MINNEAPOLIS _ If defenses could score, like they can in football, the Twins may have won Friday's game. They executed over-the-shoulder catches on the run, short-hop scoops, catch-and-throw pickups and a sensational dive-and-flip double play.
Give them plenty of style points, for sure. Just not enough runs.
One day after going down in order in five straight innings and eking out a mere four hits, the Twins upped the ante with only three hits, continuing the offensive drought that led to a 8-1 loss to the Texas Rangers.
The loss dropped the Twins 6{ games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.
Fernando Romero allowed four runs over six innings, surrendering three straight singles in the fourth inning to ignite one Texas rally. A two-run homer by Shin-Soo Choo in the fifth provided Texas a four-run cushion.
Max Kepler doubled into the left-field corner in the sixth inning and scored the Twins' lone run when Joe Mauer hit a line drive to nearly the same spot. But the only other Minnesota baserunner in the first eight innings was Brian Dozier, who singled in the first inning, and was thrown out trying to stretch that hit into a double.
That defensive play, by Texas outfielder Joey Gallo, may have set the tone for the night, because the defense was tight.
Taylor Motter, filling in for Eduardo Escobar repaid Gallo by racing into foul territory in short left field and snagging a ball, back to the plate, as it flew over his head. Motter also foiled a Delino DeShields bunt in the seventh inning, picking it up and throwing in one motion. Two batters later, Dozier ended a tense bases-loaded jam for Addison Reed by diving for an Elvis Andrus line drive, then using his glove to flip the ball to Ehire Adrianza to double up Ronald Guzman while lying on the ground.
But none of the defense will matter if the Twins can't generate more offense. They already have been limited to fewer than a half-dozen hits five times in June.
