Alex Wimmers retired all three hitters he faced Friday night in his Twins debut. That covers the highlights of Minnesota pitching in rowdy Rogers Centre.
The Twins, who believed a mere couple of weeks ago that their disastrous play of April and May was behind them, have fallen off that exact same cliff. Friday's 15-8 loss to the Blue Jays was their eighth in a row, and once again, the pitching staff is the primary culprit.
Toronto slugged four home runs, all with runners on base, racked up three doubles and eight singles, and overpowered fill-in starter Pat Dean (six runs in three innings) and four of the five pitchers who relieved him (a combined nine runs in four innings). Only Wimmers, the Twins' 2010 first-round pick whose career has been a labyrinth of operating rooms and rehab sessions, held off the Blue Jays' relentless onslaught, albeit well after the game was decided.
The eight-game skid equals the Twins' ugliest _ though not longest _ span of losing this season, an eight-game stretch in May in which they were outscored 63-26. The current tally on this streak: Opponents 65, Twins 26.
Deja vu.
Speaking of seen-this-before, the Twins drew four walks and scored four runs off ex-Twin left-hander Francisco Liriano, who was credited with the win after pitching the minimum five innings. Trevor Plouffe smacked his first home run since July 1 off his former teammate, and the Twins converted three of Liriano's walks into runs, two of them scoring on a Kurt Suzuki double.
