close out the game. Things got a little hairy in the seventh after a one out Jamey Carroll single, Glen Perkins relieved Alex Burnett and Tony Gwynn hit a weak ground ball that Tsuyoshi Nishioka charged and threw to first. Gwynn was called out, but replays showed that he beat the throw. The next batter, Casey Blake singled to left field and Jason Repko made a strong throw to nail Carroll in a very close play at home. It wasn't clear from watching the replay, but Rivera tagged Carroll's outstretched arm as he slide into home. In any case, these were two calls that easily could have gone the other way and allowed the Dodgers to tie the game or take a lead. Instead, Joe Nathan and Matt Capps got through the eighth and ninth to close out the game and end the six game losing streak. Notes, studs and duds are after the jump, everyone enjoy today's rubber game!

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First Pitch: 7:10pm CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: True Blue LA

Let's chalk up last night's 15-0 drubbing to a Dodgers team taking out its frustration with the bankruptcy. Still, the wheels are dangerously close to falling off the Twins 2011 season (if they hadn't already), as the losing streak now stands at six games and counting.

Brian Duensing

#52 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-0

Weight: 205

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Feb 22, 1983

After a poor month of May, during which Brian Duensing gave up 24 earned runs over 24.2 innings pitched, and his overall ERA rose to a season high 5.37, he's been much better in June, with three quality starts in four times out. Duensing fell victim to a lack of run support in his last start, as he gave up one run over 6.2 innings, but the offense couldn't do a thing against Tim Lincecum.

Ted Lilly

#29 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jan 04, 1976

Ted Lilly has pitched better than his 4.63 ERA would indicate, as his FIP (4.35) and xFIP (3.87) are both well below his ERA. Lilly's a classic "crafty" left hander, as his fastball, which has never averaged over 90 MPH, is down to a career low 86.9 MPH average this season. Lilly mixes a slider, curve ball and change up about half the time. He hasn't been particularly tough on left handers this season, evidenced by his .259 batting average against and 4.98 SO/9, compared to .272 and 7.23 respectively against right handers. Lilly has been hit hard in his last two starts, giving up 14 hits and 11 earned runs over 10 innings pitched.